Buffalo Bills

AFC East Update: Week 7 Scores, Stats and Standings

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Oct 23, 2016; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy (25) looks on before the game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. AFC East. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Dolphins held their own against our visiting Buffalo Bills, which means we have two other AFC East games to go over for Week 7.

We’ve already covered the Buffalo Bills’ loss to the Miami Dolphins last week. It was a disappointing loss that we are ready to move past and continue down the path to excellence.

Every week, I go through and recap all of the games featuring an AFC East team — giving you a look at what’s happening around our division.

Upcoming Schedule

Don’t forget, if the Bills defeat the Patriots on Sunday then we still have a very solid chance at winning our division if we play well enough. It would take a lot of wins and a few key losses for the Patriots, but it’s definitely still possible.

With that being said, these divisional games are important whether or not the rival is a big threat or not. As we saw on Sunday, just because a team doesn’t really pose as a threat pre-game, doesn’t mean they aren’t a threat come gametime.

The Buffalo Bills still have half of their divisional games remaining (3) — including next week’s matchup vs. the New England Patriots. We’ve already coughed up two losses this season inside our division, so we will need to win all three of the next ones if we want a shot.

As for our divisional games last week, we have two to review: the New York Jets vs. the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers.

We’ll start with the Patriots-Steelers game.

Oct 23, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) talk after their game at Heinz Field. New England won 27-16. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The New England Patriots also had a road game last week, but unlike Buffalo they came away with a victory over a team the Bills will see in a few weeks.

Are you already sick of seeing Tom Brady win? If it makes you feel any better, the Buffalo Bills will have a chance to hand the Pats their second loss on the season next week. Keep in mind, we also handed them their first and only loss on the season in Week 4.

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For Week 7, the Pats were faced up against the Pittsburgh Steelers — who were forced to play without their starting quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. In his place, Landry Jones got the start for the Steelers and turned out a decent game behind center.

In fact, Jones would end up throwing for nearly 60 more yards than Brady in the game, who only finished with 222 yards for New England.

The first half was a game of runs. The Patriots were the team to strike first, although it took nearly 12 minutes for it to finally occur. It was a long drive that lasted close to 7:30 on the clock, 13 plays and went 80 yards. It was capped off with a 19-yard pass from Brady to James White, giving the Pats a 7-0 lead.

They would end up getting the ball back near the end of the first quarter and would turn out another nice drive that went 11 plays for 84 yards. This time, LeGarrette Blount finished the drive with a 3-yard rush, as New England enjoyed an early 14-0 lead. However, that’s when the Steelers would catch a groove.

In the pursuing drive, the Steelers drove the ball 71 yards on just 5 plays. The drive only lasted two minutes and was finished with a 14-yard pass from Jones to Darrius Heyward-Bey. Down one touchdown, not much else would happen the rest of the quarter until Chris Boswell hit a 32-yard field goal with two seconds left in the first half.

	1	2	3	4	T
Steelers	0	10	3	3	16
Patriots	7	7	6	7	27

The second half was much of the same for the Patriots, but less productive for the Steelers.

Pittsburgh would start the scoring off, though, with 8:44 left in the third quarter. It was a 46-yard field goal that brought the Patriots’ lead down to 1 with the game at 14-13. However, the Pats wouldn’t waste any time and would score a touchdown — 36 yard pass from Brady to Rob Gronkowski — in the following possession.

The third quarter ended 20-13 in the Pats’ favor after a missed extra point by Stephen Gostkowski.

The final quarter of play was shaped up just like the third quarter. A 44-yard field goal by Pittsburgh opened it up just 16 seconds in, a 5-yard rushing TD by Blount in the following possesion and before you knew it, the Patriots won 27-16.

Unfortunately, that means the Patriots now sit at 6-1, but it did make the Steelers’ record the same as the Bills’ record at 4-3.

Here’s a quick look at the top performers for each team:

New England Patriots’ Three Stars

Tom Brady: 19-26, 222 yards, 2 TD

LeGarrette Blount: 24 carries, 127 yards, 2 TD

Rob Gronkowski: 4 receptions, 93 yards, TD

Pittsburgh Steelers’ Three Stars

Landry Jones: 29-47, 281 yards, TD, INT

Le’Veon Bell: 21 carries, 81 yards

Antonio Brown: 7 receptions, 106 yards

Now, let’s move on to the New York Jets vs. Baltimore Ravens matchup.

