Pats Pulpit
Fresh off a dominant win over the Carolina Panthers, the New England Patriots are headed into their first primetime game of the season. It will be a big one: the 2-2 team of head coach Mike Vrabel is traveling to Orchard Park to take on the 4-0 Buffalo Bills in the two division rivals’ first meeting of the year.
While there is plenty of familiarity between the two clubs, every year and game is different. And so, to get to better know the Bills, here is a brief rundown of what they bring to their Week 5 bout with the Patriots.
The sample size is admittedly small at this early stage of the season, but two things can be said with certainty: 1.) You don’t go 4-0 by accident, and 2.) the Bills are a pretty good team.
A look at some of their core stats makes this quite clear.
Record: 4-0 (1st AFC East)
Scoring differential: +43 (3rd)
Turnover differential: +3 (t-6th)
Offense: 33.3 points/game (2nd), 404.0 yards/game (2nd), 1 giveaway (t-1st), 0.357 EPA/dropback (1st), 0.091 EPA/run (1st)
Defense: 22.5 points/game (17th), 290.0 yards/game (11th), 4 giveaways (t-14th), -0.023 EPA/dropback (8th), 0.066 EPA/run (28th)
Buffalo is a well-rounded team capable of winning football on both offense and defense. Statistically, however, the unit led by coordinator Joe Brady and quarterback Josh Allen stands out. It is at worst a top-5 unit across the board and has been the most efficient in the NFL in both dropback passing and rushing.
The other side ball has not been quite on the same level, particularly versus the pass, but it simply does not need to be. Then again, there is no question that Buffalo has the quality on defense to also be competitive in low-scoring games.
After going 13-4 last season and earning their fifth straight division title, the Bills have picked up right where they left off — and then some. The team’s 4-0 start is its best since 2020, but there are clear differences between those two seasons: back then, the team’s scoring differential was +23; this year, it’s +43.
Week 1: 41-40 win vs. Baltimore Ravens (1-0)
Week 2: 30-10 win at New York Jets (2-0)
Week 3: 31-21 win vs. Miami Dolphins (3-0)
Week 4: 31-19 win vs. New Orleans Saints (4-0)
Buffalo opened the season with a shootout against the Ravens, a game decided on a Matt Prater field goal as time expired. The team followed up this high-quality victory with decisive wins over the lowly Jets, Dolphins and Saints. While those last three games did not necessarily feature a murderer’s row of opponents, the Bills got the job done and won all of those contests in convincing fashion.
(Note: Roster up-to-date as of Oct. 2, 5 a.m. ET; *indicates projected starter)
Quarterback (2): Josh Allen* (17), Mitchell Trubisky (11)
Running back (4): James Cook III* (4), Ty Johnson (26), Reggie Gilliam (41 | FB), Ray...
