Eleven weeks ago, the Jets changed direction with a critical division clash against the Bills on the horizon. Chairman Woody Johnson parted ways with head coach Robert Saleh and promoted defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to interim HC five days prior to a Monday night AFC East showdown. A win over Buffalo would have moved the Jets into a first-place tie with the Bills six games into the season.
"It was exciting, it was nerve-wracking, it was overwhelming, it was fun, it was all of those things, every emotion that you could imagine I felt, and it was a blur in a lot of ways," Ulbrich recalled this week.
The Bills escaped MetLife Stadium with a 23-20 win as the Jets dropped to 2-4 and Buffalo stopped a two-game slide and rose to 4-2. When the two clubs battle Sunday in Western New York, the Jets will enter with a 4-11 mark while the Bills, having already claimed their fifth consecutive consecutive AFC East title, are 12-3 and have their eyes on locking up the No. 2 seed in the AFC.
Explosives Are a Huge Part
The Jets have lost six games this season in which they led in the fourth quarter. The first Jets-Bills game didn't fall into that category although Braelon Allen's 4-yard TD would have broken a third-quarter deadlock, but LT Tyron Smith was flagged for a holding infraction. Two plays later, Greg Zuerlein's 32-yard field goal hit the left upright and the Jets lost a winnable contest. In a game when the Jets totaled 393 yards, the offense produced 15 plays of 10-plus+ yards and eight of 20-plus+ yards.
"The first game from an explosive standpoint should have been enough to win," Ulbrich said. "Obviously didn't get it done, didn't finish the game like we needed to. Turnover ratio is a great indicator for winning and losing. But just as important is explosive rate."
After topping the 30-point mark for the first time this season in a 32-25 win at Jacksonville, the Jets returned home last Sunday and responded with a 99-yard TD drive to open the game. But after Aaron Rodgers' 11-yard score to Davante Adams with :23 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, the Jets were limited to 3 points the rest of the way in a 19-9 loss to the Rams.
"We did a great job with efficiency of moving the ball from an offensive perspective, but we didn't create the explosives and ultimately didn't get the points that were necessary to win that game," Ulbrich said. "We need to do the same thing this week. We need to get after these guys and create explosives from start to finish."
Players That Are Motivated Stick Around
With a scoring toss in Western New York, Rodgers will become the second-fastest QB (after Peyton Manning) to 500 TD passes. And Garrett Wilson is 13 yards shy of becoming the fifth player in NFL history to have at least 1,000 yards and 80 receptions in each of his first three seasons. They'll encounter a Bills defense that has given up huge yardage numbers the past three weeks but ranks tied for No. 3 in takeaways with 28.
Rodgers is dealing with an MCL injury, but he will make his 16th consecutive start and says one of his final goals is to play all 17 games in his return following surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon. While his playing future is uncertain, Rodgers continues to emphasize finishing the right way.
"I think sometimes you need to say things like that to remind guys how important it is to be a professional, and this is a 365-day-a-year job, at least that's how you've got to approach it to stick around in the league for a long time," he said. "I may be old and been in 20- years and sound like a coach sometimes, but I just believe that the players that are the most motivated stick around the longest, and those players can inspire other players."
After their mid-October triumph over the Jets, the Bills scored 30-plus points in eight consecutive games. That 30-point run ended in a sloppy 24-21 home win over the Patriots last week, but the Bills are averaging 31.3 points per game. Josh Allen is an MVP candidate and he needs two more offensive touchdowns to join Rogers (6) as the only players with five-plus seasons with 40-plus offensive TDs. He has won four straight over the Jets at home but his 14 pass TDs against the Green & White are his fewest against a division opponent while his 11 INTs are the most AFC East clubs.
"There are only two weeks. There is no reason for anybody to be checked out," said LB Jamien Sherwood, who leads the Jets with 138 tackles and whose 9 TFL rank second. "You have two full weeks of football left and preparation and go out there and put your best tape on the line. In these final moments in seasons like this, it shows what type of person you are, what type of player you are. So, if you are on this team next year, if you're on another team next year, this is part of your resume and what you put on tape goes with you forever."
A Really Opportune Time
The Jets 2024 season has been a whirlwind. With division and playoff hopes a distant memory, they'll get one more crack at the Bills Sunday.
"Adversity is a gift because it really reveals people's true identity and their true character," Ulbrich said. "When you're rolling and things are going well and you're making a push for the playoffs and if you have things to play for regarding the postseason, of course you're going to get people's best. In moments like this, it's a really opportune time to look around and see how people respond. And that's why I'm so confident that we're going to finish the way we need to finish because of the character of this locker room."
