clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

New York Jets Pass Offense vs. Buffalo Bills Pass Defense

It's a rookie quarterback against a defense that held a quarterback to a 2 for 17 line last week. Surely Derek Anderson had something to do with that kind of performance, but the Bills have a solid pass defense. Against an outmanned and potentially demoralized opponent, this is going to be a week for Mark Sanchez to not lose the game. That means sounds decisions, no risky throws, and not leaving the ball exposed for pass rushers.

The blocking assignments will be relatively more conventional than usual this week. 10 of Buffalo's 12 sacks have come from defensive linemen. Most of that pressure has come from ends Aaron Schobel, Chris Kelsay, and Ryan Denney. D'Brickashaw Ferguson will have Schobel. Nick Mangold also needs to handle Marcus Stroud up the middle. Stroud is a stout tackle, one of the best in the game. The ability to handle him with one blocker will be a key. George Wilson, a safety with a pair of sacks, will probably be sent at the rookie on occasion.

With Jabari Greer now playing well in New Orleans, the Bills will have Terrence McGee and Drayton Florence at corner. McGee is the top corner the Bills have but is battling knee problems. Florence is a relatively young player who has shown flashes of potential as a cover corner. Braylon Edwards looked very difficult to cover last week, but I'm not sure the wisest move would be to test these corners often, particularly with a gimpy Jerricho Cotchery. As stated above, this is not a week to roll the dice with the rookie quarterback, although I'd like to see more of Dustin Keller. He has been underutilized this year, and the Bills are having injury issues in their linebacking corps. They just lost two, Kawika Mitchell and Marcus Buggs, last week, and Paul Posluszny is just making a return from a broken arm in the opener.