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Photo By Dan Goldman

Week 8: Bills-Jets Preview

Buffalo Bills (2-4) at New York Jets (1-6)
The Meadowlands
4:05 p.m.

It ain’t easy being in the AFC East this year if you are not the Patriots.

Both the Bills and Jets have been in their share of close games this season. The Bills edged out the Jets and Ravens to claim their two victories, but lost heartbreakers to the Cowboys and Broncos.

New York has lost close games to the Ravens, Bills and Bengals, but edged out winless Miami, 31-28.

The Jets will look to avenge the loss to Buffalo this Sunday at home.

In the previous game, it was the first start for rookie quarterback Trent Edwards, so New York prepared to shut down a run-heavy Bills offense. Only problem is the Bills passed plenty.

Edwards completed 78.5 percent of his passes en route to 234 yards and a touchdown in a 17-14 win. Fellow Marshawn Lynch chipped in 79 yards rushing and another touchdown.

The noodle-armed Chad Pennington completed 32-of-39 passes for 290 yards and a touchdown to lead the Jets offense. However, Pennington also was picked off twice; once deep in Jets territory and the other while he was trying to lead the Jets downfield late in the fourth quarter.

Since then, the Jets have looked bad and coach Eric Mangini no longer looks like Man-genius and Pennington is on the verge of losing his job to Kellen Clemens.

Injuries

New York: Out: LB Jonathan Vilma (knee) just went on IR. Questionable: TE Chris Baker (back), WR Laveranues Coles (calf), DT Dewayne Robertson (knee). Probable: WR Justin McCareins (calf), TE Jason Pociask (back), CB Hank Poteat (chest), TE Sean Ryan (knee), S Eric Smith (thigh), QB Chad Pennington (ankle).

Buffalo: Out: DE Ryan Denney (foot), LB Leon Joe (knee), CB Ashton Youboty (ankle). Doubtful: WR Sam Aiken (hamstring), FS Jim Leonhard (quadricep), H-Back Ryan Neufeld (quadricep). Questionable: DE Chris Kelsay (ankle), LB Josh Stamer. Kelsay is expected to be a game-time decision.

Matchups

When the Bills run the ball: Without Jonathan Vilma, the Jets 28th-ranked run defense (allowing 138.0 yards-per-game) is going to have an even tougher time dealing with Marshawn Lynch. As I said, Lynch gained 79 yards on 23 carries (3.43 avg.) including a 10-yard touchdown run. Last week Bengals back up runner Kenny Watson carried the ball 31 times for 130 yards and three touchdowns.

This will be the game that Lynch breaks 100. Hopefully we will get to see some more of Dwayne Wright too. Edge: Bills

When the Jets run the ball: The Jets game was the resurgence of the Buffalo defense. Last time they held Thomas Jones to 35 yards on 12 carries (2.9 avg.). The Bills are still ranked 25th in run defense, though, with opponents averaging 132.5 yards-per-game.

Despite Willis McGahee breaking 100 yards last week, the run defense looked better than ever, with several stops at or behind the line of scrimmage. Expect Thomas Jones’ struggles to continue. Edge: Bills

When the Bills pass the ball: Eric Mangini doesn’t need to be to be Man-genius to figure out that Edwards’ will throw the ball again this time. So it’s unlikely he’ll get caught off guard. The Jets sacked him twice last time and expect them to bring more pressure through complex blitzes.

Rookie corner Darrelle Revis watched a lot of Edwards’ throws go his way without a problem last time. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of the same.

Edwards now has some experience under his belt, but this will be his first road game. Edge: Bills

When the Jets pass the ball: Though I think my 14-year-old sister can throw harder than Pennington, he had a pretty solid game last week. Pennington went 20-of-31 for 272 yards and three touchdowns. However, his one interception came at a poor time. With 37 seconds left to play, Jonathan Joseph jumped an out pattern and took it back 42 yards for a touchdown.

The out pattern is a throw that requires some zip or mustard (which ever generic Madden phrase you prefer) on it. Jabari Greer picked off an out intended for Coles in the last game. Pennington isn’t going to complete one of these passes unless the receiver gets a lot of separation. Greer, Terrence McGee and Kiwaukee Thomas must be smiling wide when watching the film on the Jets.

The Bills pass rush is still struggling and they only sacked Pennington once last time. Edge: Bills

Special teams: The Bills special teams is still one of the best in the league. But they have to face Leon Washington who leads the NFL in kickoff returns with a 33.2-yard average including two touchdowns.

The Bills could be without several big special teams players including Leon Joe, Ashton Youboty, Josh Stamer and Sam Aiken, making the task of stopping Washington even harder.

However, Terrence McGee is no slouch in the department, averaging 29.1 yards. Rian Lindell matches up with Mike Nugent fairly evenly. But, Brian Moorman, the Chuck Norris of punters, has no equal. Edge: Even

Goldman’s Prediction:

Vegas has the Jets favored by three points at home, but I like the rookie quarterback in his first road game. The Bills will continue the quest for a .500 record and improve to 3-4. Buffalo wins 23-13.

Check out MVN’s Jets site The Cockpit for the other side of things.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 27th, 2007 at 2:35 pm and is filed under Game Preview. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.