The Bills are feeling their oats right now, fired up about their upcoming game against the Patriots.
And their fans are following suit, creating an atmosphere as loud as Ralph Wilson Stadium has been in years.
But Patriots coach Bill Belichick knows how to stop that.
“We always expect crowd noise on the road,” Belichick said, via Tom Curran of CSNNE.com. “That’s something we’re ready for every week if we play away games. I’m sure it’ll be loud there. It’s loud everywhere. It’s a lot louder when you’re not doing well. If you’re moving the ball and getting first downs that tends to quiet it. If you’re ahead that quiets it too. It’ll be as loud as we allow it to be.”
That caught the attention of the Bills official Twitter feed, which seemed amused by Belichick’s apparent lack of fear of their aural capabilities.
But Belichick admitted that the kind of swagger the Bills are trading in now, on and off the field, can be a factor.
“Emotion’s definitely a part of football,” he said. “A good part of it. As a team you don’t ever want to lose that. Usually, high emotion, high energy leads to better execution. I think that’s a good thing but at the same time, there’s a line you can cross where you end up getting a penalty or overreacting to something or being vulnerable to something else – a reverse or a pass – whatever it is that can set you back. It’s a balance.
“Emotion is part of it. It’s a good thing, it’s not a bad thing. But you don’t want to negatively let it affect you. High energy and positive emotion can go a long way. There is a balance there.”
At the moment, the Bills fans seem to be tipping the scales.