Bills shut out Patriots 16-0; Are They (Re)Making History?

Somewhere, Lawyer Milloy is smiling.

The Buffalo Bills circled the wagons for a second week in a row, coming into Gillette Stadium and shocking the New England Patriots 16-0. It was their first home shutout since 1993, and recalled the legendary Lawyer Milloy Bowl of 2003, when the Pro Bowl safety—cut by the Pats just days before—led the Bills to a stunning 31-0 win in the season opener.

At the time, the win seemed like the changing of the guard in the AFC East: The Pats had narrowly missed the playoffs the season after their upset Super Bowl win, and the Bills had just completely outclassed them.

It was a similar story today: The Bills dominated the Patriots in every phase of the game, third-string quarterback Jacoby Brissett looked far more like a vulnerable rookie than he had the previous week and the Pats defense struggled to tackle LeSean McCoy or contain a Bills offense that lacked their best receiver.

It was bound to happen, wasn't it? After three straight games of pulling a football rabbit out of his coaching hat, Bill Belichick could only do so much with read-option trickeration against a hot, talented Bills defense coming off a huge win against Arizona. Rex Ryan, of course, always makes it entertaining when he comes into Gillette, for good or for ill.

With the Patriots looking forward to the return of Tom Brady, and Jimmy Garoppolo a surprise injury scratch, this early-season game against a talented, desperate division rival was the perfect pin to pop their undefeated balloon.

Back in 2003, the Lawyer Milloy Bowl ended up being a completely irrelevant footnote to the season: The Pats only lost one more game all season, eventually winning the Super Bowl, while the Bills ended the year 6-10.

With Brady coming back against the Cleveland Browns in Week 5, and the Bills' inconsistency on offense, history is on track to repeat itself in 2016.