For the record...

[Ickybaluky]

I will predict:

- I do think NE wins tomorrow.

- I think it will a tight, low-scoring affair. If I were betting, I'd take Buffalo with the points and the under.

- The first game of the season is the toughest to predict.

- I think the Pats defense is a little underrated. They were the toughest team in the NFL last year against the run down the stretch, and their secondary (their achilles heal last year) is in much better shape. I recognize there are questions in on defense, and I'm anxious to see what happens.

- I think the Bills will be very prepared for this game, and Dick Jauron (of Swampscott, MA, BTW) has got everybody on the same page. I'm impressed with the way he has handled things so far, and it bodes well for the Bills. I think his presence will improve Buffalo's defense, because he is an excellent defensive coach and has an up-n-coming coordinator to work with.

- People are making a lot of Tedy Bruschi returning and the big deal they are going to make of it, but I still think he doesn't play (if he dresses, I don't think he plays much). However, I predict everyone here is going to be sick about hearing about Rodney Harrison's comeback after tomorrow. That is because you guys already hate his guts, plus he won't be nearly the player he was his first game back from a serious injury. Yet, the announcers are going to talk at length about his injury, and every play he is involved in will be overblown.

- Tom Brady is even better this year. He looks like a man possessed this year, and while he will be limited by the weakness at WR, he may have his best season. He is still pissed about the playoff loss in Denver.

- This is the best and deepest OL the Pats have had in the Belichick era, easily.

- I'm not sure what to make of J.P. Losman. He definitely was improved this preseason, but it will be interesting to see how he carries things over to the real games. It would not surprise me if he develops quickly, but it also would not surprise me if he flames out.

- I'm anxious to see Lawrence Maroney in the real games as well. He looked like a young Ederrin James in the preseason, but that could change when teams aren't firing blanks. It wouldn't surprise me if he contends for rookie of the year, but it also wouldn't surprise me if he struggles or gets injured (he needs a good offseason of pro training and about 5-10 lbs.).

- If Deion Branch were playing, I'd say the Pats are a top offense in the NFL, with Brady, a very good OL, and great talent and depth at RB and TE. Without him, you wonder if the lack of a top threat at WR will make everyone crowd the LOS. I'll be interested to see how things look tomorrow.

- The Pats are a younger team now. They kept 8 rookies this year, and several will play roles this season. That probably means more mistakes.

- If the Pats lose, I'll come back and congratulate you guys. I actually don't mind taking the trash talk, some of it is pretty entertaining. If the Pats win, I'll probably give it a little time to calm down before returning. Some of you guys get downright bi-polar, and it can be less than fun.

I'm off to bed now.

Peace.

[!Papacrunk!]

......Some of you guys get downright bi-polar, and it can be less than fun.


In another thread, my gut is telling me Bills with the upset. You made a very good point where the 1st week, sometimes the 1st couple of weeks are a bit riper for the upset games. Rust happens.

[Devin]

I will predict:

- I do think NE wins tomorrow.

- I think it will a tight, low-scoring affair. If I were betting, I'd take Buffalo with the points and the under.

- The first game of the season is the toughest to predict.

- I think the Pats defense is a little underrated. They were the toughest team in the NFL last year against the run down the stretch, and their secondary (their achilles heal last year) is in much better shape. I recognize there are questions in on defense, and I'm anxious to see what happens.

- I think the Bills will be very prepared for this game, and Dick Jauron (of Swampscott, MA, BTW) has got everybody on the same page. I'm impressed with the way he has handled things so far, and it bodes well for the Bills. I think his presence will improve Buffalo's defense, because he is an excellent defensive coach and has an up-n-coming coordinator to work with.

- People are making a lot of Tedy Bruschi returning and the big deal they are going to make of it, but I still think he doesn't play (if he dresses, I don't think he plays much). However, I predict everyone here is going to be sick about hearing about Rodney Harrison's comeback after tomorrow. That is because you guys already hate his guts, plus he won't be nearly the player he was his first game back from a serious injury. Yet, the announcers are going to talk at length about his injury, and every play he is involved in will be overblown.

- Tom Brady is even better this year. He looks like a man possessed this year, and while he will be limited by the weakness at WR, he may have his best season. He is still pissed about the playoff loss in Denver.

- This is the best and deepest OL the Pats have had in the Belichick era, easily.

