Major Bills injury makes Jets’ Week 2 game plan crystal clear

The New York Jets will be looking to pull off a stunning upset against the Buffalo Bills in Week 2, and on Friday, the team was gifted a golden opportunity in the form of their AFC East rival's injury report.

The Bills have declared star defensive tackle Ed Oliver as OUT for Sunday's game due to an ankle injury. Oliver was unable to practice on Thursday or Friday due to the injury and is expected to miss multiple games.

Oliver's absence is a massive one for a Bills team that already struggled mightily to contain Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson, and the Baltimore Ravens' rushing attack in Week 1.

The Jets were already expected to enter Sunday’s game with a clear edge on the ground, and with Oliver sidelined, that edge only grows. The offensive game plan for Week 2 should be crystal clear.

Ed Oliver injury presents golden opportunity to Jets' rushing attack

Oliver is one of the most important players on the Bills' defense. The former first-round pick may not have the accolades that his division rival, Quinnen Williams, does, but he remains one of the most disruptive interior defenders in the NFL.

In fact, the only defensive tackle to earn a higher Pro Football Focus grade than Williams in Week 1 was Oliver. His 92.1 mark wasn’t just the best among all interior linemen this past week, but it was also the highest grade of his entire NFL career.

Yet despite Oliver’s dominance, the Bills still surrendered 238 rushing yards at over 8.0 yards per carry. That might suggest his impact was overstated, but in reality, he was one of the few defenders keeping things from getting even worse.

The Bills' defense actually allowed a respectable 38.9% success rate against the run with Oliver on the field in Week 1. That rate would have ranked 14th among all NFL teams in 2024.

However, when Oliver wasn't on the field, that success rate allowed plummeted to an unfathomable 72.7%, which would have been 22% worse than any team in the NFL last season. Oliver was essentially the only piece holding Buffalo's run defense together.

With Oliver sidelined, the Bills will be forced to lean a lot more on rookie defensive linemen T.J. Sanders and Deone Walker, who recorded PFF run defense grades of 31.2 and 42.3, respectively, in Week 1.

The game plan should be simple for the Jets. Breece Hall averaged over 5.5 yards per carry in Week 1 despite not recording a longer than 18 yards. The Jets' offensive line bullied and pushed around a talented Steelers defensive front.

There is a scenario where the Jets could pull off the upset against their division rivals, especially considering the emotional high the Bills are riding and the quick turnaround they face before Thursday night's matchup with the Miami Dolphins.

To pull off said upset, the Jets will need to lean heavily on their ground game and exploit the Bills' defensive vulnerabilities. Oliver's injury just made that path to victory significantly clearer.

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