TEAM SHOTS
- Patriots battle Bills in divisional clash. Everything you need to know and more about New England vs. Buffalo.
- Bill Belichick's Tuesday media conference call.
- Josh McDaniels' Tuesday media conference call.
LOCAL SHOTS
- Mike Reiss looks back at the Patriots' early story lines, heading into Training Camp, and presents a revised list of the new Patriots top story lines for the second half. Hmm... I don't see "Super Bowl hangover" anywhere.
- Jim Donaldson gives us the state of the Patriots halfway through the season, from the optimist's and pessimist's viewpoints.
- Mike Reiss analyzes the defensive trends of the New England Patriots through the midpoint of the season.
- Globe Patriots' Notebook touches on Cassel's sack-free performance, Stephen Neal being named the starter for this Sunday, why Gary Guyton wasn't drafted, and a bit about the Wildcat.
- John Tomase talks about Matt Cassel being hot in the pocket.
- Robert Lee notes Jerod Mayo is living up to everything that Patriots coach Bill Belichick said about him on draft day.
- Robert Lee praises Gary Guyton, calling the versatile linebacker a keeper.
- Mike Reiss opens his mailbag and answers some pretty good questions.
- Patriots Football Weekly answers reader questions in its mailbag too.
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Robert Lee notes that Buffalo is the first of three consecutive division hurdles facing the Patriots.
FOCUS ON THE BILLS
- Paul Jannace (Daily Reporter) says the Bills are quickly erasing their 4-0 start. It’s been so long since the Bills won in New England, Doug Flutie was playing quarterback for Buffalo and Tom Brady was just a no-name rookie.
- Chris Brown (BuffaloBills.com) discovered that New England’s remaining road opponents have the worst home record at a combined 7-9.
- Brown also notes the critical importance of winning games in the division, noting that if the season ended today, "the Bills would lose the final Wild Card spot to (ugh) New England by virtue of the Patriots’ better division record right now (1-1)."
- John Tomase discusses what's been going wrong with the Bills, and gives us the Bills at a glance.
LONG SHOTS
- Tim Graham (ESPN) says QB Trent Edwards facing major test as Bills leader.
- ProFootball Weekly features their mid-season team reports on all 32 teams noting, "the fact that the Patriots are tied atop the AFC East without Tom Brady is incredible."
- Peter King (SI) quotes Jim Fassel on Pats - Colts, "I saw stuff out of Cassel I didn't see when I did the Patriots against San Diego a couple of weeks ago. He drops back, and on his fifth step, bang, he hits a receiver right between the numbers with authority. New England will be a tough team to beat in the playoffs.''
- Tony Monkovic (NY Times) headlines, "Zeus Finds Flaw With Belichick."