Buffalo Bills and New York Jets face lost year in AFC East

The Buffalo Bills and New York Jets both selected quarterbacks in the top 10 of the NFL Draft last April. The hope was that both franchises, long searching for help at the sport’s most important position, finally had long-term answers.

Of course, it’s impossible whether to say whether Josh Allen and Sam Darnold are going to be good down the line, but in 2018, they’ve both been hurt and ineffective.

Buffalo and New York are a combined 5-13 going into their game against each other on Sunday. The Jets host the first half of this biannual matchup, with the New York Jets starting Josh McCown instead of Darnold, who is dealing with a strained foot. Meanwhile, the Bills are going with Derek Anderson with Allen on the mend from an elbow injury.

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It’s been disappointing for both squads thus far, especially as the season has worn on. The Bills didn’t have high expectations entering the campaign after trading away Tyrod Taylor and losing some key veterans during the offseason. Unfortunately, Allen hasn’t done much to lift the team, completing only 54 percent of his throws with two touchdowns and five interceptions. Somehow, Allen is only throwing for 110.8 yards per game.

Over in Gotham, the Jets are not doing much better with Darnold at the helm. After being impressive in a Week 1 win over the Detroit Lions on Monday night, things went downhill in a hurry. New York has seen its prized rookie toss 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, with four thefts coming against the Miami Dolphins a week ago. Darnold’s accuracy hasn’t been much better, only hitting on 55 percent of his throws.

Both the New York Jets and the Bills employ defensive-minded head coaches, something of a hurtle to overcome in the offensive days of the NFL. New York is probably going to move on from Todd Bowles, who has done nothing to show he’s capable in his fourth year. Sean McDermott deserves more time, but will he get it with an urgency to develop Allen and the team coming off what looks like a terrible year.

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Buffalo and New York have no choice but to make their young guns work, otherwise it’ll be a few years of playing more bad football before drafting another quarterback in the first round, something these franchises know far too much about. Since 2000, we’ve seen a bevy of quarterbacks flop for both, including Mark Sanchez, J.P. Losman, EJ Manuel and others.

Now, the two teams play against each other with hopes of earning a rare win, keeping pace with some of the other bottom feeders around the league.