The Buffalo Bills visit the New York Jets on Sunday, November 15, at MetLife Stadium, and their trade deadline acquisition is set to play. Buffalo acquired safety Amani Hooker from the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday, and Hooker, who shares the NFL lead with five interceptions, said this week that he will be ready to go on Sunday. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. ET on CBS, with the Bills at 7-1 and holding the best record in the AFC, and the Jets at 2-7 on a four game losing streak.
This is a preview of Sunday’s game. Buffalo have beaten the Jets in the past five meetings and in ten of the past twelve, and they arrive on a four game winning streak with a defence that has allowed 16 points total across its past two games.
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Hooker Brings League Leading Picks
Hooker is an eighth year veteran, and he arrives with the ball production Buffalo’s defence was missing. His five interceptions share the league lead, and he joins a unit that forced three turnovers on Monday night. The Field Level Media preview reports that quarterback Josh Allen welcomed the move publicly on Wednesday, pointing to the belief inside the team and to a front office that went and added the league’s interception leader.
I’m going to play on Sunday. I’ll be ready to go. At the end of the day, it’s football. Every team runs Cover 4. Every team runs Cover 2 and Cover 3. So it’s really just about terminology and what they call different things and how they play certain looks. – Amani Hooker, via Field Level Media
The contrast at the position could not be sharper. The Jets have intercepted one pass in head coach Aaron Glenn’s 26 games in charge, a Week 4 pick by Minkah Fitzpatrick this season that still stands as their only one. Buffalo just traded for a safety who has five by himself.
Defence Travels On Four Game Run
Buffalo’s Monday night win at Minnesota was a defensive performance first. The Bills won 23-6 on the road, allowing just 178 yards and nine first downs while forcing three turnovers. Allen passed for 234 yards, and James Cook III rushed for 107 yards. Cook has 814 rushing yards this season, fifth in the NFL, and Buffalo’s attack remains the league’s highest scoring at 32.0 points per game with a league best 386.4 yards per game, according to the NBC Sports game preview.
The Bills are 4-0 on the road, and they get healthier up front. Left tackle Dion Dawkins, who missed the Minnesota game with a rib injury, was a full participant on Friday and carries no injury designation. Right tackle Spencer Brown is doubtful with an ankle injury, and three defensive backs are questionable, which is one more reason Hooker’s quick debut matters.
Jets Search For A Spark At Home
New York’s problems are on both sides of the ball. The Jets lost 35-12 at Kansas City last Sunday after trailing by just two points at halftime, finishing with 229 yards while Geno Smith was sacked five times. They have lost four straight games, are 5-21 in a season and a half under Glenn, and speculation about the head coach’s future is growing, even as Glenn insists the team is close to breaking through and keeps working to fix what is broken.
The one Jets defender who changes games is a rookie. Edge rusher David Bailey, the second overall pick, shares the NFL lead with five forced fumbles and has 7.5 sacks. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who missed the Kansas City game with a concussion, was a full participant on Friday and remains on pace to play, which gives Smith his best target back against a Buffalo secondary in transition.
What Sunday Decides In The AFC East
Buffalo sit three games clear of second place New England at the top of the division, and a win on Sunday takes them to 8-1 with a fifth straight victory and a sixth straight win over the Jets. The short week after a Monday night road game is the one real caution in the matchup, and Buffalo’s recent history in this fixture, an average margin of more than two touchdowns across the last ten meetings, is the counterweight.
For the Jets, this is a measuring game at home against the division leader in mid November, with a coach who needs a performance more than he needs a speech. For the Bills, it is a first look at a secondary that now includes the league’s joint interception leader, added in the middle of a season that already has the AFC’s best record. Sunday at MetLife shows whether Hooker changes this defence right away, or whether the Jets can finally make a favourite work for a full afternoon.
