New England Patriots Links 12/18/09 - Patriots Looking For A Win In The Wind Sunday

Christopher Price lists what to watch for on Sunday against the Bills, besides Randy Moss' every move.

The weather. Playing in Buffalo in December has always been a crap shoot. Last season, it was 55 mph winds and goal posts on an angle. New England attempted just eight passes in the 13-0 win over the Bills. It’s not supposed to be that windy this time around, but weather.com is calling for flurries with highs in the 20s on Sunday. Yikes. Wide receiver Sam Aiken, who played in Buffalo from 2003 through 2007, shakes his head at the memory of playing late-season games at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

"I just remember that wind, coming up over the top of the stadium in the right-hand corner," Aiken said. "It’s ridiculous."

Laurence Maroney. When it comes to stopping the run, the Bills are the worst team in the league — Buffalo allows an average of 170.5 rushing yards per game. Fred Taylor didn’t practice on Thursday, which likely means he’ll be a scratch on Sunday. And if it’s typical Buffalo weather, that should give another opportunity to Maroney for a big day. The running back is coming off his second-best performance of the season, posting 94 yards in the win over Carolina. If the Patriots give him the ball 20 or more times on Sunday, things appear to be set up very nicely for him to reach the 90-plus yard mark in back-to-back games for just the third time in his career.

TEAM TALK

• Erik Scalavino Return to Buffalo is special for Sam Aiken. Plus, Thursday news and notes from Gillette.
• Patriots-Bills Injury Report for Thursday.
• Quotes from the New England locker room, from the media access portion of Thursday's practice.
• Belichick Breakdown: Patriots vs. Panthers (3:48 min. video) Watch how Randy Moss helps the Patriots offense even when he doesn't catch the ball.
• Patriots Today: Round 2 with the Bills, Thursday Practice notes. (10:54 min. video)
• Patriots All Access: Friday night at 7pm on WBZ-TV and at 8pm on Patriots.com. Sights and sounds from the sideline and locker room victory over Carolina; Scott Zolak sits down with Bill Belichick to talk about the new-look Bills and break down the Bills' big-play offense; Steve Burton talks with Sebastian Vollmer.
• Patriots Charitable Foundation hosted over 250 kids from Salvation Army centers throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island at Gillette Stadium for the 17th annual Children's Holiday Party.

LOCAL LINKS

• Ian Rapoport notes Jarvis Green has been impressive filling in for Richard Seymour, hardly coming off the field.
• Christopher Price feels the Patriots will be getting a special effort from the Bills, and they aren't expecting any gifts like they received in the season opener.
• Mark Farinella discusses on how the weather affects the Patriots practice preparations.
• Glen Farley reports the Patriots are still blown away by their windy win over the Bills last December in Buffalo, with the officials halting play to adjust the tilting goalposts and Gostkowski's kick stopping mid-air and veering sharply to the right.
• Mike Reiss notes the Patriots have been prepping for a December game in Buffalo.
• Monique Walker notes that injuries, as well as the play of rookie OL Sebastian Vollmer, has forced the Patriots to be creative in working him into the offensive line rotation.
• Mike Reiss and Tedy Bruschi hosted on online chat yesterday. Check out the transcript for some terrific insight and answers.
• Ian Rapoport talks about the Shawn Springs-Terrell Owens 10th matchup reunion.
• Shalise Manza Young focuses on Harvard grad Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.
• Boston Herald Patriots Notebook: The death of Bengals receiver Chris Henry hit home in every locker room yesterday including the Patriots; Shawn Springs says it will be a special feeling to return to Buffalo; BenJarvus Green-Ellis declined to reveal details of his conversation with Randy Moss on the sidelines Sunday; The O-Line hasn't allowed a sack on Brady in its second consecutive game.
  

NATIONAL NEWS

• Tedy Bruschi (ESPNBoston) Bruschi's Breakdown: The Patriots need to come together Sunday in Buffalo. (Plus 30 second video.)
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Beating Patriots would be Bills' Holy Grail.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Bills given little chance versus Pats. Jenny Dell previews the New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills game with the AccuScore report. (40 second video)
• Tim Graham (ESPN) reports CBS Sports color commentator Dan Dierdorf is showing the Buffalo Bills significant respect against the New England Patriots.
• Michael David Smith (Wall St. Journal) Welker's been historically good, which is possibly bad. As Mr. Welker's slice of the pie gets bigger, the team's overall scoring output is smaller.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Moss dodges reporters. Florio wonders why the media covering the Patriots hasn't forced Moss to be accountable to the press.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Incognito accepts Mitchell's criticism.
• Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) Week 15 Picks: Pats over Bills 23-12.
• Sam Farmer (LA Times) Once-mighty teams find themselves defenseless.

VIEW FROM BUFFALO

• Mark Gaughan (Buffalo News) To get competitive, Bills need more elite players.
• Allen Wilson (Buffalo News) New Bills lineman Incognito defends his play.
• BuffaloBills.com Bills focus: Still the same old Patriots.  (4:17 min. video)
• Jim Kelly (BuffaloBills.com) Injuries Bills' biggest detriment.