With the Bills coming into this game with nothing to play for and possibly pulling their starters early, this looks like it should be an easy win for the Jets. There is no such thing as an easy win for the Jets.

Bills 21, Jets 17

Jets QB Sam Darnold vs. Bills secondary

Darnold has thrown multiple touchdown passes in four of the past six games and has 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions since Week 10. He faces another tough defense this week. The Bills are third overall (300.1 yards per game) and third in passing defense (195.9 ypg), but there is a question of how long the Bills will leave their top players on the field.

This is more about Darnold than the Bills. A strong finish would be an encouraging sign for the Jets to end his second year.

“He’s seeing things that he might’ve saw earlier in the year and it looks cleaner to him now, it slows down, he knows what to do, he knows what his problems are, he knows what his outs are,” Gase said, referring to Darnold’s recent improvement. “I just think, especially his communication has improved so much from, like, we go back, especially it’s kind of weird playing a team Week 17 compared to Week 1. We’re watching a lot of that stuff and now, he’s able to say, ‘Hey, we should’ve done this,’ or, ‘We should do this,’ and ‘I’m looking at it like this.’ It’s pretty cool to kind of see how far everything has come since then.”

Rest Day: With the Bills already locked in to the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs, there was a question of whether Bills coach Sean McDermott would just rest his starters. He has opted to play most of them, but did indicate he would have a quick hook with some. The big question is how long quarterback Josh Allen will play before backup Matt Barkley enters the game.

“It’s big picture, it’s where we are as a team,” McDermott said. “Certainly, there’s a lot of different ways you can go about it. I’ve been around it and where we are for this team, this year, and where we are trying to go, we feel like this is the right thing for this team, this year and in this situation.”

The Jets said they have prepared to face Buffalo’s scheme and not their players. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams said his players have gone over scouting reports for all of the Bills players — starters and backups — and will be ready for whomever they face.

Too Little, Too Late: The Jets’ offense is statistically one of the worst in team history. They enter the final week of the season ranked 32nd in the NFL in total offense, 30th in passing offense and 31st in rushing offense. The first half of the season doomed the Jets’ numbers. They had terrible outings in September and October, but have been better late in the season when their caliber of opponent was not as tough and all of the new pieces got a better feel for each other.

Since Week 10, the Jets are tied for 11th in points per game. They are 21st in total offense and are tied for eighth in third-down percentage (33.7).

Who Is That Guy? It is hard to keep track of who has played for the Jets this season. The Jets have used 33 different players on offense and 31 on defense this year. They set a franchise record for players used this season. The injuries have taken a huge toll on this team, but the bright side has been finding some unexpected players forced into bigger roles who have played well.

The Jets will be using their ninth different starting offensive line combination Sunday with Brent Qvale at left guard. Qvale will be the 11th different starting offensive lineman this year.

Fast Starts: The Jets have scored 40 points on their opening drives in the past nine games, the most in the NFL. They have improved after a 30-game stretch over three seasons in which they did not score a touchdown on their opening drive. The problem has been the offense sputtering too often after those opening drives.

“There are some times where you get into a good rhythm and you score three possessions in a row and then you might have the next eight series and not score at all,” head coach Adam Gase said. “So, it’s all about getting the right calls versus the right defense, executing right and it’s about doing the little things right, series after series and trying to find a way into the end zone. It’s the NFL. It’s tough. You’re not always going to score.”

For more on the Jets, listen to the latest episode of the “Gang’s All Here” podcast: