Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive
THE GAME
The Jets (3-6) vs. Buffalo Bills (2-7) at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, Nov. 11, at 1 p.m. ET.
THE WEATHER
It'll be a chilly day, with temperatures topping out in the mid-40s and moderate winds. It should be sunny, though.
WHAT IT MEANS
The Jets pretty much took any real meaning out of this game by losing to the Dolphins a week ago. A win only gets them back to 4-6 heading into their bye week, and they'd still need a miracle against a tough schedule after Thanksgiving to even sniff a shot at the playoffs. So all a win does is make them feel a little happier heading into their week off. But a loss? Whoa, would that turn things in a bad way against the Jets. This is an awful Bills team that even the Jets should crush, especially with veteran Josh McCown taking over at quarterback for a suddenly shaky Sam Darnold. If they lose this game, they could be headed to a season worse than last year, and there may be nothing that could save Todd Bowles' job.
PLAYER TO WATCH: QB Josh McCown
The 39-year-old veteran has been thrust back into his old job because of Darnold's foot injury, and honestly it couldn't come at a better time. Darnold looked lost and rattled over the last three weeks and seemed to be in desperate need of a break. Darnold and the Jets disagreed, of course, but fate intervened.
What can McCown do? Already, players have talked about how the pace of practice has picked up a bit because McCown has the ability to make quicker decisions, and maybe that'll be enough to kickstart the Jets' offense, especially on third downs. Of course, McCown still has to play behind the same struggling offensive line and with the same limited complement of weapons, so it's hard to imagine he'll make a huge difference. The good news, though, is he won't have to do much. The Bills offense is averaging a hard-to-believe 10.7 points per game, so just an average game by McCown should be more than enough.
THE PICK
It's hard to adequately describe how bad this Bills offense is. They've scored 20 points total in the last three weeks and 36 points total in the last six weeks. That's an average of six points per game since Sept. 30. And then there's quarterback Nathan Peterman, in for the injured Josh Allen, coming off a three-interception game and has one touchdown and seven interceptions on the season.
The Jets defense has actually been pretty good this season. They wear down late at times, especially when their offense is struggling, but overall they've been strong. They shouldn't have trouble with the Peterman-led Bills. Even running back LeSean McCoy, who has been trouble in the past, shouldn't give the Jets much trouble this time around. Add in a jolt of energy from McCown and even this depleted Jets offense should be able to out-score the Bills. If they can't ... well, the ramifications are huge. Because losing this game would really be inexcusable. ... Jets 20, Bills 6.
MY RECORD: 4-5
MY RECORD WHEN PICKING JETS TO WIN: 1-3
MY RECORD WHEN PICKING JETS TO LOSE: 3-2