New York Jets Week 1 vs Buffalo Bills Game Info/What to Watch

Buffalo Bills Week 1 Game Plan

Game Information

• Buffalo Bills (-2.5) @ New York Jets (46.5 O/U)
• Date/Time: Monday, September 11th, 2023 – 8:15pm EST
• Location/Weather: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey (63℉/4-5mph winds/20% chance of rain)

Bills Season Openers, since 2018

2022: @ Rams, W 31-10

2021: vs Steelers, L 23-16

2020: vs Jets, W 27-17

2019: @ Jets, W 17-16

2018: @ Ravens, L 47-3

In those 5 openers:

• Point Differential: -19 (94-113)
• Avg. YPG/Avg. YPG Allowed: (326.2/278.4)
• Total Offensive TDs/Offensive TDs Allowed: 10/9

Jets/Bills History

• Bills lead all-time series 68-57-0
• Jets have lost 5 of the last 6 meetings
• Last Matchup: Bills W 20-12 (January 2022)

Matchups to Watch

Jets DL vs Bills OL

• The Jets’ roster strength is their defensive line, there’s no denying that. Can they take advantage of an average Buffalo offensive line and disrupt Josh Allen? When under pressure, Allen was sacked 8 times and completed only two passes against the Jets under duress last season.  This, according to the folks at NFL live.  Watch for edge defenders going up against RT Spencer Brown, who is considered their weaker tackle. Quinnen Williams and Al Woods could also be able to wreak havoc against the Buffalo interior.

Jets CBs vs Bills WRs

• This matchup is a strength-on-strength, with the edge going to New York here. The trio of Sauce Gardner, D.J. Reed and Michael Carter II is tops in the NFL, so despite the Bills’ talent at wideout, the Jets should be able to shut them down. Stefon Diggs has a special chemistry with his quarterback, but was limited to 65 yards per contest against New York’s stingy secondary last season.

Aaron Rodgers vs Bills Defense

• How will Aaron Rodgers be able to manipulate the Buffalo defense to free up easy completions? Nobody has seen him full-throttle in a Jets uniform, so his signals and tendencies will all be new for a defense to key in on. What we do know — Rodgers will take what the defense gives him before strategically going up top with the long ball. Expect a fair amount of checkdowns to RBs and TEs before he is able to chew up big yards in the air.

Keys to Victory

Protect Aaron Rodgers

• You need to protect your most valuable asset and biggest contributor to what is now a Super Bowl-winning window. If the five up front can keep Rodgers upright and throwing from clean pockets, he will find the open players more often than not. He also doesn’t need a ton of time to throw, however you can’t rely on short game passing against a strong defense like Buffalo.

Create Rush Lanes for your Backs

• Again keying in on the offensive line, the trenches will be a deciding factor for this divisional matchup in both phases. Get defenders out of rush lanes and create easy holes for Dalvin Cook and Breece Hall (and Michael Carter) to run through. If the Jets can’t stay ahead of the sticks and resort to 1-dimensional football, you put a lot of stress on your protection up front. Run efficiently and don’t abandon it if it’s working early (a knock on Mike LaFleur that I hope we don’t see repeated with Nathaniel Hackett).

Swarm to the Football and Make Sound Tackles

• This one may sound like an obvious one, but the Jets’ defense could take the final step to becoming an elite defense if they simply wrapped up instead of going for the big plays. The first defender to the ball should not be concerned with making a forced fumble, just applying a sound tackle. Let the second defender come in and hunt for the football. This could turn the Jets from an “attacking” defense to a suffocating one.

Predictions

The Bills won’t be as bad as some have recently projected, the Jets can certainly come into MetLife (or JetLife) Stadium on September 11th ready to defend their home turf and send a message to the league. It will not be a blowout by any means, and it will likely come down to who has the final possession. Two key defenders, S Micah Hyde (back) may not to play, and DE Von Miller (PUP), will be missing, so the Jets’ offense needs to take advantage.

• Aaron Rodgers throws his first TD to Allen Lazard
• Josh Allen has under 190 Passing Yards
• Dalvin Cook scores a Rushing TD

Jets win 21-20.