The Jets proved how bad of a football team that they are by losing to the Buffalo Bills.  Chad Pennington completed 32 of 39 passes for 290 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 costly interceptions.  Thomas Jones had another lousy game as he rushed for 35 yards on 12 carries (2.9 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 20 yards.  Leon Washington had a solid game though as he carried the ball 4 times for 24 yards (6.0 ypc) with 1 TD run and he also caught 8 passes for 38 yards (4.8 avg).  Jerricho Cotchery led the way for Jets’ receivers as he caught 8 passes for 106 yards (13.3 avg).  Laveranues Coles also had a decent game with 8 catches for 65 yards (8.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.

Jonathan Vilma (8 tackles), Darrelle Revis (8 tackles) and Victor Hobson (6 tackles, sack, fumble recovery) led the way for the Jets defense.  The Jets did a good job against the run as the Bills only rushed for 86 yards on 28 carries (3.1 ypc) but they completed 22 of 28 passes for 218 yards.

When the Jets traded for Thomas Jones they felt they had solved their running problems from the 2006 season.  Jones however got off to a rough start as the Jets had hard times blocking the outstanding defenses of the Patriots and Ravens.  Jones went off last week against the Dolphins and the Jets scored 31 points because he gave them balance in the offense.  Look for Jones to continue to run well this season as he only needs a little crack in the defense to do his damage.  Jones has carried the ball 63 times for 219 yards (3.5 ypc) but he has the talent to be much better than that.  He is the key to the Jets offense this season.

The New York Jets finally got on track with a hard fought victory over the Miami Dolphins last week while the Bills suffered another devastating loss that has left them scrambling to find enough football players to assemble a team.  The Jets offense has to be licking their chops watching game film of the Bills’ defense that is allowing 177.3 yards rushing per game and 281.0 yards passing!  The Jets would like to have balance to the offense like they had last week when they got RB Thomas Jones going.  Look for Jones to pad his season stats this week against a front 7 of the Bills that has been ransacked by injuries so far this season.  The Bills also have big problems at cornerback so look for Chad Pennington to attack them deep with WRs Jerricho Cotchery (18 rec, 276 yards) and Laveranues Coles (16 rec, 146 yards, 3 TDs).

The Jets defense has been nothing to write home about this season either as they have allowed 121.3 yards rushing per game and 264.7 yards passing.  But, the Bills are very young on offense and they likely will have problems exploiting the weaknesses of the Jets defense.  Rookie Trent Edwards is starting at QB for the Bills this week and the Jets will no doubt disguise coverages and blitz him from all angles when he drops back to pass.  The best chance for an upset for the Bills is to keep the football on the ground with rookie Marshawn Lynch.  Lynch has carried the ball 57 times for 228 yards (4.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he’s run against solid defenses like New England’s and Pittsburgh’s.  Still, the Jets will gang up on him if the Bills don’t have the threat of a passing game.  The Bills would like to get WR Lee Evans going (5 rec, 29 yards) but the Jets will no doubt double cover him and make someone else beat them.

PREDICTION:  The Bills just don’t have enough offensive players to make this a game because the Jets are going to score a lot of points against their defense.  Take the Jets and lay the points.

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The Jets didn’t really play that well yesterday but it was just good enough to beat the Dolphins.  Chad Pennington did a solid job of managing the game as he completed 15 of 22 passes for 124 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 interceptions.  He also carried the ball 4 times for -1 yard and a TD.  Thomas Jones had a really solid football game as he carried the ball 25 times for 110 yards (4.4 ypc).  Leon Washington also was important yesterday and it wasn’t for his running as he carried the ball 7 times for 18 yards (2.6 ypc).  It was for his kickoff returns as he returned 2 for 111 yards (55.5 avg) including a 98-yarder for a TD.  Jerricho Cotchery (5 rec, 54 yards), Laveranues Coles (3 rec, 30 yards, TD) and TE Chris Baker (1 rec, 4 yards, TD) all pitched in with the passing game.  The Jets finished up with 141 yards rushing on 38 carries (3.7 ypc) and they completed 15 of 22 passes for 115 yards.

