By Alex “Merekat” LeMere
The Bills are back in the win collumn as they defeat the lowly Jets 18-10 in a weird one
The Jets elected to receive the ball to start the game and marched out Sam Darnold and his gang of misfits against a struggling Buffalo defense. I was expecting a big opening statement from this Bills’ defense after a rough last couple of games. I was wrong. Frank Gore took the first two carries of the game for eight and 11 yards. Darnold was finding his receivers with ease and our run defense was no where to be seen as the Jet’s offense found themselves on the Buffalo 16- yard line with a first just under five minutes into the game. Not the start we wanted to see out of the Bills. They hold though as Trent Murphy as a free rusher sacks Darnold and rookie CB Dane Jackson got a really nice pass break up (PBU) on third down to force a Jets’ field goal. Sergio Castillo hits a FG and the Jet’s take an early 3-0 lead. I think the Jets have found their guy in Castillo at kicker, look at this guy, what a legend.
Down early and with the ball for the first time, Buffalo was looking for a quick response and get back on track. Allen started out making quick, effective throws as he hit Singletary for 6 yards, Kroft for 12 yards and Beasley for 23 yards in consecutive plays. The pass to Beasley was a perfect example of Josh extending plays and getting the ball to his receivers with room to run, which Beasley took advantage of (shout out Mama Konze). After an incompletion, Allen scrambles for 7 yards and nearly fumbles leading us to a crucial third down. Allen heaves one to the end zone for Gabriel (not Gabe) Davis and is nearly intercepted on a throw he clearly forced. A bad decision by Allen sends out the FG crew and Tyler Bass misses once again. This time from 45 and the Jets get the ball on their 35-yard line.
Probably a bit disappointed after not getting into the end zone on their first drive, the Jets start out hot once again. Darnold was utilizing his RBs, hitting Perine out of the backfield for a first and handing it to Gore for 7 yards right back into Buffalo territory. Buffalo’s defense backs the Jets into a third-and-3 situation where Perine takes it to the outside for an easy first. Buffalo’s front seven is once again being targeted. Some hope for Buffalo though as Poyer gets an easy sack and a Jets’ penalty leads to a third-and-20…but Darnold delivers a beautiful throw into a tight window to Berrios for 27 yards and a first down. I wanted to lose my mind already down just three in the first. You CANNOT let the LEAST EFFICIENT third down team in the league convert that. Facing another third down, Darnold hits newly activated rookie receiver, Denzel Mims, for 10 yards. It was just short of a first down. Going for it on fourth-and-1, Buffalo gets a HUGE stop on Perine and take over possession. A huge sigh of relief for #BillsMafia.
A rough start to the Bills’ drive as Allen’s first pass in nearly intercepted by Pierre Desir on another forced throw. He quickly bounces back though as he scrambles out of bounds for 11 yards then hits Beasley short, who puts his defender in a spin cycle, and takes it for another first down. Allen shows off his ability to extend plays again as he stays in the pocket, pumps it and tucks it for another 17 yard rush. Reggie Gillam gets open for 15 yards and gives us a first down on New York’s 22- yard line. Following a series of hard-to-watch plays by Buffalo (although Josh did stiff arm out of another sack which is cool) the Jets strip Josh Allen from behind and recover the ball. Another solid drive that featured some questionable decisions by Allen ends without a score for Buffalo’s offense.
Looking to build off of the big stop last drive, Buffalo’s defense gets gashed for 20 yards on a rush by Jets’ rookie RB La’Mical Perine on their first play of the drive. After a banged up Tre White gets a sketchy pass interference (PI) against him, Darnold finds his rookie WR Mims again for 16 yards and the Jet’s are on the Buffalo 29-yard line after just three plays. After some dink and dunk football by the Jets, Perine takes it to the edge, switches the ball to his left arm, and extends for the pylon for the first touchdown of the game. The Jets tack on 7 more and now lead 10-0 over the Bills. A drive that highlighted Buffalo’s lack of discipline on defense this season. Not the way people expected thus game to start, huh?
