Bills vs Jets prediction, keys to Highmark Stadium send-off

ORCHARD PARK - This is a week of deep nostalgia for fans of the Buffalo Bills because Sunday afternoon.

They will bid farewell to Highmark Stadium, a place that has meant so much to so many people, several generations worth, throughout the course of its 53-year existence.

Even for someone like Bills coach Sean McDermott, Sunday will be emotional. The Philadelphia native has only been part of the Western New York and Highmark culture for nine years, but in that short span he has built a lifetime of memories. During his tenure, McDermott has won 61 of the 81 games played there, counting the postseason.

“Oh man, emotional, just already thinking about it,” McDermott said on Monday, looking ahead to the Bills’ season finale against the New York Jets. “It's very important to me, it's very important to our staff, to our team. So many memories, right, for so many people, so many families, friends, and just the moments that everyone shared over the years.

“Even when I first got here and the stories that people would share, and I would just be listening to and some outside the Bills organization and some inside the Bills organization. Now being here nine years with my family, being able to experience the same type of memories is special. So we owe it to the stadium and to the memories that exist in that stadium to go out the right way here.”

Which brings about a dilemma for McDermott.

Unfortunately, the Bills no longer have a chance to win the division, though winning the game and getting to 12-5 - sending the stadium off the right way, as McDermott said - could still be meaningful, depending on the results of a couple other games.

The Bills currently sit last in the AFC playoff bracket with the No. 7 seed and if they remain there, then Highmark officially closes Sunday because there would be no chance for Buffalo to host the AFC Championship Game. But if they slide up to the No. 6 or No. 5 seed, that at least keeps that AFC title game door cracked open a sliver.

However, McDermott has to weigh how much that actually matters to him compared to the benefit of sitting out key players to protect them from injury while also allowing already injured players some additional time to recover, most notably Josh Allen.

“I really haven't had a lot of time just to isolate those situations, so Josh is included,” McDermott said even before the practice week began. “But we want to win the game, that's number one. It'll go from there in terms of how we're going to go about approaching this week here overall.”

Of course, the Jets are so bad that McDermott might be able to get the best of both scenarios.

His backups should be able to beat rookie head coach Aaron Glenn’s hapless team. If they do, the No. 5 seed would be theirs if the Chargers (who are resting players including QB Justin Herbert) lose at Denver which is now very possible, and the Texans lose at home to the Colts, though that it far less likely. A Bills win and a Chargers or Texans loss gives Buffalo the No. 6 seed, but a loss means the Bills are stuck at No. 7.

Here’s my preview of the game:

The QB Matchup: Mitchell Trubisky vs. Brady Cook

Trubisky has been Allen’s backup for three seasons - 2021, 2024 and 2025 - and he has never started a game because Allen hasn’t missed a start since two-thirds of the way through his 2018 rookie season. The expectation is that Allen will extend his consecutive games started streak to 135 (counting postseason), the longest active streak for any QB, before he gets pulled in favor of Trubisky, maybe after one snap, maybe after a series.

Trubisky’s only substantial playing time for Buffalo came in the Week 18 game at New England last season which was meaningless for the Bills. After Allen took one snap and departed, Trubisky completed 15 of 21 passes for just 101 yards and a TD as the Bills lost 23-16.

“We’re in the playoffs, but I also know who he is,” McDermott said of Allen, “and he’s as competitive as there is, and as good as there is. But I also have a responsibility to protect him to make sure he’s as healthy as possible for us as we move into the playoffs.”

Cook, an undrafted free agent from Missouri, spent most of his rookie season on the Jets practice squad but was elevated when injuries struck down Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor. He has played four games, starting the last three, and it has gone about how you might expect - a 58.8 completion percentage, 169.8 yards passing per game, one TD, seven interceptions and 18 sacks.

Buffalo Bills who should impact the game

OT Tylan Grable: Two players who could get most or all of the day off are OTs Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown, and if that happens, Grable and Ryan Van Demark would play. The Bills like the 310-pound Grable, but in two years with the team he has played in just four games (none this year) with 67 of his 74 career snaps coming in that New England game last season when he started in place of the resting Dawkins at LT.

WR Keon Coleman: He has been a healthy scratch for four games including the last two, but perhaps he’ll get a chance in this game if the Bills rest players. If so, it will be yet another chance to prove he can help the team, something he has rarely done since being Buffalo’s second-round draft pick in 2024. Here’s an indication of how poor the Bills WRs have been this season: In 12 games, he has the second-most catches (36) and yards (355) among the WR group.

