An inside look at Monday’s Jets-Bills NFL Week 6 matchup at MetLife Stadium:
Marquee matchup
Jets offensive line vs. Bills defensive line
The Jets have been abysmal running the ball recently. They had 36 yards rushing last week against the Vikings after having just 64 rushing yards the week before in the loss to the Broncos. The Jets have spoken all week about getting the running game going with new play-caller Todd Downing. They rank last in the NFL with 80.4 rushing yards per game.
The Bills may be just what the Jets need to get their rushing attack going. Buffalo, armed with the ghost of Von Miller, ranks 25th in the NFL in rushing defense, allowing 144 yards per game. The Ravens ran for a whopping 271 yards on the Bills two weeks ago.
“First of all, this team does have a strong run game we just haven’t seen it come to fruition consistently enough,” Downing said. “Secondly, I think there have become times where you can find people pressing a little bit because there’s an expectation for production and when it’s not met you can feel a sense of urgency, but I believe our guys are ready to answer the bell and make the quarter-turn adjustments we need to make to get this thing on track.”
Costello’s Call
It would not shock me if the Jets win this game, because the Bills are banged up. But I think the chaos of this week might be tough for them to overcome, and the Bills are just as desperate after two straight losses. Josh Allen finds a way, and Jeff Ulbrich loses his debut as head coach.
Bills 24, Jets 19
Four downs
Pick it up: Aaron Rodgers had one of worst games of his career last week against the Vikings, throwing three interceptions, one that was a pick-six, and 25 incompletions. Rodgers said this week he feels that his play contributed to the firing of Robert Saleh and the demotion of Nathaniel Hackett. Now, we’ll see if the poor play of the past few weeks was an anomaly or a sign of things to come.
“In a two-decade career he has very few blips on the radar, and I know that Aaron himself has said that the last couple of weeks aren’t up to his standard,” new play-caller Todd Downing said, “but that does not necessarily sound an alarm. He knows how to prepare. He knows how to diagnose defenses. He knows how to run the show on offense, and that’s what we’re anticipating this week.”
Start me up: The Jets have been slow out of the gates again this season. It has been something that has plagued them before and is now the case again. They have scored 14 points this season in the first quarter and gained just 249 yards, averages of 2.8 points per game and 49.8 yards per game in the first quarter.
Interim coach Jeff Ulbrich knows they need to start faster.
“We got to start doing everything with a different sense of urgency, a heightened sense of urgency,” Ulbrich said. “Then it just becomes who you are, it becomes part of your DNA. It’s not something that I think about, I got to start fast. It’s just I started everything I do fast, so the game will start fast.”
Just Joshing: The Jets face Josh Allen for the 12th time on Monday. This game will be the 100th career game of Allen, who entered the league in 2018. For all of his excellent play, Allen has been known as a quarterback who will turn the ball over, but he has yet to throw an interception this season and has eight passing touchdowns.
Allen has a 7-4 record against the Jets, but he has lost his past two games against them at Metlife Stadium. The Jets have intercepted Allen 11 times against 12 passing touchdowns versus Gang Green.
Reed-iculous: Jets cornerback D.J. Reed has been a shutdown corner this season. Playing opposite Sauce Gardner, Reed does not always get the recognition he deserves, but he has been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL this season and did an outstanding job last week against the Vikings.
“He has played at an ultra-high level,” Ulbrich said. “We give these awards out on a weekly basis in the defensive meeting rooms regarding style of play, strain, effort, toughness, physicality, execution, all those things. He is the consistent winner of these things, another guy we are so fortunate to have. I know Sauce gets a lot of the headlines, but D.J. is a comparable corner in that room, and the combination of those two is deadly.”