The Bills will look to gain their second divisional win of the season Sunday against a Jets team coming off their bye week. Before the bye, the Jets beat the 7-2 Saints to improve to a 5-4 record and second place in the AFC East. The Bills have made a public complaint to the NFL regarding playing teams who have too much time to prepare for their matchup with the Bills, according to an article by NBC Sports.
“This is the second time we’re playing the Jets coming off a Thursday night game and now we’re playing them coming off a bye. We lead the league in amount of games coming off of extra time or a bye week,” Bills CEO and President Russ Brandon said on the teams website. “It’s certainly something that needs to be addressed.”
The Bills sit at 3-7 and this game will be the first time rookie quarterback EJ Manuel will face a defense twice at the NFL level.
“When you look at quarterbacks with five starts (and at least 150 pass attempts) and you go back to 2000 with all the young quarterbacks, he has the third-best rating out of all those (rookie) quarterbacks,” Doug Marrone said earlier this week. “We have to keep him coming along.”
After missing 4 weeks, Manuel made his return last week in a loss in Pittsburgh. Manuel went 22-39 with 155 passing yards and one touchdown and one interception. Things might not be getting any easier with the recent news of Robert Woods and Stevie Johnson both being on the inactive list against the NFL’s 7th ranked defense of the Jets.
It will also be difficult for C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson to get a running game established against the stout number one rushing defense in the league.
“We’re averaging 140 yards a game, they’re giving up 73. That’s a great storyline and challenge right there for our players, to make sure we’re able to do that,” Marrone said following Wednesday’s practice. “It probably is our biggest challenge to date going against this group. They’re extremely athletic. They’re extremely strong at the point of attack (and) they’re playing extremely well,” Marrone told reporters.
The Jets also added future Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed this week to bolster their pass defense that ranks rather low as the 21st best in the NFL.
“These guys are physical and they pride themselves on being physical,” Spiller said on Wednesday. “We have to be able to be ready to match their intensity.”
Coming out of the gate strong will be a crucial for the Bills to have success in this game. If Manuel could get some confidence early on and if the running game can be effective, the Jets defense will open up. Thus, bigger, vertical plays will develop for Manuel in the game. I don’t see the game going that way though.
Although the Bills will be playing at home, the Jets will get the W on Sunday because of their defensive line. They will control the game in the trenches and try to intimidate Manuel with their strength. In a defensive battle, New York will win 21-10.
