Lori Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 BUFFALO BILLS (5-7) at NEW YORK JETS (7-5) SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2006 – 4:15 PM ET GIANTS STADIUM, MEADOWLANDS, NEW JERSEY CBS: Ian Eagle, Solomon Wilcots DIRECTV NFL Sunday Ticket: Channel 713 (no HD) RADIO: Buffalo Bills Radio Network PLAY-BY-PLAY: John Murphy COLOR ANALYST: Mark Kelso SIDELINE REPORTER: Paul Peck Sirius Sunday Drive: Channel 181 (Buffalo feed) / Channel 152 (Jets feed) REGULAR-SEASON SERIES RECORD: Bills lead, 49-42. Buffalo has won more games versus the Jets than against any other opponent. PLAYOFF RECORD: Bills lead, 1-0. LAST MEETING: September 24, 2006 - Jets 28, Bills 20 Preview Roscoe Parrish’s electrifying 51-yard catch-and-run touchdown staked the Bills to a 7-0 lead just fifty-five seconds into the game. The Buffalo offense drove inside the Jets 30-yard line on three of their next four possessions but could manage only one field goal; meanwhile, the Jets put together two first-half scoring drives of their own. The second, a one-yard Chris Baker touchdown catch from Chad Pennington just before halftime, gave New York a 14-10 lead at the break and left Bills fans asking themselves, “How the (bleep) are we losing this game?” Despite allowing a season-high 328 passing yards to J.P. Losman and another 150 on the ground to Willis McGahee, the Jets defense made the big plays when it counted. Safety Kerry Rhodes sacked Losman twice and forced a fumble each time; the first killed a Buffalo drive inside the red zone, while Victor Hobson’s 32-yard touchdown return on the second one extended the lead to eleven five minutes into the third quarter. Early in the fourth, a long Buffalo drive reached the Jets’ one-yard line, but veteran defensive end Bobby Hamilton correctly diagnosed a bootleg and took Losman down for a nine-yard loss on third-and-goal. Rian Lindell’s 28-yard field goal cut the margin to eight, but the Bills defense couldn’t keep the Jets from finding the endzone on their next possession to restore their double-digit lead. A late touchdown scramble by Losman and Andre’ Davis’s onside-kick recovery made the last couple of minutes more entertaining, but the Bills’ third unsuccessful fourth-down attempt of the afternoon ended their hopes of a comeback with 0:35 on the clock, and the remaining disappointed, drenched, and wind-burned Bills fans headed for the exits. LAST TIME IN NEW JERSEY: January 1, 2006 – Jets 30, Bills 26 Preview Useless trivia: can anyone name the last Buffalo quarterback to win a game against the Jets in the Meadowswamp? (Answer below.) Willis McGahee recorded his third consecutive 100-yard game against New York and the defense played well enough to win, giving up only one offensive touchdown on the day. A five-turnover performance by Kelly Holcomb (including an interception returned for a touchdown) kept the game close, though, and an uncharacteristic breakdown by the Bills’ special teams gave the Jets a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.The Bills fought back from a four-point halftime deficit to take a 23-20 lead into the fourth quarter. The teams traded three-pointers after that; Rian Lindell’s fourth FG of the day put Buffalo back in front momentarily, but with 6:13 remaining, rookie CB/KR Justin Miller’s 95-yard touchdown return stunned the top-ranked Bills kickoff-coverage squad. The offense got the ball back twice after that; the first possession ended on a fourth-down sack/fumble, and Ty Law’s third interception of the game finished off Buffalo’s final drive of the season. Trivia answer: Alex Van Pelt headlined Buffalo’s most recent road win in the series, a 14-9 upset back in 2001 (with an assist from Vinny Testaverde’s nonexistent clock-management skills). How about the last one before AVP? Extra credit if you guessed Todd Collins, who led the Bills to a come-from behind 28-22 win way back in 1997… --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JETS OVERVIEW (2006 RANKINGS) OFFENSE (#24 total yardage, #17 rushing, #20 passing, #16 scoring): With wins in the last two games, Chad Pennington appears to be rebounding from a midseason slump that saw him throw five interceptions versus only one touchdown pass in a three-game stretch. He’s already thrown a career-high thirteen picks on the season, though, and even including a 38-10 drubbing of Green Bay at formerly-invincible Lambeau Field last week, his stats are still measurably below what we’re used to seeing from him. (But then again, the Jets are an unexpected 7-5 and still in the playoff hunt. What’s that old line about “lies, damn lies, and statistics?”) Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer began the season relying on the veteran duo of Derrick Blaylock and Kevan Barlow at running back, but has since decided to go with a youth movement at the position. Barlow still gets a few carries here and there, but Blaylock hasn’t even been active for the last six games. Meanwhile, seventh-round pick Leon Washington (Florida State) has started five of the last seven games; he leads the team with 511 rushing yards and a 4.3-ypc average. Second-year back Cedric Houston notched his first career 100-yard game against the Packers last week. Starting fullback B.J. Askew is listed as questionable; his absence could force the team into more of their two-TE package. Or maybe not. The Jets have used a lot of ‘spread’ formations this year, even opening the Green Bay game in a four-WR set. With Tim Dwight out, rookie Brad Smith inherits the #4 spot behind Laveranues Coles, Jerricho Cotchery, and Justin McCareins. ‘Slash’ alert: Smith, the record-setting quarterback from Missouri, has already taken snaps at QB, RB, and WR… As usual, they’re