The Jets defense really didn’t play too well yesterday.  S Erik Coleman (11 tackles) and CBs David Barrett (8 tackles) & rookie Darrelle Revis (8 tackles) all were very busy with the Dolphins’ passing game.  The Dolphins rushed for 112 yards on 23 carries (4.9 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 36 passes for 312 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270923020

Attention Jets fans……don’t cheer when the QB that led you to the playoffs limps off of the field injured!  Pennington is a better QB than Kellen Clemens right now and he gives the Jets the best chance at success.  He has completed 16 of 21 passes (76.2%) for 167 yards with 2 TDs and 0 INTs (130.5 QB Rating).  Kellen Clemens is the QB of the future and he has looked decent against tough defenses so far this season.  He has completed 24 of 47 (51.1%) passes for 295 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions (60.2 QB Rating).

The Jets have lost CB/KR Justin Miller for the season with ligament damage in his right knee.  He had 2 tackles this season and he returned 2 kickoffs for 48 yards (24.0 avg).  Miller will be replaced on kickoff returns by running back Leon Washington.  Washington has returned 5 kickoffs for 114 yards (22.8 avg) so far this season but he’s not the big-time game breaker that Justin Miller is.

The Jets put up a good fight with the Ravens as it all came down to the last play of the game.  That’s when linebacker Ray Lewis intercepted a Kellen Clemens pass in the endzone to seal the Jets defeat.  Kellen Clemens completed 19 of 37 passes for 260 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions.  RB Thomas Jones didn’t find much running room against the Ravens defense as he carried the football 24 times for 67 yards (2.8 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 20 yards.  WR Jerricho Cotchery led the way for the Jets in the passing game with 7 catches for 165 yards (23.6 avg).  Laveranues Coles also was busy with 6 catches for 57 yards (9.5 avg).  TE Chris Baker caught Clemens’ first career TD pass…it was a 3-yarder.  The Jets finished up with 69 yards rushing on 27 carries (2.6 ypc).  The Jets also completed 19 of 37 passes for 235 yards.

The defense was led by CB David Barrett and LB Jonathan Vilma who each had 10 tackles apiece.  The Jets did not play well or awful on defense but they didn’t make any big plays and that hurt them in this game.  The Ravens finished up the game with 118 yards rushing on 34 carries (3.5 ypc) and they completed 23 of 35 passes for 185 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270916033

Both of these teams are coming off disappointing losses which saw each team lose their starting Qb to injury.  The Jets got punished 38-14 at home by the cheating New England Patriots and the Ravens lost a tough game 27-20 in Cincinnati.  With Chad Pennington out the Jets would like to run the football against the Ravens but that will be easier said than done against a defense that held the Bengals to 55 yards rushing on 23 carries (2.4 ypc).  Thomas Jones only rushed for 42 yards on 14 carries (3.0 ypc) in the opener against the Patriots as they had line breakdowns especially at left guard where Adrien Clarke had some issues.  The Bengals did throw pretty well against the Ravens defense so the Jets could take the training wheels of QB Kellen Clemens in his first NFL start and let him challenge them a bit.  WRs Laveranues Coles, Jerricho Cotchery and Justin McCareins are a pretty good set of WRs to throw to but the Jets must be careful because CB Chris McAllister and S Ed Reed are both big time playmakers on the defense of the Ravens.

It’s still possible that Steve McNair could give it a go this week because he’s as tough as nails.  But, the more likely scenario is that Kyle Boller will get the start against the Jets.  The Jets defense was torched last week by Tom Brady who threw for 297 yards and 3 TD passes.  The Jets didn’t sack him even once!  With both of the starting CBs (Andre Dyson & Justin Miller) likely out for this football game, look for the Ravens to throw the ball deep after they establish their running game.  They should have no problem doing that as the Jets allowed 134 yards rushing last week to the Patriots.  Willis McGahee will carry the ball the bulk of the time this week and he should have a really good game.

PREDICTION:  Both of these teams are banged up, but the Jets are in far worse trouble.  I like the Ravens at home but I like the Jets to stay within the 9.5 pointspread.

The Jets have placed Chansi Stuckey on the Injured Reserve List due to a foot injury ending his rookie year.  Stuckey was the leading receiver in receptions with 11 in the pre-season for the Jets.  They really like him but they will have to wait a year to get him back on the field.