No team has suffered more torment at the hands of the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady than the Buffalo Bills. And Belichick and Brady are enjoying one of their best stretches at the moment.
The New England Patriots will be looking to clinch the AFC East when they visit the Bills on Sunday.
The Patriots (12-2) have won 14 straight over Buffalo and a 15th would not only give them the division but would also sew up home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs - not an insignificant thing for a team that has dominated at home over the past few seasons.
New England looked like Super Bowl favorites when they were beating the playoff-bound New York Jets and Chicago Bears by a combined 81-10 in Weeks 13 and 14.
The Patriots proved they could pull it out at the end last week, stopping the Green Bay Packers on the final drive to come away with a 31-27 victory. Brady threw for only 163 yards but finished with two touchdowns and no interceptions to break the late Don Meredith’s record with his seventh consecutive game of at least two scores and no picks.
The front-runner for NFL MVP at this point, Brady has not been intercepted in his last nine games and 292 pass attempts – also a league record.
Brady got help against the Packers from an unlikely source in the second half, when offensive lineman Dan Connolly fielded a kickoff and ran it back 71 yards to the 4-yard line to set up the first of two touchdowns that would give New England the lead in the fourth quarter. It is believed to be the longest kickoff return ever for an offensive lineman.
The Bills (4-10) may not be used to beating the Patriots but they sure like to put up a challenge every once in a while. In Week 3, Buffalo abused a young New England defense that had yet to find its groove, totaling 374 yards in the 38-30 loss.
Ryan Fitzpatrick was making his first start of the season in that one and tossed a pair of touchdown passes, finding Steve Johnson with 4:08 left in the game to pull the Bills within one score.
The Green Bay game exposed some of those same vulnerabilities in the New England defense, particularly on the ground. That should be good news for Fred Jackson, who has taken over as Buffalo’s leading rusher and is active in the receiving game as well.
No longer playing like the same team that started the season 0-8, the Bills have won two games in a row after squeezing out a 17-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins last week. Jackson struggled with 36 yards on 15 carries but Fitzpatrick threw for 223 yards and a pair of scores and the defense forced two turnovers.