The Bills defensive line has been arguably the best in the NFL, a bunch that wrecks games and wreaks nightmares. And the Jets are going to have to face that dominant quartet Sunday with a left guard that has all of one career start in second-year man Oday Aboushi.
“The two [defensive tackles] we’re going against are the best two in the league, next to [Detroit’s Ndamukong] Suh and [Nick] Fairley, hands down,’’ said right guard Willie Colon. “They’re game-wreckers, especially Kyle Williams. He’s been doing it so long. He’s definitely a guy you’ve got to scout for.
“The other guy inside is doing a great job. Both of them are explosive, they’re making plays. They definitely give you a little bit of nightmares at night. But it’s the NFL: We’ve all got a job to do.’’
That other guy inside is Marcell Dareus, whose seven sacks lead all NFL defensive tackles. Buffalo leads the league in sacks (24) with ends Mario Williams and Jerry Hughes having combined for 11, giving Colon and Co. not one or two but four legitimate nightmares they have to worry about.
“[Kyle Williams] can not only wreck a game, he can wreck it series by series. My gosh, [he’s a] fine, fine football player,’’ said Gang Green offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. “The real challenge going into a game against the Bills is they’ve got four [great defensive lineman].
“Typically you can take care of one. Two makes it very difficult. They’ve got four men and then they roll some other players in that are pretty good. They’ve got four big-time players up front. So you better be right on. You better be right on against this defensive football team. They have a very good structure. They’re well-coached. They play hard and they’re quite talented.’’
Colon and Aboushi will have their work cut out for them. Out of the 78 NFL guards ranked by Pro Football Focus, Colon came in just 73rd and left guard Brian Winters was rated even worse, third-lowest in his six starts before his torn ACL ended his season and thrust Aboushi into the lineup.
Nevertheless, Aboushi doesn’t have to excel to be an improvement. That’s how low the bar has been set. After running for just 31 yards on 15 carries in Winters’ final game against Denver, the ground game came to life for 218 yards in Aboushi’s starting debut at New England.
“[Kyle Williams] is a real active player, he’s strong with his first move, but his countermove is just as good. He keeps going to the whistle, he’s a relentless player so we have to play with the same effort,’’ said Aboushi, 23. “He’s a good challenge. He’s a good ballplayer. … But just like everybody else, we put on our pants the same way so we’ll go out and approach it just like everyone else.’’
That kind of confidence was apparent to coach Rex Ryan, even before Aboushi’s starting debut, and he expects it to be there Sunday even against the Bills’ strong line.
“I was really pleased with him. I think having his first start, he showed a lot; and the thing he showed me [is] that is wasn’t too big for him. He jumped right in. I could tell he was confident going into the game and that he was looking forward to it,’’ Ryan said. “Now this week, I don’t know if he’s looking forward to Kyle Williams as much, but I know he’ll be confident.’’