Boston Herald

Horri-Bill warmup act

Typical Buffalo to lose focus vs. Pats

- Twitter: @RonBorges

They have many things in Buffalo, including hot wings at Duff’s, but what the youthful Bills of Buffalo don’t quite have yet is perspectiv­e. At least that’s what it has been sounding like this week as several of their young defensive players remain fixated more on what might happen before the game than what has consistent­ly happened during games against their upcoming opponent.

“We’re not gonna let nobody push us around,” cornerback Stephon Gilmore promised, warning that he and his teammates are ready to retaliate if the Patriots try to walk through their warmup area Sunday at New Era Field as unsuspecti­ng rookie quarterbac­k Jacoby Brissett mistakenly did a month ago and nearly started a riot at Gillette Stadium.

Such disrespect, Gilmore and a number of his teammates have promised, will be harshly dealt with.

“You know what I’m saying?” Gilmore added.

Not exactly, but here’s what I’m saying. When you’ve lost 25-of-28 games to Tom Brady and are 4-27 this decade against your next opponent I’d be more concerned with how they’ve walked over my face for 15 years than how they’ve walked through my calistheni­cs line.

Such a response is typical of a young team not yet sure of itself, which these Bills are not despite having beaten a Brady-less form of the Patriots last month in Foxboro. Perhaps it has not yet struck Mr. Gilmore but if you don’t want to be disrespect­ed by your opponent try beating them where it counts, which is not in pregame warmups.

The Bills left Foxboro last month feeling they won both the fight and the game and might be justified in feeling pretty good about themselves this week had they not gone down to Miami last Sunday and played like the Three Stooges with eight accomplice­s.

Former New York Jets coach Herman Edwards once famously said, “You play to win THE GAME!” He did not say, “You play to win THE PREGAME.” The Bills won neither last week, forgetting that every game counts, not just the ones with the Patriots.

“It’s gonna be a very emotional game,” Gilmore promised. “This game means a lot. We got to get this win to get to where we wanna go. So this is probably one of the biggest games of the season.”

Indeed it is but so was last week’s and that didn’t seem to enter the Bills’ collective minds as they stumbled and bumbled around Hard Rock Stadium until they ended up between a rock and a hard place.

Blowing that game lessened the significan­ce of this one for the Patriots, who enter it holding a two-game lead over the Bills despite having already lost to them. Had Unhappy Gilmore and Co. taken care of their business, this would truly have been a big game because Buffalo would not only be in position to become the first AFC LEast team to sweep the Patriots in 15 years but more importantl­y be in position to have taken over the division lead.

Now they’re in position to trail by a game at best or be three out with half the season gone at worst. If the latter ends up being the case, and I would not bet against it, they are more than three down in the division. They are finished.

The Patriots know this and wisely have spent the week fixating on the Bills and their talented and relentless young quarterbac­k, Tyrod Taylor. The only time they spoke about pregame fights was when it was brought to their attention that a number of Bills seem concerned about that.

This led the Patriots to say collective­ly, “We usually worry about winning the game not the pregame.” Now that is disrespect. While the Bills worry about not being disrespect­ed before the game, the Patriots concentrat­e on disrespect­ing them during the game.

One guy who seems to have gotten that is young Taylor, who is no Brady but is a scrappy kid with more talent than most people in these parts give him credit for.

“Our execution and our attention to detail has to be very important to us this week as far as staying ahead of change and playing our game,” cautioned Taylor, who seemed unconcerne­d if Brady wanted to join him for some pregame pilates since it won’t make a damn bit of difference once the real game begins.

“Playing smart football with no penalties and just going out there and executing. If we do that, we have a good chance. Just taking it one play at a time, I think that has to be our focus in this game.”

That last comment is one difference between the Patriots, who have gone 27-4 against the Bills in the Brady era, and the Bills, who have gone 4-27 against the Patriots. Taking it one play at a time is the Patriots’ focus every game.

It was their focus last week in Pittsburgh and will be Sunday in Buffalo. One game is the same as the next, none more or less important than its predecesso­r.

The Bills, however, seem to be looking at Sunday as some sort of apocalypti­c moment, a statement game both in the stretching line and on the goal line. They are sadly mistaken about that.

Not many statements get made in October in the NFL unless you are the Cleveland Browns, who have already stated that their season is over. For most good teams however, you play to win this game and then move on to the next. The statements come at the end of the season, not before Halloween.

The Patriots don’t waste time talking about demanding respect because they know they long ago won it from the Bills by beating the chicken wings off them time and again. A month ago that didn’t happen for a lot of reasons, chief of them being that Brady was in exile. Sunday he’ll be in Buffalo. Big difference, as Unhappy Gilmore and his growling teammates know.

Maybe that’s why they seem so fixated on winning Sunday’s pregame warmup. It’s very likely the only thing they’ll win.

 ?? AP PHOTO ?? PLAYING FROM BEHIND: Cornerback Stephon Gilmore chases Julian Edelman during one of the Bills’ many losses to the Patriots. The teams meet again Sunday at New Era Field.
AP PHOTO PLAYING FROM BEHIND: Cornerback Stephon Gilmore chases Julian Edelman during one of the Bills’ many losses to the Patriots. The teams meet again Sunday at New Era Field.
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