Tyrod Taylor Key to Rex Ryan's Revenge Against New York Jets

As the Buffalo Bills prepare to face the New York Jets on Thursday night, it's a game that's much more than a matchup between a pair of AFC East teams battling to stay in contention for a Wild Card spot.

It also marks the return of a conquering hero turned vanquished villain, when former Jets and current Bills head coach Rex Ryan makes his return to the Big Apple.

And if Ryan is going to get the revenge he seeks against his former team, the biggest offensive surprise in Buffalo this season is going to have his best game of the year against a stout Jets defense.

Quarterback Tyrod Taylor is going to have to step up—big time.

Of course, as Mike Rodak of ESPN reported, to hear Ryan tell it he isn't even all that interested in his return to Met Life Stadium:

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I promise that I'll give you an honest answer [about playing the Jets] after the game [Thursday]. Because right now I haven't thought about it. What I'm telling you is the truth. We're just trying to prepare for a game on a short week. Would it had been different if it was a longer [week]? Maybe.

But at no point was I like, 'Oh, I have this one circled.' Everybody knows me. I circle the Patriots. That's what I do.

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I'm not about to question Ryan's obsession with Bill Belichick and the Pats, who have been Ryan's white whale dating back to his days at the helm of Gang Green from 2009-2014.

However, I have a really hard time believing that Ryan hasn't thought about facing his old team in the stadium he used to call home, or how sweet it would feel to defeat them.

After all, this is the same Rex Ryan who cried when asked during an interview for HBO's Real Sports about the end of his tenure with the Jets.

Ryan also didn't mince words about his former employers while speaking with Jenny Vrentas of The MMQB back in April:

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They were trying to pull away from me. Like it was my fault, somehow, that people identified the Jets with me, and that was a bad thing and not a good thing. I was just being who I was. From that point on I knew I wasn’t going to be long for that job.

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Nah. There's no hard feelings. Just like, as ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk reports, Ryan naming linebacker IK Enemkpali a captain for this game had nothing to do with Enemkpali breaking quarterback Geno Smith's jaw with a punch as a member of the Jets back in August:

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Guys, it's not a slap in anybody's face. It is not a sign of disrespect. It's just what we do. And I've done it, you guys know, I've done it that way ever since I came into the league."

I don't get it. I really don't get it. ... You guys know how I do the captains. If this was an isolated deal where I just threw a guy out there, then I can understand it. But this is what we do, every single week.

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Ryan does have a penchant for making players captains against their former teams. Richie Incognito was a captain in last week's win over the Dolphins.

Stay classy, Rex.

But don't think for one minute this is just another game for the Bills. And it can't be just another game in terms of strategy either.

Ryan's Bills are constructed very similarly to Ryan's Jets. Run the ball. Play defense. Keep the game close, and win in the fourth quarter. No team in the AFC has gained more yardage per game on the ground in 2015 than the Bills 141.6.

The problem? No team in the entire National Football League allows fewer yards per game on the ground than the Jets at 80.6. The team ranks first in weighted run defense per the advanced metrics at Football Outsiders, and fourth overall.

As if that wasn't problem enough, starting tailback LeSean McCoy is nursing a shoulder injury, one that Ryan admitted could limit him in the game:

Yes, McCoy is listed as probable and will likely play. Yes, in youngster Karlos Williams the Bills have a very capable backup for McCoy.

No, the team can't count on being able to move the ball consistently on the ground against the Jets.

And that leaves Taylor to pick up the slack.

As Bucky Brooks of NFL.com wrote, after surprisingly winning the job under center for the Bills in training camp, Taylor has continued to impress:

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Skeptics snickered at the thought of Taylor starting, based on the fifth-year pro's inexperience (35 career pass attempts prior to 2015 season), but he's been a solid performer when healthy as the offensive leader. In six starts this season, Taylor has completed 71.8 percent of his throws while compiling a 10:4 touchdown-to-interception ratio, a 108.9 passer rating and a 4-2 record. Most importantly, he's given the Bills a dynamic dual-threat playmaker to build around.

While the Bills have seemingly asked Taylor to play as a "pass-first" point guard directing a multifaceted offense built around the running game, he's shown opponents he can make plays as a run-pass threat on the perimeter. From executing zone-read concepts to orchestrating various bootleg and movement-based passes, Taylor creates chaos for opponents with his ability to create big plays on the edges. Although Taylor capably throws the ball from the pocket, it is his ability to create explosive production (gains of 20 yards or more) on unscripted plays that has taken the Bills' offense to another level.

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In Week 10, Taylor may well face his stiffest test as the starter for the Bills. Taylor has thrived when the Bills were able to chew up yardage on the ground, drawing defenses closer and closer to the line of scrimmage. Then, with either play action or the zone read, Taylor has been able to burn those defenses with the big play.

In fact, in only three of his six starts this season has Taylor attempted even 20 passes. He's 1-2 in those starts. As Rodak pointed out, there's been something of a correlation between how many times Taylor throws the ball and the team's success.

And it hasn't been a positive correlation:

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The problem for Taylor, when healthy and able to play, has been his consistency. He has posted a Total QBR of 85.0 or higher in four games this season, but in his other two starts—both losses—his QBR dropped to 32.6 and 16.6. Those were also the only two games in which he exceeded 30 pass attempts.

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And as if that wasn't bad enough, wide receiver Sammy Watkins will also have to contend with "Revis Island" most of the night. Watkins himself told Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News that he knows the sledding will be tough with Darrelle Revis in his pocket all night.

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I understand it’s going to be a hard matchup. He’s going to be shadowing me probably everywhere. As a top receiver—as a receiver who wants to be noticed as a top receiver—you definitely want to go against those type of guys. I know it’s going to probably be the hardest challenge of my career, season, every year.

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Oh, and while I'm piling on the bad news, thanks to facing the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers twice a season during his time as defensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals, Jets head coach Todd Bowles has as much experience defending the zone read as any man with his job in the league.

It's an uphill climb on just about every front you can think of. Taylor may have to carry more of the offensive load than he has all season. Involve secondary receivers like Robert Woods and Charles Clay more. Move the ball more with his arm than his legs. All while avoiding the sort of mistakes that could be incredibly costly in what's shaping up to be a low-scoring affair.

It's not an easy recipe to prepare. It's one that will require Chef Tyrod's best effort in the kitchen to date.

But that's the recipe for Ryan's revenge Thursday night.

Not that he cares. After all, it's just another game.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter, @IDPSharks.