Meanwhile, In New Jersey ...

You know we are living in strange and heady times when the Buffalo Bills are held up as an example of how to do, well, anything.

Like the Bills, the New York Jets enter Sunday's game in New Jersey with a rookie quarterback and no real alternative, since the veteran who was supposed to compete with the draft pick became debilitated in an exhibition game.

That's about it for similarities, though.

E.J. Manuel drew good reviews from the national football press despite a Week 1 loss to New England, then calmly guided the Bills to a final-second win against Carolina, earning NFL Rookie of the Week honors.

Manuel's green-clad counterpart, Geno Smith, has not enjoyed the last two weeks quite as much.

Like the Bills, the Jets are 1-1.

First, New York's second-round pick got the job despite playing like an undrafted free agent during the exhibition season. But thanks to Rex Ryan's misplaced preseason priorities, even the unpleasant option of replacing Smith with Mark Sanchez is unavailable to the soon-to-be-former Jets coach.

But for a remarkably dumb late-hit penalty on Tampa Bay's Lavonte David in the opener, the Jets would be 0-2. Smith posted decent numbers against the Bucs (24-of-38 for 256 yards, with one touchdown and one interception), but was horrific against New England, particularly during a three-interception fourth quarter.

New York being New York, there are already rumblings about replacing Smith with Matt Simms, whose main qualification is looking a lot like his Dad.

That is where the resemblance ends, however. An undrafted free agent who had a few moments of competence during the exhibition slate, Phil's son is basically Jeff Tuel, except Tuel's father did not win a Super Bowl more than a quarter-century ago in the same metropolitan area.

Impatience by fans and media aside, Manuel enjoys several other advantages over Smith.

His development is overseen by an all-new coaching staff, with a head coach and offensive coordinator whose up-tempo, diverse approach looks well-suited to his skills, as well as those of C.J. Spiller, Fred Jackson, Stevie Johnson and fellow rookie Robert Woods.

Under Ryan, the Jets lack an offensive philosophy beyond turning the ball over as often as possible. The "Ground and Pound" approach that masked Sanchez's flaws enough to get the Jets to the AFC title game in Rex's first two seasons has given way to new offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg's version of the West Coast Offense, which produced a 5-27 record in the two seasons he was the head coach in Detroit and helped get Andy Reid fired in Philadelphia last year.

Of course, when your primary offensive options are people named Bilal Powell and Stephen Hill, having an interception-prone rookie with accuracy issues fling it around doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

You know things are going poorly for the Jets when they make noted ESPN blowhard Stephen A. Smith sound reasonable:

Yet, it's the Buffalo Bills who are scheduled to saunter into town with a rookie quarterback, EJ Manuel, armed with the necessary structure, coaching and counsel Geno Smith should be enjoying with his team.

Such support would be particularly helpful in a nationally televised game against a division rival. But these are the Jets, after all.