The Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets played a hard-fought game this afternoon. Truthfully, it was typical of games between these two clubs, as the feisty Jets played tough against a heavily-favored Bills team. Any time a divisional game is happening, you can throw out the Vegas line, and that was exactly what happened today.
The Jets kept things close early on, as the score was 10-9 in favor of the Bills early in the third. Buffalo answered quickly, scoring a touchdown on their first possession
of the second half to extend their lead to 17-9.
While the Jets fought hard, their inability to score touchdowns eventually came back to bite them, as Buffalo continued to expand their lead as the game progressed. Ultimately, Buffalo prevailed, winning 31-12 in a game that featured quite a few injuries for both sides.
Here are our horns up and horns down for Buffalo in today’s game against the Jets.
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Horns Down: Pre-snap Discipline
Throughout this season, false start penalties have been a problem. Early on today, it was jumping offside that proved to be an issue. After the Jets’ first possession, Michael Hoecht jumped offside while the Jets lined up to punt. While it did not give the Jets a first down, it gave them five extra yards to set up a more comfortable punt. Later, on a fourth-down on the Jets’ second drive, Ed Oliver jumped on a fourth-and-six where it was fairly clear that the Jets weren’t going to run a play. That gave New York a fourth-and-one, which they converted en route to what became a field goal drive. Pre-snap penalties are a matter of discipline, and too often this year, the Bills have not passed the test.
Well, all we had to do was wait for the second quarter for the false start penalties to kick in. Dawson Knox and Dion Dawkins were each called for one on what became a field goal drive. Four pre-snap penalties in the first half alone is maddening. Alec Anderson committed a fifth one with a false start in the fourth quarter. Heck, Hoecht tried to read the snap count and jumped offside for a second time in the game while the Jets were driving in the fourth quarter.
Horns Up: James Cook III
Another week, another game where Buffalo’s top running back looked great. Cook found holes, was decisive throughout, and gained plenty of yardage on the ground. If there was a negative, it was that he dropped what would have at least been an easy completion, and potentially could have been a first down or more, while Buffalo was in the red zone during the second quarter. Cook is a dynamic receiving threat, but he just has too many concentration drops to be considered a reliable threat in that area. Cook’s 64-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter put the game away, as well. Overall he had exactly the kind of game that we’ve come to expect from him, totaling 157 rushing yards and the aforementioned touchdown on 18 carries.
Horns Up: Dorian Williams
The former Tulane Green Wave standout had another solid day. He was the one who notched Buffalo’s first sack of Geno Smith, timing a blitz perfectly to take down the Jets’ signal caller in the second quarter. Williams has been playing quite well over the last month or so, and he led the Bills in tackles through the first half of play this week. He also was able to put a hit on Cade Klubnik to force an incomplete pass that Amani Hooker nearly intercepted on New York’s first possession of the second half. Williams left the game in the fourth quarter with a calf injury, and here’s hoping that it was mostly precautionary that he didn’t return. He finished with a team-high nine tackles, including five solo stops, one sack, one pass breakup, and two quarterback hits.
Horns Up: The Kicking Game
Tyler Bass nailed a PAT and yet another field goal in the first half. That field goal extended his franchise-record streak of made field goals, as it was the 24th straight kick he’s made. Tommy Doman Jr. hit some great kickoffs and good punts, as he seems to have mastered the concept of “hangtime” on his punts. Focusing on the punter is ever a good thing, but in an ugly first half, Doman was a bright spot. He pinned another one deep in Jets territory in the fourth quarter, bouncing a high boot inside the ten-yard line. Bass finished with just that one field goal and four made PATs, while Doman landed all three of his punts inside the Jets’ 20-yard line, averaging 46.3 yards per punt in the process.
Horns Down: Pass Rush Early
For much of the early going, there was little pressure on either Jets quarterback. Geno Smith had time to throw, completing 9 of the 16 passes he attempted in the first half before he was forced out of the game with an upper-body injury. When rookie Cade Klubnik entered the game, the Bills still couldn’t create pressure, and the mobile 23-year old was able to make them pay on the Jets’ first possession out of the half. The pass rush plan can’t be “let’s hope Greg Rousseau makes a play.” Sometimes, defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard needs to dial up some different looks, especially when the front four or five players aren’t creating enough pressure.
In the second half, Leonhard started to dial it up a notch, and whether that was due to Smith’s injury or not is irrelevant. Buffalo was able to create some pressure through blitzes when the rookie Klubnik was in the game. After a slow start, Buffalo finished with four sacks and 12 QB hits on the day.
Horns Up: Red Zone/Third Down Defense
While the Bills allowed the Jets to drive quite a bit, they were very efficient when it came to keeping the Jets out of the end zone. Part of that could be because the Jets are among the NFL’s worst red zone offenses, but it doesn’t change the fact that Buffalo kept holding the Jets to three points instead of six when Gang Green was close to scoring touchdowns. The Jets were just 3-for-13 on third downs, and Buffalo held their opponents out of the end zone once again. The Bills haven’t allowed a touchdown in 11 quarters, dating back to their victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
Horns Up: DJ Moore
Buffalo’s top wideout made a couple of big plays in this one. In the first half, Moore caught a pass on a crossing route to convert a first down, traveling 34 yards to set up the Bills’ first touchdown. Then, on the Bills’ second possession of the second half, Moore caught a 45-yard touchdown pass on a beautifully thrown ball from Josh Allen. On the former, Moore was slammed hard to the turf, and for a moment, I was worried that he injured his left shoulder after dealing with an injury to his right shoulder for most of this season. On the latter, Moore lost the football while crossing the goal line, and it wasn’t immediately clear that the pass was caught. However, both plays worked out for the Bills. Moore finished his day with four catches for 90 yards and a touchdown on six targets. All of those numbers led the Bills today.
Horns Up and Down: Davison Igbinosun
The rookie continued his streak of solid play, as he was strong in coverage regardless of which Jets wideout he was covering. Igbinosun also notched his second career interceptions, picking off Klubnik in the third quarter. Unfortunately for Igbinosun, he was absolutely smoked on the return by Jets tight end Jeremy Ruckert. Igbinosun fumbled, and the Jets recovered it, negating the big play and giving the Jets the ball back. New York eventually punted, but Buffalo forfeited plenty of field position. He finished with four tackles and two pass breakups. He was once again excellent in coverage.
Horns Down: The Injury Bug
MetLife Stadium is a house of horrors for many, as its turf is notorious for causing injury. By the end of today’s game, Buffalo was without Dorian William (calf), Christian Benford (groin), Dee Alford (concussion), Cole Bishop (arm), and Maxwell Hairston (unknown at time of publication). Let’s hope that these players were out due to the time remaining in the game and the score at the time of said injuries. Otherwise, Buffalo will trot out something akin to a M.A.S.H. unit next week against the Miami Dolphins.
Horns Up: T.J. Parker
The rookie had the best day of his young career, totaling two sacks, five tackles, and three quarterback hits. After initially leaving me whining about the pass rush early in this game, Buffalo settled into the game and really got after rookie quarterback Kade Klubnik. For the Bills, it was nice to see Parker step up and make some plays. If he can start to serve as a valuable counter to Greg Rousseau on the other side of the line, it bodes well for Buffalo’s pass rush and defense as a whole moving forward.
Horns Undecided: You Make the Call
Alright, friends…who did we miss? Our Bills are 8-1 after today’s big win. Let us know who deserves a shout-out in either direction in the comments!