DT TJ Sanders: Since returning from his knee surgery in Week 11, the rookie had been playing out of place on the edge for several weeks because of the Bills’ never-ending injury situation. But in the last two weeks he’s been back where he belongs inside and he has held up well, a good sign moving forward as the Bills probably won’t have DaQuan Jones for this game, and it doesn’t seem like they’ll be getting Ed Oliver back, at least early in the postseason.

LB Dorian Williams: The Bills may want to keep Shaq Thompson out because he’s been dealing with a hamstring problem most of the year, and Terrel Bernard has already been ruled out. You may even see injury-prone Matt Milano sitting most of this game, so Williams figures to have a full plate. He remains a liability in coverage, but that might not be an issue against this Jets offense. He’s been solid against the run and that will be important in containing RB Breece Hall.

New York Jets who should impact the game

RB Breece Hall: Amidst all the gloom surrounding the Jets, he broke through with the first 1,000-yard rushing season of his four-year career, and he also has 36 receptions for 350 yards, five total TDs, and a team-best 70 touches that have resulted in first downs. Way back in Week 2 the Bills limited him to 29 yards on 10 carries in a one-sided game where the Jets had the ball less than 22 minutes.

WR Adonai Mitchell: He was considered a throw-in piece in the trade that sent CB Sauce Gardner to the Colts, a 2024 second-round pick who battled inconsistency for 1 ½ seasons in Indianapolis. Since coming to the Jets, in seven games he has 24 catches for 301 yards and two TDs, and they’re hoping he can be a key player next season to take some pressure off No. 1 WR Garrett Wilson who has missed most of this year.

DT Jowon Briggs: The 2024 seventh-round draft pick earned his stripes for new coach Aaron Glenn and became a reliable force in the middle of the D-line, especially after star DT Quinnen Williams was traded to the Cowboys. The 297-pounder has 37 QB pressures and four sacks which are second-most on the team behind only Will McDonald IV who is now on injured reserve.

LB Jamien Sherwood: The Jets’ leading tackler with 147, he has also broken up eight passes, has two sacks and his 47 stops - defined as tackles that caused a failed play for the offense - are also No. 1 on the team. However, he really struggles in pass coverage and has allowed a completion percentage into his primary coverage area of 79% with 550 yards of gains, worst on the team.

Sal’s prediction: Bills 23, Jets 6

A downside to the end-of-season reality that has transpired for Buffalo is that this final game at Highmark will, in many ways, feel like a preseason affair with the field likely filled with backup players. It’s a shame that it played out this way, but much, much worse is the fact that a playoff game won’t be the final event in the venue.

But even if the Bills do as expected and sit Allen, Cook and some of their other frontline players, there’s no excuse for their backups to lose to the Jets who are a barely functioning team at this point, one that has lost four games in a row by a combined score of 153-46.

That point differential of minus-107 is the worst in the month of December in NFL history, and they became the second team in the Super Bowl era to lose four straight games, all by at least 23 points, joining the 1972 Patriots. Just because this game will be played in January, does anything really change from the Jets’ perspective?

Buffalo Bills 2025 schedule

• Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 7 vs. Baltimore Ravens, W 41-40.
• Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 14 at New York Jets, W 30-10.
• Week 3: Thursday, Sept. 18 vs. Miami Dolphins, W 31-21.
• Week 4: Sunday, Sept. 28, vs. New Orleans Saints, W 31-19
• Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 5 vs. New England Patriots, L 20-23
• Week 6: Monday, Oct. 13 at Atlanta Falcons, L 14-24
• Week 7: Bye Week
• Week 8: Sunday, Oct. 26 at Carolina Panthers, W 40-9.
• Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 2 vs. Kansas City Chiefs, W 28-21.
• Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 9 at Miami Dolphins, L 13-30.
• Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 16 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, W 44-32
• Week 12: Thursday, Nov. 20 at Houston Texans, L 19-23.
• Week 13: Sunday, Nov. 30 at Pittsburgh Steelers, W 26-7.
• Week 14, Sunday, Dec. 7: vs. Cincinnati Bengals, W 39-34.
• Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 14 at New England Patriots, W 35-31
• Week 16: Sunday, Dec. 21 at Cleveland Browns, W 23-20
• Week 17: Dec. 28 vs. Philadelphia Eagles, L 12-13.
• Week 18: Jan. 3-4, vs. New York Jets, 4:25 p.m.

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, he has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at [email protected], and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills vs Jets prediction, keys to final game at Highmark Stadium