Week #10 of the NFL season kicks off with a Thursday night game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. The Bills are coming off of a nice win against the Miami Dolphins, while the Jets also had a win last weekend, theirs being against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Vegas odds makers have given the advantage to the Jets, but it’s only a 2.5 point edge. In reality, this is one of those games that could go either way, but let’s take a look at the game and see which players have the potential to be standouts, and what each side needs to do to pull out a win.
The Bills’ offense is a remarkably different team this year than they were last year. The big difference is, of course, Tyrod Taylor at quarterback. He had a great QB Rating last weekend, but didn’t really put up very good daily fantasy football numbers. However, he has in the past, and he’s done so against much better defenses than that of the New York Jets. The Jets had a strong defense early in the year, but as of late, they’ve been slipping. The Jacksonville Jaguars game, for example, should have been a much lower scoring game than it was, and even though the Jets won, they still gave up 23 points. Again, it wasn’t a bad showing, but it wasn’t what we had come to expect from the Jets based upon their first few games. In other words, there is a lot of potential for Taylor to have a monster game against them.
We should also take a look at the Jets’ QB, Ryan Fitzpatrick. Do not forget that Fitzpatrick used to be the starter for the Bills, so there will undoubtedly be some animosity here. Fitzpatrick is a talented quarterback, but he has not been posting the same kind of numbers that Taylor has. Looking just at QB Rating, Taylor is the fourth best quarterback in the league, while Fitzpatrick sits at number 18. This measures accuracy, touchdowns, and the ability to get the ball to good running backs. Overall, although Taylor will probably not score a lot of fantasy points this game, he should be the better choice over Fitzpatrick.
The over/under for this game is 43.5 points, which means it should be a fairly low scoring game. Both teams have good defenses, so it will come down to the offensive performances to determine the winner. That usually means that the running game will be of the most importance. The Bills’ top RB is LeSean McCoy, who’s averaging 69.3 yards per game. The Jets have Chris Ivory as their top guy at 77.7 yards per game. For a single game, this is too close of a discrepancy to really tell who will be better, but Ivory does have the slight edge over McCoy. With Taylor’s better playing ability, though, McCoy could very well have a great night. It depends upon his health. Right now, McCoy is suffering from a shoulder strain, although Rex Ryan has announced that Taylor is expected to play. If he’s at full strength for Thursday, he should have more carries than Ivory.
The Bills and the Jets are pretty even for this game, and with the Jets having the home field, they should have the slight advantage. For fantasy reasons, it’s probably best to avoid wide receivers from either team, but running backs have a ton of potential. LeSean McCoy is the top pick for the game, and as long as he fits in your budget and he’s healthy, he’s a strong choice.
Jet/Bills Photo.
