NFL: What must Josh Allen & Buffalo Bills do to end New England Patriots’ win streak?
We’re four weeks away from the end of the NFL’s regular season, and I think we say this every year, but I don’t think the league has ever been this competitive.
There are many games where you can’t blink or take anything for granted. Some playoff spots won’t be decided until Week 18, so for many teams this final game will be incredibly meaningful.
The AFC East title may be over, but the Buffalo Bills will need to stop the 10-game winning streak of the New England Patriots when they face each other this Sunday in Foxborough.
The Bills improved their record to 9-4 with a 39-34 win over the Bengals this past Sunday, and Josh Allen did Josh Allen stuff again, especially in the fourth quarter. He just puts on his cape and makes things happen. That’s what makes the Bills so dangerous. He was last season’s Most Valuable Player and a guy who could change the game and rally the troops around him.
Buffalo has had a rough patch but has won the last two. At this time of year, you can do some real self-spotting, so things are coming together for them and last Sunday’s win was huge. The Bills were at the bottom of the AFC playoff standings and now they’ve solidified themselves. If they beat the Patriots 11-2, the Bills will be left with just one win with three games remaining.
New England’s schedule looks easier than Buffalo’s. He finishes with the Patriots, Baltimore, Jets and Dolphins. The Bills go up against the Browns, Eagles and Jets.
There’s a good chance Buffalo won’t win the AFC East for the first time in six years, and few expected New England to win the division after back-to-back four-win seasons.
There was an expectation of the Patriots in the past because of their greatness. They had Tom Brady and they had been winning for a long time. Now there is clear excitement about current quarterback Drake Maye and what this team can do. They can get the AFC East on Sunday, which is very important to them.
Sometimes it’s better to be a team with no expectations, but the Patriots have head coach Mike Vrabel. He won three Super Bowls with them as a player and hired the right people. Josh McDaniels won six Super Bowls with the Patriots’ coaching staff but failed to succeed as head coach of the Raiders. It was a good thing Vrabel paired him with Maye as offensive coordinator. McDaniels knows how to win in the AFC East, win when it’s cold, and how to attack these teams.
New England had one of the easiest schedules this season, but you still have to win those games. Vrabel uses the word ‘champions’ and I think all the players are starting to buy into that championship mentality. I also like how he says ‘no naps’, like you can’t sleep on anyone and you have to keep doing the right things. I think he’s a great leader who has learned how to inspire being in that situation as a player.
The Patriots were the team that broke the Bills’ undefeated start in week five, and when you do that on the road, your team will walk away and think ‘okay, we can actually come up with something here.’ Then all these victories they have are building more and more confidence.
