Bills’ 3 keys to the game
Help Sam Darnold See Ghosts
New York quarterback Sam Darnold may very well be a quality quarterback, but the Jets have done the bare minimum to help him reach his potential. He led the Jets to a 6-2 record in the back half of last season, and that speaks for something (he also had that odd battle with mono).
The sympathy doesn’t apply though when it comes to winning games. Darnold is the offense. Sure, running back Le’Veon Bell is a great weapon to have, but it’s hard to surprise people when a team has only one proven weapon.
The much coveted Bills defense has to pressure Darnold and force him to make mistakes. The Bills front-seven have improved on paper from last season, and the Jets sport a new-look offensive line that’s had no time to gel together this offseason. Attack, and disrupt that unit. Darnold lacks playmakers and rookie wideout Denzel Mims is probably not going to play, so there’s a big blow already.
Until proven otherwise, the likes of Jamison Crowder, Chris Hogan and Breshad Perriman are not No. 1 receiver material anywhere else in the league, especially with the talented secondary that the Bills have on their roster.
Run the damn ball
Last season the Bills and Jets played in Week 1, the Bills hardly utilized the run game in the opening half, and had Allen throwing more than he should have. It wasn’t a balanced attack, and the Bills were down 16-0 in the middle of the third quarter.
There are no seasoned veterans with significant track records in the running back room this year. Backs Devin Singletary and rookie Zack Moss will be getting the brunt of carries this year. Establish the run early, and chew some clock. Use these young guys, and balance the offense out. The weapons are there, so that Allen doesn’t have to try to win every game by himself.
The Jets defense lost several key pieces this offseason due to trades, free agency and opt outs. If the Bills want to get Singletary and Moss the reps that they missed out on with a lack of preseason, this is the game to do it. Pound the rock.
Avoid turnovers
This one is so simple, yet, rings appropriately true with this Bills team. While we hope that Buffalo grew out of their mistakes, there were some costly fumbles and poorly timed interceptions last season that put the Bills behind in games they should have been well ahead or even prevented taking a victory all together.
Allen has had some fumbling issues throughout his tenure, but tightened up his interceptions, going from 12 in 2018, to 9 in 2019, despite even playing in a couple of more games. The fumbles really have to be cleaned up. Singletary even had this issue in 2019, and many believe that’s why Buffalo looked to get Moss in the draft.
Every time the Jets get a takeaway, it’s an unnecessary opportunity that they are allowing, more strain on the defense, which, some have admitted recently that the previous offensive woes had really bugged them. New York, on paper, should have a tough enough time moving the ball on their own. No need to give them an extra inch.
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