Oct 23, 2016; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) calls a play during the second half at MetLife Stadium. The Jets defeated the Ravens 24-16. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Unfortunately, because of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s comeback vs. the Ravens, the Buffalo Bills were the only AFC East team to register a loss in Week 7.

Ever since Ryan Fitzpatrick — former Buffalo Bills’ quarterback and now with the New York Jets — torched the Bills’ defense in Week 2, he has been struggling mightily.

In Week 2 vs. the Bills, Fitzpatrick finished a strong 24/34 for 374 yards and one touchdown. Two of his receivers — Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker — finished above the 100-yard mark and Quincy Enunwa was close with 92 yards.

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The next four games for the Jets were horrendous with Fitzy behind center. The team lost all four games and Fitzpatrick had 2 touchdowns/10 interceptions over the span. It got to the point where Jets’ head coach was ready to make a change.

On Sunday vs. the Ravens, the Jets saw Geno Smith start at quarterback. He was having a fairly nice day, but it came to an end rather quickly when he left with an injury in the second quarter. Up to that point, he was 4/8 with 95 yards and one touchdown — adding a 7-yard run to that.

His lone touchdown came with one minute left in the first quarter and was a 69-yard bomb to Quincy Enunwa. It was a key moment in the game because the Jets were down 10-0 leading up to that after the Ravens scored a defensive touchdown and field goal.

In the second quarter, Ryan Fitzpatrick was forced to step back in as starter and that’s when the FitzMagic started to work. After a 49-yard field goal by the Ravens just 3 minutes in the quarter put them up 13-7, the Jets finally answered with a 13-yard passing touchdown from Fitzpatrick to Matt Forte. However, the Ravens would score another field goal as time expired in the first half.

The Jets were down 16-14 at halftime.

	1	2	3	4	T
Jets	7	7	10	0	24
Ravens	10	6	0	0	16

The third quarter is what made the difference for the Jets. Down by two points, the Jets regained the lead with 5 minutes left in the quarter after Nick Folk hit a 22-yard field goal. As time winded down in the third, Matt Forte ran the ball one yard for a TD, giving the Jets a 24-16 lead.

The fourth quarter was all defense and neither team scored, keeping the score at 24-16 by the final whistle. Fitzpatrick most likely regained his coach’s trust and with Geno Smith on the IR with a torn ACL, chances are they will stick with Fitzy the rest of the way.

Let’s take a look at the top performers from each team.

New York Jets’ Three Stars

Ryan Fitzpatrick: 9/14, 120 yards, TD

Matt Forte: 30 carries, 100 yards, TD, 4 receptions, 54 yards, TD

Quincy Enunwa: 2 receptions, 73 yards, TD

Baltimore Ravens’ Three Stars

Matt Judon: 3 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 tackles for loss

Mike Wallace: 10 receptions, 120 yards

Joe Flacco: 25/44, 248 yards, 2 INT

Now that we’ve recapped the AFC East games for Week 7, let’s see how the standings are looking headed into Week 8.

Keep in mind, the Bills will be hosting the New England Patriots on Sunday, making it a very important week for Buffalo.

Oct 2, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan shake hands after the game at Gillette Stadium. The Bills defeated the Patriots 16-0. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The Bills were the only AFC East team to not get a win last week, but they still have a chance to make a move vs. the Patriots in Week 8.

Real quick, let’s recap the scores from the AFC East last week.

Buffalo Bills lose to Miami Dolphins 28-25.

New England Patriots defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-16.

New York Jets defeat the Baltimore Ravens 24-16.

Alright, now let’s see how those results affected the AFC East standings through 7 weeks of NFL action.

New England Patriots

AFC East Standings

6-1Next three games: Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers

Buffalo Bills

AFC East Standings

4-3Next three games: New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals

Miami Dolphins

AFC East Standings

3-4Next three games: New York Jets, San Diego Chargers, Los Angeles Rams

New York Jets

AFC East Standings

The Buffalo Bills will host the New England Patriots on Sunday at 1:00 PM. They will have a chance to complete the sweep vs. the Pats after shutting them out in Week 4 16-0.

Go Buffalo!