Monday Night Football had a little bit of everything in the divisional matchup between the Bills and the Jets. A Hail Mary, missed field goals, explosive plays, and penalties… so many penalties. Ultimately, the Bills were able to claw their way out of the chaos and earn their fourth win of the season, thanks to some unlikely heroes stepping up in prime time.
Offenses are Rolling
The Jets started with the ball, and wasted no time marching downfield. Aaron Rodgers hit Allen Lazard on a 10 yard slant to move the chains, and found Garrett Wilson on a crossing route who turned upfield for a 24 yard gain. In the redzone, Breece Hall was unable to bring in the pass attempt from Rodgers, with the drop resulting in a 34 yard field goal from Greg Zuerlein.
Buffalo answered by dominating in the run game, only calling one pass play on their opening drive. With the absence of James Cook, Ty Johnson kicked things off with a 12 yard run, but it was rookie Ray Davis the rest of the series with six carries for 48 yards. Dalton Kincaid caught Allen’s lone pass attempt, and broke a tackle to turn a checkdown into a 14 yard gain. Allen capped off the drive with a one yard QB sneak for a touchdown.
Hall took a screen pass for 21 yards, and had a 24 yard rush a few plays later to move the Jets inside the 10 yard line. On 3rd and Goal, Rodgers connected with Wilson over the middle for a five yard touchdown.
Buffalo would go three-and-out on the ensuing drive, opting to punt on 4th and 2 from their own 38. Back-to-back big tackles from Buffalo’s defense would force a Jets punt, with Taron Johnson making a big open field tackle on Hall to limit his gain to one yard, and Terrel Bernard knifing through the offensive line for a five yard tackle for loss on Hall on the next play.
With a holding penalty on the punt backing Buffalo up to their own 10 yard line, Allen rolled out of the pocket (into his own endzone), before coming closer to the line of scrimmage and heaving a pass downfield to Davis. The running back came down with the grab around midfield for a 42 yard completion. Ty Johnson recorded three carries for 22 yards, and Khalil Shakir (limited due to an injury) caught a pass for nine yards on 3rd and 6. Facing 3rd and Goal, Allen found Mack Hollins over the middle for an eight yard score. Bass would miss the extra point, with some camera angles showing it was tipped at the line, while others showing the ball moving in a bad trajectory anyway before it was tipped.
Josh Allen Magic
Rodgers connected with Hall over the middle for a 24 yard gain, but sacks from DaQuan Jones and AJ Epenesa stalled the drive and forced a punt. A 23 yard pass interference penalty moved Buffalo downfield quickly, even though the pass looked uncatchable. The Bills caught the Jets with 12 men on the field, and drew a defensive pass interference call on the ‘free play’, giving them 1st and 10 from the 11 yard line. On 2nd down, Allen was sacked by Will McDonald, but tried to throw the ball as he was being taken down. Instead, the ball slipped out of his hands for a clear fumble, luckily recovered by O’Cyrus Torrence. On the very next play, Allen evaded the pressure by squeezing in between Dion Dawkins and the defensive end he was blocking, finding Dawson Knox working back to him in the corner of the endzone for a 12 yard score. These two plays showed you the true “Josh Allen experience,” nearly costing his team with a turnover by trying to do too much, but still putting on his superhero cape on the very next play with a touchdown.
Aaron Rodgers Magic
Both QBs had some tricks up their sleeves. While Allen may be the king of extending plays and evading sacks, Rodgers is the king of Hail Marys. And it seems like the Bills are the kings of poor execution in two-minute drills. From midfield, with eight seconds left in the half, the Bills only sent two rushers at Rodgers, giving him plenty of time to wait for his receivers to get downfield. Heaving a pass into a sea of blue jerseys, Lazard high-pointed the ball and came down with the 52 yard catch for the touchdown. Instead of going into halftime up 20–10, it would be a much closer 20–17 that would be shown on the scoreboard.
Flags, Flags, Flags
That was the story of the second half. Some good, some bad, some ugly, the referees seemed to be huddled up discussing fouls after nearly every play. A roughing the passer against Epenesa (who simply sacked Rodgers), and phantom calls against Spencer Brown and Taron Johnson are some examples of plays that should not have been flagged. Instead, there were 22 total penalties accepted, 11 on each side, with the Bills sacrificing 94 yards and the Jets sacrificing 110 yards.
