New England Patriots vs. Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
Quarterbacks
- Josh Allen: 13/28, 153 Yards, 0 touchdowns, 3 interceptions | 5 carries, 26 yards, 1 touchdown
- Matt Barkley: 9/16, 127 Yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception
Josh Allen didn’t do much to build on his first three weeks impressing the Buffalo locals, as he quickly hucked up two picks in spectacular fashion, asking both Devin McCourty and JC Jackson to catch some high pop-ups you’d be used to catching from your pops in the backyard. Leaving the game perplexed and injured, Allen didn’t get much time to showcase his quickness on the ground, only making a couple escapes from the pocket, and that was mostly in evasion of the Pats unloading defense. The Patriots defense continued to swarm like Wu-Tang killa bees, and Allen attempted to make things happen, to much frustration and no avail. Buffalo fans spent the game mostly silent, as they eventually gave way to a showcasing of Matt Barkley for the remainder of the game, as Barkley actually ended the day with a higher completion rate and quarterback rating. Two of the best defenses coming into the season, and just a month into the NFL schedule, I wasn’t shocked to see a defensive game. Barkley got the call when Allen took a helmet to helmet hit early in the fourth quarter, despite Allen looking pedestrian for three whole quarters. Allen still profiles as a potential low-end top 10 quarterback if he’s back soon and healthy, due to his ability to rush a touch as well as the ability to unload deep passes to his weapons including new threat John Brown. Unable to get into a groove, I’d post this less as a worry on Allen and more so as a defensive showcase for energized and newly anointed top 3 defense, in the Patriots.
Running Backs
- Frank Gore: 17 carries, 109 yards | 1 target, 0 receptions, 0 yards
- TJ Yeldon: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 68 yards
The ageless wonder of Frank Gore delighted us once again, as he pushed himself closer to the third-highest rushing yards total of all time, just a couple hundred yards in the rearview of Barry Sanders. Gore couldn’t save the Bills completely, but still, put up a hefty 6.4 yards per carry and dare I say, almost looked like a 30-year-old Frank Gore. With Devin Singletary on the inactive list for the day, Buffalo relied on Gore as the only running back to take carries, making the only other rusher of the game their oft chased after the quarterback. How does Frank Gore do it? It’s downright impressive. I’m pulling up to the age 35 parking spot, and have found back muscles sore just from sleeping weird. Gore is basically in existence since the Playstation and Xbox systems were first announced. Gore will likely fall back in line behind Singletary when he returns in the next week to two, but Gore is a reasonable bench fill, and Singletary still holds top 20 to 25 rusher value, as most defensive matchups won’t be as difficult as this Patriots matchup.
Josh Allen had a zippy little rush to the middle of the field to move the chains as the team attempted to get into field goal range, as he once again showed his vision is almost as important to his rushing as his sneaky speediness.
Wide Receivers
- Cole Beasley: 12 targets, 7 receptions, 75 yards
- John Brown: 11 targets, 5 receptions, 69 yards
- Dawson Knox: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 58 yards
- Andre Roberts: 1 target, 1 reception, 6 yards
- Zay Jones: 8 targets, 2 receptions, 4 yards
Allen and Barkley peppered passes all over the field, as they tried desperately to catch up to the Patriots. With 5 sacks on the two quarterbacks, there was little time to do much, and so Zay Jones wasn’t able to test the game-breaking movement down the field, as we’re starting to see that the Bills view Cole Beasley as their best “move the chains” guy, and John Brown as their top overall wide receiving threat. Between the two, they accounted for 23 of the teams 40 targets on the field. Brown has shown his small breakout last year before Lamar Jackson was given the keys to the team’s Firebird wasn’t all flukey, and Beasley is the new unsexy version of Julian Edelman. The Bills offense didn’t do much to show they deserve to leave this game at a solid 3-1 record, but there is plenty of talent to be found here, as they’ve got two great weapons to continue to go to in Brown and Beasley, and they’ll look to find greener pastures as they watch the Patriots bus drive away this afternoon. It’s still not crazy to see John Brown as a top 20 wide receiver in any type of league, and Beasley could potentially end as a sneaky top 30 wide receiver in points per reception leagues. Dawson Knox sounds like a character in top 5 all-time TV show, “Friday Night Lights”, but instead he’s just a super athletic and impressive wide receiver who balled out on one play at the end of the first half, falling backward and outplaying Patrick Chung for an overthrown pass to the left hashmark. He may not be a fantasy mainstay, but he’s someone to keep a watchlist tag on in deep leagues.
