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Chiefs http://www.thepatriotsfootballauthentic.com/shaq-mason-jersey-authentic , the New England Patriots need a quick turnaround as another big challenge awaits: the NFC North-leading Chicago Bears, who not only bring a 3-2 record to the table but also own top-10 units on both sides of the football. Safe to say, that this will be an interesting road contest for the Patriots.Let’s analyze it by taking a look at some of the advanced stats heading into the game (courtesy of SB Nation’s Bill Connelly; for his methodology please click here).Patriots offense vs Bears defenseNormal down and distance in the open fieldThe Patriots offense continues to improve its open field statistics and despite a bad start to the year, now ranks among the top-10 in three of the categories. On Sunday, though, a big challenge awaits in a Bears defense that has found plenty of success between its own 10 and the opposing 30: New England and Chicago are matched up evenly from a statistic perspective. That being said, the Patriots’ numbers over the last three games look much improved when compared to their first three – so one could give the edge to Tom Brady and company.Backed Up Situations Near the Goal LineNew England’s success rate while being backed up inside its own 10-yard line continues to be rather average with an interception in week one still hurting the turnover rate. The Bears, on the other hand, have also not been world beaters when having their opponent pinned deep in its own territory.Red ZoneThe Patriots continue to be one of the NFL’s better red zone teams, even though their success inside the 10-yard line has taken a slight hit when compared to last week’s advanced stats. This week, New England’s offense will face a defense that ranks well in exactly that part of the field – so now would be the right time to show some improvements from the Patriots’ perspective. Maybe Rob Gronkowski, who has only received one target inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, will help.Third DownsWhile their third-and-medium success rate is below average, the Patriots have one of the best overall third down offenses in football. Being able to extend drives has been a key for the team as of late – just watch the last two drives against Kansas City – and it will now try to do the same versus a defense that has been quite productive in this area as well. Talk about a classic battle of strength versus strength.Blitz SituationsNew England’s offense and Chicago’s defense are both faring relatively well in blitz situations – obvious passing downs specified as first-and-18 or more, second-and-14 or more, and third-and-3 or more – with the noticeable outlier being big plays: the Patriots have failed to produce them when playing behind the sticks, while the Bears have failed to stop them in the same kind of situations.Patriots defense vs Bears offenseNormal down and distance in the open fieldNew England’s defensive inconsistency is reflected in the open field statistics. Luckily Womens Cordarrelle Patterson Jersey , it still matches up well against second-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and the Bears. The only stat clearly working in the home team’s favor is third down success rate: New England has struggled getting off the field on third downs between their own 30 and the opponent’s 10, while the Bears have had no issues converting in such situations.Backed Up Situations Near the Goal LineNew England’s defense and Chicago’s offense match up rather evenly when it comes to backed-up situations: both teams have had some success in this area of the field – inside the offense’s own 10-yard line – which could make for an interesting battle if situations like these come along.Red ZoneThe Patriots like to use a bend-don’t-break approach when it comes to defense, which is built on strong red zone performances. This year, however, the team has had its fair share of struggles in this part of the field – although it has shown some improvement last week against the Chiefs. Now, the unit will face another one of the NFL’s better red zone offenses and being up to the task once again will be one of the keys to the game.Third DownsWhile the red area statistics clearly favor Chicago, the two teams are matched up rather evenly when it comes to third down situations: both units have their ups and downs depending on the situation. One would clearly favor the Bears, though: third-and-short. New England has been atrocious in stopping opponents with less than one yard to go.Blitz SituationsEven though the Bears have an explosive set of offensive weapons in Taylor Gabriel, Allen Robinson II and Tarik Cohen, the team has struggled when playing from behind the sticks. Getting Chicago in such situations would be big for the Patriots therefore, despite them having their own problems as well. However, this matchup still favors New England from a statistical perspective.If the advanced statistics are an indication, the Patriots and Bears are in for what could be a close game of strength versus strength (New England’s offense versus Chicago’s defense), and weakness versus weakness (New England’s defense versus Chicago’s offense). For the visitors, the following questions will need to be answered to decide both battles in their favor:Can the Patriots improve in the red zone on both sides of the ball?Can the Patriots defense force Chicago to play from behind the sticks?Can the Patriots win on third down?If New England is able to accomplish most of those things, it could very well sway the outcome in its favor. The New England Patriots took care of business against the Buffalo Bills and won 25-6. It wasn’t the most exciting game, but it counts