Buffalo Bills best New York Jets 23-20 in sloppy Week 6 contest

The Buffalo Bills made the trip to MetLife Stadium to take on the New York Jets on the back of a two-game losing streak. Entering the game, WIVB’s Josh Reed tempted fate by pointing out that Josh Allen had never lost more than two starts in a row in his career. For much of the game, it looked like that tweet had jinxed Buffalo.

If those stakes weren’t enough, the early season game had shaped up to allow the Jets to take the lead in the AFC East. And if those stakes weren’t enough, after the ouster of Robert Saleh, the Bills were the first to test their mettle against interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich (who has a fantastic first name).

Buffalo got out to an early “lead” by winning the coin toss and deferring. The Jets happily took the ball and ripped off chunks of yards at will. The off-kilter Bills defense slowed down Aaron Rodgers and company in the red zone. A Breece Hall drop on third down led to a sigh of relief for Bills fans with “New York” settling for a field goal by Greg Zuerlein to take an early actual lead with their first opening-drive points in the 2024 season.

Josh Allen took the field for his 100th regular season game after a touchback with the Bills starting things off with a pair of first downs. A 12-yard gain from running back Ty Johnson, playing for the injured James Cook, was followed by a 14-yard pass to tight end Dalton Kincaid who lowered the shoulder to get some RAC. Ray Davis continued the drive with runs of three, 14, six, five, and 15; ending at the one-yard line of the Jets. An Allen sneak for a touchdown was negated by an illegal formation penalty (I’ll have opinions on that in my penalty recap). Davis put Buffalo back at the one, and the second Josh Allen sneak for a touchdown got to count. Both teams stayed in the end zone and looked a bit chippy, which continued throughout the night.

The Jets got back into rhythm with a small chunk and then big play by Breece Hall for 21 yards. The Jets looked like they might momentarily sputter, but another big run by Hall set the Jets up with a goal-to-go situation. A tipped ball saved Buffalo from a defensive pass interference in the end zone. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson made that irrelevant with a touchdown catch in tight territory. Initially ruled incomplete, the league’s eye in the sky corrected the call to a touchdown.

The Bills got the ball back against a Jets’ defense missing safety Chuck Clark who exited the field due to injury. Despite that, Buffalo went three-and-out leading to a Sam Martin punt for a touchback.

The Jets looked to have been set up in Bills territory by a huge defensive pass interference call. This time, Buffalo was bailed out by an illegal formation penalty. With being replayed, Breece Hall was finally stopped for no gain by Buffalo’s defense as the first quarter expired. A tackle for a loss by Terrell Bernard doing an interpretation of a Breece-Seeking Missile pushed the Jets back, leading to their first punt of the night.

The Bills started back at their own 10 thanks to a Thomas Morstead punt and Kaiir Elam holding penalty. The Jets looked to start off strong on defense again, shutting down a Ray Davis run and pressuring Allen on the next snap. A flag flew with Allen in the end zone. Allen found Davis for a 42-yard throw and Buffalo fans sighed in relief after the officials announced the flag was on the Jets. The Bills were forced to be a bit more methodical following that but an eight-yard touchdown pass to Mack Hollins put Buffalo back on top, though Tyler Bass’ missed/blocked extra point was bad enough to make the commentators giggle.

The Jets started off with good field position thanks to a solid kickoff return. After a good start, the Jets got cute with an attempted flea flicker that was shut down by a DaQuan Jones sack for a loss of seven. That was followed soon after by another sack by defensive end A.J. Epenesa to end the drive.

At their own 20 with time waning in the second quarter, Buffalo was aiming to extend their lead. A controversial DPI helped flip the field for Buffalo and a second one later in the drive inched the Bills even closer. A wonky fumble by Allen nearly ended the Bills’ drive in scoring touchdown. After that facepalm moment, tight end Dawson Knox notched his first touchdown of the year on a 12-yard pass from Allen.

Using two timeouts during the Bills’ drive, the Jets conserved time to make something happen. With 21 seconds left in the half, football fans were treated to a lesson on never saying “die” after a horrible defensive performance allowed a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown to wide receiver Allen Lazard.

Coming back after the half, a Curtis Samuel sighting gained 38-yards on a pinpoint Josh Allen pass. An offensive pass interference call on Dawson Knox set the Bills back and it was too much to overcome for Josh Allen and company. Tyler Bass came out to try for three and a “try” it remained with the kick going wide right.

On the ensuing Jets drive, Buffalo seemed to have them stopped early but an Epenesa roughing call gave them new life. A 42-yard scamper by Breece Hall placed the Jets at the Buffalo three. The Bills’ defense clamped down, forcing the Jets to settle for a field goal to tie the game at 20.

Looking to take back the lead, Buffalo sputtered and punted for the second time in the game. The Jets continued with their momentum with Aaron Rodgers finding Garrett Wilson for two nice passes. A low block called on Taron Johnson pushed the Jets 15 yards closer to the goal line. Rookie running back Braelon Allen looked to have a touchdown up the middle, but a holding call on offensive tackle Tyron Smith negated the score. The safety tandem of Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp broke up a touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson to force a field goal try. For the second time in the game, the word “try” was the operative one.

Facing a Jets defense now without cornerback D.J. Reed, Buffalo’s offense set themselves back with two procedural penalties. During the field direction swap between quarters three and four, the chippiness continued with an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on left tackle Dion Dawkins. Now pushed back with 3rd & 21, Buffalo failed to convert and was forced to punt again.

The Jets began a bit shaky, but a miracle catch for 25 by Lazard off of linebacker Terrell Bernard kept the drive going. Buffalo’s defense once again tightened up to force a Zuerlein field goal try. In the theme of the night, another doink made the operative word “try” once again.

Buffalo moved the ball well following the missed field goal with a little help from a roughing-the-passer call on defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw. Buffalo faltered within the 10. Tyler Bass set up for a field goal try made a few yards easier thanks to a neutral-zone infraction. Finally, a field goal was made. Javon Kinlaw decided to jaw at a ref after the field goal, resulting in an unsportsmanlike conduct flag.

Down by three with under four minutes to go, the Jets took over at their own 30. On the first play of the drive, what looked like a fumble with recovery by the Bills was ruled an incomplete pass. Buffalo was about to get off the field again, but a defensive pass interference by cornerback Christian Benford on third down gifted the Jets a first down. That play was followed by two more penalties, one on each team to reset the down. A tremendous tackle by cornerback Rasul Douglas was followed by another penalty, but on the Jets to wipe out a long gain (so this one was fine I guess). Taylor Rapp blew up a pass and then the hero of the game announced his triumphant return. Taron Johnson intercepted the ball at the Buffalo 18-yard line as the clock ushered in the two-minute warning.

The Bills looked to run the clock out. A pair of runs by Davis set Buffalo up with third down. With fears that the Jets would get the ball back, Josh Allen scrambled left to pick up the first down, sliding in bounds to keep the clock running. From there, it was a matter of kneeling out the clock to break the two-game losing streak.