By Marvin Moore September 6, 2023
Are you ready for some football? The long road to Super Bowl LVIII begins in earnest on Monday Night Football when the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets clash in the season opener at MetLife Stadium.
The Bills and two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Josh Allen have captured three straight division titles. The 6-foot-5 dual threat has averaged 4,345 passing yards, 35.5 touchdown passes, 762.5 rushing yards, and 6.5 rushing scores over the past two seasons. And he is only 27 years old.
Despite the Bills’ success in the regular season, Allen & Co. have struggled in the postseason. Since 2019, Buffalo is 4-4 in eight playoff matchups under head coach Sean McDermott and has been eliminated in the Divisional Round the previous two seasons. Anything less than a Super Bowl appearance might cost McDermott his job.
The Jets acquired four-time league MVP Aaron Rodgers in a monumental trade to help end the longest playoff drought in North American professional sports. The 39-year-old future Hall of Famer has thrown for more than 4,000 yards in ten different seasons and is fifth all-time with 475 touchdown passes.
New York split two games against the Bills last year in spite of the mediocre play of quarterback Zach Wilson. Rodgers was brought in to lead the Jets into the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. But make no mistake about Gang Green’s ultimate goal. The Jets have their sights set on the franchise’s first Vince Lombardi Trophy since 1969.
Buffalo has sported one of the league’s premier defensive units over the past six seasons, with defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier calling the shots. However, Frazier walked away from the game after a disastrous playoff loss in January. McDermott will call the plays this season for a group that finished last season as the third-ranked run defense by DVOA.
The Bills will get tested early and often with the Jets backfield tandem of Dalvin Cook and Breece Hall. The duo combined for 1,636 rushing yards, 58 receptions, 513 receiving yards, and 15 total touchdowns despite Hall missing the final ten games of the season.
Defense wins championships, and New York has one of the NFL’s top units. The trio of Quinnen Williams, C.J. Mosley, and Sauce Gardner headline a young but talented group with the tools to be the league’s top-ranked defense.
Williams is a dominant defensive tackle who posted a whopping 12 sacks a year ago and has 27.5 quarterback takedowns in four seasons. Mosley Mosley is the quarterback of the defense and has averaged 101 solo tackles over the past two years, while Gardner is the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year and arguably the league’s premier shutdown cornerback.
The Jets limited Allen to 18 completions and 183 passing yards in a 20-17 upset win at MetLife Stadium last November. New York recorded five sacks and held Buffalo’s high-powered offense to three second-half points. The Bills prevailed 20-12 in the second meeting last year, but Allen tallied a season-low 16 completions for just 147 passing yards.
Buffalo has posted two wins in four games against Rodgers and has held the veteran signal-caller to a passer rating of 75.4 with 941 yards, five touchdowns, and four interceptions. All signs point to a low-scoring affair, with the playmaking abilities of Allen and Rodgers ultimately deciding the winner.
A record 19.85 million viewers tuned in for last year’s Monday Night Football season-opening matchup, pitting the Denver Broncos and Russell Wilson against his former team, the Seattle Seahawks. The revenge game is the most-watched season opener in network history, but maybe not for long.
A national television audience will be curious to see Rodgers in a new uniform against a Bills squad loaded on both sides of the ball. NFL fans will also want to get a peek at budding superstars like Williams, Garner, and Garrett Wilson. Don’t be surprised if this early AFC East showdown garners 20 million-plus viewers.
Star-studded quarterbacks. Elite defensive units. AFC East supremacy. This Bills and Jets encounter has all the ingredients to become an instant classic you do not want to miss.
