The AFC East may be the trashiest division in the league this year, and the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets have a matchup to claim the early lead. We got the perspective of this game from our resident Bills fan Sam Bloomquist and die-hard Jets fan Josh Citron ahead of the primetime matchup.

The Bills Fan:

There’s no sugarcoating how badly the Buffalo Bills need to win this game at MetLife. They’ve got one divisional win in hand with their beatdown of the Miami Dolphins, but the Jets have been pesky since the offseason. Loud-mouthed Jets faithful have been poking me in the chest about this team and how it’s going to end the longest playoff drought in sports. The Bills, on the other hand, need to prove that this is the team—and more so the coaching staff—that can keep Josh Allen’s Super Bowl window open.

Sean McDermott was the main reason the Bills have lost two games this season. Harbaugh and the Ravens coached him under a table in Week Four, while he pissed down his own leg in the closing moments of the Texans game last week. If Sean McDermott puts together a good display of coaching, it means the defense will play their asses off, which remains a possibility with Terrell Bernard and possibly Taron Johnson back in the lineup. They’ll get a lead and sit on it, and you still won’t see the offense you’ve been looking for.

We may win this game, but we’ll still be walking away with more questions than answers either way. Can the offense return to being elite? Do we have enough talent at receiver? Will we ever stop the run? How can we get the tight ends more involved? The list goes on and on and on…

Pick: Under 41 Total Points

The Jets Fan:

If the Bills are known for anything in this world, it is not winning. In fact, they have turned not winning into an art form unparalleled in human history. Bills fans are equally adept at making excuses for the not winning. As the Josh Allen championship window turns to a keyhole, Bills fans have found a new target for their failures in the form of Sean McDermott. The same guy that was hoisted on their collective shoulders as the one that would lead them to the promised land is now the reason why they won’t get there.

The truth is, the Bills have beat up on the dregs of the league so far, and the two times they’ve been tested, they were soundly beaten. It’s unclear, however, if tonight’s matchup will be another test that they fail or another win against an inferior opponent. While my esteemed colleague claims Jets fans are bragging about how this is the team to get them over the hump, I am unsure. What appears to be a talent-packed roster in East Rutherford has shown obvious signs of ineptitude in the first five weeks.

The restocked offensive line has been inept. Breece Hall and the running game have been streaky, and perhaps the most concerning part is that Aaron Rodgers has looked… well, kind of old. Don’t get me wrong, Rodgers is still the most talented quarterback the Jets have ever rostered, and at times he has looked elite. However, there are times like last week against the Vikings when he has looked every bit the 40-year-old playing on a freshly repaired Achilles.

Luckily, the Jets may have disposed of their biggest problem by firing Robert Saleh. While Saleh certainly was dealt a difficult hand the last few years, it is indisputable that he is simply not equipped to hold a head coaching job. He routinely looked lost during crucial in-game moments and oversaw a team that was often unprepared and over-penalized. Couple that with publicly sparring with his quarterback through the media, and it was obvious a change needed to be made.

It is unclear if his replacement Jeff Ulbrich will rise to the occasion, but if fresh blood can help inspire a largely uninspiring team, then I am prepared to jump on the bandwagon. At the very least, not having to watch Saleh’s clueless face stare hopelessly across the field every week is already a win.

Perhaps more importantly, the Jets have taken play calling responsibilities out of the hands of renowned dumb-person, Nathanial Hackett which should result in an immediate lift to a sputtering offense.

Somehow, the winner of this game will be sitting alone atop the AFC East. You could argue the Jets need this win more than the Bills to create some order out of their chaos. If they show up lifeless and scattered as they were last week in London, it’s difficult to imagine them righting the ship in time to salvage a playoff berth out of a 2-4 record.

That being said, I think the Jets win. I don’t expect a blowout, and I do expect it to be ugly at times. Look for the defense to make a statement against a battered and underwhelming Buffalo receiving corps.

Pick: Jets Moneyline