Buffalo Bills
Before Monday night’s game 38-3 blowout win over the Jets, it was believed that the formula for the Bills to win was to play great defense, win the turnover battle, and get the ball to rookie Sammy Watkins. While the first two were done (only 218 yards allowed and seven sacks, and a +1 turnover ratio) Watkins only had three catches for 35 yards, usually not a recipe for success, as in games where Watkins had 35 or less receiving yards, Buffalo was 1-5, and 4-0 when he had 87 yards or more.
However, the emergence of Robert Woods, who had nine catches for 118 yards and a touchdown, several of them highlight-reel worthy receptions, allowed the Bills to move the ball efficiently up and down the field (336 yards on 62 plays) without big plays from Watkins. Since the bye week, Watkins has only ten catches for 94 yards (31. 3 yards per game) on 22 targets after 580 yards (72.5 yards per game) in the first eight games of the season.
With upcoming matchups for Watkins against elite cornerbacks like Joe Haden (Sunday vs. Cleveland), Aqib Talib (December 7 at Denver), and Darrelle Revis (December 28 at New England), Woods will have to make plays against his man in order for Buffalo to win games against tough opponents, especially if Watkins is unable to beat some of the best defensive backs the league has to offer.
Miami Dolphins
Though it was in a losing effort (39-36 to the Denver Broncos), Ryan Tannehill continued to be accurate and efficient, completing 26 of 36 passes for 228 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, while rushing for 15 yards and a score as well. For four straight games and five out of his last six, Tannehill has completed over 70% of his passes, and is 144 for his last 203 (70.9%) with 12 touchdowns to only 3 interceptions.
In the past four contests, Tannehill has nine touchdowns to only two interceptions, with four of his scoring passes going to rookie receiver Jarvis Landry, who has 24 catches for 195 yards on 32 targets (75%). Against the Broncos, Landry had seven catches for 50 yards and two scores, helping Miami’s offense overcome having no Charles Clay at tight end, who returned to practice this week, which gives Tannehill a talented foursome of targets in Mike Wallace, Brian Hartline, Landry and Clay.
With three divisional games left (Monday night at Jets, December 14 at Patriots, December 28 vs. Jets), plus games against stingy defenses (vs. Baltimore Ravens on December 7 and vs. Minnesota Vikings on December 21), Landry is a key player who can make key catches out of the slot. Though he is only averaging 9.2 yards per catch, the first year receiver leads the team in receptions (49), and is slowly becoming Tannehill’s most trusted receiver, and someone who will prove vital to finishing this stretch run with a playoff berth, something they were unable to do last year.
New York Jets
The move to Michael Vick as the starting quarterback lasted less than three games, as the 34 year old was only 7 of 19 for 76 yards and an interception, and was sacked five times on Monday night versus the Bills before being replaced by Geno Smith in the second half, who was 10 of 12 for 89 yards while being sacked twice.
On Wednesday, the Jets decided to go back to Smith as the starter for the Monday night game versus the Dolphins at Metlife Stadium. With a 2-9 record on the season, and two games against Miami (the season finale is at Sun Life Stadium), a home game versus the Patriots (December 21), and road games at Minnesota (December 7) and Tennessee (December 14), New York needs to see if Smith has any future role in the team’s quarterback situation.
Thus far on the season, Smith is 1-7 as a starter, and has thrown only 7 touchdowns to 10 interceptions, resulting in a 27.6 QBR that is ranked second-to-last in the NFL. If there is a time to prove anything for Smith, it is now during this final stretch, as the moves to get receivers Eric Decker and Percy Harvin, along with rookie tight end Jace Amaro being drafted in the second round were made to help him, so the second-year quarterback needs to produce for any hope of being the future starter for the Jets.
New England Patriots
In a dominant 34-9 win over the Detroit Lions, New England again showed its ability to limit talented quarterbacks and receiving cores. But what was new (or a return to the old) was LeGarrette Blount running through defenses, specifically the No.1 ranked run defense of the Lions, rushing for 78 yards on 12 carries.
While this weekend’s game at Lambeau Field versus the Green Bay Packers is a battle between two elite quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, the Patriots would be smart to change their game plan from last week (53 passes to 20 runs), as Green Bay has the third-worst rushing defense in the NFL (136.7 yards per game). Running the ball will also keep the number of possessions for the Packers’ high-scoring offense (43.8 points per game at home) to a minimum, as it did with Jonas Gray rushing for 201 yards and four touchdowns at Indianapolis versus the Colts two Sundays ago.
Limiting Andrew Luck to 20 points and Peyton Manning to 22 points showed how the defensive side can stop great passing offenses even though they put up yards, but being efficient and controlling the clock on offense will only help against Rodgers.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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