NFL Week 9: Jets vs. Bills, Who's the Better Team?

The NFL season has been a crazy one this year. Crazy comeback wins, huge upsets, questionable calls, points galore in the beginning of the season.

There are also teams that were mediocre last season but look to be playoff bound this year. One of those teams is sitting on top the AFC East with a 5-2 record. When you think of AFC East, you think of the New England Patriots, but I'm not talking about them. I am also not talking about the New York Jets, who for the past few years have also been a division contender.

The team I am referring to is the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills finished 4-12 last year (although they were a better team than their record indicates) to finish in last place in the division. This year, however, Buffalo looks like a legitimate threat to the AFC East. They have won games against good teams, such as the Oakland Raiders, the "Dream Team" Eagles, the Chiefs, and the New England Patriots.

This week they face off against the New York Jets, who are coming off a bye week. The Jets are 4-3 and look far from the dominant team that has reached the conference championship game in the past two seasons.

The Buffalo Bills are a tough team and have a better record than the Jets. Does that mean that the Buffalo Bills ARE a better team than the New York Jets? The Jets have been known for their ebb and flow seasons, before giving some great performances in the playoffs—save for their no-shows at the AFC Championships.

So, who's the better team?

Let's take a look.

Thoughts, comments, opinions, of course are always welcome.

Quarterbacks

Ryan Fitzpatrick has had a successful season thus far, so much that the Bills gave him a contract extension. He has completed 67 percent of his passes for 1,739 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Fitzpatrick has a passer rating of 97.8.

He has lead the Buffalo Bills to a winning record and is doing it with a team that has lesser-known names than the Jets. Fitzpatrick has not faced too much of a blitz yet, but when he has, he has done well as he is quick with his releases.

Mark Sanchez isn't off to a terrible start. He has managed games well and so far has completed 55 percent of his passes for 1,545 yards and 12 touchdowns. Sanchez has an 83 passer rating. But, his inconsistencies and his turnovers have been a killer for the Jets. He misses open receivers at times and has a habit of staring down his intended receivers. Some of his decisions have been questionable. With the receivers Mark has, he should be doing a lot better.

Advantage: Bills

Running Backs

Fred Jackson is having a monster season. He has 132 carries for 721 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 5.5 yards per carry to go with 27 receptions for 353 yards. Anyone who overlooked him in their fantasy league must be kicking themselves.

C.J. Spiller has 15 carries for 107 yards and one touchdown, averaging 7.1 yards per carry.

Now let's look at the Jets running game. They are ranked 28th in the league in rushing yards. Abysmal.

Shonn Greene has 426 yards on 111 carries for a pedestrian 3.8 yards per carry and two touchdowns. LaDainian Tomlinson isn't doing the damage he did last season. He has 111 yards on 34 carries, averaging 3.3 yards per carry. Tomlinson has done more damage as a receiver: 20 receptions for 260 yards and a touchdown.

In the beginning of the season the Jets and their head coach Rex Ryan decided it would be a good idea to take the training wheels off of Mark Sanchez. That blew up in their faces, so they are going back to the good ol' ground-and-pound. The Jets, who are known for their run game, have been ineffective so far this season. Let's see if they can pick it up.

Advantage: Bills

Offensive Line

Contrary to what the stats show in the Jets passing and running numbers compared to the Bills, I believe the Jets' O-Line has the upper hand with Pro Bowlers D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold. Matt Slauson is doing a nice job and Wayne Hunter is showing improvement from the beginning of the season. The Jets' O-Line look like they are slowly getting their confidence back.

Advantage: Jets

Receivers

The Jets' receivers have not been living up to expectations. They have been more of a disappointment, actually. When the Jets signed Plaxico Burress and Derrick Mason, they thought they would go from ground-and-pound to airing it out. It did not work out.

Mason is gone and Plaxico has not really looked like the threat the Jets thought he would become. Not including the recent three touchdown game against the Chargers, Burress has not produced much. Dustin Keller started off great, but defenses have adjusted. Santonio Holmes is not earning his No. 1 receiver money. I'm sure he is due at to have a breakout game any week now, but he has not shown it yet.

Buffalo's receivers are having a good year due to Fitzpatrick doing well this season. Stevie Johnson has 39 receptions for 439 yards and four touchdowns. David Nelson, Fred Jackson, and Scott Chandler are also threats that have contributed to the Bills' high-octane offense this season.

Advantage: Bills

Defense

Anytime you have a player like Darrelle Revis on your team, most of the times your defense will be good. On the other side of the field the Jets have Antonio Cromartie, who needs to be more consistent, but is still talented.

The Jets are known for their smothering defense the past few seasons but have not looked the same so far this year. They used to pride themselves on stopping the run, but this season is a different story. They are ranked 25th in the league in run defense, but seventh in pass defense. The defense has been picking up in recent games, but they need to be more consistent against the run, especially on the edges.

Former Bills bust Cameron Maybin looks like a steal for the Jets. He has produced nicely thus far, and maybe he can do more damage once he is incorporated into more packages.

Buffalo isn't that good on pass defense and their run defense is awful. Maybe the Jets can work some more on their rushing attack on Sunday. Last season, the Jets gashed the Bills defense with their run game.

Advantage: Jets

Special Teams

The Jets special teams has been a strong point for a while. The new kickoff rule and the departure of Brad Smith hasn't stopped the Jets from having one of the most dominant special team units in the NFL. Joe McKnight has stepped it up, averaging 40 yards per return and a touchdown. He gives the offense good starting position most of the time. Nick Folk has made all of his kicks so far, and punter T.J. Conley is decent.

Advantage: Jets

Coaching

Chan Gailey has done a great job of coaching the Bills to a 5-2 record. So far, the Bills have been the better team in the AFC East, and he has done it with a team of players no one really cared for up until this season.

Although many people dislike Rex Ryan due to his mouth and cockiness, he has done a good job of changing the Jets' culture from a negative one to a positive one. He brought in a winning attitude to the locker room. But, this season, with all the weapons the Jets have on their roster, they should be in a better position than the one they're in now.

Advantage: Bills

It pains me to say this, but I feel that the Bills have shown they are the better team this season (for now). It doesn't mean that the Bills are a lock to win this Sunday—that is for another discussion.