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Mario Williams Will Be X-Factor For Buffalo Bills In Week 6

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By @NickSonofDave

Mario Williams Buffalo Bills

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Now that Tom Brady has pulled a “Kill Bill”-type maneuver by digging out of the grave everyone around the NFL put him in last week, perhaps we can take comfort in knowing the New England Patriots are still a pretty good football team. The Buffalo Bills will be trying to stop them in a huge divisional showdown this week, and the Bills will need a big performance from their own big-money superstar Mario Williams.

While the Bills played the Patriots better last year than they have in the past, they still weren’t able to topple their toughest foes at home or on the road. As is always the case, the key to victory is getting to Tom Terrific and forcing him into tough situations. For the first time in a long time, the Bills may have the personnel to do just that.

Buffalo’s defense has been among the best in football this year, sitting near the top of many statistical rankings. The Bills are eighth in total defense, second in run defense, fourth in takeaways and first in sacks. It all starts with arguably the best defensive line in the league. Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams are a dominant interior tandem, though Williams missed last week’s game to injury. Jerry Hughes flies under the radar but currently has three sacks and had a huge game in Buffalo’s Week 5 win over the Detroit Lions.

But the man that the Bills need to make the biggest impact this Sunday is Super Mario. Like his fellow linemen, Williams is having a very nice season, tallying 3.5 sacks through the first five weeks of the season. But he has yet to have the dominant performance this year that everyone expects on occasion from a former No. 1 overall pick. Sunday’s matchup against the Pats could be the perfect opportunity. While New England’s offense clearly had their best game of the season in last week’s dominant win over the Cincinnati Bengals, their offensive line has been the subject of a lot of criticism so far. Left tackle Nate Solder has had his struggles this year, as is the case with the rest of the Patriots’ offensive line.

Williams’ impact won’t be able to be substantially measured by numbers alone. Sacks are among the most misleading stats in football. As long as Williams is able to put pressure on Brady and free up his teammates to create pressure of their own, the number of sacks he records will be inconsequential. For the first time in recent memory, the Bills’ defense is better than the Patriots’ offense. If Williams can make that the case on Sunday, then the Bills will be able to take control of the game and in turn, the AFC East.

Nick Richardson is an NFL blogger covering the Buffalo Bills for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickSonofDave, Like him on Facebook or add him to your circles on Google.

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