Thursday Night Football kicked off from Buffalo, New York in week 2 when the New York Jets took on the Buffalo Bills. It was the first divisional matchup for these two AFC East teams and there was plenty of action. Unfortunately, it seemed one sided. Which team came out looking as a contender and which went back tot the drawing board? Here’s what we learned in Thursday’s matchup.
Buffalo’s offense is struggling
In the first half, Buffalo looked like they were half asleep. Watching the offense run plays in the first half, you would think they were up more than a few scores and try to kill the clock. Other than an 84-yard touchdown by Marquise Goodwin, the Bills ran 3 plays and two were negative yards. From there, the Bills ran a slow, lethargic, series of plays leading to their lone touchdown of the half. They deferred to the second half, scoring again on a deep pass off of broken down protection.
In order to get their season going, Buffalo needs to either pick up the pace or open up the playbook. Against playmaking teams like New York and New England, controlling the football isn’t going to get it done. Buffalo’s offense was old keep away the football. They have to put up points and get more players involved.
The Jets have a lot of weapons
With 210 receiving yards in the first half and 5 plays of 20+ yards, Buffalo had all they could handle of the Jets passing attack. Brandon Marshall had over 100 yards.Quincy Enunwa seems to benefit from the double team of he and Eric Decker. With the addition of Matt Forte, the Jets have a weapon for every depth of the field. Bringing back quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was clutch for the Jets this offseason.
They had one of the best passing offenses in the league last year, and with Geno Smith at the helm they probably wouldn’t enjoy the same success. Even after their big names, Jalin Marshall got in on the act catching passes all over. Either the Jets are this good, or the Bills have serious holes to fill on defense.
Revis could be done
After struggling in the previous week, Darrelle Revis got beat deep again. Buffalo’s first big play was an 84-yard bomb that Revis could just do nothing but watch go by. With 10 years in the league as one of the best, the age of 31 hasn’t been kind to him.
The Jets have had a steady defense to build on. If he can’t recover, it may be time for them to move on. The NFL is in a cycle of getting younger. If the Jets can draft playmakers going forward, it’d be hard to imagine they’re not building a dynasty.
One thing was abundantly clear during the Jets and Bills matchup. If the Bills don’t find a way to get some momentum, Rex Ryan could be given the Joe Philbin treatment. Philbin was fired after a sluggish start and Ryan isn’t too impressive. With ownership already stating it’s playoff or bust for the Bills this year, don’t expect this type of football to continue.
Buffalo needs a rally and showed they have the talent to get things going. Rex and Rob need to find a way to break Buffalo of these bad habits and get the ball moving in the air or on the ground, a few deep passes weren’t enough. The Jets showed which of the two were ready to play on Thursday night as they controlled most of the game.