Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Bills Legend Thinks Jets Will Fly High in 2023
The New York Jets are going to be more than a handful for the Buffalo Bills in the 2023 Monday Night Football season opener according to former special teams ace Steve Tasker.
Having completed the transition from playing to broadcasting long ago, Tasker currently co-hosts the weekday show “One Bills Live.” The Bills’ former seven-time Pro Bowler dropped some hot takes about the Jets while looking ahead to the Week 1 AFC East matchup.
“The Jets fans are understandably optimistic, and I'll say this, I’m optimistic for ‘em,” said Tasker. “I think they’re gonna be a really good team this year and I think this [MNF matchup with Buffalo] is gonna be a really good game.”
In the first of two regular season meeting, the Jets and Bills will square off at MetLife Stadium on the 22nd anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. ESPN will carry the MNF game with play-by-play announcer Joe Buck and color analyst Troy Aikman live from the booth in East Rutherford.
The Green & White were one of only three teams to hand the Buffalo Bills a regular season loss in 2022 and they did it with Zach Wilson at quarterback. Despite twice bottling up Buffalo's high-powered attack led by dual threat Josh Allen, the Jets settled for a season split and finished in fourth place. Meanwhile, the Bills went on to capture their third consecutive AFC East division crown.
“Certainly, the Bills have proven more as a club, but the Jets have every reason to legitimately believe they’re gonna be a much-improved football team from where they were a year ago. We’re gonna find out on Opening Day,” said Tasker.
Tasker returned to the topic of the Jets’ renaissance later in the show.
"On this side of the microphones everybody is saying the Jets offensive line is gonna be the weak link. A little bit of that, to me, is the depth of their roster every place else. They're good. They got some talent," said Tasker. "They have done everything right for two straight off-seasons. They’re gonna see some results for that."
The Jets hit home runs in the 2022 NFL Draft by taking cornerback Sauce Gardner, wide receiver Garrett Wilson and running back Breece Hall. Gardner and Wilson were the NFL Rookies of the Year while Hall totaled nearly 700 scrimmage yards in 6.5 games before an ACL injury.
Then, in 2023, Gang Green replenished its receiving corps and traded for future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The 61-year old Tasker, a staple on the Bills' Super Bowl teams of the 1990s, established himself as arguably the best all-around special team players in NFL history. He appeared in 160 regular season games over 12 years with Buffalo.
Former Bills WR Steve Tasker against the Jets
Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY Sports
Mike North, the NFL VP for Broadcast Planning, made a guest appearance on the same Thursday afternoon episode of "One Bills Live" to talk about the NFL schedule release.
“I wouldn’t call it a no-brainer," said North about the Jets-Bills MNF matchup. "There were a couple of different, maybe converging, elements that kind of got us to that point. One of them, it was obviously 9/11, that we knew and it kind of made sense, and maybe felt right, to have one of the New York teams hosting that night. For a minute there, we actually considered Jets versus Giants. They do play each other this year, so you could have both New York teams playing in that window.”
North mentioned the importance that the Rodgers' trade played during the scheduling process.
"The Jets having Aaron Rodgers now, and, thankfully, that deal got done before our schedule came out. His first game was gonna have a lot of interest, no two ways around it," said North. "What we got was a Jets-Bills game on Monday night of Week 1 and you kind of let the ESPN promotional machine, you know, starting in the morning with all the talk shows, and then all throughout the day, kinda talking about Aaron Rodgers and his journey to New York."
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