Kicking Problems Go Both Ways
It was a windy night at MetLife Stadium, which surely played a factor in three field goal attempts failing to go through the uprights. Bass missed a 47-yarder on Buffalo’s opening drive of the second half, set up by a 38 yard completion to Curtis Samuel.
Greg Zuerlein did make his 22-yard attempt to tie the game at 20, but would hit the upright on two other attempts later in the half. Misses from 32 and 43 yards out gave the Bills new life, finally putting together a scoring drive late in the fourth quarter. Allen connected with Kincaid for 15 yards, and Keon Coleman for gains of 10 and 11. A sack in the redzone stalled the drive, but Bass was able to convert on a 22-yard field goal to take the three point lead.
Welcome Back Taron Johnson
A week ago, it was Terrel Bernard with a big interception in his first game back from injury. This week, it was Taron Johnson. Rodgers was looking for Mike Williams deep downfield, but a diving Johnson got his hands under the ball and came away with the interception. Needing a first down to clinch the game, Allen faked a pitch to Davis and kept it himself, fooling the defense and sliding after running past the sticks. Buffalo would survive, and walk away with a 23–20 win.
Afterthoughts
It wasn’t the prettiest win, but the Bills did just enough on both sides of the ball to secure an important division win. The run game looked fantastic, as did the offensive line for the majority of the game. Davis averaged 4.9 yards per carry, and Johnson averaged 8.5 yards per carry, a stellar ground game in the absence of James Cook. The Bills were finally using Curtis Samuel more often as a downfield threat, but I’d still like to see even more usage out of him at the expense of Mack Hollins or Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Kincaid was reliable, bringing in six of seven targets for 51 yards, while Knox finally got involved with his touchdown grab in the first half.
Defensively, Dawuane Smoot and DaQuan Jones looked good in the interior without Ed Oliver, but there were still too many times Rodgers had all day to throw against a four-man rush. Dorian Williams had another strong game, as he seems to be steadily improving every week. It’s great to have Johnson and Bernard back, while Douglas and Benford displayed their willingness to step up and make tackles against the run, a rare trait for a DB.
While coaches aren’t on the field to physically bat down a Hail Mary attempt, it was the decision by either Sean McDermott or Bobby Babich to play Greg Rousseau and AJ Epenesa in coverage along the sideline. Instead, your best pass rushers should be…rushing the passer. Sending more than the two rushers the Bills did would have given Rodgers less time to wait for his receivers to get downfield. I’m not asking for an all-out blitz, but at least four, maybe even five rushers on that play completely changes the outcome.
Game Awards
Offensive Player of the Game – Josh Allen
It’s rare that Allen doesn’t walk away with the weekly MVP award from me, especially when he played a good game against a Jets team that normally has his number. He finished 19 for 25 for 215 yards and two touchdowns, adding nine rushes for 18 yards, a score, and a game-sealing third down run on the ground. While he still needs more help at the receiver position, I think it’ll be trending in the right direction as Shakir gets healthier, Kincaid continues to be heavily involved, and Samuel becomes a more consistent downfield target.
Defensive Player of the Game – Taylor Rapp
The Bills don’t win this game without Rapp. First, he saved a touchdown by tackling Breece Hall inside the ten yard line, with the Jets settling for a field goal a few plays later. He also had a great hit on Wilson in the endzone to prevent a touchdown grab, and another pass breakup over the middle to prevent a big gain. His official box score numbers include eight total tackles and three pass breakups in his first game back from his concussion.
MVP – Ray Davis
The rookie running back was sensational, leading the team in both rushing and receiving. He recorded 97 yards on 20 carries, while adding three catches for 55 yards. 152 scrimmage yards is the most from a rookie in a single game this season, more than guys like Marvin Harrison Jr or Malik Nabers have had in a week. While Cook will return to his RB1 status when he comes back, it will be impossible not to give Davis more opportunities given his play on Monday night.
What’s Next: Bills vs Titans 10/20
The Bills return home to face Will Levis and the Titans on Sunday, in what should hypothetically be an easier matchup than each of their last three games.
Editor’s babble: Whew. That was a heck of a road trip. And so many prime time games. I love ugly wins. Many thanks to Colin Richey for his contributions to our blog. You can also find Colin on Xwitter @whatthef00tball.
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