ROLE REVERSAL ATOP THE AFC EAST ALMOST COMPLETE
OK, you slot the team. Your choices are the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills.
One team's defence just got mangled on the road and its offence has a passer problem so dire, it's anybody's guess who will QB the team next year.
The other team and its Mvp-calibre quarterback has a home game on Sunday night — the NFL'S glitziest weekly time slot — against powerhouse Pittsburgh, with potential top-tier AFC playoff seeding on the line.
That the struggling team is New England and the soaring team is Buffalo is about as 2020 as it gets — a wholesale pancake flip of these AFC East rivals' lot in NFL life over the previous 20 years.
Ding-dong, the witch really is dead. Or, at least, on life support.
Bills fans have to be pinching themselves and asking: Is this really happening?!
It is.
And the gap between the 9-3 Bills and 6-7 Patriots seems likely to widen by the regular season's scheduled end on Jan. 3.
The Patriots got clobbered Thursday night by the Los Angeles Rams 24-3 in a game in which all of New England's shortfalls in talent at key positions seemed to expose themselves all at once, play after play, on both sides of the ball.
It started with quarterback Cam Newton, who proved again that if he can't be effective running with the rock, the Patriots fall behind. Then he's all but useless as a come-from-behind passer. The comeback task was made all the more difficult Thursday against Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers and that savage Rams pass rush, while L.A.'S strong secondary blanketed New England's subpar pass catchers.
Is it time to bench Newton, who's nearing the end of a one-season contract, and see what second-year greenhorn Jason Stidham can do? Or, after watching the game film, was Patriots head coach Bill Belichick still of the opinion on Friday — as he was post-game — that Newton remains his starter?
“Yeah, I've answered that question for the last time,” Belichick said.
Well, alrighty then. So, make a note, no quarterback controversy in New England.
For now anyway.
Thing is, the Bills' magic number is down to one for eliminating the Patriots from extending their NFL record for consecutive division titles to 12. One more win and the Bills hit 10, while the most the Pats can now get is nine.
The end of an era is nigh.
BEANE ` STABILIZED'
As for the Bills, the club announced Thursday it has re-signed GM Brandon Beane to a multi-year extension, as it did earlier this year with head coach Sean Mcdermott.
The duo together have transformed the Bills franchise from a tomato can into a possible AFC East champion, with a third playoff berth in four years come next month. The Bills under “Mc/ Beane” are 34-26 (.567), by far their best four-year stretch since the 1990s.
Beane spoke with reporters on Friday, and in explaining why he was happy to sign the extension, he underscored stability.
“I'm a stable guy,” he said, per Buffalobills.com. “I don't want to be picking my family up and (leaving). I put a lot into this place and (what) we have here. I want to see this place win for a long time. And that's the goal. And I want to be here to see a lot of it.”
INJURY UPDATES
Here's some of what we learned on Friday.
New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is questionable for Sunday's home game against Arizona, as he recovers from a nasty hamstring pull.
Denver quarterback Drew Lock suffered tightened back muscles in Wednesday's practice but “has been fine since,” head coach Vic Fangio said.
Atlanta WR Julio Jones (hamstring) has been ruled out of Sunday's game at the Los Angeles Chargers.
Carolina RB Christian Mccaffrey (thigh) is doubtful, but the Panthers activated three players off Covid-19/reserve including starting WR Curtis Samuel.
Lions RB D'andre Swift (illness, concussion) might play for the first time in a month, but WR Kenny Golladay (hip) is out vs. Green Bay.
Tampa Bay WR Mike Evans' hamstring issue won't prevent him from playing Sunday vs. Minnesota.
Philadelphia G/T Jason Peters will have surgery on an injured toe and his season is done.
EXTRA POINTS
Houston placed RB David Johnson on Covid-19/reserve.