Weather on their minds.

You may recall that last year, the wind blew in Buffalo like never before. The Patriots and Bills played at Ralph Wilson Stadium in the season finale with constant west-to-east wind of 40 mph blowing through the old ballyard for much of the game, with occasional gusts in the 60s. The Patriots won, 13-0, but finished out of the playoff run because of tiebreakers.

The wind changed just about everything about that game, including the angle of the goalposts (as seen in the accompanying photo by Keith Nordstrom). So, needless to say, the Patriots are thinking about weather conditions as they prepare for another December game with the Bills in the winter wonderland that is Orchard Park, N.Y. I'll have a story in Friday's Sun Chronicle with comments from Sam Aiken (a Bill for the first five years of his career) and punter Chris Hanson about how Buffalo weather might affect them this sunday.

By the way, according to the Weather Channel, the Patriots and Bills can expect morning clouds followed by afternoon sun, with temperatures in the 20s and a 20 percent chance of precipitation on Sunday, with winds from the north northwest at 8 mph -- almost summer weather for upstate New York.