Buffalo Bills Coach Rex Ryan ‘Can’t Wait’ To Host New England Patriots In Week 2
USA Today
Perhaps the biggest upset of NFL Week 1 was the Buffalo Bills crushing the Indianapolis Colts. Head coach Rex Ryan had his new team firing on all cylinders resulting in a dominant performance that made quarterback Andrew Luck look more like a rookie than a three-time Pro Bowler.
In Week 2, the Bills will be at home once again with the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots coming to town. Ryan has a long history going up against the Patriots and is looking forward to facing off against the division rivals on Sunday, via Boston Herald:
“I can’t wait to see what our fans are going to be like when you have the hated Patriots — I mean, this kind of rival coming in,” Ryan said at a press conference.
Although it never takes much to get Ryan’s juices flowing, the Pats always bring out a little something extra in the ever-quotable coach whose team stands at 1-0 after a 27-14 win over the Colts on Sunday.
“I’m looking forward to it. I’m so glad that we play the game here,” he said. “So that’s gonna be fun.”
New England is coming off a big win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL season opener last Thursday. Tom Brady and company went head-to-head in a hard fought battle against Mike Tomlin’s squad with the superstar quarterback throwing four touchdowns in the win. All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski was the recipient of three of the touchdown passes with the Steelers defense simply unable to keep up.
Ryan talked about facing Gronkowski this weekend, via ESPN:
“He’s a big, huge dude now,” Ryan continued. “Now he’s like 6-8, 6-7, whatever he is. And he moves good. Guy makes so many … you know, he can adjust on the … I don’t care if it’s short, long, whatever. I mean, he’s got great body control. He’s just a huge target. And he can run a lot better than I think people know.”
Gronkowski may have had injury issues throughout his NFL career, but when healthy, it’s easy to make a case for him being the best tight end in the league. Ryan and company will likely focus most of their efforts defensively to containing Gronkowski while also putting as much pressure as possible on Brady.
As of right now, Sportsbook.ag has the Patriots as slight favorites to win on the road in Buffalo on Sunday with a -1.5 point spread. Although New England appeared to be in top form in Week 1, the Bills could give them a run for their money in Week 2 potentially pulling off another upset.
