For the third time this season, the New England Patriots will face the division rival Buffalo Bills.
The Patriots won the first game in a windy mess, and Buffalo pulled away with a convincing win in the second matchup. Fortunately for the Patriots, the weather will be just as cold on Saturday night in the wild-card round of the playoffs — giving an advantage to the rushing attack.
Josh Allen, who picked the Patriots apart in the Bills’ win, discussed the “slugfest” that’s ahead.
“It’s hard to beat a team twice in a season,” Allen said. “That speaks for both sides because we are 1-1 on the season. They beat us at home and that’s where we are playing this game. So, we have to be ready for whatever they can throw at us. It’s going to be a 12-round slugfest, in my opinion, and it is going to take all four quarters to win the game.”
Winning the turnover battle will be crucial for the Patriots — now more than ever. Mac Jones has shown that he struggles to play from behind, and the difficulty to do it in the playoffs on the road will increase tremendously.
“Ball security is the number one priority going into this game,” Allen said. “Trying to end every drive with a kick. Playing a team three times in the season, we know each other extremely well. They know us, we know them, so it’s whoever can adjust quicker.”
Whoever can show a different look than we saw maybe the first go-around or the second go-around and throw a different wrinkle in again. That’s why coach Belichick is one of the, if not the, greatest coach of all time, just his ability to switch things up for a quarterback and make you see two different things.”
Regardless of the outcome, it’s still impressive that Jones did lead his team to the playoffs in his rookie season. There will be plenty of Jones vs. Allen big-time matchups in the years to come.
