by TYLER HATHAWAY
The trade deadline has come and gone, and a new member will join the cruising Bills this week. Buffalo has won four straight games and will head to New Jersey to take on a Jets team that has lost four straight games. Here’s the breakdown:
BUFFALO BILLS (7-1/AFC East)
vs.
NEW YORK JETS (2-7/AFC East)
Sunday, Metlife Stadium, 1:00 pm
Storyline #1: Bills trade for safety Amani Hooker
With just hours left before the deadline, the Buffalo Bills traded a second round draft pick in 2027 for Tennessee Titans safety Amani Hooker and a fifth round pick.
Hooker, who was drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft, was a Titan throughout his entire NFL tenure before this week. He led Tennessee with five interceptions, including three against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.
“I’ve been a big fan of his game for a long time,” Bills defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard told reporters this week. “Goes back to watching him in the Big 10, and watching how he’s progressed throughout his career in the NFL. I’ve always felt like he’s a complete safety.”
Hooker will look to help improve a Bills secondary that prior to the past two weeks was ranked amongst the worst in the NFL.
Storyline #2: Buffalo defense showing signs of life
Despite the first six games of the year being shaky (at best) defensively, Buffalo has looked like a completely different team on that side of the ball since their bye week.
After giving up 29 or more points in five of the Bills first six games, Buffalo has allowed a total of 16 points over its past two games. In fact, they are the first team since the 1985 Chicago Bears to have three or more takeaways, multiple sacks, less than 200 yards, allow no passing touchdowns, and allow opposing quarterbacks to have less than 50% completion percentage in consecutive weeks.
While calling the Bills defense anywhere remotely close to the 85’ Bears is definitely wrong, especially since both games came against struggling offenses with back-up quarterbacks, it is an encouraging sign that the defense is improving after its dreadful start to the 2026 campaign.
Storyline #3: Jets defense struggling
While the BIlls defense has been surging, the Jets defense has been doing the opposite.
New York has given up 35 or more points in each of its past two games. During their four-game losing streak, the Jets have given up 31.8 points per game and 366.8 yards per game. They also rank in the bottom half of the NFL in forced turnovers.
The Bills offense ranks first in the NFL in yards per game and points per game.
Key to the game #1: Let James Cook
In this past Monday’s win against the Minnesota Vikings, it was a rough start for the Bills offense. Especially the running game.
Bills tailback James Cook sat at just 17 yards on 11 carries after one quarter. But Buffalo kept at it, whittling the Vikings defense down, and Cook turned in 90 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown over the final three quarters to help the Bills earn a 23-6 win.
The Bills offense is at its worst when the run game can’t get anything going. And while the Jets defense is far from Minnesota’s, they rank in the top 12 in yards allowed and have given Josh Allen trouble in the past. If Cook can get going, Buffalo should be fine.
Key to the game #2: Play clean in every aspect
Buffalo ranks just outside the top 10 in total giveaways and is third in the NFL in penalties.
Realistically, there is no world that the Bills should lose this game. They have the better quarterback, running back, offensive line, defensive line, and maybe even linebackers and secondary.
The only way Buffalo loses this game is if the secondary once again gets torched, or the Bills commit a bunch of turnovers and penalties. They have better control over the latter, so it should be priority number one on Sunday.
X-Factor: Bills safety Amani Hooker
While the Jets are far from a good team, they’re not horrible offensively.
They’ve shown signs of being a productive offense, just as recently as two weeks ago when Geno Smith threw for almost 300 yards and two touchdowns against the Las Vegas Raiders, or three weeks ago when Smith had 287 yards and three touchdowns.
And while the Bills defense has been everything you want from it and more since the bye week, the secondary has been the number one concern for Buffalo all season. Knowing this, the Jets will likely try to move the ball through the air, something they are capable of.
Enter Hooker. He is general manager Brandon Beane’s prized acquisition of the trade deadline to come in and make an impact and improve a secondary that prior to these past two weeks was one of the worst units in football.
If Hooker can continue to play like he was playing in Tennessee, and the Bills defense is even just half as good as it’s been the past two weeks, then Buffalo can truly become a well-rounded team, and have a real shot to secure the first ever number one seed in Josh Allen’s career. Even if he doesn’t play a lot (or at all) on Sunday, his influence and arrival alone will be felt throughout the rest of the team.
Leave a Reply