ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Here are my five thoughts on the Buffalo Bills’ game against the New York Jets Sunday at MetLife Stadium:
1. The Bills’ 6-1 record is worthy of pausing and reflecting on how this team compares with the ones from the Super Bowl run of the 1990s.
Let’s begin with the fact the six victories in their first seven games were previously achieved in 1993, the last of their four consecutive seasons that ended in the Super Bowl. A win Sunday would give the Bills a 7-1 record, also something they last did in ’93.
Those aren’t the only similarities between the current squad and the one that ruled the AFC with Hall of Famers Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed and James Lofton on the field, Marv Levy on the sidelines and Bill Polian running the front office.
Today’s Bills have steadily shown the improvement, season after season, that the ’90s club displayed, beginning in 1989. You could see the climb to dominance in all phases, just as we have seen since 2020.
Josh Allen has Kelly’s golden arm, size, strength and toughness, plus something Kelly lacked: great mobility. Allen is seeing the field better and consistently making good decisions. Stefon Diggs provides every bit of the game-breaking force Reed and Lofton provided. The Bills don’t have the great running game they had with Thomas, but they’re making strides there.
And Von Miller and the rest of the defensive line are tormenting quarterbacks as effectively as Smith, Cornelius Bennett and Darryl Talley regularly did back in the day, in front of a secondary that has proven to be remarkably deep in the wake of key injuries.
Sean McDermott has rounded into an exceptionally strong leader, setting the right tone with his players who trust that he and the rest of the coaching staff will put them in the best position for success. That was Levy’s best quality. Brandon Beane has been a master at not only assembling a highly talented roster but has also been mindful of building quality depth. He’s doing the Polian legacy proud.
2. As double-digit favorites again and after the second-half struggles against Green Bay, is there any chance the Bills will drop their guard in this one?
I don’t think so. The Bills did show great focus with their strong first-half showing against the Packers. The biggest problem, as I saw it, was they become bored in the second half as they felt less and less challenged.
That was especially true with Green Bay continuing to run the ball while trailing by 17 points in the third quarter. The clear message from the Packers was that they weren’t trying to rally to victory but rather do their best to mitigate the lopsided nature of the loss.
Still, there’s no excuse for Allen being as reckless as he was with the ball, and he did not hesitate to admit as much. One mark of a great team is to perform up to the high standard that it sets for itself, and the Bills received a necessary reminder of what can happen when they don’t.
3. I’m looking forward to the matchup between Stefon Diggs and Jets rookie cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner.
Gardner is performing as well as any player in the NFL at his position. He’s an easy early favorite to receive league defensive rookie of the year honors.
Gardner has an impressive combination of speed, athleticism and length that makes it difficult for opposing receivers to gain separation from him. He’ll face one of the greatest challenges of his young career Sunday because Diggs is playing at the very top of his game.
The day before he became a first-round draft pick in April, Gardner was asked if, assuming he wound up with the Jets, he was looking forward to facing top AFC East receivers such as Diggs and Miami’s Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Gardner told Alfredo Arteaga of 5 Reasons Sports Network that he felt “real good” about how he would stack up against them, adding, “I feel like I can go against the best easily.”
We’ll see how that works out against Diggs.
4. The Bills’ run defense sounded some alarms for its poor showing against the Packers, who gained 208 yards on the ground.
There’s no forgetting the way the Bills were trampled last season by the rushing attacks of the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots. Though I don’t see it as something that could impede on Buffalo’s championship quest, I do think it’s incumbent on the front seven and the coaches to get things tightened up immediately.
Despite a surprising 5-3 start for a team that has been mostly woeful, the Jets aren’t particularly strong in any area. They are, however, persistent when it comes to running the ball, partly because they don’t want quarterback Zach Wilson to carry too much of the load on his passing arm. When he did last week against New England, he threw three interceptions.
The Bills should be more than capable of preventing another team from having success running the ball. They are too talented in the defensive interior, with tackles Jordan Phillips and Ed Oliver, and linebacker Matt Milano. Leslie Frazier’s scheming should also show up in terms of making sure more gaps are filled than they were last Sunday night at Highmark Stadium.
5. Make no mistake, this is a highly important game for the Bills.
It’s a chance for them to get a first win in the AFC East, after losing the lone divisional game they’ve played to date, in Week 3 at Miami. That was more a case of the Bills finding a way to lose, with a series of blunders in all phases, than the Dolphins beating them.
The Bills should have learned a valuable lesson from that game that can be applied to Sunday. They have a chance to take firm control of the division with five AFC East games remaining on the schedule: two against the Jets, two against the Patriots and the rematch with Miami.