- I'm not sure what to make of J.P. Losman. He definitely was improved this preseason, but it will be interesting to see how he carries things over to the real games. It would not surprise me if he develops quickly, but it also would not surprise me if he flames out.

- I'm anxious to see Lawrence Maroney in the real games as well. He looked like a young Ederrin James in the preseason, but that could change when teams aren't firing blanks. It wouldn't surprise me if he contends for rookie of the year, but it also wouldn't surprise me if he struggles or gets injured (he needs a good offseason of pro training and about 5-10 lbs.).

- If Deion Branch were playing, I'd say the Pats are a top offense in the NFL, with Brady, a very good OL, and great talent and depth at RB and TE. Without him, you wonder if the lack of a top threat at WR will make everyone crowd the LOS. I'll be interested to see how things look tomorrow.

- The Pats are a younger team now. They kept 8 rookies this year, and several will play roles this season. That probably means more mistakes.

- If the Pats lose, I'll come back and congratulate you guys. I actually don't mind taking the trash talk, some of it is pretty entertaining. If the Pats win, I'll probably give it a little time to calm down before returning. Some of you guys get downright bi-polar, and it can be less than fun.

I'm off to bed now.

Peace.

Well said man.

I think Buffalo's defense is going to surprise a lot of people, including NE. This is as young and fast as they have been in a long time. Our DT's may actually surprise people. Kyle Williams is a wrecking crew. And while very young a secondary of McGee-Simpson-Whitner-Clements has the potential to be downright nasty.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Excellent points, NE39! Good analysis.

Just a couple of comments:

I agree with you that this being the first game of the season will give the Bills an opportunity in this game that they will not have later in the season. No one really knows what Steve Fairchild's offense will look like--no even Bills fans really--and you have to beleive that the Bills were also holding back quite a bit on defense in the preseason as well. Which means that B.Belichick, as he admitted, only has tape from the preseason to game-lan off of. To me this is critical because Belichick with two weeks to prepare for a team, which he will have when the two teams meet later in the season, can come up with game-plans to stymie the best teams. With not much to work off, though, it will be a lot harder for him to prepare for this game--which has to help the Bills somewhat because I agree that the Pats have an excellent defense.

The Pats' D-line is just coming into their prime and they have already been very good--they are now the strength of the Pats' D. I don't share your view about Bruschi not playing--I believe that, even if it is just a Willis Reed-type cameo, he will make an appearance. With Bruschi hampered and Willie McGinest gone, I don't see the Pats being as strong at LB as they have been. Vrabel is still great and Colvin is a dangerous pass-rusher, but Vrabel is getting older, Seau is a shadow of himself, and Banta-Cain has a lot to prove. They still could be good, but I don't see them being as strong as they have been in this game. True, Rodney Harrison probably won't be nearly as good as in the past and we, Bills fans, will undoubtedly get tired of hearing about his return, but he brings a lot of leadership to a Pats' secondary that is healthier than it has been in a couple of years. E.Wilson is underrated IMHO and Samuel and Hobbs are pretty good, too. The Pats are going to have a tough D this year, which is why I see the fact that they won't be able to game-plan as much for this game as later in the season as helping the Bills so much.

I think it is fair to question JP Losman, but I have a lot of confidence that he is greatly improved over last year. But, he is going up against a tough defense and will need help from his offensive line and running game or the improvement won't show. I see the Bills' offensive line being the key to the game because the Bills won't have much of a chance if they don't protect Losman and open enough holes for McGahee to keep the Pats defense honest.

I agree with you about Brady and Branch. I know a lot of Bills fans hate Brady, but I respect him because he has shown that he can get the job done with the best of them. I think the loss of Branch is really going to hurt, though, especially with D.Givens and T.Dwight also gone. T.Brown can make plays, but R.Caldwell doesn't scare me--I think the Bills CBs have a tremendous advantage in this game against that pair. Gabriel and Jackson will give Brady the deep threat that he will be missing without Branch later in the season, but I just don't think they have had enough time to work with Brady to get everything down the way they will have it down later in the season after they have had some more practice time together.

The guys you didn't mention, TEs Watson and Graham, are the guys that I think give the Pats a huge mis-match advantage against the Bills and most teams. Those guys can be monsters and Brady knows how to use them. I see taking them away or at least limiting the damage that they do as a key for the Bills defense in this game.

