The New York Jets’ 2026 season has gone down the drain.

After a somewhat competitive start to the year, excuses are up for head coach Aaron Glenn and his 2-7 squad. As part of their active four-game losing streak, the Jets have lost at home to two teams on four-plus-game losing streaks, followed by a one-sided blowout in Kansas City against a Chiefs team on a two-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills are coming off a dominant road blowout against the previously 6-1 Minnesota Vikings.

Are the Bills about to put together a masterful beatdown at MetLife Stadium? Here’s everything you need to know ahead of kickoff.

How to watch

  • Time: 1 p.m. ET
  • Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
  • TV: CBS
  • Broadcast crew: Kevin Harlan, Trent Green

Jets-Bills will be broadcast locally in the following United States markets (courtesy of 506sports):

  • New York, NY
  • Buffalo, NY
  • Rochester, NY
  • Syracuse, NY
  • Albany, NY
  • Burlington, VT
  • Hartford, CT
  • Boston, MA
  • Portland, ME
  • Cheyenne, WY
  • Casper, WY

Weather

Fall football has arrived in northern New Jersey. The temperature at kickoff is expected to be 49 degrees Fahrenheit, with no chance of precipitation throughout the game. Winds are expected to be 13 mph out of the northwest, and humidity is forecast at 46%.

Uniforms

The Jets will be rocking their alternate all-black uniform set. They are making their return for the first time since Week 5 of the 2025 season, when the Jets were demolished by the Dallas Cowboys. The Jets’ last win in all-black came in 2024, when they defeated the Houston Texans on Halloween, a game best known for Garrett Wilson’s “Air Jordan” catch.

Buffalo will counter with their all-white road uniforms.

Injury report

Jets:

  • LB Trevin Wallace (Groin): Out
  • DB Jarvis Brownlee Jr. (Illness): Questionable
  • WR Garrett Wilson (Concussion): Questionable
  • EDGE Joseph Ossai (Ankle): Questionable
  • S VJ Payne (Back): Questionable
  • DB Nahshon Wright (Back): Questionable
  • DL Harrison Phillips (Ankle): Questionable
  • WR Adonai Mitchell (Knee): Questionable
  • WR Omar Cooper Jr. (Ankle): Questionable

Bills:

  • S Sam Franklin Jr. (Shoulder): Questionable
  • CB Jordan Hancock (Hamstring): Questionable
  • CB Christian Benford (Wrist): Questionable
  • OT Spencer Brown (Ankle): Doubtful

The Jets’ injury report is lengthy, but most of the players listed as questionable were full participants in Friday’s practice. The only exceptions were backup linebacker Trevin Wallace, who will be out with a groin injury for the second straight game, and Jarvis Brownlee Jr., who was limited on Friday with an illness.

Garrett Wilson will make his return to the lineup after missing Week 9’s loss in Kansas City with a concussion. Rookie safety VJ Payne also has a chance to make his NFL debut.

For Buffalo, Josh Allen will have to make do on offense without starting right tackle Spencer Brown. Cornerbacks Christian Benford and Jordan Hancock are expected to play after full practices on Friday, although backup safety and special teamer Sam Franklin was limited with a shoulder on Thursday and Friday.

What to watch for

Can the Jets shorten the game?

The Jets likely won’t hold up in a shootout with the Bills; they couldn’t even do it with the Dolphins and Raiders. To win this ballgame, they’ll have to shorten it, similar to their model in 2022, when they pulled off an upset at MetLife Stadium as 11-point underdogs (their last home win as 7+ point underdogs).

In that game, each team had just nine possessions. That must be the Jets’ goal today: minimize the number of possessions for each team, as to introduce more randomness and volatility, which favors the underdog. The more possessions for each team, the harder it will be for the Jets to keep up.

Offensively, the Jets must count on their run game to chew clock and keep Josh Allen on the sideline. Buffalo’s run defense ranks 25th with a 45.7% rushing success rate allowed, so New York has a chance to sustain long drives in this one. The key, though, is knowing when to switch it up with a play-action shot, especially outside the red zone, where the Jets have had more success scoring touchdowns than inside of it.

Can Aaron Glenn do anything to make a case for himself?

The clock is ticking on Aaron Glenn to make a case for his return in 2027. With a 5-21 record, he has a long way to go, but there are still eight games remaining, and a win over the Bills would be a strong start as he looks to make a statement to ownership.

For Glenn, it’s time to start showing what he brings to the table as a head coach. Is it the ability to galvanize his team and oversee a squad of players who are noticeably more physical than their opponents? Is it defensive play-calling? Is it disciplined, penalty-free play? Is it masterful clock and game management?

What exactly is it?

Glenn hasn’t proven to add any positives to the Jets in his tenure. If he does not introduce at least a couple of legitimate strengths over the upcoming eight-game sample, there won’t be much of a conversation to be had at One Jets Drive on January 11.

Score prediction

  • Bills 31, Jets 20

The Jets have been much more competitive at home than on the road this year, so that should help them stay close for a decent chunk of this afternoon’s game, even if there will likely be more Bills fans in the building.

New York hasn’t suffered a wire-to-wire blowout yet; the Jets often come out strong over the first 28 minutes before slowly letting the game slip away from there. I can see the Jets doing that today, coming out with a steady run game offensively and forcing a few mistakes from Josh Allen early.

But Buffalo will inevitably tilt the tide in the final two minutes of the first half, and Joe Brady will make adjustments in the locker room to blow Aaron Glenn’s defense out of the water in the second half.

Unless Geno Smith and the passing game have a surgical afternoon, and the offense as a whole can figure out how to finally finish every red zone drive with a touchdown, it’s difficult to see the Jets keeping up with Buffalo. Their defense doesn’t have the horses to slow the Bills down for 60 minutes, so it’s on the offense to win a shootout, and the Jets simply haven’t shown the ability to score a lot of touchdowns, no matter how many yards they may rack up.

The Jets have been an incredibly predictable football team this year, allowing the same mistakes to consume them each week. For that reason, barring a miraculous overnight turnaround in execution, they will need some good fortune to avoid their fifth straight loss.