Week 3: Bills vs. Patriots
at
Sunday, Sept. 26th
1:00pm ET
The Bills head to their house of horrors when they go play the Patriots in Foxboro on Sunday. The Bills have only beaten the Patriots once in the last decade and never in Gillette Stadium despite the fact they usually play a bit better in New England than in Buffalo. The Pats are coming off a division loss at the Meadowlands and will be in a foul mood. The Bills will be playing behind their new starting QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. It will be interesting to see if he sparks the anemic offense.

FACTS AND FIGURES

Matchup: Buffalo (0-2) vs. New England (1-1)
Place: Gillette Stadium
TV/Radio: Network: CBS; DirecTV: 706; Sirius: 129
Announcers: Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots
Spread: Patriots by 13
Series: Patriots lead 58-40-1 (Bills 0-1 in playoffs)
Streak: Patriots Won 13 (and 18 of 19)
Last Meeting: Patriots 17-10 in Buffalo (2009)
Patriots Offense: Rush (24th); Pass (9th); overall (13th)
Patriots Defense: Rush (t-15th); Pass (28th); overall (26th)
Bills Offense: Rush (23rd); Pass (32nd); overall (32nd)
Bills Defense: Rush (t-15th); Pass (16th); overall (20th)


INJURY UPDATE

The Bills lost Andy Levitre early in the loss to Green Bay with a shoulder stinger. He has a chance at playing Sunday. Paul Posluszny remains sidelined with a sprained knee. He could be back as early as next week. Cary Harris missed last week's game with a hamstring injury but is back on the field this week and should be available.

The Patriots have lost one of their veteran leaders. RB Kevin Faulk has been placed on injured reserve after tearing his ACL. CB Terrence Wheatley is sidelined with a foot injury while OT Nick Kaczur is out with a back injury. Kaczur is not expected to play and Wheatley is questionable at best as well.

Check out our Bills Daily Injury Page throughout the week for the latest updates on the injured players.

KEY MATCHUPS

CB Drayton Florence vs. WR Wes Welker:
Florence lines up in the slot against the three receiver formation that the Patriots like to run. Welker will be his man, he is deadly going over the middle and Florence will need to be very physical against him.

CB Terrence McGee vs. WR Randy Moss:
These two have had several battles over the years. Moss is one of the few players who usually gets the better of McGee. The Bills top corner will need to have a big day against Moss to give the Bills a chance in this win.

LB Keith Ellison vs. RB Fred Taylor:
With Paul Posluszny still sidelined, Ellison will get his second straight start. He leads the team in solo tackles and will need to get a lot of them against Taylor who is the main back in the Patriots attack.

LT Demetrius Bell vs. OLB Tully Banta-Cain:
Cain has 1½ sacks, so he will give Bell a battle all day. If the Bills tackle can hold him off than Fitzpatrick should have some time to throw.

RG Eric Wood vs. DE Gerard Warren:
Wood is coming off a terrible game against Green Bay and really wants to atone for his poor start. Warren is off to a great start as he has already matched his sack total from last year with 2.

WR Lee Evans vs. DB Darius Butler:
Evans could be rejuvenated now that Fitzpatrick is back at quarterback. He will take shots down the field giving Evans a chance to make plays. The second year player Butler had three interceptions last year and will be the man responsible to cover him most of the day.

GAME PLAN

When The Bills Have The Ball: With Fitzpatrick at the controls look for them to take more shots down field. It won't change the game plan however, running the ball will be the priority to keep the Patriots offense off the field.

When The Patriots Have The Ball: Tom Brady will take to the air early and often. The Patriots running game is not scaring anyone these days and the loss of Faulk will hurt them. Brady is good enough to be the Bills even if the offense is one dimensional.

BILLS DAILY PREDICTION

There is no way anyone can see the Bills winning this game. They are reeling after an 0-2 start and our desperately looking for answers. The only one they seem to be able to find is starting Fitzpatrick. He may give the offense some life but not nearly enough to pull of a monumental upset against a team that is angry after losing to the Jets last week:
Patriots 33, Bills 14

Season Prediction Record: (1-1)
Season Record Against The Spread: (1-1)

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