The Buffalo Bills travel to Gillette Stadium to face the undefeated New England Patriots on Monday Night Football tonight. The Patriots are coming off a game-winning field goal over the New York Giants, and head coach Bill Belichick will look for his team to continue their undefeated streak against AFC East rival the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have won two straight divisional games, and will try to make it three with a win over New England on Monday.
The Patriots will be without star wide receiver Julian Edelman, as he suffered a broken foot against the Giants last week. Quarterback Tom Brady will look to target tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Danny Amendola on Monday night. Amendola stepped up last week after Edelman went down, and caught 10 passes for 79 yards. Amendola almost had an 80 plus yard punt return for a touchdown as well last week, had he not been tripped up by his own teammate.
While Amendola will look to fill the slot role, tight end Gronkowski will make his presence felt Monday night. The Patriots star tight end is practically impossible to cover, as he is too fast for linebackers, and to big for corners to stick with. He has 49 receptions for 806 yards and eight touchdowns on the season. Last time the Patriots faced the Bills, Gronkowski had 113 receiving yards and a touchdown. Brady will look to target Gronkowski all night on Monday, as he creates a matchup nightmare for defenses.
The Patriots have the best offense in the NFL in terms of yards per game, and Brady is having one of his best seasons as the Patriots quarterback. The Patriots franchise quarterback has thrown over 3,000 yards this season and has 24 touchdowns to just three interceptions. Bills head coach Rex Ryan will look to have his defense in place Monday night, as they face their toughest challenge in the Patriots offense.
Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes will look to get after Brady on Monday night, as he already has three sacks this season. Hughes has 27 combined tackles, and has forced two fumbles this year. Hughes and the teams leading tackler safety Corey Graham will look to make Brady's night difficult, but have a tough challenge as no team has been able to stop the Patriots offense this season.
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor leads the Bills offense, and is coming off two strong performances against the Dolphins and the Jets. The Bills quarterback has thrown for 1,436 yards this season and has 11 touchdowns to four interceptions. Ryan will look to put his quarterback in good positions by establishing a strong running game.
Running backs LeSean McCoy and Karlos Williams will see plenty of carries on Monday night, as they are both having big seasons. McCoy leads the team in rushing with 528 yards and has scored two touchdowns. The Bills rookie running back Williams is having a huge season as well, and has scored a touchdown in every game he has played in. Williams is a dual threat out of the backfield, as he has five rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns.
The Patriots are looking to create more separation in the AFC East, but Buffalo would like nothing more than to hand New England their first loss of the season. The game starts at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, and you can watch the live broadcast here. To listen to the Patriots' radio broadcast, click here, and for the Bills' radio broadcast, go here.
