By CHUCK POLLOCK, Sun Senior Sports Columnist
It was an interesting season-opening Sunday for the Bills and Jets.
In Orchard Park, Buffalo was being manhandled by the Ravens and trailed by 15 with under 12 minutes to play.
At the Meadowlands, the Jets seemed to have Pittsburgh under control with an 11-point margin starting the fourth quarter.
But, alas, those scores weren’t what they appeared.
As it turned out, Buffalo mustered one of the great comebacks in franchise history and beat Baltimore, 41-40, with a field goal as time expired.
At Metlife Stadium. 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers proved his isn’t washed up quite yet, rallying Pittsburgh to a 34-32 victory on Chris Boswell’s 60-yard field goal on the game’s final play.
Now, Sunday afternoon (1 o’clock CBS-TV, Bills Radio Network) these two AFC East rivals meet at Metlife, but with opposite records, Buffalo (1-0) and New York (0-1).
Given that those two teams combined for 83 points, you could do worse than speculating that this will be a high-scoring game on a perfect afternoon (temperatures in the 70s, no rain and light winds).
The Bills have won four of the last five games against the Jets, but this is supposed to be a rejuvenation season for New York which quit on Rodgers after last year’s dismal season (5-12) and replaced him with former Bear and Steeler, Justin Fields.
BUT Buffalo QB Josh Allen, who won his 16th Offensive Player of the Week Award after his performance against Baltimore (two touchdown passes, two rushing scores) is wary of a team he feels has unrequited talent.
“They’ve got some massive studs on that defense (line) and they get after thre quarterback really well,” he said of first-round picks Will McDonald, Quinnen Wiliams and Jermain Jefferson plus former Bill, Harrison Phillips, a third-rounder via Minnesota. “They work really well together on the front end and back (secondary).
“And we only have one game of tape so we have to trust our base rules and prepare for anything they can throw at us.”
Then, too, New York has a new head coach in Aaron Glenn, a former Jets defensive back who was defensive coordinator for the Lions during Detroit’s 12-5 season. a year ago.
BILLS coach Sean McDermott agreed with Allen’s assessment of the Jets ‘D’.
“They have very good defensive coaches and high (draft) picks, especially across the front.”
And he warned against any complacency given all that had to go right to beat the Ravens.
“You look at the result but, more importantly, trying to build during the course of the season,” he said. The game talks to you and tells you about your team and about your process andhow you want to prepare the next go-around.
“There were some moments where we were doing what we should be doing … but it’s early in the year and we’ve got a lot to improve on. Our focus has to be on what we can do better.”
McDermott added, “Celebration is important because it’s had to win but we have to move forward … the NFL is the NFL for a reason.”
AS FOR the win over Baltimore, Allen pointed out, “Sometimes you need the ball to bounce your way and it did Sunday night but that has no bearing whatsoever on the next game.
“I’ve always lived under the fact that film is never as good or bad as you think (but) there a lot of things that need to be cleaned up … things that I can do better. There were a couple of times, (in that game) that I put the ball in harm’s way.”
ON THE injury front, the news was not good for Buffalo. Most critically, tackle Ed Oliver the defensive star of the win over Baltimore is out with an ankle injury. He caused the game-changing fumble by Ravens star Derrick Henry, sacked quarterback Lamar Jackson, had three tackles for loss and all six of his tackles were solos.
In addition, the Bills have four questionableplayers, three of them cornerbacks. With first-round draft choice Maxwell Hairston already on injured recerve, three other corners — Tre’ Davious White (groin), nickel back Taron Johnson (quad) and rookie draft choice Jordan Hancock (shoulder) are all questionable as is linebacker Shaq Thompson (hamstring/hand).
For the Jets, their best cornerback, Sauce Gardner dealing with a groin issue..
ALLEN OFFERED a final thought, “It’s been a while since we played a 1 o’clock game on Sunday (Jan. 5 at New England) and make sure our schedule and routine are set..
“You’ve got to be a little sick to love this game … and we’ve got some sickos.”
Bills 30, Jets 27
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
