The New York Jets are at the end of yet another lost season, as their NFL-leading streak of seasons without a playoff berth hits 15 seasons this year. They still have a little time to catch the drought-era Buffalo Bills, who missed the playoffs for 17 straight seasons, but their streak is impressive nonetheless.<\/p>\n
How do you watch for opposing players on a club that has been watching the sands fall through the hourglass on the regular season for months? The Jets are a completely different club than they were when they met the Bills in September.<\/p>\n
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Quarterback Justin Fields is out, as is wide receiver Garrett Wilson. Cornerback Sauce Gardner is gone, as is defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. The Jets traded name players for draft capital, and they\u2019ve benched higher-salaried veterans while they evaluate some young players as the season comes to an end close.<\/p>\n
Can this rag-tag Jets group beat a Bills team that doesn\u2019t need a win before the playoffs begin next week? Sure, they could \u2014 even if it\u2019s something I don\u2019t anticipate happening. If they\u2019re going to do so, they\u2019ll need some big performances from some young players in larger roles this week.<\/p>\n
Here are our five Jets to watch on Sunday.
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QB Brady Cook<\/strong><\/p>\n What\u2019s this kid all about? Cook will be making his fourth NFL start on Sunday, and he\u2019s hoping that it goes better than the previous three. Cook has completed just 58.8% of his passes this season, throwing one touchdown against seven interceptions. Buffalo\u2019s defense has forced multiple turnovers in six of its 10 games since the bye week, and the Jets have committed multiple turnovers in five of their last 10 games.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n I think it\u2019s a safe bet to guess that Cook will throw at least one interception, especially if the Bills jump out to a lead and the Jets are forced to throw a bunch to come back in the game. Head coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Bobby Babich have a way with confusing young quarterbacks, and while the Bills won\u2019t want to put too much on tape for their playoff opponents, they aren\u2019t going to play this one like a preseason game, either. Expect some weird coverage looks that cause Cook some confusion, leading to a turnover or two on Sunday.<\/p>\n RB Breece Hall<\/strong><\/p>\n Is he going to play? If he does, how much will he play? Hall missed Wednesday\u2019s practice with a knee injury before logging limited sessions on Thursday and Friday, so he\u2019s trending in the right direction. I\u2019m sure there\u2019s some incentive for him to play against a Buffalo defense that has allowed over five yards per carry this season, but he carries a questionable designation into Sunday\u2019s action, and the Jets already have declared six players out for the game.<\/p>\n The Bills, for their part, have been much better against the run over the second half of the season. Last week, they stymied the Philadelphia Eagles\u2019 rushing attack, allowing just 3.2 yards per rush in a 13-12 defeat. If Hall plays, the Bills will need to key in on the Jets\u2019 only true offensive weapon. Hall had just 29 yards on ten carries in the first matchup back in September.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n WR Adonai Mitchell<\/strong><\/p>\n Mitchell was one of the wideouts rumored to be coming to Buffalo in the 2024 NFL Draft. While the Bills ultimately selected Keon Coleman, who hasn\u2019t worked out to say the least, Mitchell went to the Indianapolis Colts. He was traded to the Jets this year for cornerback Sauce Gardner and a host of draft picks, and the change of scenery has helped the second-year man.<\/p>\n Mitchell has 24 catches for 302 yards and two scores with the Jets alone this season, and while those might not be Earth-shattering numbers in seven games, it\u2019s a step in the right direction for a player who had just nine catches for 152 yards in eight games with Indianapolis this season. Given the horror show that the Jets\u2019 quarterback situation has been, it\u2019s even more impressive that he\u2019s taken a step forward.<\/p>\n Mitchell looks like he could be a building block for the future, especially when Garrett Wilson is healthy next season. For now, the Bills need to make sure that Christian Benford eliminates Mitchell from the game.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n DL Harrison Phillips<\/strong><\/p>\n One of a pair of old friends back at Highmark Stadium for its final farewell (backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who quarterbacked 14 home victories for the Bills in his tenure, is the other), Phillips meant a lot to the Orchard Park, NY community during his time with the Bills. Aside from being a good defensive lineman, he is a great human being and the consummate professional.<\/p>\n Phillips has 56 tackles, four tackles for loss, two pass knockdowns, one forced fumble, one tackle for loss, and half a sack this season. Keeping him clear of running lanes is paramount to Buffalo\u2019s success on the ground. Look for the offensive line to have a bounce-back game this week after they were dominated by a stout Philadelphia Eagles offensive line last Sunday.<\/p>\n LB Jamien Sherwood<\/strong><\/p>\n The fifth-year linebacker is having another outstanding season. He\u2019s built like a linebacker that Buffalo would covet, as he\u2019s 6\u20192\u201d and just 216 pounds, but he flies around and tackles everything that moves. Sherwood had 158 tackles last year, and he has 147 this season. He led the NFL in solo tackles in 2024, notching 98; this season, he has just 68 solo tackles. However, he has eight pass breakups this season, suggesting a newfound strength in coverage.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Most of quarterback Josh Allen\u2019s interceptions have come when attacking the middle of the field. The Jets don\u2019t have a pick this season. Whether it\u2019s Allen or backup Mitchell Trubisky throwing the passes, the middle of the field is likely to be a common target, so Sherwood might be able to break through and end that NFL-record curse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Jets are at the end of yet another lost season, as their NFL-leading streak of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":490217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[78139,204871,5286,8995,175947,12940,94502,9002,123618,29308,12942,133206,80643,5287,1232,1105,67502,68768,62,67009,59935,60521,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-490216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-adonai-mitchell","9":"tag-brady-cook","10":"tag-breece-hall","11":"tag-buffalo-bills","12":"tag-christian-benford","13":"tag-garrett-wilson","14":"tag-harrison-phillips","15":"tag-indianapolis-colts","16":"tag-jamien-sherwood","17":"tag-josh-allen","18":"tag-justin-fields","19":"tag-keon-coleman","20":"tag-mitchell-trubisky","21":"tag-new-york-jets","22":"tag-nfl","23":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","24":"tag-quinnen-williams","25":"tag-sauce-gardner","26":"tag-sports","27":"tag-the-bills","28":"tag-the-jets","29":"tag-tyrod-taylor","30":"tag-united-states","31":"tag-unitedstates","32":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115833109494632649","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}