Did Rex Ryan's players take that personally? "Of course," said safety Duke Williams ahead of Monday night's rematch, per The Buffalo News.
"When someone puts up numbers like that on a defense like ours, it's a concern," Williams said. "We're better than we were then. We went back, watched film, watched our mistakes and figured out what we need to do better. And we're going to get it done on Monday."
That Week 2 matchup saw wideout Julian Edelman haul in 11 catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns, while breakout satellite back Dion Lewis ran for 40 yards and a score while piling up another 98 yards through the air. With both out of commission, cornerback Stephon Gilmore acknowledged, per ESPN.com, that tight end Rob Gronkowski becomes the unquestioned point of focus, saying: "We got a game plan to take him out of the game. We're gonna be ready for him."
It's easy to assume New England will keep rolling no matter who they plug in, but losing Lewis and Edelman in back-to-back weeks limits what the Patriots can do on offense, leading play-caller Josh McDaniels to remind us, per the Boston Herald: "There's nobody that's going to go in and just take Julian's place."
From that angle, Buffalo's task is less formidable than it was in early September, but Ryan knows the game boils down to the Bills handling their own business, saying of the early season romp: "We're better than that. We are better than that."
