Bills Run Defense Reverts To Old Form Against Patriots

In two consecutive wins over the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins, the Buffalo Bills - who have had the NFL's worst run defense since very early in the 2010 season - shut down the likes of Peyton Hillis, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams in two solid performances defending the run. Last week, we talked about Buffalo's need to have a similar performance against a New England Patriots team that put up 200 rushing yards in a 38-30 win over the Bills in Week 3.

It was a nice idea, and it certainly didn't come to fruition. The Patriots racked up 217 yards on the ground in yesterday's 34-3 throttling of the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Buffalo once again proved that it can't handle any type of competent offense, nor any particular player type within those schemes. Rough-and-tumble runner BenJarvus Green-Ellis averaged 5.5 yards on his 19 carries, while scat back Danny Woodhead put up an average of 7.2 yards on his 13 carries, and added a 29-yard touchdown run to open the scoring for the Patriots.

The only way to slow down New England's vaunted offense is to make their attack one-dimensional. Buffalo didn't do that, and as a result, the Pats maintained balance and Tom Brady had all day to throw, as he surgically picked apart the Bills' secondary to the tune of three touchdowns. He only needed 140 passing yards to get it done.

This was the seventh time in 15 games that the Bills have surrendered over 200 rushing yards this season. It kind of goes without saying that Buffalo is 0-7 in those games. They get the New York Jets in Week 17 - a team that has averaged 280 rushing yards in their last three games against the Bills.