relying on a short-passing, move-the-sticks gameplan -- both starting receivers, Coles and Cotchery, are averaging less than 13.0 yards per catch. The tight ends, Chris Baker and Buffalo native Sean Ryan, don’t get many passes thrown their way, but watch out for Baker in the red zone. Three of his 22 catches have gone for touchdowns this season, including one against Buffalo in the first matchup. Chris Brown has a good story on the Jets’ no-huddle offense over on buffalobills.com. Looking at the play-by-play from their game against Green Bay last week reminds me of the K-Gun’s debut against Philly. (The Jets ran no-huddle from their opening drive, and scored on each of their first five possessions. Game over before halftime.) DEFENSE (#27 total yardage, #27 rushing, #20 passing, #12 scoring): The run D still isn’t a thing of beauty – only Tennessee and Houston have failed to rush for at least 125 yards against them – but overall, there have been signs of improvement as the players continue to get used to the attacking defensive style Eric Mangini brought with him from New England. They’re 3-1 since the bye week, and haven’t given up a rushing touchdown (or more than fourteen points) in any of those games. Bryan Thomas plays the Willie McGinest/Jason Taylor role in the hybrid 3-4/4-3, sometimes putting his hand down as a defensive end, sometimes rushing off the edge; his 6.5 sacks and 8 QB hits lead the team. Shaun Ellis, the other end, is also playing well in the new scheme. Neither Dewayne Robertson nor Kimo von Oelhoffen is a classic nosetackle, though. Jonathan Vilma once again leads the team in tackles, but is miscast as a 3-4 inside ‘backer. When he gets caught up in traffic, he can’t use his speed to make the game-changing plays that sent him to the Pro Bowl last year… Free-agent pickup Andre Dyson (Seahawks) has solidified one corner spot, but they’re still trying to find an adequate starter on the other side. Hank Poteat, who has bounced back and forth between the Jets and Patriots rosters this season, is apparently the current choice; David Barrett, Justin Miller, and Drew Coleman have also seen time at the position. Kerry Rhodes is quietly having a monster year at safety; he’s tied with Dyson for the team lead in interceptions, and also has four sacks and three forced fumbles (including two of each on J.P. Losman in the game at the Ralph). The other safety, Erik Coleman, was benched earlier in the season, but seems to have worked his way back out of the doghouse. SPECIAL TEAMS: Mike Nugent responded to a bad game in the season opener against Tennessee (two missed FG/one missed extra point) by making 12 of his last 13 field goal attempts, the only miss a 52-yarder at Cleveland. After getting off to a slow start, Ben Graham has improved his gross punting average to 44.8 yards/kick, with 19 of his 52 attempts landing inside the 20. He does have 10 touchbacks, though, more than all but three other punters leaguewide. Miller is the top-ranked kick returner in the league, with two touchdowns and a 29.0-yard average. The Bills managed to keep him in check in the September game, but you can bet Bobby April will be spending a good part of this week showing his troops the film from Miller’s game-winning runback last January. Tim Dwight was placed on I.R. last week with a foot injury; Leon Washington is now listed as the punt returner, with Cotchery and Poteat also capable of handling the job. None of them will make anyone forget about Dwight any time soon, though. The coverage teams are good – they haven’t given up a kickoff return longer than 40 yards or a punt return over 15 yet this season. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OUTLOOK: The Bills should be able to run the ball, but that might not matter if they get behind early. Pass protection has been better the last few weeks, and while Thomas and Ellis are playing as well as anyone on the Jets D, their rush isn’t in the Chargers’ league. (Did I really just type that? My, how things change…) Somebody had better remember to block Rhodes on those safety blitzes this time, though. Can the Buffalo defense hold up, if Jersey/B breaks out their version of the no-huddle again? Bizarre as it sounds, Coy Wire may well be the X-factor this week – his ability to line up at either LB or in the secondary might help avoid the personnel mismatches they’ll try to create. (The next step would be making the play from wherever he lines up, of course…) The key, as always, is getting in Pennington’s face. Give him room to throw, and he’s deadly. Hit him a few times, and he’s a different quarterback. Jets are +1 in the takeaway/giveaway column, Bills -3. As I see it, the teams are evenly matched in most other areas, so whoever ‘wins’ that stat on Sunday wins the game. Go Bills. Links: NFL.com: injury report / Jets depth chart / Jets team stats / Bills depth chart / Bills team stats Official team website: NewYorkJets.com JetNation.com forums JetsInsider.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cåblelady Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Coy Wire may well be the X-factor this week – his ability to line up at either LB or in the secondary might help avoid the personnel mismatches they’ll try to create. (The next step would be making the play from wherever he lines up, of course…) 860723[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiew Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Awesome! Thanks Lori Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 Great as usual Lori! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 very good lori . GO BILLS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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