Devin Singletary gets things rolling for Buffalo as he takes the first play of the drive for 12 yards. Diggs draws a penalty on third-and-7 to get us a needed first down. Allen runs it on a QB draw for another first down, continuing the beat this Jets’ defense with his legs as they fail to put a spy on him. Another short run and incomplete pass put Buffalo in another third down situation. The next Allen is late finding Diggs across the field who can’t make the diving catch and is down after the play but walks off under his own power. NEEDING a bounce back kick out of rookie Tyler Bass, he bangs it home from 53 yards (would’ve been good from 60). Buffalo finally gets on the board and trails the Jets 10-3 with 2:42 in the second quarter. Points are points and I’m both happy for Bass but worrying over Diggs.
Frank Gore continues to look like he’s 27 years old and bowls over Buffalo defenders for 8 yards to start the drive. He follows it up with another outside carry for a first by Perine leading them into the two minute warning. The Jets get another quick first but continue to let the clock run with three timeouts and under a minute. Darnold faces pressure and has a deflected pass nearly picked off by an out-stretched Edmunds…but no worries as rookie CB Dane Jackson picks off Darnold the next play giving Buffalo the ball with 49 second left. Another big play by Dane Jackson in his first real shot in the NFL.
Looking to move the ball into scoring territory quickly, Allen completes three straight passes to Diggs and Singletary. After a timeout Allen misses Diggs but follows it up with a nice throw to Beasley to the Jets’ 30 for 14 yards. Another chance for Bass to rectify himself and he bangs it in from 48 yards as time expires!
Buffalo gets some points back right before half and trail the New York Jets 10-6 at the break.
Halftime Grades:
Bills – C+… The scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story here. Buffalo has definitely not played well on defense but has made some big plays when needed to keep this game manageable. The offense has not looked great but has been able to move the ball somewhat effectively. Penalties are hurting us again and Allen needs to settle down and start to read the field again, but is doing great tucking and running.
Jets – B… The Jets offense has done a great job of exposing Buffalo’s weaknesses, especially in the front seven. Outside of the INT before half Sam Darnold has showed some great decision making and isn’t afraid to target some tight windows. The Jets do lead this one but will have to step it up on defense to close this one out.
Buffalo receives the ball to start the second half and OH MY GOODNESS THERE GOES ANDRE ROBERTS! Roberts returns the ball for 58 yards and into Jets’ territory. I trash him as a WR, but Roberts is one of the best returners in football. After a quiet first half, Allen feeds his favorite target Diggs two plays in a row for a first and get that connection rolling. After a negative run by McKenzie and a false start the Bills find themselves with a third and 26. Allen gets 8 yards back with a pass to Beasley and on third down tries to force the ball to a smothered Diggs who can’t get his hands on it. Tyler Bass comes out for the fourth time this game and drills it from 46 for this third straight after an early miss. The Bills’ offense settles for another FG and now trail just 10-9.
The Jets open another dive with a handoff to Frank Gore who takes it for an easy first down, once again. Weird, a team having success running between the tackles against this Bills’ front seven…haven’t seen that before, right? Edmunds breaks up another errant Darnold pass that probably should’ve been and INT and a good coverage from Taron Johnson forces the first punt of the day. Roberts proves his value again returning it for 24 yards but a penalty negates it and Buffalo takes over with just over 9 minutes left in the third. A HUGE stop for the Buffalo defense who has been making plays today when it matters most.
Down a point after coming in as huge favorite to your 0-6 division rivals is not where we expected the Bills to be at this point. Buffalo seem motivated coming out of halftime, where I’m sure McDermott gave them a nice talking too, and came out knowing they needed to put the pedal to the metal to win this game. Allen started to really work the coverage on this drive feeding Beasley and Moss, working the ball to midfield without forcing “the big play” Allen is always seeking out. Gabriel (not Gabe) Davis gets his first catch of the game for a first to the NYJ 33-yard line and put the Bills in scoring position. Davis follows it up as he beats his man and is found by Allen open in the end zone for six… but a got damn illegal formation against him has the play called back. That’s why they call it a rookie mistake. The next play Allen finds Beasley for the TD at the pylon but it’s ruled another penalty as Beasley went out of bounds and didn’t re-establish himself. Bass comes out for the fifth time today and puts it through from 37 yards out. Buffalo takes their first lead of the game, 12-3 over New York.
