Bills @ Dolphins, Patriots @ Steelers and Seahawks @ Cardinals live on Sky Sports 2
Monday 24 October 2016 00:06, UK
Sunday sees plenty more exciting NFL action on Sky Sports, with Sky Sports Mix the home for Redzone and Sky Sports 2 showing three live games kicking off with some British interest.
We start out with the Miami Dolphins, who will look to follow up their excellent win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday when London-born Jay Ajayi put himself in the spotlight - they face the improving Buffalo Bills.
After that we get to sit back and enjoy Tom Brady in action for the first time this season as the New England Patriots face a Pittsburgh Steelers team badly hurt by the absence of injured quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
And Sunday concludes with what could be a defence-dominated clash between the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals, who were impressive winners last weekend.
BILLS @ DOLPHINS - from 5.30pm
It's the AFC East in focus first, with the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins both coming off important wins in week six.
The Dolphins were arguably more impressive in defeating the Steelers 30-15, a game in which they were carried for long spells by Ajayi but also played very well defensively.
That victory took them to 2-4 on the season but they will need to find some consistency now and back it up against a Bills side that put up 45 points on the San Francisco 49ers but might have to cope without injured running back LeSean McCoy.
KEY STORYLINES:
Can Jay Ajayi repeat, seven days on?
Ajayi's breakthrough game against the Steelers saw him rack up 204 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, easily surpassing his career bests in every statistical category.
The Steelers rank marginally better than the Bills against the run - they were much better before last week's Ajayi outburst - and the second-season man could be in for another big game.
Buffalo conceded just over 100 yards per game rushing and need Jerry Hughes to step up to avoid going the same way as Pittsburgh. Hughes is often tough to run against on the edge and that will force Ajayi inside more, right into the arms of Bills tackling machine Zach Brown.
Can Mike Gillislee succeed?
The step down from LeSean McCoy to Gillislee appears to be big and Bills head coach Rex Ryan will be keeping his fingers and toes crossed 'Shady' gets the go-ahead after appearing earlier in the week to have been ruled out.
McCoy ran for three touchdowns against the hapless Niners last Sunday and Miami has struggled badly against the run this season, giving up nearly 150 yards per game.
But all hope is not lost if Gillislee starts and there is every chance he could be inspired against the team that drafted him in 2013 and then let him go just over a year ago. He has only carried the ball 17 times this season but averages more 6.9 yards per carry and should be able to handle a bigger workload.
PATRIOTS @ STEELERS - from 9.15pm
With both sides at full strength this would have been one of the games of the season, but the Patriots could have life a good deal easier than they might have expected.
Tom Brady has looked great since his return from a delayed Deflategate suspension and will be looking to add to the six touchdowns he has thrown across the last two weeks.
News for the Steelers is far less positive as they face up to a few weeks without Ben Roethlisberger under centre. He managed to finish last week's 30-15 defeat against Miami with a limp but has since undergone surgery for a torn meniscus.
KEY STORYLINES:
Life after Big Ben
Step forward Landry Jones. He started a couple of games in Roethlisberger's absence last year but failed to shine and now has to try and fill some of the biggest quarterbacking shoes in the game.
The Patriots are not great against the pass, ranking 19th, but they have performed well against the run and will surely fill the defensive box to try and stop Le'Veon Bell taking pressure off Jones.
If Bell does get shut down, Jones is going to have to perform better than last season and get the ball as often as possible to Antonio Brown, who lost targets to the suspended Martavis Bryant last season when Roethlisberger was out injured. Do Brown and Jones even have a connection?
Could Gronk go for 200?
Rob Gronkowski has 12 catches for 271 yards since Brady's return, albeit against teams who would not come anywhere close to the Steelers on defence.
But there have been a couple of big tight end/running back receiving performances against Pittsburgh already this year and Brent Celek and MarQueis Gray don't even deserve to be in the same conversation as Gronk.
He and James White, who caught two of Brady's touchdown passes against the Cincinnati Bengals last Sunday, could be in for huge games.
SEAHAWKS @ CARDINALS - from 1.15am
This could be a pivotal game in deciding the NFC West title with the Seahawks surely fancying their chances of taking the division if they can claim victory in the desert.
That will be easier said than done, though, with the Cardinals having put up an impressive performance to almost completely shut down the New York Jets 28-3 last weekend to level their record up at 3-3.
The Seahawks are 4-1 without their offence really doing anything to a high level as a team or having any individual player dominate, although they have improved in the last three games after scoring a combined total of 15 points in the first two weeks.
KEY STORYLINES:
Is Michael a game changer?
Christine Michael has led the Seahawks in rushing in every game so far this season but his 354 yards at 4.4 yards per carry are not particularly startling numbers.
He faces a tough Cardinals defence this week and will be counted on to step up from last week's 64 yards against the Falcons, although his box score was definitely improved by a couple of short-yardage touchdowns.
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has barely done any running at all this season but the Cardinals front seven could force him out of the pocket much more on Sunday - they also rank third in the NFL against the pass and he can expect a lot of pressure.
Can Johnson find any space?
We aren't particularly high on the Seahawks offence but their 'D' is a different matter. They lead the league in yards per game given up (283.6) and are also third in rushing yards (74.6).
That last stat could be particularly important come Sunday night with the Cardinals likely to be relying on running back David Johnson for much of their yardage and scoring - he has already gone for 568 yards and eight touchdowns this season.
A big performance from Johnson could be even more necessary if quarterback Carson Palmer misses the game with his hamstring injury - his likely replacement Drew Stanton has never really convinced as an NFL starter.
