Go Big or Go Home
We have finally made it to week 17 of the NFL season, and the New York Jets are playing in a huge game that can make or break there season. The Jets will be taking on the Buffalo Bills who will look to be the spoilers, and end the Jets season. The Jets are on a five game winning streak after last weeks victory over their division rivals the New England Patriots. The turnaround to this season I think came after when they had lost to the Houston Texans. Head Coach Todd Bowles had a meeting with the team and let them have it. Since the meeting, Ryan Fitzpatrick has been on a role in being a much smarter Quarterback. I think Fitzpatrick was trying to do to much in the beginning, and now he has settled in, and became the leader. He has the offense rolling with the running game becoming a bigger problem for the opposing defenses to handle. The tandem of Brandon Marshall, and Eric Decker have been the best this season in a very long time. These two receivers are just what the Jets have been looking for. They are missing one deep threat receiver but these two have done the job. The Defense has been playing to what people have expected them to be. It will be key in this game to control the mobile Quarterback Tyrod Taylor in keeping him in the pocket ,and not let him make plays outside the pocket. The Bills quarterback was able to make plays outside of the pocket which helped his team to victory in week 10 earlier this season.
One important thing that the New York Jets will need to do on Sunday is to control the line of scrimmage, and put a lot of pressure on the Bills offense. This time around the Jets will not have to worry about LeSean McCoy who is out with a knee injury, and Charles Clay who is out with an injury as well. The running game will be tough to stop because the Bills have a excellent running back in Karlos Williams who is a rookie. He is not built like your normal running back so the defense will need to tackle him with multiple people. The one key person they will need to take out of the game is Sammy Watkins. Darrelle Revis will need to shutdown Watkins like he did in week 10. Also they will need to disguise the blitz's packages, and attack the offensive line of the Bills since most are out due to injury. In week 10, the Jets were not getting any pressure on Taylor, and it allowed him to make the big plays. The people who I think will step up big on Sunday is Antonio Cromartie, and Leonard Williams. These two players have been steeping up big in the winning streak, and will like to continue the success they been having. Cromartie must do the same thing like Revis will be doing, and that is to shut down Robert Woods because if they are able to shut down the receivers, then the Bills will not have much of a game plan.
The offense has been playing much better during this winning streak with everyone stepping up to help out. It will be key for the offensive line to continue to protect like how they have been these past few games. They should continue to include those screen pass plays because it has been a big success in the Jets being able to move the ball. The two people who will need to continue to step up are Quincy Enunwa, and Kembrell Thompkins. These past two games Thompkins and Enunwa have been the player to go to because of the plays they have made to help the Jets to victory. Rex Ryan will look to bring the pressure like he did last game. In the last matchup, the Bills caused Fitzpatrick to throw two interceptions that were very costly. Like the Bills the Jets are banged up but will likely have everyone play on Sunday. A concern I have is if the Jets get off to a slow start will they be able to bounce back. Another concern I have is the receivers dropping the balls. Fitzpatrick this season has had made some tremendous throws but his wide receivers have dropped to many passes. This game they will need to be perfect in every part of the offense side of the ball.
The New York Jets need to avoid all the hype this game is getting because of who their opponents coach is. The team just needs to focus on the goal and that is to go win the game, and get into the playoffs. If they don't win on Sunday and the Pittsburgh Steelers win then the Jets are out and will have the Jets fans very disappointed. The New York Jets are a very good team that I think this time around will start off strong and wont look back. It will be a close game because it is a divisional game, and the Bills will look to be the spoilers. I just think with all the momentum they have from this winning streak it will help them out. Head Coach Todd Bowles will have them focused on winning this game, and nothing else. At the end I think the Jets will be winning be seven or by a field goal. They will be extending this winning streak, and getting ready for the playoffs. The New York/ New Jersey area is excited because of how this team is playing and hope this doesn't end anytime soon.
