New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick looks on during the first half of Sunday's loss at Miammi. (AP photo)

Yes, there’s something not quite right with the New England Patriots.

Will a return to the site of their biggest regular season win in the post-Brady era help that problem out?

It certainly might.

“I don’t think we lack confidence,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said on Monday, a few moments after he also said “We do enough good things to be competitive. We just need to be more consistent.”

Perhaps it’s location, location, location. The Patriots went old school due to the incredible winds in Orchard Park, N.Y.back in early December, and it worked, the famous three forward passes event.

That won’t get it done this time, but still, we have said in the past how Buffalo is not a very good cold and poor weather team. Temps are forecasted for about 10 degrees – the NFL and the networks didn’t do the Bills any favors by having the game in prime time. We’ll see how they react to it this time.

Buffalo must do two things: Run the ball and stop the run. Josh Allen put on a clinic in Foxborough, and he didn’t play all that badly at home, either, but just not nearly with the same confidence and command.

“Good team, obviously,” Belichick said. “They’re the third seed in the conference. We know they’re a good team. They certainly played well in the last game we had against them. Yeah, we have a lot to get ready for.”

The Patriots last playoff appearance, of course, was in the Wild Card round, but it was two years ago, and there certainly wasn’t a rookie quarterback. They used to be able to sit back, watch teams duke it out on Wild Card Weekend and see what cupcake they would face in Foxborough in the Divisional Round.

Now they have to trek on the road; the only solace may be they’re facing a divisional opponent they know very well.

“We’ll set up the schedule that e feel is best for the time that we have to prepare our team to be ready to go,” Belichick said. “…Same amount of time (the Bills) have., so we’ll again, have to use our time efficiently, as will Buffalo, but it’s the same for both teams.”

That’s true, but something is different about this Patriots team. There are no more Jacksonvilles or Jets left on the docket. But of course this is the third time in six weeks that the Patriot see the Bills, and may make it easier to prepare.

“I think we’re going to just focus on ourselves,” Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy said. “We’ve got to prepare like this week’s the last week, it’s all on the line.”

Allen is a unique player – a tough, physical running QB with a strong, fairly accurate arm and the ability to win games almost all by himself – like he did the day after Christmas at Gillette.

“It’s going to take all 11 guys, players and coaches, playing and coaching at a high level,” Van Noy said. He’s gotten better each and every year, and inspires his teammates to play at a high level.”

So the Patriots have two tasks. Their own preparation, and their own self-examination. The problem, of course, is there are several on this team, quarterback Mac Jones included, who have yet to taste the post season. One thing those playoff newbies will find out is that comebacks are rare. As safety Devin McCourty said Sunday, “You fall behind 17-0 in the playoffs, it’s going to be a long day.”

Buffalo got good starts against the Falcons in the snow and Jets in the wind and cold, but then sputtered a bit before winning the fourth quarters. The Patriots will need Jones to be a fourth quarter QB.

“We have a very talented team and we have to play our style of play,” Van Noy said. “What a better weekend to do it as this is the playoffs. … We’ve got to do something, right?”

They do, and the belief here is that they will.

POWER RANKINGS

AFC

1. Kansas City (12-5). 2.Tennessee (12-5). 3. Cincinnati (10-7) 4.Buffalo (11-6). 5. New England (10-7)

NFC

1.Green Bay (13-4). 2. Tampa Bay (13-4). 3.L.A. Rams (12-5). 4.Dallas (12-5). 5.Arizona (11-6).

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