I agree with you about this being the most talented offensive line that the Pats have had in years. They have done a good job of bringing in a lot of new talent. The question is whether they will come together as well as the less talented offensive lines that the Pats had in previous years. This being the first game of the season and with Kaczur being banged up, I don't think the Bills will be seeing them at their peak this season on Sunday.

The guy I don't think you gave enough credit to in your analysis was Corey Dillon. I know that a lot of people are down on him because he was banged up and had a bad year last year and is on the downside of his career now, but Dillon is healthier than he was last year and a healthy Dillon can be a very good RB. I think the challenge posed by Maroney and a desire to prove his critics wrong will have Dillon psyched to prove something this season. Maroney adds a home-run threat, but he's a rookie--the guy that I would worry more about because of his ability to control the game on the ground is Dillon.

I think the Bills defense will be better than last season--it could hardly be worse than the way it finished last year--and in this game. I think it could be difficult for them to stop the Pats, especially if Brady and his TEs get on a roll, but I think they have the potential to keep this game close.

If the Bills can keep the game close on offense and defense, the Bills have a huge advantage on special teams that, in addition to helping to keep the game close, could prove decisive. Miller is a good punter and Hobbs is a decent return man, but the Pats coverage teams have been only a bit better than average and they have lost some key special teams players. And, I don't care how good Gostkowski has looked in the preseason, can he be better or more clutch than Vinatieri? I don't think so. The guy's a rookie after all. With McGee, Parrish, Moorman, all of their top coverage aces, and--and I NEVER thought I would say this--even Lindell, back from the top special teams units in the NFL, the Bills are just better than the Pats on special teams across the board. That could prove critical if the game is close.

I think any honest Bills fan would admit that there are still a lot of questions about this Bills team that have yet to be answered. While everything is not going to work out optimally, nevertheless, some of those questions are going to be answered affirmatively. And, because the Pats won't be able to game-plan as they normally would and will feel the loss of some critical players, I think that will be enough to keep this game a lot closer than a lot of people think.

The Bills are young and they still don't know how to win yet, so it is possible that this game could get away from them if they stumble early, but they still have some solid vets and I don't think that they will quit when things go wrong like they did last year. So, I think they have a shot, but they are going to have to do a lot of things right because Brady and the Pats defense are going to make plays and make things tough on them. I can't wait to see what happens!

[OpIv37]

. Kyle Williams is a wrecking crew. And while very young a secondary of McGee-Simpson-Whitner-Clements has the potential to be downright nasty.

But the ineptitude of Tim Anderson will more than make up for Kyle Williams' skill. And our Secondary is probably going to be McGee-Vincent-Wire-Clements which is downright scary.

I think this is going to be a high scoring game. The Bills' offense- with McGahee, Evans, and JP Losman finally starting to get it- is a little underated. I'm not expecing them to put up 40 points or anything ridiculous like that, but I think they'll move the ball better than people think and put some points up.

The Buffalo D looks pitiful. Spikes won't be 100% coming off his injury with limited preseason playing time. Tim Anderson blows (I can't underscore this point tnough) and I'm not sold on the two-headed disaster of Kelsay and Denney opposite Schobel (although I must admit Denney showed some signs of improvement this pre-season). Coy Wire may be starting at S, which is also downright scary, and the zone had a LOT of soft spots in it- I just don't think the players know the D well enough yet and Brady will make us PAY. Everyone's talking about the lack of receivers, but since when has something like that ever stopped NE?

[jamze132]

Well if we are going to beat NE this year, this is the best time to get them.

[RedEyE]

Great post NE. A little over 4 hours and counting....................................................................

[patmoran2006]

Good post, as usual.

I agree with almost everything you said, especially about Brady.. Branch not there hurts them, but I think Watson is going to have a monster year, and I think Maroney will win ROY.. This is still a VERY GOOD TEAM because they can RUN, stop the RUN AND they have BRADY AND a GREAT head coach.

Buffalo is what NE should aspire to be.. I'd love to be wrong, but I think NE wins this game by double digits, and I think the game is going "over" not under..

Of course I want buffalo to win, but I'm keyed in on Losman.. I cant wait to see how he plays when the game counts.. I know he's gonna make mistakes, and I look forward to seeing a couple, because I want to see how he responds to them. That's gonna determine if he has what it takes to make it in this league.