The Bills have now lost to the Patriots 6 times in a row and 21 out of the last 22 times the two teams have played over the last decade or so. Pretty incredible. Of course, during this time, the Patriots have had one coach and one quarterback. The Bills, by contrast, have had at least four coaches (depending if you count Perry Fewell, who was an interim) and started at least 7 quarterbacks, and probably more.
Here's an interesting article I came across that gives you an idea of why divisional games are often so weird and hard to predict. It's about the Eagles coming up with a method for countering a Giants scheme that the G-Men had come up with for attacking the Eagles inside zone blocking scheme. Basically, the point I'm trying to make is that divisional rivals play each other so often that they invest a lot in strategies to beat each other. And the bottom line is that Brady and Belichick are better strategists that whoever the Bills are throwing at them.
Yesterday's game was a prime example. The score at halftime was 13-7, although it should have been 7-7 if not for some horrible in-game strategy by Bills coach Doug Marrone at the end of the half. And the Patriots' 7 was mostly the result of another bad Kyle Orton interception. In the first half, Brady completed 12-of-20 passes for just 88 yards. Our defense was doing really well.
Then, my friend Matt, who I'm watching the game with, utters the fateful worlds, "I wonder what kind of adjustments the Bills will make on halftime." After which, we look at each other and both laugh knowingly. "It's the Patriots who will likely make the proper adjustments," we said almost simultaneously.
Yes, we are both long-time Bills fans and Brady's second-half stats proved how correct we were. 15-of-17 for 273 yards and 3 TDs. Game over. Another loss for the Bills.
Here's an interesting article I came across that gives you an idea of why divisional games are often so weird and hard to predict. It's about the Eagles coming up with a method for countering a Giants scheme that the G-Men had come up with for attacking the Eagles inside zone blocking scheme. Basically, the point I'm trying to make is that divisional rivals play each other so often that they invest a lot in strategies to beat each other. And the bottom line is that Brady and Belichick are better strategists that whoever the Bills are throwing at them.
Yesterday's game was a prime example. The score at halftime was 13-7, although it should have been 7-7 if not for some horrible in-game strategy by Bills coach Doug Marrone at the end of the half. And the Patriots' 7 was mostly the result of another bad Kyle Orton interception. In the first half, Brady completed 12-of-20 passes for just 88 yards. Our defense was doing really well.
Then, my friend Matt, who I'm watching the game with, utters the fateful worlds, "I wonder what kind of adjustments the Bills will make on halftime." After which, we look at each other and both laugh knowingly. "It's the Patriots who will likely make the proper adjustments," we said almost simultaneously.
Yes, we are both long-time Bills fans and Brady's second-half stats proved how correct we were. 15-of-17 for 273 yards and 3 TDs. Game over. Another loss for the Bills.
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