Buffalo Vs. Jets Round 3? Coach Robert Saleh: ‘We’ll See Bills Again!’
The Buffalo Bills (10-3) earned a bit of revenge with their 20-12 victory over the New York Jets (7-6) on Sunday at Highmark Stadium.
After dropping their Week 9 contest 20-17 in New York’s unfriendly confines of MetLife Stadium, the Bills used some Orchard Park home-cooking to defensively dominate the Jets and quarterback Mike White in Week 14. In doing so, they evened their season series at 1-1.
However, New York’s head coach Robert Saleh does not believe these two teams have seen the last of each other this season.
During his postgame press conference on Sunday, Saleh made the following statement regarding the potential of the two divisional rivals meeting for a third time this year: “We’re going to see these guys again.”
When asked why he believed this, Saleh followed up stating, “I just think we are.”
While his words may fall short of being a guarantee, Saleh is clearly convinced that both the Bills and Jets are destined to face off in the playoffs. In spite of their sputters on Sunday, the Jets have significant talent in all three phases to make a run for the postseason and set up a rubber match with the Bills.
Buffalo moved to 10-3 on the season with their victory. Despite completing only 16 of 27 passes for 147 yards, quarterback Josh Allen threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dawson Knox in the closing minute of the second quarter. Allen then found the end zone on a five-yard run on Buffalo’s first possession of the third quarter.
Still, the defense would be the story of the game for the Bills. With their offense struggling to find traction on a slick field, Buffalo’s defense combined for four sacks, forced two turnovers in the absence of star linebacker Von Miller, who was recently placed on season-ending injured reserve die to a torn ACL.
Following the Jets’ loss, and the Los Angeles Chargers’ 23-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night, New York found themselves just a cut below the seventh and final spot in the AFC. Conversely, the Bills are currently the Conference’s No. 1. As currently constituted, New York would need to fend off both the Chargers and New England Patriots to secure the final postseason slot. If the Bills maintain the top seed, New York would require a win on Wild Card Weekend to earn a showdown with the Bills the following week. A Bills loss between now and the regular season could open up a potential third matchup on Wild Card Weekend from Highmark Stadium.
In short, a lot of moving parts would need to break in favor of ‘Gang Green’ to fulfill Saleh’s prophecy … difficult, but not impossible.
In the meantime, the Bills will look to tighten their grip on the AFC’s first-round bye as they welcome the Dolphins to Highmark Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 17 for an 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff.
Follow Mike D’Abate on Twitter @mdabateNFL
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