The Buffalo Bills entertain the New York Jets with a little out of the country action tonight when they hook-up in a game at Toronto’s Rogers Centre at 5:20 p.m. Pacific Time. The Bills are looking for a season sweep over their AFC East Division rivals, the Jets are looking for their second straight win in order to keep their flickering playoff hopes alive.
When these two teams met on October 18 at the Meadowlands things were entirely different than when these two squads square off tonight. First, the Jets had a winning record, 3-2, when they last met the Bills and following a narrow Monday Night Football loss to the Dolphins the Jets were heavy favorites to advance their regular season mark to 4-2.
Didn’t happen.
The 9-point underdog Bills were coming off an embarrassing home loss against the lowly Cleveland Browns when they last faced the Jets, and their losing streak had grown to three games and the chances of them ending that losing run on the Jets home field appeared remote.
But, Buffalo played from behind at the Meadowlands and sent home the Jets fans disappointed and despondent after pinning their hometown team with a 16-13 loss. The Bills won another game the following week, at Carolina over the Panthers, in a triumph that would prove to be the last win for recently fired head coach Dick Jauron. In the two games the Bills have played under interim head coach Perry Fewell, who was promoted from his defensive coordinator position to replace Jauron after his firing, the Bills have played well, losing a close field goal decision to the Jaguars in Jacksonville and beating the Miami Dolphins in Fewell’s first home game last Sunday.
So, while the Jets are geared for a revenge win tonight over a team they outdistance on talent, the Jets also have a huge advantage over Buffalo; the Bills won last week in a perfect motivational spot against the Dolphins and now meet the Jets on a level playing field in terms of motivation. When a team plays as well as the Bills did last week in beating the Dolphins, 31-14, they sometimes get the idea that their team is improved even though it was a perfect motivational spot as much against the Dolphins as for the Bills that led to the decision in favor of Buffalo last Sunday. After winning like that, it is likely the Bills will come up flat tonight; if motivation doesn’t assist the Bills, and it won’t, then the Jets should win this game based purely on better talent.
But, we have a problem backing the visiting team in this Toronto matchup. The Jets are forced to play the Bills on a short workweek, having last played at home on Sunday, and that leaves New York counting on a rookie quarterback to get prepared for a Bills defense with little study time and little success the first time the two tangled. A rookie quarterback on the road as a favorite in a short week is a liability for the Jets prospects that preclude me from recommending a play on New York tonight.
So, if the Jets do get back into the playoff hunt with an expected win over the Bills in this contest, good for them. If Mark Sanchez succeeds with little preparation time, and overcomes the injury to his leg he suffered in last week’s home win over the Panthers, good for him.
But, even if those two things happen … they will happen without me.
This week, there are so many extraordinary wagering propositions on tap for Sunday and Monday night, I would not be doing my job by trying to shove a pick out here on a selection made simply because it is the only NFL game on the Thursday schedule.
I’ve got a different plan. Let football go on without you tonight, go out and get some early Christmas shopping done, score some points with your mate, and hope your good nature will allow you uninterrupted time for Monday Night Football this week when we will release perhaps the highest rated play of the year.
Excited?
It’s the holiday season, you are supposed to be.
