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Week 12: Bills vs. Jets Preview New York Jets
The Bills and the Jets are two teams going in the opposite directions in the tough and mediocre AFC East. The Jets have won three in a row and four of their last five to crawl back to .500 at 5-5. The Bills have the same record but have lost two straight games. This is as close to a must win for both teams if they have aspirations to win the division. The Jets have a different look than they did on opening day when these two teams met in Buffalo. Chad Pennington is the quarterback and he is playing extremely well. The Bills look to get the offense going again after struggling badly in the red zone the last two weeks.


Facts and Figures
Matchup: Buffalo (5-5) at N.Y. Jets (5-5)
Date: Sunday November 24, 2002
Place: Giants Stadium
Time: 1:00pm
Television: CBS
Announcers: Dick Enberg, Dan Diedorf, & Bonnie Bernstein
Spread: Jets by 3
Series: Bills Lead 47-37 (1-0 Playoffs)
Last Meeting: Jets 37-31 OT Week 1 in Buffalo
Jets Offense: Rush (22nd); Pass (17th); overall (23rd)
Jets Defense: Rush (29th); Pass (22nd); overall (26th)
Bills Offense: Rush (23rd); Pass (2nd); overall (6th)
Bills Defense: Rush (26th); Pass (17th); overall (22nd)


Injury Update

The Bills remain very healthy. They used the bye week to rest some of the bumps and bruises and were completely healthy going into last week's game in Kansas City. London Fletcher was banged up last week with a knee sprain but he is expected to be ready to go on Sunday. The only player that has yet to return to the lineup is Tony Driver who has been bothered by a hip problem.

The Jets are also a healthy team. They just had three players on their injury report last week, all were listed as probable and all played. The only player that was dinged up against Detroit was DE Shaun Ellis with a hand injury. It wasn't considered serious.

For complete injury news throughout the week and the Official NFL Injury Report go to our Injury Page.


Key Matchups

RB Travis Henry vs. LB Sam Cowart: Cowart is finally 100% and playing like the Cowart of old. He will be very disruptive to the Bills offense and especially to Henry who is running well. If the Bills win this battle it will help them win the game.

OT Jonas Jennings vs. DE John Abraham: Abraham leads the Jets with five sacks and Jennings will need to keep him away from Bledsoe. Jennings did a nice job on Abraham the first time around but Abraham was hurt then, he is healthy now.

RG Ruben Brown vs. DT Josh Evans: Evans is a Gregg Williams type of players and the Bills will be watching out for him in the middle. He will not only cause havoc to the running game but his four sacks will keep Brown on his toes to keep him out of the backfield.

WR Peerless Price and Eric Moulds vs. CB Aaron Beasley and Donnie Abraham: Price and Moulds are coming off their worst game of the season and will be looking to atone from last week's effort against a defensive backfield that they thrived against opening day.

LB London Fletcher vs. RB Curtis Martin: Fletcher has played very strongly the last few weeks and he will be the man in charge of stopping Martin when he does get through the defensive line. The Bills need to keep Martin from having a huge game.

DT Pat Williams vs. C Kevin Mawae: These two are developing a legendary matchup. This is a battle of two solid players in the middle. The Bills will need Williams to get away from Mawae to keep Martin from running wild.

Game Plan

When The Bills Have The Ball: Drew Bledsoe will be out to prove something after having his last pass intercepted last week. He also feels he owes the Jets for not being able to get on the field in overtime during the first meeting. The fact is, I look for the Bills to grind it out on the ground with heavy doses of Travis Henry. He has been the most consistent offensive player over the last few weeks and he should have a good game against a relatively weak run defense.

When The Jets Have The Ball: The Jets will try to mix it up in their west coast offense. Expect them to evenly distribute the ball between Martin and short passes from Pennington to his wide receivers and tight end Anthony Becht. If they do that effectively they will keep the Bills guessing.


Bills Daily Prediction

The Bills are desperate to get back on track after struggling the last two weeks. The Jets are looking at keeping the momentum they have built over the last month. It will be a tough game at the Meadowlands, a place the Bills have had some success at in the past. Expect the Bills to want it just a little bit more as Bledsoe tries to get the bad taste of his late interception last week out of his mouth. This is the type of game the Jets have traditionally come up short expect the Bills offense to get back on track and pull out their own one point victory: Bills 28, Jets 27


Season Prediction Record: (8-2)
Season Record Against The Spread: (8-2)

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