The New York Jets (4-5) breathe life into their season with a surprising victory. Victory against division rival Buffalo Bills (5-3) was dominated by the front against an overstretched offensive line, but the run game success was more surprising.
It was not the first time that the jets had to play the rest of the match with a lead in their backs. Most of the time, however, they seemed to get nervous and were not able to cope with the head start. Not so Thursday night. Here the line of scrimmage was dominated on both sides.
The O-Line’s work against the third-best Run-D of the league was outstanding. They acted with much more energy than the opponent and created holes for their running backs. The jets specifically attacked with Matt Forte and Bilal Powell – Buffalo had no answer.
This also opened up the possibilities for Josh McCown (14/20,140 YDS, TD) and the carefully used passing game. McCown convinced with good decisions, but was lucky once when Leonard Johnson had to catch a pick early in the game. For the first time in the season, turnovers were no friends of the Bills. Jordan Matthews and Nick O’ Leary both fumbled curiously.
The Bills’ Rushing Game hardly took place on the offensive. LeSean McCoy was struggling with muscular problems and ran only twelve times a week after a day with 27 carries. The O-Line repeatedly collapsed against the explosive Jets’ Pass Rush, who delivered by far the best game of the season. Tyrod Taylors (29/40,285 YDS, 2TD – 6 CAR, 35 YDS, TD, FUM) Scrambles could also be prevented most of the time and even forced into the third fumble late.
New York Jets (4-5) – Buffalo Bills (5-3)34:21 (7:0,3:7,14:0,10:14) BOXSCORE
Todd Bowles (Head Coach, New York Jets):
“It’s an important victory because we’ve lost three times before. It was a short week and the success was particularly important against the division’s rivals. Now we’re gonna have to top it up. We feel we should have more wins on our accounts, but we haven’t played well enough in the tight games.”
Richie Incognito (Guard, Buffalo Bills) about Thursday’s games:
“These games are getting on your nerves. They’re tearing our rhythm apart. It’s ridiculous that we have to do this. As physical as our league is and how much preparation time the games take. Forcing us to play again after four days is completely unfair – the league makes money out of it. That’s the only thing they care about!”
The Bills entered the game as a dreaded turn-over machine and were trailing seven points after the jets’ second drive. At the end of the first quarter, McCown threw a pass towards Jermaine Kearse into Leonard Johnson’s arms on his own 12-yard line, which was far too short. The Bills-Cornerback already had the simple interception in his hands, but couldn’t hold the ball and juggled it three times until it fell behind him. Johnson could have carried the ball even closer to the final zone of the jets, but missed the early chance to equalize the game, upset McCown and give his own defense a momentum push.
Not only the turnover balance of the Bills was impressive before the game. The Run-Defense has also been able to convince throughout the game so far. Only the Eagles and the Broncos allowed less yards on the ground. In East Rutherford, however, the duel at the Line of Scrimmage against the Jets’ O-Line was clearly lost. New York’s backs exploded for 181 yards. McCown added 13 more. It was the first time since week 16 of last season, when the Bills admitted 261 yards from the Dolphins back then, Jay Ajayi, to accept so many yards on the ground.
The jet pass rush explosion came from nowhere. Wilkerson dominated his matchup with Vladimir Ducasse and put Taylor under constant pressure over his right side. Wilkerson collected three tackles, a sack, a pass deflection and a quarterback hit. It was by far the best game of the season. For him, as for the entire line, which came to seven on Thursday evening after eleven sacks in the previous eight games.
An insanely weak evening for the Bills linebacker. Alexander was one of several white actors who could not begin to build on their performance potential. This was especially noticeable by inexplicable Missed Tackles. Alexander missed several times bringing the Jets-Backs to the ground on the second level and was responsible for even more space saving.