FOXBOROUGH — Must-win situations don’t exist in the first few weeks of the season, but the Patriots had the Jets in something resembling one last week.
This week, New England must react the same way its archrival did in a similar situation.
Maybe Phil Simms and Jim Nantz won’t be there. Maybe television rating records won’t be broken. Maybe the Patriots haven’t lost to this week’s opponent since Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski were in their first month of high school.
But that doesn’t change the fact that on Sunday at 1 p.m., we’ll find out something about the makeup of the 2010 Patriots. This game against the Bills is an opportunity for the team to assert its will on a lesser opponent, show its resiliency, and, most important, win a division game it has to have, as much as any team can at this time of year.
“Another big division game for us here this week,’’ said coach Bill Belichick. “Big division game. We always have a tough game with them. It’s always a physical game. We had a really hard time last year moving the ball, throwing the ball against them, so I hope we can have a little more production.’’
Belichick isn’t being completely truthful. It isn’t always tough with Buffalo.
The Patriots have a 13-game winning streak against the Bills, with six of those first nine games won by at least three touchdowns. The next two, even with Matt Cassel as quarterback, were multiple-possession victories.
But the last two were, indeed, too close for comfort. Were it not for a fumbled kickoff by Leodis McKelvin, and two touchdowns in the final 2:06, the Patriots would have lost last year’s season opener to Buffalo.
And three months later, New England needed a third and 6 converted at the edge of the two-minute warning to put away a 17-10 win over the Bills.
Now, take that, and realize how important beating Buffalo has been to the Patriots over the last four years — seriously — and you’ll see why this week’s game is a very, very big one.
Since 2006, the Patriots are 10-7 against the Dolphins and Jets, with the only sweeps against either team coming during the unbeaten regular season of 2007. New England split with Miami and New York in 2006, ’08, and ’09.
What separates the Patriots in the division in that period, more than anything else, has been their ability to take care of business against the Bills.
The Patriots have won all eight of their games over Buffalo in that span, while Miami has gone 4-5 (including its Week 1 win this season) and the Jets have been 4-4.