On the Jets first play of the drive, Bills’ Safety Dean Marlowe literally jumps on Sam Darnold to envelop him for the sack. After a short gain, Darnold throws the ball away on third-and-10 to avoid the sack and punt it away. That was a QUICK stop by Buffalo’s defense to give the ball back to its, “O,” to start the final quarter.
Allen and the offense get the ball at their own 31-yard line and looking to finally get in the end zone to try and put this game away. Allen floats a dime to a WIDE OPEN Tyler Kroft who rumbles and stumbles for 38 yards. Kroft making the most of his opportunities after the Bills’ tight end room was wiped out by Covid positives and days after the birth of his daughter. On third down, Allen extends the play while outrunning a blitz and fires one out of the end zone. No touchdown here and Tyler Bass, on his SIXTH attempt of the day, misses wide left from just 37 yards. Tyler Bass is such a rollercoaster, has so much leg talent but just isn’t dialed in yet.
With their offense starting to sputter the Jets takeover at their 27-yard line down just two points. On third down Darnold finds his receiver for a first, but an illegal formation on their rookie LT Becton gives the Bills’ defense another chance to hold them. Buffalo brings the blitz on third-and-13 and as Darnold tries to scramble finds himself get stripped by Jerry Hughes. The Jets recover but are short of the first and punt it away for the second straight drive. What a defensive set of downs for Buffalo to get things right. The Jets have just 12 yards to this point in the second half.
Allen kicks things off with three straight completions to get into Jets’ territory for Zack Moss to follow it up with a beautiful 26 yard run down to the NYJ 12 yard line in less than 2 minutes. After two rushes for just six yards, Allen gets sacked and you guessed it, Tyler Bass comes out again. He’s good from 29 yards for his fifth FG in in seven attempts today. Buffalo pulls ahead 15-10 with 6:04 left in the game.
Down five and with absolutely no signs of life on offense in the second half, Darnold and the Jets come out flat once again. An opening 3-yard rush is followed with two bad incompletions by Darnold and another three-and-out from the Jets. This is what we had hoped to see in the first half but better late than never, amirite?
A prime chance to put this one away and playing much better in the second half, I was hoping we’d continue to be aggressive and put this game away instead of playing the clock. Nope! Allen finds Beasley for his 10th and 11th catches of the games, totaling 20 yards, and giving the Bill’s a first at in Jets’ territory. After grinding out a few more short gains, Buffalo finds themselves in a third-and-1 with 2:08 remaining. Four down territory maybe? Allen keeps it off the option instead of handing it to Zack Moss, who had open field, and is taken down for a loss of one. Electing to kick it instead of going for it Tyler Bass drills home the 40 yard FG. When’s the last time a Bills’ kicker had 8 FG attempts in a game? Kid might have some misses but is delivering when we need him too. Bills claw their way up to an 18-10 lead with just under two minutes left in the game.
Bills’ defense starts out hot as Milano and Tre White get in and take down Darnold for an 8-yard loss and forcing the jets to use their final timeout. The next play Darnold targets a streaking Perriman who gets lit up by Micah Hyde for the incompletion and goes down. Micah Hyde is penalized for the helmet-to-helmet on a defenseless receiver, rightfully so. I love Hyde and I’m sure the contact to the head wasn’t his intention, but I hate seeing players take head shots. Jets get a first down a first down at their 32-yard line with 1:45 and Darnold takes it himself for a first that gets called back due to a holding. Then along came Jerry Hughes to absolutely take over and end this game. Hughes sacks Darnold and then follows it up with the game sealing interception! What a sequence of plays from Hughes and the Buffalo defense to close this game out.
