Combined in the second half of their games last week, New England and Buffalo were outscored by a total margin of 39-0. At least the Patriots are capable of putting some points up on the scoreboard, something the Bills have done worse than any team in the NFL to date. Buffalo is averaging just 8.5 points and 176 yards of total offense while New England sits at 26 points and 333.5 yards per game.
The Patriots led New York 14-10 at halftime last week before their young secondary – and quarterback Tom Brady – gave the lead away. They were outgained 196-80 in the second half and turned the ball over three times, including two interceptions by Brady. This is nothing new for them though, as four of their six losses last year came despite the fact that they led at the break.
Meanwhile, the Bills have won just two of eight quarters of football so far (one quarter in each game). They outscored the Packers 7-0 in the second quarter after trailing 13-0 in an eventual 34-7 loss at Green Bay and held a 7-5 edge in the fourth quarter of a 15-10 setback against Miami. Other than that, Buffalo has been lucky to stay even in one other quarter of the eight.
Ryan Fitzpatrick takes over as the starting quarterback for Buffalo after Trent Edwards failed to deliver anything more than one touchdown pass and two interceptions in two games. Fitzpatrick played against New England in a 17-10 loss last December, throwing for 178 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He will look to take advantage of Patriots cornerbacks Devin McCourty and Darius Butler, who have a little over one season of experience between them.
The duo of McCourty and Butler struggled against Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez last week, getting burned for three touchdowns. Butler committed two pass interference penalties in the four quarter and will try to hold Bills wide receiver Lee Evans without a catch for the second straight game.
New England is 6-1 straight-up and against the spread in the last seven meetings with Buffalo but will be without third-down back Kevin Faulk, who has been a critical part of the offense over the years but will miss the rest of the season with a torn knee ligament. The UNDER is 3-1 in the last four games between the teams since the offensive dominance of the Patriots in 2007 when both meetings went OVER the total.
Maddux Sports has no opinion on this game but we do have 5 NFL picks for Sunday. Week 2 produced a 4-1 record for our clients and we expect a similar performance this week. Get these week 3 winners by visiting our NFL betting picks page of the site.