as a win and the Patriots are creating some distance within the AFC East and in the AFC.Here’s what we learned.The Patriots didn’t have a running gameRunning backs James White and Kenjon Barner combined for 19 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries (1.9 yards per carry). Wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson led the Patriots with 38 rushing yards on 10 carries http://www.thepatriotsfootballauthentic.com/kyle-van-noy-jersey-authentic , while Julian Edelman added 13 yards on 2 carries. Tom Brady added 8 yards on an early scamper.In total, the Patriots had 78 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. They really missed having Sony Michel on the field and the lack of a running game had a major impact on the viability of the play-action game and the efficiency of the offense in the red zone.New England was able to get away with it this week because the Bills are terrible. They’ll need a rushing attack next week against the Green Bay Packers.Tom Brady had a very low-impact gameBrady had an effective day in the office, completing 29 of 45 passes (64.4%) for 324 yards, with no touchdowns or interceptions. He had...four, maybe five passes that anyone would consider “difficult” but it was entirely unnecessary because the Patriots didn’t have to do anything difficult to win.Brady spent much of his day dumping the ball off to James White (10 catches for 79 yards) or throwing it to Julian Edelman in the middle of the field (9 catches for 104 yards). It would have been nice if Brady were able to make any magic in the red zone (1 for 4, a fumble, for a net of +1 yards), but the Bills defense did a great job against the Patriots skill players.It honestly just felt like the Patriots were trying to “get through” this game as healthy as possible, with the hopes that Rob Gronkowski will be healthier next week and Sony Michel will be able to return to the lineup.The Patriots defense showed up against a weak opponentFootball Outsiders always preaches that the best teams show up against the weakest teams and don’t play to the level of the competition- and the Patriots defense rose to the occasion and crushed the terrible Bills offense. The defensive stars played as they should.Trey Flowers was the best player on the field and racked up two tackles for loss and a third for no gain, two quarterback hits, a pass defended. Kyle Van Noy was also excellent in the place of the inactive Dont’a Hightower, leading the Patriots with 8 tackles, 2 sacks, a forced fumble, and a tackle for loss.Lawrence Guy, Danny Shelton, and Malcom Brown combined for 2 tackles on the day http://www.thepatriotsfootballauthentic.com/ryan-allen-jersey-authentic , but the Bills running backs gained a mere 47 yards on 18 carries, with LeSean McCoy getting a laughable 13 yards on 12 carries.Credit also to the Patriots secondary, with Stephon Gilmore having another great game, holding Kelvin Benjamin to 2 catches for 45 yards on 7 targets, with 40 of those yards coming on a jump ball that he defended as well as he could. Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty did a good job against Charles Clay, holding the tight end to 3 catches for 36 yards on 6 targets. McCourty also returned an interception for a touchdown.Hopefully the Patriots defense can build off this and play better over the second half of the season.Special teams had an up-and-down dayThe Patriots didn’t have the best day on special teams, with Ryan Allen averaging an “as-unimpressive-as-it-sounds” 37.0 yards per punt average; the Bills four drives off of Allen punts started at an average of the 37-yard line. On the flip side, Julian Edelman was penalized for an unsportsmanlike penalty that pinned the Patriots on their own 5-yard line.Stephen Gostkowski had a strong day, hitting field goals from 25-, 40-, 38-, and 25-yards and missing one from 50-yards. He also connected on his extra point and did well on his kickoffs with four touchbacks and the Bills starting on an average of the 22-yard line on kicks they returned.The first half of the 2018 NFL Season is in the books.The (6-2) Patriots now have a 2.5-game lead in the AFC East, with the head-to-head tiebreaker over the (4-4) Miami Dolphins. The (3-5) New York Jets and (2-6) Buffalo Bills are pretty far in the rearview mirror as the Patriots are on pace to win their 15th division title in the past 16 years.Within the AFC, the Patriots trail the (7-1) Kansas City Chiefs, but hold the head-to-head tiebreaker if they wind up with matching records at the end of the year. The (5-2) Los Angeles Chargers have the third-best record in the AFC and are second in the AFC West.The (4-2-1) Pittsburgh Steelers somehow lead the AFC North ahead of the (5-3) Cincinnati Bengals and (4-4) Baltimore Ravens, which adds import to the Patriots-Steelers showdown in week 15; the winner has a strong chance of getting a first round bye.Meanwhile, the (5-3) Houston Texans have a strong lead in the AFC South ahead of the (3-4) Tennessee Titans and (3-5) Jacksonville Jaguars. The Patriots have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Texans Youth Stephen Gostkowski Jersey , again cementing New England in strong position in the conference.The Patriots are 6-2, which is par for the course under head coach Bill Belichick. Only four Patriots teams have started better (8-0 in 2007 and 2015; 7-1 in 2004 and 2016), with the 2003, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2017 Patriots also all starting 6-2.The Belichick teams that didn’t were the 2000-02, 2005, 2008, and 2011-12 Patriots. It’s good to note that the Patriots have made every single AFC Championship Game since that 2011 season and that means they’re right on track for the second half of the year.