5 things to watch as Jets face Bills in Week 9

The Jets’ momentum came to a screeching halt last Sunday, as they were looking for their fifth straight win against New England.

The Patriots scored 19 unanswered points to take control and now the Jets face the prospect of dropping to 5-4 at the bye should they lose to one of the league’s hottest teams, the Buffalo Bills.

Here are the biggest stories to watch as the Jets look to get themselves back into the AFC East picture:

Can the Jets hang with the big boys?

Oddsmakers don’t give the Jets much of a chance in this one -- the Bills opened as a 12.5-point favorite, despite being the road team. The Bills are arguably the NFL’s best team and outsiders aren’t yet sold on the Jets, despite their recent winning streak.

The Bills have the league’s best offense in terms of total yardage and are second in points scored, but the Jets consider themselves to be among the best defenses in the league and must hope they can slow down the Bills’ attack to keep the game close.

While the Jets have had some good wins so far, they’ve mostly beaten teams who have had key players missing, so this will be perhaps their best chance yet to prove they are for real.

How will the Jets stop Josh Allen's running threat?

The Bills quarterback is making a run at the MVP award this year as he already has more than 2,000 passing yards and 19 touchdowns through the air. However, the Jets must also be concerned about his running threat. Allen has over 300 rushing yards and two scores and is always a threat to extend drives by picking up first downs when nobody is open on third down.

The Jets need to be disciplined both in terms of their gap integrity and in terms of ensuring they don’t draw penalty flags by hitting him late or over-aggressively. This past Sunday, Mac Jones was the leading rusher at halftime, so Allen could certainly do some damage.

Expect an approach similar to Week 1, where Jets pass rushers actively tried to contain Lamar Jackson in the pocket rather than risk letting him get out in space. This worked to an extent, as they held him to 17 rushing yards. However, the trade-off was that it limited the amount of pressure they were able to get on him.

Can the Jets find a way to get Elijah Moore involved?

The Jets entered the season hoping that Moore would continue his development and establish himself as a top quality pass-catching threat in 2022. However, he’s caught just one pass since Week 4 as he’s been frustrated with his role and struggling to establish any kind of chemistry with Zach Wilson.

The Bills have a top-10 pass defense, which could be about to get even stronger with Tre’Davious White’s return from a torn ACL imminent. However, Moore has shown an ability to get open against man coverage in the past and could have plenty of space to work in following Garrett Wilson’s 100-yard game against New England.

It’s not certain whether Corey Davis will return this week, but even if he does, the Jets can’t afford not to get any production out of one of their most talented pass catchers.

Who will win the turnover battle?

The Bills are in the top three for both offense and defense. but have had some close games this year primarily because they haven’t been winning the turnover battle. In fact, they’ve only won the turnover battle twice all season, including just once since Week 2.

Prior to the New England game, the Jets had gone three games without turning the ball over and have forced at least one turnover in every game this season. A return to a more-conservative approach may be a risky idea against one of the league’s most potent offenses, but the Jets can give themselves a chance by making some impact plays on defense.

Can the Jets run the ball?

Statistically, the Bills have one of the better run defenses in the league -- although, to some extent, that may be misleading because they’ve been involved in a few shootouts and had some big leads.

The few teams that have been able to establish the run against Buffalo have had some good success. The Baltimore Ravens rushed for 162 yards against them, and the Packers had more than 200 rushing yards this past Sunday.

Without Breece Hall and with all the injuries on the offensive line, it may be tough for the Jets to get their running game going, but it is a potential weakness in an otherwise formidable opponent.