{"id":52053,"date":"2018-10-26T06:57:21","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T10:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=52053"},"modified":"2018-10-26T06:57:21","modified_gmt":"2018-10-26T10:57:21","slug":"new-england-patriots-receivers-week-eight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/10\/26\/new-england-patriots-receivers-week-eight\/","title":{"rendered":"Road Work Continues Ahead: New England Patriots Receivers Week Eight Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New England Patriots<\/a> have played three of their first seven games on the road this season. They lost the first two to the Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> and the Detroit Lions<\/a> and narrowly escaped<\/a> with a win against the Chicago Bears<\/a>. As the Patriots head to New York to take on the Buffalo Bills<\/a>, this less-than-stellar road streak should come to a screeching halt, and the Patriots receivers will play a pivotal role in putting points on the board in Buffalo.<\/p>\n

New England Patriots Receivers\u00a0Continue<\/h1>\n

Buffalo’s Defensive Outlook<\/h2>\n

Through seven games, the Bills have one of the best receiving defenses in the league in terms of yards allowed. The Bills defense\u00a0is allowing a fifth-best 224.6 receiving yards per game. That’s a relatively surprising statistic given that the Bills have faced talents like\u00a0Philip Rivers<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Kirk Cousins<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Aaron Rodgers<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Andrew Luck<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in the first half of their season.<\/p>\n

But yards cannot tell the whole story. The same defense that ranks in the top five for receiving yards allowed has also given up 1.86 receiving touchdowns per game, good for the ninth-worst in the league.<\/p>\n

The Patriots have been scoring 2.29 receiving touchdowns per game so far this season and were without\u00a0Josh Gordon<\/a><\/strong> for three of those games and without\u00a0Julian Edelman<\/a><\/strong> for four.<\/p>\n

An Early Lead Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Light Work Later<\/h2>\n

The Bills have given up ten of their 13 receiving touchdowns this season in the first half of games. Regardless of how\u00a0Josh McDaniels<\/strong> draws up the offensive playcalling this week, there is a strong chance that the Patriots will jump out to an early lead.<\/p>\n

That means that the Patriots playcalling in the second half is going to rely heavily on\u00a0James White<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and new start\u00a0Kenneth Farrow<\/a><\/strong> to chew up clock in the second half. Unfortunately for the Patriots, the Bills have one of the better run defenses in the league, and Farrow is an unproven talent heading into this matchup.\u00a0Tom Brady<\/a><\/strong> is going to have to rely on his talented wide receiver corps to pick up yardage on second down or convert long third downs. This is where the Bills receiving defense wins out.<\/p>\n

Opposing offenses\u00a0have attempted to convert third downs of seven or more yards 27 times this season. Opposing offenses\u00a0have been successful only eight times.<\/p>\n

FLASH! AA-AAAH!<\/h2>\n

As expected<\/a>, the Patriots had a momentary relapse in letting Josh Gordon soak up all the offensive looks last week in favor of getting the ball out quickly to James White. But he performed like the star he was born to be, racking up 100 yards against the Chicago Bears<\/a> defense.<\/p>\n

Gordon had a lot of impact after the catch, as evidenced by his bullying, tackle-shedding 55-yard reception in the second half of the Patriots week seven matchup. Gordon is going to be best used sparingly, but in space, for chunk yardage.<\/p>\n

Ol’ Faithful<\/h2>\n

Edelman has returned to form as Brady’s favorite receiver. So far, he has played some excellent football. Sure hands, above-average separation. The only thing keeping him from leading the receivers in scores outright is\u00a0Cordarrelle Patterson<\/a><\/strong> sharking that touchdown from him in his first week back.<\/p>\n

Buffalo actually has a surprisingly good pass rush. Through the first six weeks, they had the fourth-best graded pass rush in the league, according to Pro Football Focus<\/a>. The Bills actually ranked\u00a0right<\/em> behind Chicago in those grades. Believe it or not, Buffalo’s best pass rusher,\u00a0Jerry Hughes<\/a><\/strong>, was graded\u00a0above<\/em>\u00a0Khalil Mack<\/a><\/strong> during that time frame.<\/p>\n

Facing a decent pass rush for the second time in two weeks, Tom Brady is going to continue looking for his squirrely little slot receiver to get the ball out quickly. Edelman should be good for at least<\/p>\n

Patriots Wide Receiver Quick Notes<\/h2>\n