The New York Jets had a bye week that came at the worst time. They had gained some momentum and were riding a two-game winning streak going into the bye. And given their recent history under coach Rex Ryan coming off of byes (they’re 0-2), they’re hoping to change things and are confident that they won’t have a drop off due to time off.

Ryan was at a loss when asked about the trend of his team coming out flat after time off, but said this year that can’t happen. “We have to do something about that trend,” he said. “We need to win this week.” Every game has become a must win for the Jets, especially since the Jets are one game behind the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots for first place, and they face these two teams in the next two games.

Even CB Darrelle Revis called the game against the Bills this Sunday a must win. “You can’t focus on the past coming off byes and losing,” Revis said. “It’s a new year and we’re in control of our destiny and where we want to go.” The Jets do in fact control their own destiny even after a three game skid as if they can take both of the next two games they could potentially be sitting atop the AFC East.

Lose both games, and the Jets’ season could be close to being over. The Jets have owned the Bills in the past few years, winning five of the last six meetings between the two, and that includes three wins in Buffalo. Ryan believes the practices have been good, and the Jets look very alert and aware of the situation which he hopes will translate into a good showing out of the bye.

But the Jets have lost all three of their away games this season and hope to end the streak at three with a win on Sunday. “Would we like to have had a better record? Absolutely, we would’ve, but we don’t,” Ryan said. “We’re 4-3, but we have it right in front of us. The teams you have to beat are right in front of us, so we’ll know. These next few weeks are going to be critical for us.”

Buffalo on the other side sits at 5-2 atop the AFC East and is coming off their best performance of the year dominating Washington 23-0 up in Toronto. They only gave up 178 yards had two picks to add to their league lead 14, and recorded 9 sacks. This was way better than their five previous games in which they gave up 414+ yards in each game.

“You hope that your team gains confidence from that, and that your defense sees how well they can play,” coach Chan Gailey said. “It should create more confidence.” The Bills are 26^th in the league giving up 385.9 yards per contest, but the Jets’ offense isn’t much better ranked 29^th and averaging 300.1 yards per game.

The problem for Buffalo is that the Jets have recently been playing better, including their season high 162 yards on the ground in their last game against San Diego in which Shonn Greene had 112 yards. This isn’t good for a Buffalo defense that struggles stopping the run. The Jets average 279.0 yards on the ground in the past four meetings with Buffalo.

Buffalo does benefit from having Fred Jackson on their side and they are ranked fifthin rushing averaging 140.6 yards per game. Jackson is ranked second in the NFL averaging 103.0 yards and is sixth rushing touchdowns. His 353 yards receiving out of the backfield is good for fourth among running backs. This matchup looks good compared to the Jets who are 25^th against the rush giving up 126.9 yards per game.

They will have to rely on their backfield because Ryan Fitzpatrick has a 62.0 rating in four games against the Jets and, with CBs Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie, look for TE Scott Chandler to have a big game as the Bills will try to take advantage of the safeties down the seams the one weakness of the seventh ranked pass defense.

The Bills defense is 20^th against the rush and 24^th against the pass. The Jets’ offense, which saw a boost against the Chargers as WR Plaxico Burress and RB Shonn Greene had breakout  games, is looking to keep the momentum going. Mark Sanchez needs to out-manage Ryan Fitzpatrick if the Jets want to win this game.

This will be a good game that will come down to a key play or drive. Each team is riding momentum and playing well as of late and I believe that the Jets with a few more playmakers on their team will be able to pull the game out late. Final Prediction: Jets 27 Bills 21.

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It’s the home game away from home. For the past few years the Buffalo Bills travel north of the border to play a ‘home’ game in Toronto, but until Sunday this hasn’t been a good thing for the Bills. Sunday was the first win in four tries since the cross-border series started back in 2008.

This was also the first shutout in Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan’s long and illustrious 24 season career as a coordinator or head coach. For the Bills it marked the paying off of the recent contract extension given to Ryan Fitzpatrick, 6 years $59 million, as well as, giving the fans in Canada, who haven’t been the most supportive of their Buffalo brethren, reason to cheer.

Fitzpatrick was able to find TE Scott Chandler for two touchdowns and the Bills defense which has been one of the worst in the NFL this season had a monster game racking up 9 sacks, 2 interceptions, and a blocked field goal. They held the Redskins to 178 yards of total offense and only 10 first downs. The injury riddled Redskins had no answers for the Bills on either side of the ball all game.

Safety George Wilson called the Toronto fans passion as well as loyalty into question in the week leading up to the game, but came to find that the Bills were the drawing most of the cheers from the crowd. ”That was one of the things coming in, give them something to cheer about. And I thought we did that today,” said Fitzpatrick, “I think there was more excitement out there than there has been in years past.”

It was a great overall performance,” said defensive end Spencer Johnson, who had a sack and blocked Graham Gano’s 49-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter. “To shut anybody out in the NFL, that’s a big feat, a big accomplishment and a big step in the right direction.”

Fred Jackson, who’s putting up MVP numbers, had another great game posting 120 yards on the ground and 74 yards receiving. This put Jackson at over 1000 yards from scrimmage 7 games into the season which makes him only the fourth Bill in history to do so and the first since Thurman Thomas did so in 1991.

Another bright spot for the Bills was the emergence of first round draft pick Marcell Dareus who started in place of injured NT Kyle Williams. Dareus had 2 ½ sacks, leading the defense for the day.

The Bills overall looked solid against the injured Redskins, but they will face a much tougher test next week as they square off against division rivals the New York Jets back in Ralph Wilson Stadium. With the Patriots loss, the Bills are currently tied for first in the AFC East.

This will be a real measuring game for the Bills as the Jets have a better offense and a much better defense than the Redskins. The Jets are also riding a two game win streak and have had an extra week to prepare for the Bills.

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The Buffalo Bills won their fifth game of the season by shutting down the Washington Redskins’ offense to secure a 0-23 victory. The Bills were able to make sure the Redskins were unable to get the ball moving in their running play, with the Redskins only able to rush for a total of 26 yards the whole game.

Although the Bills were not able to score a rushing touchdown, running back Fred Jackson was able to help move the ball down the field for a total of 120 yards on 26 attempts. The Redskins were also unable to capitalize on passing drives as well.

Quarterback John Beck threw a total of 208 yards in the game off of 20 completed passes, along with giving up two interceptions to Bills’ Jairus Byrd and George Wilson. Washington receiver Fred Davis provided the most help and scoring chances, getting 94 yards on eight catches.

The Bills were able to move the ball downfield successfully through the air throughout the game. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick through for a total of 262 yards off 21 completed catches, along with throwing two touchdown passes and an interception. Receiver Scott Chandler caught both touchdown passes on the only two passes thrown to him in the game.

The main target was Jackson, who caught three passes for 74 yards. Kicker Rian Lindell provided 11 points for the Bills, going three for four in field goal kicks along with two extra point kicks after each touchdown. The Washington Redskins (3-4) fly back home to face the visiting San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, while the Buffalo Bills (5-2) welcome the visiting New York Jets on Sunday.

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