Buffalo Rumblings
The Buffalo Bills are headed to the playoffs, extending their franchise-record streak to seven consecutive seasons. The New York Jets, on the other hand, are going to miss the playoffs for the 15th straight season. I won’t kick them while they’re down — we know better than any fan base what it feels like to miss the playoffs for an absurd amount of years — but it’s wild to think that the Jets have been as bad as they’ve been for as long as they have been.
Sunday’s game not only brings the regular season to a close, but it also brings Highmark Stadium’s tenure as home of the Buffalo Bills to an end, as well. Barring something strange where the Bills host the AFC Championship Game, Sunday’s contest will be the final game played in the stadium before the Bills open their brand new facility in September. Fittingly, it’s the Jets coming in on Sunday to close the stadium, as the Jets were also the first opponent for a regular-season game in the stadium way back in 1973.
That game was a real barn-burner, as the Bills beat the Jets by a final score of 9-7. John Leypoldt hit three field goals, O.J. Simpson rushed for 124 yards, and the Buffalo defense withstood an Al Woodall 36-yard touchdown pass to Jerome Barkum in the fourth quarter to hold on for a win. While we’d hope the game on Sunday will feature more excitement than the first meeting in this building between these two teams, it’s possible that the game takes on the form of a preseason game given its lack of meaning in the standings for both clubs.
Buffalo cannot win the AFC East, so they’ll either be the five, six, or seven seed depending on Sunday’s slate of results. The Jets, meanwhile, win by losing, as they can clinch the No. 2 overall pick with a loss and a New York Giants win. They could also drop out of the top three choices with a win and losses from some other eliminated franchises.
How do we pick players to watch for a game where we’re not even sure who’s going to play? Well, we make it up as we go along. Our five Bills to watch this week are below, but feel free to share yours in the comments.
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QB Mitchell Trubisky
Yes, I heard head coach Sean McDermott when he said that this week would be “business as usual” with the starters. I also heard when he said that quarterback Josh Allen is “in a better place” with his foot injury this week than he was last week. I’ve also seen Allen log “DNPs” at practice on both Wednesday and Thursday, and then a limited session on Friday. Allen is going to start the game. He might even play a drive or two as the team tries to ensure that he scores 40 total touchdowns for a record sixth consecutive season.
It’s going to be Trubisky...
