Get ready for Monday Night Football! Explore the latest odds and expert picks for the Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets matchup. Don’t miss out!
The New York Jets became the first team to fire their head coach earlier this week. Robert Saleh was reportedly fired after looking to either demote or fire offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, and he was replaced by Jeff Ulbrich in the interim. Ulbrich was a ten-year pro as a linebacker with the San Francisco 49ers, and he has been the defensive coordinator of the Jets since 2021. The new coach demoted Hackett and replaced him with Todd Downing, and the Jets are hoping that this will light a fire under an offense that has been very underwhelming. They are currently 2-3 heading into their Monday Night Football showdown with the Buffalo Bills.
Week 6 Buffalo Bills at New York Jets
Buffalo Bills -2
New York Jets +2
Total 40.5
Buffalo opened as a 2.5-point favorite by the NFL betting odds, but there has been some Jets money coming in over the course of the week. As for the total, that number has fallen from 42.5 to 40.5 as bettors don’t expect a lot of points.
Buffalo Bills Overview
The Buffalo Bills looked like they might be the best team in the NFL through the first three weeks of the season. They smashed their first three opponents, but they were dismantled by Baltimore on Sunday Night Football in Week 4. Houston was able to knock off Buffalo last week, so suddenly the Bills are looking very vulnerable. This is their third straight road game, so they are more than ready to return home.
Josh Allen’s MVP campaign has careened off a cliff. Allen was the favorite per the NFL futures odds after three weeks, but he is not putting up the numbers necessary to be considered for the award. He has yet to commit a turnover, but Allen has completed just 60.3% of his passes for 945 yards (7.2 YPA) with eight touchdowns. There aren’t a lot of big play threats aside from rookie Keon Coleman, and that has hampered this offense.
The ground game has been in good shape with James Cook and Allen leading the way. Cook is averaging 4.4 YPC and Allen is averaging 6.2 YPC. However, Cook is questionable to play and has been limited all week in practice. Receivers Khalil Shakir, Mack Hollins, and Curtis Samuel are all questionable as well.
Buffalo’s defense has really struggled against the run this season, ranking dead last by allowing 5.2 YPC. Conversely, the Bills are allowing just 6.2 YPA (6th in the NFL). The Bills are still without Von Miller and Matt Milano, but the big absence would be in the middle of the defensive line if Ed Oliver is unable to play. Oliver is dealing with a hamstring injury that knocked him out early against Baltimore and kept him out against Houston, and this defense has really missed him.
New York Jets Overview
Aaron Rodgers was supposed to make the New York Jets a Super Bowl contender, but he has been a pretty big disappointment to this point. The Jets have posted nearly the exact same stats through their first five games that they did with Zach Wilson under center last year, and they rank in the bottom quarter of the NFL in scoring offense and total offense.
It isn’t just Rodgers to blame though as Breece Hall is averaging just 3.0 YPC, and Garrett Wilson is averaging a scant 8.8 YPC. Both Hall and Wilson were expected to have big years, but they have both been very underwhelming as well. Wilson has been targeted a whopping 57 times, yet he has just 33 receptions for 292 yards.
The Jets have a great defense, and that has kept them in games. They rank second in total defense (255.8 YPG) and first in yards per play allowed (4.3 YPP). The defensive line and Sauce Gardner have been excellent, but there are some concerns at linebacker with C.J. Mosley banged up and Haason Reddick continuing his pyrrhic holdout.
Monday Night Football Prediction
This will be a low-scoring game, but I don’t see the Jets fixing their offensive woes anytime soon. It’s pretty clear that Rodgers is not the same quarterback, though he doesn’t want to admit it.
Final Score: Buffalo 20, New York 17
