5 things to watch as Jets face Bills in Week 11 of 2023 NFL season

The Jets travel to Buffalo on Sunday, desperate to not fall out of the race in a crowded AFC after dropping below .500 for the first time since before the bye week.

The Bills are struggling, with three losses in their past four games, but will be heavily favored to win on Sunday, despite the fact that the Jets have won two of the last three meetings between them.

Here are the biggest stories to watch...

Can the Jets score a touchdown?

It’s been over 11 quarters since the Jets last scored a touchdown, on Breece Hall’s 50-yard catch and run against the Giants. New York has been moving the ball relatively well at times, but penalties and poor red zone execution have kept them out of the end zone since then.

Zach Wilson passed for 263 yards in each of the last two games, but the Hall score has been his only touchdown pass since the loss to the Chiefs in Week 4. Buffalo hasn’t scored more than 20 in any of their last three meetings with the Jets, but if New York can’t get into the end zone, they might not need to.

Will New York be able to force Josh Allen into mistakes again?

In the first meeting between these teams, the Jets won in overtime on a Xavier Gipson punt return. However, it was turnovers by Allen that kept them in the game. Jordan Whitehead intercepted Allen three times and the Pro-Bowler also fumbled twice.

Whitehead didn’t record his fourth interception of the season until the Raiders game last Sunday, but he’ll be hoping to re-establish himself as one of Allen’s favorite targets. Cornerbacks Sauce Gardner and DJ Reed are also long overdue an interception.

Is Stefon Diggs due for a big game?

Diggs is usually one of the Bills’ main offensive threats, but he’s gone four straight games without reaching the 100-yard threshold and posted a season-low 34 receiving yards in Week 10. He began the season with 100 yards or more in five of the first six games, including four in a row.

The Jets are well-equipped to neutralize the threat of Diggs, but he usually has productive games against them. It will be interesting to see if the Jets break from convention and put Gardner on him in key situations regardless of where he lines up.

When will Von Miller start producing?

The Bills lost arguably their most elite defensive players at all three levels when Daquan Jones, Matt Milano, and Tre’Davious White all suffered serious injuries within a week of each other last month. However, they at least got stud edge defender Von Miller back off the PUP list.

So far, however, Miller has been struggling to get going in a rotational role that sees him on the field for about 20 snaps per week. He has just two tackles, one quarterback hit and no sacks in six games so far. Can he get himself going against a Jets offensive line that will probably need to be reconfigured yet again for this week’s game?

How will the running back rotation change with Michael Carter waived?

Gang Green promised personnel changes on offense this week, and Carter's release may not constitute the only one they’ll make.

Carter’s role with the Jets this year had been purely as a third-down back and on two-minute drills. However, he had some drops and mistakes in pass protection, so the Jets will be hoping that replacing him will have a positive effect on the team’s third down woes.

Israel Abanikanda will be active for the first time this week, but the Jets might not be keen to entrust the third-down role to a rookie with limited experience in pass protection. They may therefore use Dalvin Cook in this role from now on. Alternatively, Cook and Abanikanda could get more of the early down workload so the Jets can have Hall on the field for those key third-down plays.