A few questions and a quick thought

Bills defense dominates in big win over Cardinals

Are the Cardinals really the best team in the NFC?

Their record would indicate that they are not even the best team in their division.  So let's take a closer look.  First, the offense.  They are 7th in passing in the NFC, and 10th in rushing.  Remember this is just within the NFC.  When it comes to scoring however they are 1st in TD's with 10 and 3rd in total points with 79.

So they have the most Touchdowns in the NFC and 3rd most points in total.

Defensively, the Cardinals give up the 12th most yards per game with 322. They are 4th in sacks with 9 and 1st in interceptions with 5.

So the argument can be made that they are better than their record, which leads to the next question...

Are the Bills better than their record?

Just for comparison sake, the Bills offense has 9 touchdowns and 71 total points.

defensively they have 10 sacks and 4 interceptions.  So if we agree that the Cardinals are better than 1-2, then we have to agree that the Bills too are better than 1-2.

The Cardinals, like the Bills, have a loss to a 3-0 team, and have a loss to a 1-2 team.  The Bills 1-2 loss came to a division rival, while the Cards came from a non-conference opponent.

Are the Patriots as good as their record?

The Patriots, like the Bills, have 9 offensive touchdowns.  They have 81 total points.  Their total yards are 5th best in the AFC with 369.3.  They are 14th in the AFC in passing yards with 218.7 per game.  While their rushing offense is 1st in the AFC with 150.7 per game.

Defensively they are 8th in yards allowed with 361.7, 9th in sacks with 5, and  6th in interceptions with 3.

The Bills are dead last in the AFC when it comes to passing yards on offense with 163.7, however, they are at the top of the AFC with touchdowns and total points. The Bills are 5th in the AFC in rushing with 119.7 per game. Offensively, they are neck and neck with the Patriots.

Defensively the Bills have an edge on the Patriots, statistically speaking.

The Patriots wins come against the Cardinals, Dolphins and Texans. Their records respectively are 1-2, 0-3, and 2-1.

Can the Bills actually beat the Patriots?

At this point, we don't even know who the Patriots QB is going to be when the Bills travel to Massachusetts to take on the Bill Bellichick's machine.

The machine has had extra time to prepare for the Bills due to its' Thursday night game, history shows us that this isn't good for the Bills.

That is pretty much the only negative working against the Bills in this matchup, well, that and this being a home game for the Machine.  Neither Brady replacement has really lit the place up.  Remember, the Pats are 14th in the AFC in passing yards.  Both of their Shane Falco's have been game managers at best.  The Bills on top of the AFC in sacks and interceptions.  They get the edge in this matchup.

Offensively we really don't know what the Bills are yet.  Anthony Lynn called a good game against the Cardinals and the offense seemed to have found its' stride against a very good defense in the Arizona Cardinals.  Can the Bills continue its offensive performance next sunday?  Time will tell.

So to summarize this matchup:

The Machine's barely average offense, against one of the top defenses in the AFC, again, that's statistically speaking.

The Bills barely average offense against an average defense, statistically speaking again.


On paper this game is fun, they matchup well.  You have to give a slight edge to the Machine because of home field advantage and well, that genius that controls the Machine, but, the Bills could absolutely win this game, and I think they will.

2-2 at the Quarter Post

If the Bills can beat the Patriots, it puts them at 2-2  at the quarter post.  Which is obviously the best case scenario after starting 0-2.  The Bills will have momentum, and they will start to get some of their players back.  Dareus comes back from suspension after the Patriots game.  Shaq Lawson will most likely start practicing again after week 6.

If the Bills can get to 2-2 next sunday, the season won't be nearly as bleak as every one thought it was just a week ago.