Jets at Bills
THE STORY: After turning in a dominant performance north of the border in blanking Washington 23-0, the Buffalo Bills – the NFL’s biggest surprise – return home for a critical AFC East contest Sunday. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick looks to break through against a New York Jets defense which has giving him fits in four previous meetings. New York, on the other hand, enters the most crucial part of its schedule in its best form of the season, but the Jets have yet to win on the road this season. They’ll have to prove they can do it if they have any chance of earning their third straight playoff berth.
TV: CBS, 1 p.m. LINE: Bills -1, O/U 44
ABOUT THE JETS (4-3): New York is bucking a few trends in this one. The Jets have won two in a row but are coming off their bye week. New York has lost the week following the bye for the past two seasons. The Jets, however, have won five of their last six games against the Bills. Despite all the contradicting trends, this game should come down to whether Mark Sanchez can move the ball against Buffalo like he did in his last game, when he threw three touchdown passes to Plaxico Burress. Sanchez has thrown two or more scoring passes five times this season, and New York finally got a solid running game going as Shonn Greene rushed for a season-high 112 yards against the San Diego Chargers. New York ranks 29th in the NFL in total offense.
ABOUT THE BILLS (5-2): Counting its win in Toronto, Buffalo is 4-0 at home on the season. The Bills sacked Washington’s John Beck nine times last week after entering the game with just four sacks on the season. While that may say more about the ineptitude of the Redskins, Buffalo notched its first shutout since 2006 and allowed just 178 yards in the game. RB Fred Jackson will be an important figure in Sunday’s game. Jackson has rushed for over 100 yards five times this season, but he managed just 35 yards on 13 carries in his last game against the Jets. New York cornerback Darrelle Revis is playing at a supreme level, virtually guaranteeing that Bills WR Stevie Johnson will have a long day.
EXTRA POINTS:
1. Buffalo has not won its first five home games of the season in 16 years.
2. LaDainian Tomlinson sat most of last game with an illness but is listed as probable for Sunday. He ran for 133 yards and two TDs in his last game at Buffalo.
3. Buffalo leads the AFC in scoring at 30.1 ppg.