New England Patriots
Quarterback
- Tom Brady: 18/39, 150 yards, 0 touchdowns, 1 interception | 3 carries, negative 3 yards
The Bills were possibly my favorite sleeper defense of the whole offseason, and this was the first week of getting to watch them play through a whole game. I was incredibly impressed to watch them. Tremaine Edmunds, the freshly drafted first-round linebacker for Buffalo, came to play, wrapping up over 11 combined tackles, and Tre’Davious White and Micah Hyde continued to slither in the secondary and make their presence felt. Brady was never settled fully in the pocket and made some uncharacteristic plays, even throwing a pick early in the game ( to Hyde). The game seemed to be played more like a clock usage game, as the number of dump-offs and short passing was methodical and also slightly bore inducing. An average of under 4 yards per reception, and a completion percentage under 50 percent for the first time all season, Buffalo had Brady rolling on his heels on almost every drive. While always downright precisional in his picking apart of defense, this was a fantasy snoozer, for the most part. Unfortunately at this stage in his career, this is what you’ll see from Brady. Playing to the matchups, Brady won’t get you much in the form of rushing, and when Gordon can’t sneak away, a lot of his game is predicated on Edelman’s elusiveness and James White ability to make moves after the catch. He’s an enigma in the fact that he’s an incredible quarterback to watch, while at this stage offering little in fantasy help or consistency. Top 15, at best, in my eyes.
Running Backs
- Sony Michel: 17 rushes, 63 yards
- Brandon Bolden: 1 carry, 4 yards, 1 touchdown
- James White: 1 carry, 1 yard | 10 targets, 8 receptions, 57 yards
- Rex Burkhead: 1 target, 1 reception, 7 yards
There was very little rushing on the Patriots end to even out the dominance Frank Gore showcased. Sony Michel carried the ball 17 times, but it felt as if he hardly saw the field. Averaging 3.7 yards per carry, Michel was outshined by Gore and had a yawn-worthy game to make up for the slight excitement building for his sophomore season. On the season, he only has 108 yards on 45 carries and is given the bulk of the opportunity, yet still hasn’t managed to make much out of it. The bright spot given to us is the fact that James White has never averaged over ten carries a game over the course of the season, James Develin, the fullback and touchdown vulture is on IR for the season, and Rex Burkhead is seen as a swiss army knife who is used more like a mystery matchup, where he can both break out of the backfield for a reception, or break off a quality run at times. Michel still carries the starters role, but if I spent any top fifty pick capital, I would look into potentially shopping him. A month into the season, and he hasn’t found a way to match a groove, but also with all the offensive options, the Patriots won’t hesitate to step away from him if he continues to underwhelm.
Wide Receivers
- Josh Gordon: 7 targets, 3 receptions, 46 yards
- Julian Edelman: 7 targets, 4 receptions, 30 yards
- Phillip Dorsett: 9 targets, 2 receptions, 10 yards |1 carry, 9 yards
The same usual suspects compile the top 3 targets and receptions level, as White, Josh Gordon, and Julian Edelman did their best to keep the Bills at bay. Edelman spent the game covered in a flak jacket over his ribs, and Gordon spent his game covered by Tre’Davious White. Gordon was unable to really break out and make the Bills pay, and Edelman was mostly used to spell the usual game planning and keep the defense honest. Gordon was shadowed by arguably the best corner in the league in White, and also spent a large portion of his routes blanketed with numerous defenders. This game could have ended either way, as no major offensive star performances truly broke out, and Edelman spent a decent amount of his game playing decoy and trying to see daylight on short passing routes.
-Matthew Bevins (@MattQBList)