The autumn winds brought change to 1 Jets Drive this week. With a new head coach and a new offensive play-caller, the Jets have a new direction. They also have a huge opportunity Monday night at MetLife Stadium — a win over the Bills would propel the Green & White into a first-place tie atop the AFC East with Buffalo at 3-3.
After a home loss to the Broncos and a defeat at the hands of the Vikings in London, in Weeks 3 and 4 respectively, Chairman Woody Johnson promoted Jeff Ulbrich, the Jets defensive coordinator, to lead a talented team that had been underperforming.
"I'm going to be me, and I have tremendous love and respect for this team, for this roster, for this locker room, for this group of coaches," Ulbrich said. "And I really believe, we lock arms, we commit to the process that we put in place – we will have success. We will."
'Now It's On Us to Do This'
With everything on the table, Jeff Ulbrich opted to elevate passing-game coordinator Todd Downing to offensive play-caller. While the Jets defense has yielded just 2 TDs over the past three games, the offense is in need of a jumpstart — it ranks No. 27 in total offense (286.6 yds/g) and No. 32 in rushing (80.4 yds/g). QB Aaron Rodgers, who tied his career-high with 3 INTs against the 'Vikes including Andrew Van Ginkel's pick-6, is under .500 through 5 starts for the first time since 2021 and was sacked 8 times and hit 25 times, combined, against Denver and Minnesota.
"When you make a change on the offense, it's a mirror that's held up for all of us who played," Rogers said. "And we all feel terrible about the opportunity that we had that we squandered that led to Robert [Saleh] getting fired and [offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett] Hack getting demoted. I play better – this doesn't happen. We play better on offense – this doesn't happen. So, I think it puts a spotlight on us, and now it's on us to do this. We need to be accountable to each other and we have to raise the level of our play to the standard that we said during training camp."
With mauler Morgan Moses returning to the lineup at RT after a two-game absence, the Jets should have an opportunity to get their run game on track against a Bills defense that is No. 32 in yards/attempt (5.22). While the Bills are T4 with 9 takeaways, they look significantly different at safety -- Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp have replaced longtime fixtures Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer.
"Those guys are old heads," Rodgers said of Hyde and Poyer. "They've kind of seen it all, so they obviously have just a little deeper Rolodex of recall than those guys. But it's still they're [Hamlin and Rapp] working on their disguises and they're holding their shell until the snap and doing a good job of that."
'They're Smelling Blood'
After starting 3-0, the Bills have dropped back to the pack with consecutive road losses, to the Ravens and the Texans. In Weeks 4 and 5, Josh Allen hit on 42.4% of his passes and posted a passer rating of 65.0. In last Sunday's 23-20 defeat at Houston, Allen completed 9 passes, and his 30.0% completion rate was a career-worst.
"I would assume they're smelling blood right now," said MLB C.J. Mosley of the Bills. "I'm sure they're getting ready to play a great game Monday night – I wouldn't expect anything nothing less. But as far as us, this is an opportunity for us to understand what happened. This type of thing is real, this is what this business can be about. But don't be scared of this moment."
The Bills have been scuffling offensively and the status of a pair of playmakers – RB James Cook (toe) and WR Khalik Shakir (ankle) – remains in doubt. Cook, who leads Buffalo with 432 scrimmage yards and 5 TDs, could be replaced in the backfield by rookie Ray Davis and former Jets RB Ty Johnson. If Shakir doesn't go, the Bills top three WRs will be rookie Keon Coleman, Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins.
"They're a different outfit," Jeff Ulbrich said. "There may be a little less passing game then they've had in the past without [Stefon] Diggs, etc. It really feels like a new fresh commitment to the run game. Like they want to be physical, they want to run the ball, they want to control the clock, they want to protect the ball. So, it's a different Buffalo Bills team than we've faced as the last two years, three years. So, we got to come ready to rock and roll, especially from a physicality standpoint, especially from the standpoint of stopping the run game. Then as we all know when he passes the ball, Josh his arm is a major weapon, but his legs are as well."
'We Have to Play on Our Terms'
Josh Allen, who leads the NFL with 8-0 TD-INT ratio, has lost his last two trips to MetLife Stadium including a 22-16 OT Jets' triumph last September when he was sacked 5 times and was victimized by 3 interceptions.
"That second play, if he gets out the pocket, he's scrambling to pass but knowing he can use his legs as well," said CB Sauce Gardner. "It feels pretty similar in that aspect. When you have a big quarterback who can run, they're never going to change in terms of he gets out of the pocket – he's looking to make a play."
It's a huge game for a Jets team that will either find itself tied for first place 1st atop the AFC East with the Bills or 2 games back. Also in the last 5 seasons, if a team is leading (or tied) in its division after Week 6, it has made the playoffs 83% of the time.
"We got to be assertive," said Jeff Ulbrich. "We have to play with confidence. We have to run the ball. We have to play on our terms, can't be afraid of mistakes and half-stepping. We have to play this game on our terms, and I'm very confident we're going to see that Monday night."
