The Buffalo Bills will head to Metlife Stadium to take on the New York Jets on Monday Night Football in Week 6.
The divisional clash will feature Bills (3-2) and Jets (2-3) teams that both lost last week.
The winner of Monday’s game will be the leader in the division. If the Bills win, they will gain a stranglehold on the division even after an up-and-down start to the season.
For the Bills to improve to 4-2 and take a two-game lead in the AFC East, they will need to be wary of these three things from the Jets on Monday:
Pass coverage
Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed are arguably the best cornerback duo in the NFL. They are a big reason the team is ranked second in the the NFL in both total defense and pass defense. According to PFF, Reed is graded as the best cornerback in the league through five weeks. His 90.8 coverage grade is second in the entire NFL to the 49ers’ Fred Warner.
Despite losing last week, the Jets held a red-hot Minnesota Vikings offense to just 179 passing yards. Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold posted a 50.3 passer rating while completing just 14 passes on 31 attempts (45%). Last week, Josh Allen posted even worse numbers than those. He and offensive coordinator Joe Brady need a bounceback game in the worst way. It’s a tough matchup for the Bills after their wide receivers struggled against the Houston Texans.
Pass rush
It’s not just the coverage downfield that makes the Jets’ defense a nightmare. The big guys up front can reach the quarterback with the best of them. The Jets are fourth in the NFL in sacks with 18. Jets edge rusher Will McDonald IV is tied for second in the league in sacks with 6.
After Allen was pressured on 41.7% of his dropbacks against the Texans, the Bills offense now faces a team who can get after the QB in the same way.
For all the times Allen was under pressure in Week 5, he didn’t complete a single pass when pressured. Protection for Allen needs to be on point Monday or McDonald and company will have a major impact. And, receivers need to get open as well.
Unpredictability?
The Jets promoted defensive coordinator to interim head coach after firing head coach Robert Saleh. They also changed offensive playcallers. Todd Downing takes over for Nathaniel Hackett as the team’s singal caller. After five weeks, ownership had seen enough of the same old problems.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers ranks 26th in the NFL in passer rating and has a 7-4 touchdown ratio. But still, the shakeup within the organization was unexpected.
As far as what the Bills can expect from Jets, there probably won’t be too much difference in what they were last week. There may be a couple added wrinkles in playcalls. Regardless, it will be a good test for head coach Sean McDermott and coordinators Joe Brady and Bobby Babich.