Buffalo BIlls: NY Jets writer provides his thoughts on Week 7 matchup

Find out what Justin Fried at The Jets Press had to say about the Week 7 matchup for the Jets against the Buffalo Bills.

The Buffalo Bills won the first matchup with the New York Jets back in Week 1. This was the first of four wins to open the season for the Bills however they have lost their last two.

As for the Jets, they are still looking for their first win of the season and currently are 0-6. I had a chance to talk with Justin Fried at The Jets Press to get the perspective of the New York Jets heading into this Week 7 matchup.

Question 1: The biggest question around the New York Jets is when will Adam Gase gets fired. Is this the week or do you think the Jets are planning on just giving him the whole season?

Justin Fried: It’s really impossible to say at this point. It’s been evident for quite some time now that Gase isn’t long for New York, but ownership continues to be held up on the timing. Gase will be fired — that much is inevitable. But will they let him coach the rest of the season? Will he be let go during the bye week? Could it come as soon as this week? No one really knows for sure.

My best guess is that they might move on during the bye week in Week 10, but there’s certainly a decent chance that he stays with the team through the end of the season. And even an 0-15 record heading into Week 17 might not be enough to get him fired midseason.

Question 2: In terms of players, who is someone that has been the biggest disappointment this year that may have entered with high expectations?

Justin Fried: On an 0-6 team that’s on pace to be arguably the worst team in NFL history, you will have your fair share of disappointments. Players like Sam Darnold and Blessuan Austin spring to mind, but no one has been more disappointing than Chris Herndon.

Herndon was one of the stars of training camp and many expected him to take a huge leap this season after missing pretty much all of 2019. Instead, he’s played so poorly that backup Ryan Griffin has started receiving snaps over him.

It’s unclear exactly what’s gone wrong, but he looks like a completely different player than he did two years ago. From a possible offensive building block to a scorned outcast in just six weeks, Herndon has definitely been the Jets’ most disappointing player in a disappointing season.

Question 3: How do the Jets feel about Sam Darnold? Do they believe he can still be a franchise quarterback and it’s Gase holding him back or are they ready to move on?

Justin Fried: The story of Sam Darnold with the Jets seems destined to be a tale of what could have been. Perhaps no quarterback has been surrounded with a worse situation in his first three NFL seasons than Darnold.

The troubling aspect of it is that he’s truly regressed this season. Yes, it’s easy to blame this on his situation given his coaching staff and supporting cast. But at the end of the day, the NFL doesn’t care why you failed. And neither will the Jets.

The Jets have their eyes on Trevor Lawrence right now and unless Darnold miraculously carries an abysmal roster and coaching staff to a few wins, it’s likely his days in New York are numbered.

4. What do you think will be a key to the game and do you have a final score prediction?

The Jets are going to lose this game, much like they have every other game, and much like they will every future game this season. They’re on pace for the worst point differential in NFL history and haven’t even lost a game by less than two scores yet. Put rather simply, they’re the worst team in the history of the league through six games — and that likely won’t change any time soon.

But for the Jets to even be semi-competitive, they’ll need a big game from Darnold against a Buffalo defense that could be missing some of its most important pieces. They’ll need the defense to do a better job of containing Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, and a much-improved Bills offense. Neither of those things will likely happen.

The Bills will win this game, and they’ll do so by multiple scores. Let’s say 31-14.