Buffalo vs New England Pointspread Preview

Buffalo at New England (-11, 47) – 7 PM ET

Get your popcorn ready, because Terrell Owens and the Bills could be in for a long night in their season opener against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

Buffalo needed a boost after going 7-9 (7-9 ATS) last year, and they hope to get it with the mercurial Owens now on board. Things didn’t go very smoothly in the preseason for the Bills, who went 1-4 (1-3-1 ATS). Buffalo’s first-team offense scored only three points in 15 series in the preseason, so it fired offensive coordinator Turk Schonert a little over a week ago.

New play caller Alex Van Pelt plans to employ the same no-huddle offense as his predecessor, but there’s little doubt the transition phase is going to cost the Bills on Monday night. Buffalo would have a tough go of it at the best of times – it hasn’t defeated New England since 2003 – so switching offensive coordinators a week before the season clearly doesn’t help matters.

There’s also the problem of Brady, who makes his return under center for the Pats after missing virtually all of 2008 with a knee injury. New England cashed in both meetings last season without Brady, and has won 11 straight games (9-2 ATS) against Buffalo. The average score during the streak is 29-9, although that’s skewed by the Pats’ 56-10 drubbing as 16-point road chalk the last time Brady faced the Bills in 2007.

Bill Belichick brings a new-look defense into the season, and how it performs will determine New England’s success at the window in 2009. Gone are veterans Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi, and Richard Seymour, the latter of whom was dealt to Oakland just last week. The unit figures to be led by linebackers Jerod Mayo and Adalius Thomas, while newcomers Leigh Bodden and Shawn Springs bolster the secondary.