FOXBOROUGH - For the first time in this young season, the Patriots will be in an away stadium that is the NFL's version of 60 minutes of hell. Buffalo's Highmark Stadium (forever known to me as Ralph Wilson) is a decrepit concrete bowl sunk into the ground in Orchard Park. It's not much to look at. Some (not me; I love the place) have called it a dump, and the team is saying that by building a new one that will be ready for next season. Yet, this crater has become one of the most significant home-field advantages in the sport.
Over the last five years, the Bills are 36-7 on their turf, three games better than the next best team, the Kansas City Chiefs. Not only that, but the sons of Sean McDermott have won 14 in a row in the not-so-friendly confines, boat-racing teams by an average of 12 points per game. One more win and the Bills will match the all-time franchise record set back in 1990-91, aka the Jim Kelly/Marv Levy era.
"Their fans are very hostile, and I think that's the energy that they want," Drake Maye said. "The home environment speaks to what their record's been at home."
Maye got his first experience there a season ago, and had the Pats in contention until he - and they - unraveled a bit.
"I think we had a chance at them,' Maye recalled. "Shoot, it was 14-14, I think we fumbled, and then obviously the touchdown we gave up on the backwards pass. Just don't beat ourselves and just play to our identity, and we can play with anybody if we don't do that."
Maye forgot an end zone interception he threw as well - the filling in a three-possession, three-turnover stretch that turned a 14-14 game into a 24-14 Bills lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
Part of the challenge that day, and most certainly on Sunday night in primetime, will be the crowd noise. This Patriot team has not been in that kind of environment all year, with nearly as many of their fans in the building in week two at Miami as the Dolphins did. And yet in that narrow victory, New England had five, count 'em, five pre-snap penalties.
"Communication," Garrett Bradbury told me, "that's the biggest thing."
It will be, and we don't know how this offense will handle that. The line has four new starters, and if Jared Wilson does make his return (he was a full participant in practice Thursday after missing last week), those two rookies would man the left side. It's not as if Wilson and Will Campbell haven't played in raucous environments - both are from the SEC - but this will be a first for them as pros. Therefore, the lead-up to the game will be crucial.
"We practiced it for Miami, and we used it a few times," Bradbury said, acknowledging this is a different animal. "It's one of those things, right? You want to go into it expecting to use it, and then we can back off if that's the case. I've been in games where we go in not expecting to use it, and then we have to all of a sudden throw it in. And that's never good. So yeah, we're practicing it. Today (Thursday) is the third down day, so we'll be doing it every third down, and the expectation is that we'll use it, and it can be a weapon for us if we can mix it up. But yeah, it's another variable."
Bradbury, like Mike Onwenu and Morgan Moses, has played in Buffalo before. He says the silent count doesn't stress him out - "Center's easy because you snap it when I snap it" - but when that noise cauldron starts to bubble up, everyone has to remember the snap count and the protection calls.
"I think the best - what's being preached - is like, the more success we have, it takes the crowd more out of it. So first, second down - you don't want to get into those third-and-longs. That's when the crowd is revved up, and it's as loud as it's going to be. So if we can keep it in third and manageable and have that first down, second down, first down mentality, it will help."
The Pats have a 43.8% success rate on first downs this season, which is 8th best in the NFL. For context, a first-down play is considered a success if an offense gets at least 40% of the yards to gain for another first down. If Maye and company can maintain that percentage, they can at least minimize some of the damage that the fan base can cause.
"What Coach [Mike] Vrabel says is that’s where we want to go, where we want to be, is where the Bills have been the past couple years: contenders, winning the division, and playing well at home. They've won, he said, 14 straight, if that's right, at home. So, it's a tough environment, and like I said, they're a great football team with some great players. So, we’ve got our hands full, but we're excited."
PRACTICE UPDATE
Milton Williams showed up on the injury report on Wednesday with an ankle. Thursday, he did not practice. As I wrote this week, the Williams/Christian Barmore combo platter is capable of giving opponents fits, and if Williams can't go, that will be a blow against this Bills offense that you're going to need all hands on deck for.
Meanwhile, edge K'Lavon Chaisson (knee) and safety Jaylinn Hawkins (hamstring) returned to practice on a limited basis. Chaisson didn't seem all that concerned about his availability for Sunday.