It was a grind, but the Buffalo Bills defeat the New York Jets 18-10 and move to 5-2 on the season.
Fulltime Grades:
Bills – B … Buffalo gets the win here after outscoring the Jets 12-0 in the second half. A huge bounce back performance for the defense in the second half to shut down Darnold and the Jets’ offense. Getting to the passer and grabbing a couple turnovers are the difference in this once. Not getting a TD is concerning and has me wondering if there’s red zone efficiency troubles looming, but Bass did his job going 6-for-8 on field goals.
Jets – C- … I’m going to beat the Jets up too badly here. Darnold looked really good in the first half and more comfortable adding Mims to his weapons. They also did a good half of moving the ball on the ground and abusing the Buffalo front seven until they run was abandoned. This is a young team that’s a good HC and some pieces away from being respectable again, just not yet. P.S. Adam Gase is a shit head and has no right being a HC in the NFL just because he sucked off Peyton Manning’s teet for a couple of seasons.
This was not a pretty or exciting win, but a necessary one to get this team back on the winning track. Josh Allen and the defense both struggled in the first half and were able to come out after halftime revitalized and prepared to win this game. It was a wild one, and Buffalo was hampered by injuries, but the win still felt like it was lacking something. No touchdowns by the offense was a bit troubling but they were still able to move the ball and Allen was able to rely on Cole Beasley with Diggs drawing doubles and no John Brown. Overall, 5-2 is great seven games into the season and I’m feeling better than last week about this unit.
Kat’s Korner Takeaways:
- Tyler Bass is an absolute rollercoaster of a kicker. The rookie kicker was coming off a week where he missed a really important kick, BADLY, on national TV and had to have felt the pressure. After missing his first attempt of the day, he finished 6/7 on kicks after that. To have eight attempts as a rookie in an NFL game is absolutely crazy, and although he missed two rough ones, he still put home six of them for all the team’s points today. He has a ways to go but I think we have our kicker of the future.
- The pass rush delivered finally. The Jets’ offensive line is ne of the worst units in the league so it was important for a team with just 11 total sacks through six games to dial up some pressures today. The Bills had six sacks on Darnold today and we saw guys who have been quiet this year like Jerry Hughes absolutely step up to the occasion. Hughes had two sacks, a TFL, two QB hits and an INT off the edge today and made the most of his matchup and helped seal victory for Buffalo.
- Dane Jackson stood out in a secondary that has been plagues by injuries and trying out different guys the last few weeks. Dane Jackson is a seventh round rookie out of Pitt that started the years on the PS and when thrust into an important role today, delivered. Jackson had three tackles, a crucial third down pass breakup and his first career INT today. We might have found a gem with this guy.
- Josh Allen had a much needed rebound game today, In the first half he made some questionable decisions as time and probably should have been intercepted twice but found a way to bounce back the second half and lean on Diggs and Beasley. He took more time to read the field, delivered to open receivers and abused the Jets’ defense with his ability to extend plays with his legs. 30/43 for 307 yards in the air and 11-for-61 on the ground is a pretty little stat line, albeit no touchdowns and a fumble, for a guy whose production through the first four games was called a “fluke” by many.
- No touchdowns…and no punts? This was a weird one for sure folks and definitely brings about a slight cause for concern about the red zone offense. That’s actually the first team a team has ever done that in the modern era. Being without half your tight ends and John Brown limits your playbook a bit…but to not score a single TD with FIVE red zone trips is not good at all.
- What is going on with Devin Singletary? Another lackluster performance today as he carried the ball eight times for 29 yards (3.6 ypc). Singletary has yet to break 71 yards on the ground this season and his yards per attempt is down from 5.1 as a rookie to 3.8 this season. The scheme has seen an emphasis on the passing offense this season but Singletary definitely seems down this year. It might be time to give Zack Moss more reps next week.
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