ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- First place won't be on the line this Sunday when the Buffalo Bills host the New England Patriots, but that might only increase the Bills' urgency as they look to recover from their collapse Sunday in Miami.
"I don't know how much more important it could be than this one," Bills coach Rex Ryan said Monday. "I could lie to you and say it's not important, but this is a critical game for us. There's no doubt about it. Does it break your season if you lose? I hope I don't have to worry about that. We got to find a way to win this game."
Had the Bills held their 17-6 third-quarter lead over the Dolphins and improved their record to 5-2, Buffalo would have had an opportunity to overtake the Patriots, now 6-1, in the AFC East. Instead, the Bills enter this Sunday's game with a 4-3 record and are staring down perhaps their final chance to keep pace with New England in the division.
Buffalo's schedule doesn't ease up, either. The Bills travel cross-country to play the Seattle Seahawks, who are 4-1-1, on Monday Night Football on Nov. 7 before beginning their bye week.
"We're going to measure ourselves against the two best now," Ryan said Monday of the Bills' two upcoming games. "We're going to find out all about us. After a game like this, where we clearly never played or coached as good as we need to, the ultimate test is right in front of us."
The Bills defeated the Patriots in Week 4, shutting out rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett and New England's offense for a 16-0 victory. If Buffalo wins this Sunday, it would be its first season sweep of the Patriots since 1999, and the first time that New England has been swept by a division opponent since Tom Brady became the starter in 2001.
This Sunday's game will also be the first meeting between the teams since a pregame fight Oct. 2 at Gillette Stadium that resulted in the NFL fining Bills defensive backs Aaron Williams, Robert Blanton and Nickell Robey-Coleman.
"These two teams don't like each other, there's no question about that," Ryan said Monday. "But I don't think there was a real fight, you know? A real fight would be outside in a parking lot, you know what I mean? Then you really got something to write about. But that thing was hardly a fight."
Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola, who was not involved in the altercation, had sharp comments about the Bills the next day.
"It pissed me off," Amendola told WEEI Radio. "I'm not going to forget about that. ... We're going to see them again."
Bills players were not available Monday to speak to reporters, and Williams' status for the game is in question after a hit by Dolphins receiver Jarvis Landry that sent the Bills' safety to the hospital. Blanton is a candidate to start in Williams' place if he cannot play.