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Pats Cast Episode 30: Patriots Prepare for Round 2 Against the Bills


Josh Allen (left) and Stefon Diggs (right) have taken their games to elite levels in recent weeks. (Photo: Sporting News/Getty Images)



New England suffered a closely-fought 24-21 loss to Buffalo in Week 8. Back then, Josh Allen was in the midst of a bit of a dry spell, and it essentially continued, although the running game gained 190 yards and scored three touchdowns.


Recently, the script has flipped back to where it was early in the season. Since his rough game against the Patriots, Allen has thrown multiple touchdowns in five of his last six games – including three against the Seahawks and four against the 49ers. He's also scored four touchdowns on the ground in those six games and picked up at last 300 yards (passing and rushing combined) four times.


With Stephon Gilmore sidelined again, how can the Patriots contain the star quarterback, and how can they attack a defense that's beginning to hit its stride?


Bills on Offense


Buffalo hasn't scored as few points as they did against New England (24) since they last played. They've topped 30 points four times and 40 points twice, most recently last week against the Broncos.


As mentioned before, Josh Allen is back on the right track. The degree to which he's productive tends to be dependent upon who else is on the field, though.


Wide receiver John Brown played in the first matchup, but he wasn't fully healthy and had a minimal impact. He caught at least six passes for 70+ yards in the two games after that, but hasn't played since. He's expected to return off IR on Monday, but whether he's truly full strength will go a long way in determining how the offense operates.


Stefon Diggs is their undisputed top receiver. Through 14 games this year, he has 111 receptions for 1,314 yards. The Patriots held him to six catches for 92 yards in Week 8. Since then, he's met or exceeded that yardage total in five out of six games and topped the reception total in all six of them. He's also notched at least 10 catches and 130 yards in each of his last two games.


Slot receiver Cole Beasley has also heated up lately, and has 79 catches for 950 yards this season. Much like Brown, he didn't have an impact in Week 8. He's hauled in at least eight passes for over 100 yards three times since then, including last week.


Gabriel Davis also has at least 68 receiving yards and a touchdown in three of the last six weeks, but he'll only play a role if/when John Brown isn't on the field.


Top running backs Devin Singletary and Zack Moss have combined for 1,060 yards and five touchdowns, and they haven't provided much in the passing game. They each had 80+ rushing yards in Week 8, though – and Moss scored two touchdowns – and they combined for nearly 150 yards on the ground last week.


The tight ends won't do much, although they've caught eight touchdowns. Their value outside of the red zone is minimal, though. The group only caught one pass in Week 8.


Bills on Defense


The defense shouldn't be dwelled on too much, but it's healthier than it had been earlier in the season, and it's resulted in better production. They've held their opponents to 24 or fewer points each of the last four weeks, and below 20 in three of them.


Tremaine Edmunds played fully in Week 8, but he'd been sidelined due to injury prior to that game and was clearly somewhat hampered by the injury. The same was true for fellow linebacker Matt Milano, except he was on the field in a much more specialized role than normal. That won't be true on Monday night.


Josh Norman also didn't play in Week 8, but he's become much more of a rotational player than a true starter.


Barring anything unforeseen between now and game time, the Bills will be full strength and very healthy on the defensive side of the ball. And even on offense, they'll be in much better shape than they often have been.


Injury Reports

To simplify this list, tight end Jordan Thomas has been placed on the COVID-19 inactive list, and 20 more players are questionable. In order of position and importance, they are RBs Damien Harris and J.J. Taylor; WR/STs Donte Moncrief and Matthew Slater; OL David Andrews, Shaq Mason, Justin Herron and Jermaine Eluemunor; DL Adam Butler, Lawrence Guy, Shilique Calhoun; John Simon, Byron Cowart and Tashawn Bower; LBs Ja'Whaun Bentley and Anfernee Jennings; CBs J.C. Jackson and Jonathan Jones; kicker Nick Folk and long snapper Joe Cardona.

Photos: patriots.com



Matchups


They'll be pretty straightforward this week, but this is what you'll likely see for both sides:


X Receiver: Stefon Diggs vs. J.C. Jackson

Z Receiver: John Brown/Gabriel Davis vs. Jason McCourty

Slot Receiver: Cole Beasley vs. Jonathan Jones


John Brown will draw the start if he's active, but he needs to be taken off IR in order for that to happen. Tight ends and running backs don't factor into Buffalo's passing game.


On the other side of the ball...


X Receiver: Damiere Byrd vs. Tre'Davious White

Z Receiver: N'Keal Harry vs. Levi Wallace

Slot Receiver: Jakobi Meyers vs. Taron Johnson


As usual, there will be situations when Meyers moves outside. That'll likely earn him Tre'Davious White. The Bills also rotate cornerbacks a lot. Josh Norman will often function as their second boundary corner, with Wallace often moving to the slot.


Goals for the Game


Obviously, winning games is always the goal, but that's not very likely to happen in this case. Instead, the Patriots should really be hoping to see young players have success in their roles. Given the quality of competition, that would be an accomplishment.


Ideally, there are also some players that you'd like to see take on bigger roles. Chase Winovich and Josh Uche are definitely among them, but tight ends Dalton Keene and Devin Asiasi also fit that description.


Don't focus on the final score, though. Instead, view this game as a tryout for 2021.


Kickoff will be at 8:15 p.m. Eastern from Gillette Stadium, and the game can be viewed on ESPN and ABC.

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