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AFC East teams will meet under the bright lights of Thursday Night Football when the New York Jets play host to the Buffalo Bills at 8:25 p.m. ET on NFL Network (live stream) at MetLife Stadium.
The Bills are 5-2 on the season despite almost nobody expecting it out of them. The Jets are 3-5, and not out of the running yet, but the Bills are the ones with a much better chance of keeping pace with the 6-2 New England Patriots.
That’s life in the AFC East: trying to keep pace with the Patriots. The Bills are coming off a pair of quality wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders, and don’t play the Patriots until later in the season. They have time to build a buffer, but the most important games come later.
New York is riding a three-game losing skid, falling to the rival Patriots and Miami Dolphins. They did beat the Dolphins earlier in the year, but lost to the Bills in the opening week of the season.
That game saw Tyrod Taylor complete 16 of 28 passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Josh McCown completed 26 of 39 passes for 187 yards and a pair of interceptions for the Jets. Buffalo rusehd for 190 yards on the back of LeSean McCoy, while the Jets rushed for a pitiful 38 yards as a team, 22 of which went to Bilal Powell.
All signs point to the Bills being the better team, and they are expecting a win on Thursday. Below you can find all you need to know to watch the game in addition to news, odds and more.
Time, TV channel, and streaming info
- Time: 8:25 p.m. ET
- Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
- TV: NFL Network
- Streaming: NFLN Online
- Odds: The Bills are 3.5-point favorites.
Bills vs. Jets news:
- The Bills wont benefit from home-field advantage this week, but they’re one of only three undefeated teams at home in 2017.
- The Jets’ roster has been jumbled this week, with the team placing rookie tight end Jordan Leggett on IR, signing defensive lineman Xavier Cooper, and wide receiver Jeremy Kerley facing a potential league suspension.
- Buffalo got some encouraging injury news heading into the matchup on short rest.
During a session with the media Tuesday, first-year head coach Sean McDermott said he is “hoping” to have both starting cornerback E.J. Gaines (hamstring) and starting free safety Jordan Poyer (knee) back on the field when the Bills go for the season sweep of the Jets.
- If the Jets can’t figure out how to finish out games, they are going to lose a lot more contests than they should.
Unlike the last two weeks, the Jets did not jump out to a 14-0 lead, but they did lead the game for much of the first three quarters. Once again, the team struggled to finish. The offense sputtered late again, scoring only one field goal in the second half.
Bills vs. Jets predictions:
The Bills are the more complete team, but McCown has occasionally been very good this season. If the Bills can frustrate McCown early, there’s no reason they can’t win another game and keep pace with the Patriots.