Unconventional Preview: Rex, the Patriots don’t think about you at all
Head Coach Rex Ryan of the Buffalo Bills walks the sideline.
COMMENTARY
Welcome to Season 4, Episode 10 of the Unconventional Preview, a serious-but-lighthearted, occasionally nostalgia-tinted look at the Patriots’ weekly matchup that runs right here every weekend.
The 9-0 Patriots, coming off a last-second 27-26 victory over the Giants last Sunday, take on the 5-4 Bills on Monday night in Foxborough. This is the first time this season that the Patriots will play an AFC East opponent for the second time. Back in Week 2, Tom Brady threw for 466 yards and three touchdowns as the Patriots built a 37-13 lead en route to a 40-32 win.
Some Bills have griped about the Patriots’ decision to keep throwing the ball in the fourth quarter, a perceived slight that some of them may be trying to use as motivation this week.
Perhaps the Patriots won’t throw the ball as much this week; star receiver Julian Edelman is out 6-8 weeks with a broken foot, and the Bills have allowed more than 100 yards rushing in each of the last four weeks. The Bills are more than motivated to stop the Patriots, but the Patriots haven’t been stopped so far.
Kick it off, Gostkowski, and let’s get this thing started …
THREE PLAYERS I’LL BE WATCHING NOT NAMED TOM BRADY
Brandon LaFell: Conventional wisdom says that much of the burden of replacing Julian Edelman’s production will fall on Danny Amendola. That makes sense up to a point: He’s probably the Patriots’ best healthy receiver within tight spaces, and he seems to have Brady’s total trust now. (Over the past 16 games, including the postseason, he has 67 receptions for 665 yards and five touchdowns. Three of those touchdowns came in the playoffs.) But I do think it’s being overlooked to some degree that this ought to be the point where LaFell fully shakes off the rust and becomes a more consistent part of the offense. He began the season on the physically unable to perform list with a foot injury, then played like he had multiple hand injuries in his season debut on Oct. 25 , dropping six passes against the Jets. But over the past two weeks, he has seven catches on 15 targets for 168 yards, with receptions of 48 and 54 yards. He recently said he’d put his health at about 90 percent, which I imagine most players would take 10 weeks into the brutal season. He’s more of a downfield threat than Edelman or Amendola, and he’s been a productive one in the recent past, with 74 catches for 953 yards and seven touchdowns last season. In a sense, he’s rounding into shape just when the Patriots need him most.
Cordy Glenn: Who? No, that’s not Terry Glenn’s new alias. That’s the left tackle for the Bills. It’s the same Cordy Glenn who played the role of oblivious matador as Chandler Jones racked up three sacks and four more hits on Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor in Week 2. That performance catalyzed what has been a marvelous season for Jones so far. He leads the NFL in sacks with 10.5, and unless Glenn has improved in the last eight weeks or has significant help, should have more than a few chances to pad those numbers Monday.
Gronk: I suppose this could qualify as the grievance of the week, but man, doesn’t it seem like his size and talent is starting to work against him with the officials? Against the Giants he got called for offensive pass interference on a play in which he gave Giants defensive back Trevin Wade a slight push. This was a let-‘em-play scenario that drew a flag and negated a 20-yard reception simply because the practically innocuous contact proved so effective. Meanwhile, this Hack-A-Gronk garbage doesn’t get called:
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I’m glad he said this week that he has no intention of changing his style despite having drawn four offensive pass interference flags so far this season. He shouldn’t have to. No NFL player ever wants to play touch over tackle, despite what the Snow Day ad might suggest. Of course, I suppose we can understand why the officials have been nitpicking the hell out of Gronk: Those trying to cover him need all the help they can get.
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YOUR OBLIGATORY JEFF NIXON HIGHLIGHT (OR: C’MON, PASTORINI! MAKE THAT THROW!)
Back when I first busted out this concept album called the Unconventional Preview four years ago, one of the early staples was a goofy old-school video, usually of a terrible ‘70s commercial (90 percent of which starred O.J. Simpson) or footage from a game involving the Patriots or their upcoming opponent. I’ve gotten away from that for a couple of reasons. First, whenever I start searching YouTube for vintage or semi-vintage NFL clips — meaning the 30-year-old stuff that feels like it happened three weeks ago to me — I end up happily lost in a wormhole watching “Air Coryell’’-era San Diego Chargers games. (John Jefferson was Odell Beckham Jr. before you even knew there was an Odell Beckham Sr. Proof is at the 1:03:00 mark.) Secondly, it’s harder and harder to find good stuff every week; you can only use the Dan Marino’s Isotoner ads so many times. But I still search, and I do like what I found this week. It’s the definition of random: a brief clip of Raiders quarterback Dan Pastorini dodging Fred Smerlas and heaving an incomplete deep ball to the best deep threat of his day, Cliff Branch. What made me laugh about the whole thing was that the person who posted the clip appears to be the defensive back who kind of/sort of broke up the play, a former Bills safety named Jeff Nixon. If more players would post their ancient almost-highlights on YouTube, I’m pretty sure finding a clip for this spot would be much more amusing each week. If John Jefferson wants to post a few personal Chargers highlights, that would be cool too.
GRIEVANCE OF THE WEEK
If you think Rex Ryan’s shtick gets tiresome now, just wait until the Bills fire him midway through next season and he’s on your TV every Sunday as a chief bloviator on one pregame show or the other. (Actually, sign me up, if he replaces Ray Lewis.) But I have to say, I like having him around as a head coach — especially in the AFC East. He’s a half-competent jester, the larger-than-life loudmouth who delivers on his bluster just enough to keep it interesting. But the interesting shifts toward the pathetic when he talks about the Patriots. “Of course they want to bury me,’’ Ryan said Thursday. “No question they want to beat me.’’ They want to beat him? I mean, of course they want to beat the Bills. But they want to beat him? Him?
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Rex, they don’t think about you at all.
PREDICTION, OR STEPHON GILMORE HAD BETTER BE CAREFUL WHAT HE WISHES FOR.
Gilmore, the Bills’ talented cornerback, suggested this week that Buffalo’s defense has a plan that will take Rob Gronkowski “out of the game.’’ Respect the boldness, but those are the kind of words that can haunt. It’s almost as if he’s asking to have Gronk’s cleat marks on his jersey by halftime. I loved Gronk’s response: “He’s an excellent player. He means a lot to their defense, and they have many other great players too. … Just have to go out to practice, prepare how I have been all year, and come Monday night we’ll see what happens.’’ We’ll see what happens. In other words: The talking will be done on the field. Once again, despite all of the chattering buildup by Rex Ryan’s team, the Patriots will have the last word. Prediction: Patriots 44, Bills 13
Chad Finn can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeChadFinn.
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