Bills must overcome uncomfortable truth to get revenge on the Jets
The Buffalo Bills haven't forgotten about losing to the New York Jets in Week 9. In a frustrating 20-17 loss, the Bills never got it going offensively save from a few explosive plays here and there and came up short of a comeback. In the rearview mirror, Bills Mafia hopes that the first game between […]
The Buffalo Bills haven't forgotten about losing to the New York Jets in Week 9. In a frustrating 20-17 loss, the Bills never got it going offensively save from a few explosive plays here and there and came up short of a comeback.
In the rearview mirror, Bills Mafia hopes that the first game between the divisional foes was more of a fluke than anything else. The betting markets also believe that to be the case apparently as they've made Josh Allen and co. ten-point favorites for this one.
But the uncomfortable truth is that the Jets actually match up pretty well against the Bills. This shouldn't be taken any lightly heading into Sunday.
Here are the two biggest reasons why the Bills struggled against the Jets.
1. Strong outside cornerback play
The Jets played a lot of zone coverages against the Bills in Week 9. They were able to mix two-high defensive looks consistently and kept Josh Allen guessing what they were playing.
While Allen's athleticism is usually enough to extend plays and find explosive plays and find plays that aren't there, it can become an issue against a defense with great outside cornerbacks.
"When this team has to operate on time against a team that's playing a variety of zone coverages, they tend to not get into a rhythm," said Robert Mays from The Athletic Football Show when discussing the Bills.
Mays adds later on the show that the way Buffalo usually attacks these defenses is by trusting underneath outside throws like hitches and speed-outs to Stefon Diggs. But…
"The Jets are really good at outside corner."
So much so that the Bills even made a conscious effort to keep Diggs in the slot in close to half of his snaps on that first game against the Jets. Will we see more Diggs vs Gardner reps on this one to fix that?
2. No running game… at least from the Bills' running backs
Josh Allen was able to run the ball quite well for the Bills in that first encounter against the Jets. Some of that was thanks to great design play too, as Ken Dorsey dialed up a beautiful pin-and-pull QB run that sprung Allen free for 36 yards.
Notice how the trips formation (and the running back's pre-snap motion) basically leaves CB Sauce Gardner alone against two pulling linemen… good luck with that #1!
Other than that… the running game was non-existent. Devin Singletary and James Cook averaged less than four yards per carry each for a meager total of 39 rushing yards. The offensive line has struggled to open up the run game even when defenses like the Jets dare them to with two-high safeties.
That paired with the #1 point of mixed zone coverages leaves the Bills with one pressing question to answer. How do you find rhythm? And can you find it without depending on those crazy Josh Allen-esque plays that we all love?
How OC Ken Dorsey gets the running game going on this one of the most important things to watch in this game.
Football is a chess match. The Bills (and Jets) have spent a lot of time figuring out how to win the second edition of that Week 9 clash. Buffalo is clearly the better team but some key match-ups will be what define this one.
Featured image via Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
