Belichick, Pats set to move on, brace for Bills
FOXBOROUGH, MASS. (AP)
Any
team that went 13-3 last season, won a division title with ease and
advanced to the Super Bowl, is going to create a buzz if it stumbles
out of the gate the following season.
Add the fact that it's the New England Patriots, and it's that much
more magnified.
But
Patriots coach Bill Belichick is taking it all in stride. On the same
day he was fined by the league for making contact with an official
Sunday night, New England's leader had already moved on by Wednesday.
''I
think the most important thing for us is just to focus on this week,''
Belichick said. ''There isn't really anything we can do about any other
game other than the present. Nothing in the past, nothing in the
future. We're just going to focus on this one.''
This one,
though, won't be easy either. On Sunday, New England (1-2) will take on
the resurgent Bills (2-1) in Buffalo, a team that is - gulp! - tied
with the Jets atop the AFC East.
''They're very explosive
offensively. They have good players at every position. Their offensive
line is solid,'' Belichick said of Buffalo. ''They have good players at
every position and (Bills coach) Chan (Gailey) does an outstanding job
game planning and utilizing his personnel and putting pressure on the
defense. They're a very good offensive football team. It's a big
challenge for us.''
After a year to forget on defense, New
England has improved on that side of the ball, just not enough to
result in wins. The Patriots have allowed 64 points, the fewest in the
division.
On offense, quarterback Tom Brady is averaging 295.7
yards passing per game. But he's been sacked seven times and the
offense hasn't quite sustained drives like it planned on.
''Our
team (has) done some good things and we've done some things we need to
do better,'' he said. ''Some things we need to do better, we need to
coach better, we need to play better, we need to be more consistent and
that goes for every phase of our game: offense, defense, special teams,
players, coaches and it certainly extends to each individual.''
The
Patriots' road from here is not easy. They don't have their bye until
the first weekend in November, and after the Bills, they must play
Denver, Seattle and the Jets in succession.
''There are things
that individually we can all do better and need to work on and need to
do better. That's the focus for our whole team,'' Belichick said. ''We
all need to improve and hopefully that will make a difference if we can
do that.''
As for the fine, he was docked $50,000 for his
conduct toward the replacement officials. Belichick grabbed an
official's arm at the end of Sunday night's game after the Ravens
kicked a winning field goal.
''It was inappropriate for me to
contact the official. I take responsibility for what happened,''
Belichick said in statement released by the team after his press
conference with the media. '' I accept the discipline and I apologize
for the incident Sunday night in Baltimore.''
Join other fans in the Forums: Patriots Talk
For more Patriots news follow us via Twitter:
Or find us on Facebook : Facebook.com/PatriotsInsider
|