The Patriots' two-minute offense has been remarkable this season. While it hasn't been called upon to win a game in the waning seconds of regulation, it has been near dominant at the end of the first half. New England has scored on its last possession of the first half in three straight games, in six of eight this season and seven of the last nine dating back to Super Bowl XXXVIII.

New England scored last-possession touchdowns this season against Pittsburgh, the Jets, Miami and Buffalo while kicking field goals against the Rams and Colts. It did not score on its final first half possession against the Cardinals and Seahawks but did score a touchdown to end the half against the Panthers in last year's Super Bowl.

"If you're confident in your two-minute offense and you execute it on the practice field, then you have the confidence to push the envelope in the game," coach Bill Belichick said. "It's definitely helped us this season."

The Patriots have scored 74 second quarter points this year and 34 of those have come on the team's final possession of the half.

--The Bills-Patriots matchup has been one-sided during the Tom Brady era in New England. Brady is 6-1 in seven starts against Buffalo, having completed 62 percent of his passes for 1,417 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions, four of which came in the 2003 season opener. He has a 90.8 passer rating against Buffalo. Drew Bledsoe, on the other hand, is 1-4 against the Patriots. He has completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,190 yards with five touchdowns and eight interceptions for a 68.8 passer rating.

--It's November, which makes it Patriots time. Counting the postseason, New England is 29-4 since 2001 in games played after Nov. 1 with three of those losses coming in 2002. It went 11-1 after Nov. 1 in 2001, 6-3 in 2002, 11-0 in 2003 and is 1-0 so far this season. The Rams, Raiders, Titans and Jets were the four teams to beat the Pats during that stretch, but New England is 4-0 against Buffalo over that period.

--Last year's meeting in Foxborough was a revenge game for the Patriots. After losing 31-0 in Buffalo to open the season, the Patriots laid a thumping on the Bills in the regular season finale in Foxborough by the same 31-0 score. The 13-2 Patriots had already clinched the division and a playoff bye, but played hard to the bitter end of the blowout, looking to preserve the shutout, which they did when Larry Izzo intercepted Travis Brown in the end zone to end the game. With New England headed for the postseason and Buffalo headed home, the win avenged the season opening loss, which was arguably the worst game in Tom Brady's career and the worst loss of the Belichick era.

--The Patriots have 23 sacks through eight games this season, putting them on pace for 46, which would be the team's most sacks in a season since 1986 when they record 48. Bledsoe has been a frequent victim of the New England defense since joining the Bills, having been sacked 17 times in the five meetings between the clubs, including six in the first meeting this year. But after allowing 23 sacks in is first six games this season, the Bills offensive front has gone two straight games without allowing Bledsoe to go down, which marks the first time since 1993 the Bills have gone consecutive games without allowing a sack.

--New England has won eight straight games against AFC East competition and is 17-3 in its last 20 division games. The defending division champs have not lost an AFC East game since last year's season opener at Buffalo and have beaten each divisional foe once this season.

--After two straight road games, the Patriots return home to Gillette Stadium this week where they have won 15 straight games. New England is 19-3 at Gillette since it opened in 2002 and the 15 straight regular and postseason wins is the longest home winning streak in the NFL. The Patriots last home loss was back on Dec. 22, 2002 when it lost to the Jets.

BY THE NUMBERS
7 - The total points Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri needs to reach 1,000 points for his career.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"My little league team. We only had 13 guys so I played defensive tackle and tight end." - Rodney Harrison on when the last time he saw players playing two-way football (offense-defense) the way players like Mike Vrabel, Richard Seymour and Troy Brown have this season for New England.

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