Easterlies

Hard not to think the Patriots may have taken the Steelers a little bit for granted with Ben Roethlisberger on the sidelines. Still, despite the fumbles, the drops, the poor play on special teams, the Patriots did what other teams were supposed to do with Tom Brady on the sideline in September (only they didn’t). They won.

So, here we are. New England atop the AFC East at 6-1-0 and if the playoffs started today (too soon?) the AFC Championship would go through Foxborough. The Pats have a chance for some payback next Sunday as they go west to Buffalo to face Rex Ryan’s Bills, who were last seen throwing a 16-0 shutout at the Patriots at Gillette. Of course, Jacoby Brissett was playing quarterback then, Gronk was hurt, Hightower was hurt and from my perspective, the team was emotionally exhausted having had to run the Brady-less September gauntlet without so much as a razor’s edge margin for even the smallest of errors. 4-0-0 was just too much to ask for as it turned out.

Having dodged the Roethlisberger bullet in Pittsburgh, New England may not have to worry about LeSean McCoy in Buffalo as the Bills best offensive weapon tweaked his hammie in the Bills loss to the Dolphins. (It appears Adam Gase has finally figured out what to do with Ryan Tannehill; have him hand the ball to Jay Ajayi.) The Patriots defense actually did a credible job containing McCoy in the home loss (limiting  him to 74 yards rushing) and if they can hold the Bills to 16 points again this Sunday I like their chances.

Not that I think it will be easy.

The Bills are hard to figure out. Despite a +56 point differential (gratuitous parenthetical: the Patriots are an NFL best +69), Buffalo is just 4-3-0 overall and 1-2-0 in the division. The offense is sprinkled with playmakers, including dual-threat QB Tyrod Taylor, the defense is good at all three levels (though they apparently allergic to Jay Ajayi) and they’re solid in the kicking game. They also seem to have a talent for making big mistakes at the worst possible moment. Rex Ryan has always valued emotion over discipline. Both are important (as we witnessed first hand in a generally flat emotional effort from the Patriots in Pittsburgh) but the Bills just seem like an unnecessary roughness/unsportsmanlike conduct penalty waiting to happen. In the 4th quarter. Down by two points. That pushes them out of field goal range. After blowing a 10-point first half lead.

Have the Dolphins found themselves? They’ve got a bye next Sunday followed by their fourth home game in a row as the Jets visit South Beach. They should be 4-4-0 when they fly out to San Diego for a Week 10 test against the Chargers. I think we’ll need to wait until then to hear pigskin pundits and bobbleheads touting Adam Gase as a dark horse candidate for Coach of the Year.

Unless they lose to the Jets at home of course.

Getting to no is so much easier than getting to yes.

Speaking of the Jets, they can’t even win without the airing of grievances. You expect post-game podium moments like Ryan Fitzpatrick's after a loss. After getting benched, then coming to Gang Green’s emotional rescue when Geno Smith was crumpled up like a scrap of paper about to become a three-point attempt that rims out of the trash can next to your desk, Fitzpatrick called out ownership, management and his coaches for having lost faith in him. Hey, any time you can run out a guy with a 66.4 Passer Rating (45th best!), a league-worst 11 interceptions and a 6.6 yards per attempt (tied with Black Bortles which is a name you just don’t want to see in QB comps), you’ve just got to do that, right?

In retrospect, it’s hard to believe Fitzpatrick was benched in the first place.

I say that as a Patriots fan, of course.