The Patriots will open their division slate Sunday afternoon Buffalo with a game against the Bills. In this edition of “Scout’s Take,” one NFL scout who has watched both the Patriots and the Bills takes a look at some of the points of emphasis for New England heading into Sunday’s game. (Per usual, we have the scout’s statements in italics, with our notes underneath.)

“Against Buffalo, Tom Brady and Patriots will need to do a good job of mixing in runs and screens to slow down a Bills pass rush that is facing an occasionally inconsistent offensive line. The Patriots should be able to run the ball -- and even create the impression that they are willing to run the ball -- even if not successful early. The different screens the Patriots run will get the ball out of Brady’s hands quick, and also make the defensive line run and chase and hopefully tire them out over the long haul. The screen game will essentially be extended handoffs.”

Expect a sizable dose of the New England running backs this week against the Bills. While Buffalo is slightly better than average when it comes to defending the run (the Bills have allowed an average of 100.3 rushing yards per game, 14th in the league), Buffalo features an aggressive defense -- particularly up front -- that is occasionally prone to over pursuit, which would make them vulnerable to things like screens. Josh McDaniels has shown an affinity for screens in the past, and while the Patriots haven’t shown screens an awful lot over the early stages of the regular season, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them bust out a couple against the Bills. (Expect New England to try and push the tempo again with lots of no-huddle on offense to try and tire out Buffalo’s big defensive line.)

“Bills pressure will be different than what the Patriots faced last week vs. Baltimore -- Baltimore brought more pressure from different looks, where they would overload a side and bring rushers from different places. Buffalo is built to get pressure with their front four. They will look for match-ups and try to use inside rushes to prevent Brady from stepping up in the pocket and allow big-money edge rushers to get there against the Patriots tackles.”

The Buffalo pass rush has nine sacks through the first three games (by way of comparison, the other three AFC East teams have combined for 10), and remain the strength of the Buffalo defense. As we mentioned above, one way to slow them down is through the use of screens. (In that vein, it would be an excellent week for running back Shane Vereen -- probably their best option as a receiver out of the backfield -- to get healthy. Not sure how many snaps he’d get, but he’d present another option as a possibility in the screen game.) Another way to keep the heat off Brady is with the use of an extra tight end, or continuing to utilize Rob Gronkowski more as a blocker as opposed to a pass catcher. (Something we discussed here.) Regardless, don’t expect Brady to be taking too many seven-step drops and flinging it deep against a pass rush that can get after you sooner rather than later.

“The passing game will adjust without Aaron Hernandez by looking for favorable matchups with different personnel groups and formations. Brady will try to use Buffalo defensive looks pre-snap looks and tendencies as the game continues to develop. They will use the quickness of Deion Branch, Wes Welker and -- if he’s healthy -- Julian Edelman to create some favorable mismatches and create space with quickness and size. The presence of Rob Gronkowski and how they play him will dictate where potential mismatches will be, and how they address Gronkowski could also expose some weaknesses in the run game.”

Last Sunday against the Ravens, the Patriots were without Aaron Hernandez, and ended up using a variety of options in the passing game to try and pick up the slack. Expect the same thing this week. Without Hernandez in the lineup, Wes Welker and Brandon Lloyd had their best games of the young season, with Welker going for eight catches on 10 targets for 142 yards and Lloyd finishing with nine catches on 12 targets for 108 yards. (If Edelman can’t go because of the hand issue, expect more snaps for Branch.) And even if he does get more work as a blocker, Gronkowski has always thoroughly decimated the Bills: in four games against Buffalo, he has 22 catches for 314 yards and seven touchdowns. Those numbers represent his best numbers against any opponent.

“The Patriots must disrupt timing of Buffalo passing game and make Ryan Fitzpatrick uncomfortable. The Buffalo offense is based off quick reads and decisions. C.J. Spiller has added speed in the running game, and the difference between Spiller and Jackson is the speed to exploit defense. Jackson runs hard, has vision and is a quality back, but Spiller speed exploits creases in defense created by the spacing of Buffalo’s offense. If Spiller is out, an explosive element is gone from Buffalo’s game plan. New England must gang-tackle Jackson -- he’s strong enough to break through the initial hit -- and hit Spiller often.”

At this point, it appears that Fred Jackson will be good to go this week against the Patriots. (That could always change, but according to this report, Jackson worked for most of practice on Thursday, while C.J. Spiller was limited.) If it’s Jackson, the Patriots will be facing a bigger, more physical back that has a greater capability of making yards after contact than Spiller. As our scout says, the 6-foot-1, 216-pound Jackson needs to be gang-tackled to make sure he doesn’t get through the initial point of impact. (For what it’s worth, if you’re comparing Jackson and Spiller against New England, Jackson has 93 carries for 465 yards -- an average of 5 yards per carry -- and one touchdown in eight career games against the Patriots. Meanwhile, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound Spiller has 24 carries for 122 yards -- 5.1 yards per carry -- and zero touchdowns in four games against New England.)