Buffalo, NY
Detroit, MI
It has been a very difficult couple of weeks for the Bills and the city of Buffalo. I mean 15 days ago, Buffalo found themselves at home up by 10 early in the 4th quarter against a very good Chiefs team, ready to get to 6-3. One fourth quarter collapse, and a horrendous road loss in Miami has the Bills sitting at 5-5 for this must win contest tonight against the New York Jets. This marks the Bills first game on Monday Night since the opener of the 2009 season, but it wasn't scheduled that way. This game, which was originally scheduled for the 23rd, got bumped back one day and had to shift locations to Ford Field in Detroit home of the Detroit Lions. This was due to the record setting amount of lake-effect snow that accumulated in the south towns of Western New York. Places like Orchard Park, Lancaster, and Hamburg received over 60" of snow. There was a travel ban in place in most areas as the roads and main highways were shut down. The worst snow storm in Buffalo since the Blizzard of '77 has caused hard times for the city so this is more than just a football game.
With the Bills barely hanging around in the playoff race, this is a must win along with most of the remaining games. The team was unable to practice for most of this week due to the weather back home. Now they find themselves in Detroit awaiting a Jets team that has one thing on its mind: revenge. Four weeks ago Buffalo rolled into the Meadowlands and stomped on the Jets 43-23 causing 6 turnovers. QB Geno Smith was replaced for backup Michael Vick, who also plans on starting tonight's game. New York is coming off of a huge upset victory over Pittsburgh and had a bye week to prepare for tonight's game. That along with the Bills being off of the practice field for much of the week gives the Jets a much better chance this time around. Orton is coming off his worst performance as a Buffalo Bill and needs to look much better tonight. Bryce Brown and Anthony Dixon figure to be a part of the offense once again at running back with a limited Fred Jackson. The big thing once again coming in is the Bills red zone offense. The worst in the league, Buffalo failed to score a touchdown last week in Miami. Here are a few other keys to this divisional matchup in Detroit.
Three Keys to the Game:
1. Ballhawks Have To Make Plays: Six turnovers. Rarely does an opponent give the ball up that much so the Bills secondary, which consists of Graham, Gilmore, Williams, and Searcy needs to make plays and turn the Jets over. Especially now that Leodis Mckelvin is out for the season.
2. Sammy, Sammy, Sammy: The Buffalo Bills are 5-1 when Sammy Watkins gets 30 or more receiving yards in a game (the one loss being last week to Miami). On the flip side, they are 0-4 when he is held under 30 yards. Needless to say, we need to get him the ball early and often if we want to see success offensively.
3. Keep Vick In The Pocket: Even in his older days, Michael Vick is still a very mobile quarterback. In the first matchup when he replaced Geno Smith, the Jets offense seemed to move the ball much better after the switch was made. Most of that was due to Vick's running ability on top of his arm strength. The Bills need to apply a lot of pressure on him, while being smart and disciplined at the same time.
My Prediction: After two really tough losses and with everything that has happened to the city of Buffalo, expect Buffalo to come out hot. I see the Jets keeping this game close, but for the Bills to pull out a huge division win and move back above .500.
Buffalo Bills 24 New York Jets 19
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