Lynch, the twelfth overall pick of April's draft, is having a strong rookie campaign. He is averaging over seventy five yards on the
ground per game, and has scored two touchdowns.
More impressive than the
early stats has been his ability to come in at the young age of
twenty-one and quickly emerge as the featured weapon for the injury
riddled Bills.
The Jets have continued to regress in their ability to shut down the
run, with the latest debacle being Ronnie Browns' 112 yards rushing last Sunday.
Given the inability of the Bills air-attack to get on track thus far,
Lynch has emerged as one of the team's offensive bright spots. A bright
spot that, if not countered properly, could create a big problem for
the Jets this weekend.
"He's a very good running back," Jets linebacker Victor Hobson said of
Lynch. "And he will be a very good running back for years to come in
this league. He runs the ball very well, has great vision. He's a
great cut-back, bounce out type of running back and he's a guy that
has created a lot of problems for the team's he's faced already."
Aside from the well-documented litany of injuries to the Bills
defense, they will also be without starting quarterback J.P. Losman
who was injured during last week's loss to the Patriots. Although
Losman had been far from prolific through the first three games of the
season, the starting rookie Trent Edwards adds yet another element
of instability to a Bills offense that already ranks last in the
league in yards per game.
The Bills drafted Edwards in the third round and are high on his long
term potential. However, Sunday will be the first start of his career
and offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild likely will do whatever he
can to make Edwards' transition go smoothly. This, coupled with the
Jets' fragility defending the run, should lead to an even larger role
for Lynch.
The Jets ability to stymie Lynch will likely go a long way towards determining
Sunday's outcome.