FanPost

Why We Will See a Different Team on Sunday

I'm putting all my eggs into one basket. I believe we're going to win on Sunday. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we win by double digits. 

Here's why.

If I was Chan Gailey, in January I would've started thinking about the first Patriots-Bills game of this season. I would've concluded that this game is truly as close to a playoff game as anything we will have played in a decade. That if we win, there's no reason we can't go all the way (if not this year then soon). That if we beat our nemesis, the fans would be more galvanized and amped up than in a long, long time. That a new era had finally begun. That my job security was absolutely fine.

Further, once I started game planning for the beginning of the year, I would've looked at the first two games as being a) actually fairly winnable, and b) not essential to the outcome of the season. I would've been okay with going 1-1. In other words, I would've actually planned fairly vanilla gameplans for both games. I would've saved my best stuff for week 3.

I actually believe that this is exactly what Gailey has done, that brilliant schemer. Don't get me wrong, I think he's been coaching his freakin' mind out in Weeks 1 & 2. But I feel like on both sides of the ball we've actually been pretty standard. No exotic blitzes. Not much wildcat. Not many creative uses of Spiller. No trick plays (or special team trick plays). Fairly standard D and O packages.

Here's my hunch: Gailey is going to unleash every single trick in his bag upon the Patriots. I know this is "blasphemy" according to the shared wisdom of the NFL today, but I think we are going to outcoach the Patriots on Sunday. And I think it is going to work.

Oh and by the way, I think players like Kyle Williams, Fred Jackson, Fitzpatrick, etc., have also had this game circled on their calendar for a long time. This is their playoff game. If you want proof, look at the many tweets of players showing up early to review film and gameplan yesterday and today. We want it way more than the Pats do. And they have way more to lose.

I just drank two beers, and I'm feeling great. So forgive me if this strikes you as shallow thinking or blind homerism. But my very, very bold prediction is this: Bills 38, Pats 27. That's all I have to say about that.

Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.