The pressure is mounting on head coach Rex Ryan after he saw the Bills suffer a gut-wrenching 34-31 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Saturday. Much of the blame for that stinging loss has been placed on Ryan after his defense inexplicably lined up with just 10 players that allowed Jay Ajayi to launch his critical 57-yard run in overtime. That mental lapse came after Ryan’s mind-boggling decision to punt with 4:09 remaining in OT that all but ended the Bills’ hopes of ending their postseason rut.
Those endgame miscues laid to waste Buffalo’s exceptional performance on the offensive end which saw the Bills set a franchise-record 589 total yards. Ryan has built his reputation as a defensive guru but he has failed to instill those qualities to his Buffalo squad in his two-year stint as Bills coach. Over his 31 games as Buffalo coach, Ryan has fielded a defense that ranks just 15th in points allowed, 15th in net yards per pass attempt, 20th in third-down conversion rate, 21st in yards allowed per play, 23rd in yards allowed per game, 24th in red zone conversion rate, 29th in sacks per pass attempt and 30th in yards allowed per rush.
Ryan will look for a much better display from his defense when they lock horns with the Jets this coming Sunday. He will be licking his chops at the prospect of facing a Jets’ offense that’s averaging just 16.3 points per game this season, third-fewest in the entire NFL.
Another guy who’s feeling the heat right now is Jets head coach Todd Bowles. The calls to get Bowles fired got even louder after the Jets suffered an embarrassing 41-3 loss to New England on Saturday. Tom Brady picked apart the Jets’ D, passing for 214 yards and three touchdowns. That defense has been problematic for New York all season, allowing a whopping 26.6 points per game this campaign. That’s fourth-highest in the NFL this year.
To make matters worse for the Jets, their starting quarterback Bryce Petty suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against the Pats and will miss Sunday’s clash against Buffalo. With the season all but lost, this could be the perfect time for Bowles to hand Christian Hackenberg his first NFL start. It would be interesting to see what the former Penn State signal caller can do against a Buffalo defense that surrendered 494 yards in their loss to Miami. Hackenberg will need to be at his best, though, against Rex Ryan who has a penchant for owning opposing rookie QBs. Jacoby Brissett was shutout in New England’s Week 4 loss to Buffalo while Derek Carr threw two picks in his 2014 NFL debut against the Jets.
Whoever gets the QB nod on Sunday (be it Fitzpatrick or Hackenberg) must do a much-better job on third downs. The Jets converted just one of their 11 third-down opportunities in the loss to New England. Fitzpatrick had a tough time dissecting the New England defense, completing just 8 of 21 passes for 136 yards and two interceptions. The one thing going for Fitzpatrick, though, is his recent success against Buffalo. He passed for 374 yards and a touchdown in the Jets’ 37-31 win against the Bills earlier this season.
The Jets are 2-4-1 ATS at home this season.
Writer’s Prediction
The Bills (-6) end their season on a high note with a 20-10 win.
