The New York Jets do the unthinkable as they beat the AFC-leading Buffalo Bills at home 20-17.
The Jets came into the game as the underdogs as the Buffalo Bills are considered the best team, not just in the AFC, but the best team in the NFL. Sunday’s Jets win was not expected as they were coming off a tough loss at home against their other division rival, the New England Patriots.
Jets quarterback Zach Wilson was looking to rebound off a challenging three-interception game, with people questioning if he is the future at the Jets quarterback position.
Whatever the case may be, the Jets knew they had to forget about the Patriots matchup and focus on a more formidable opponent, the Buffalo Bills, who were coming off a dominating performance in a Sunday night matchup against the Green Bay Packers with a 27-17 victory.
The Jets defense and Bills quarterback Josh Allen are masters of zone coverage. Josh Allen has the league’s best quarterback rating against zone coverage while being third in yards per attempt and tied for seventh for his touchdown and interception ratio. Funny enough, the Jets defense using zone coverage against opposing quarterbacks are ranked first in giving up the lowest quarterback rating, third in yards per attempt, and seventh in touchdown/interception ratio.
Leading up to the game, everyone was talking about the Stefon Diggs versus Sauce Gardner matchup. Diggs leads the NFL in receiving touchdowns and receiving yards, while Gardner is second in the NFL in completion percentage allowed, with fifteen yards allowed per completion.
First play out of the gate for the Bills, Diggs won the first matchup against Sauce as he and Josh Allen connected on a 42-yard catch to set up the Bills at the Jets thirteen yard line.
On second and ten at the Jets thirteen, Allen throws his first pick of the game as the ball was thrown straight to Jets safety Jordan Whitehead. It was an excellent read for Whitehead, who was playing the safety position well reading the play. Instead of following the wide receiver, he followed Bills tight end Dawson Knox to secure his second pick of the year.
Midway in the first quarter, the Bills drove downfield to the goal line, where Josh Allen would find his way into the endzone with a QB sneak up the middle to give the Bills a 7-0 lead.
On the next Jets drive, they find their way downfield, where they try to get on the board. On a third down play, Zach Wilson is seen on the ground, with concern for his left knee instead of the injured knee, as Bills defender Daquan Jones landed on Wilson’s left knee. Wilson was able to be okay as he was seen walking around the bench, getting ready for the next Jets drive.
The Jets would then end the first quarter of the game with a Greg Zuerlein fifty three-yard field goal, ending the second quarter with the Bills up against the Jets 7-3.
Later in the second quarter, the Bills possessed the ball at the Jets thirty-six. On a third and two, Josh Allen runs a quarterback run to the endzone for a thirty-six-yard touchdown run to give the Bills a 14-3 lead over the Jets. Allen had help with the lead blocks from center Mitch Morse and Roger Safford, along with tight end Dawson Knox helping.
Next Jets Drive, the Jets get the ball rolling with a pair of completions to rookie wide receiver out of Ohio State Garrett Wilson for thirty-three yards combined. The connection between Zach Wilson and Garret Wilson has been heating up in recent weeks, which is what the Jets had hoped to see when drafting the Ohio State product with the tenth overall selection in the 2022 NFL draft.
Jets would end up at the Bills six-yard line, where second-year running back Michael Carter runs it in for an easy touchdown where the lane was wide open as it can be. Guard Nate Herbig got to the endzone before Carter scored as he blocked his assignment well enough that he got to the endzone first before Carter could get to the endzone. The Jets would shrink the Bills lead to 14-10.
Before the half ends, the Bills try to extend their lead with a 55-yard field goal, but Tyler Bass ends up missing it wide right as the half ends with the Bills up 14-10
Jets with the ball to start the second half as they try to take control against the Bills. It was a pretty weird drive. C.J. Uzomah gave Jets fans a scare as he almost handed the Bills the ball back as his intended pass was bounced off his hands and thrown up in the air, and where the Bills almost came away with a potential pick. Luckily, the refs decided that the pass was incomplete.
Then, the Jets drive was stopped as there was an equipment issue with the skycam camera as a cable snapped. The game was delayed as the skycam issue was a severe concern for the safety of the players and the fans. The game would resume once the skycam situation was fixed.
After the Skycam issue, the Jets would have the ball close to the red zone. Wilson tries scrambling away from the Bills rush, but only to get strip-sacked by Von Miller and recovered by Aj Epenesa, which took away the Jets opportunity for a field goal.
The Bills are now with the ball looking to extend their lead. On the drive’s first play, Josh Allen gets sacked by reigning AFC defensive player of the month Quinnen Williams.
Next play, Sauce Gardner secures his second interception of the year to give the Jets good field position within the red zone at the Bills 19. A good read was made by Sauce, playing in a two-deep zone. Josh Allen didn’t do a good job reading the defense, and a miscommunication between him and Gabe Davis led the way for a Sauce interception.
The Jets end the drive with an eleven-yard screen pass touchdown to newly acquired running back James Robinson to give the Jets the lead 17-14.
Bills would then answer the next drive with a 51-yard field goal completed by kicker Tyler Bass to tie the game at 17-17.
In the fourth quarter, the Jets look to take the lead with under nine minutes left. They manage to run out the clock down a minute and 45 seconds left, allowing the Bills to use all three of their timeouts while converting a 28-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein.
The bills try to do all they can to tie the game or take the lead. First play of the drive, Allen completes a pass to Stefon Diggs to secure a toe-tapping grab, only to get called back due to a holding call. It would’ve been Diggs’s first pass caught within the second half.
Next play, Jets pass rusher Bryce Huff got to Allen with a strip sack for a loss of 19 yards.
Then on third and 21, Josh Allen missed on a pass to Stefon Diggs to now have the Bills face a fourth and 21. Allen looked hurt after grabbing his arm after the play. He might’ve gotten hurt on the Bryce Huff strip sack.
On fourth down, the Jets were able to shut down the Bills with a Sauce Gardner deflection for the Jets to secure the upset win at home against the powerhouse Bills 20-17, as the Jets head into the bye week with a 6-3 record.
Zach Wilson went 18/25 passing for 154 yards, throwing one touchdown and no interceptions. His only turnover was the Von Miller forced fumble.
The Jets combined for 174 rushing yards, with Michael Carter leading the way with twelve carries for 76 rushing yards. James Robinson had thirteen carries for 48 rushing yards.
Garrett Wilson led the way with eight receptions for 92 receiving yards.
When asked if the Jets had made a statement today, Robert Saleh answered by saying:
“Maybe to the outside world. Last week, we felt like we gave away (Patriots)…Last week wasn’t demoralizing to anyone. It was like, “we are pretty good when you’re feeling like you should win football games.”
Sauce Gardner gives credit to his teammates, coaches, trainers, and other staff in the Jets organization when asked how he’s been able to play at such a high level so quickly as a rookie in the NFL.
“I’m not on my own, so that’s why it was so easy for me to adapt to the NFL. And I feel like I’m doing pretty decent so far.”
Zach Wilson played a better game against the Bills, as he said there was an emphasis on throwing quickly. He averaged a career-low 2.31 seconds to throw, per NFL Next Gen Stats. Before the Bills matchup, he entered the day with the Highest average on throws this season with 3.26 seconds and, over the last two seasons, 3.07 seconds.
This Jets win was big as they turned the narrative around about them being a fluke as the Bills are super bowl contenders. Robert Saleh and Joe Douglass built together a team that can compete with the best of the best in the league, and the Jets win against the Buffalo Bills proved that. They made Josh Allen’s day a nightmare as the defense was playing lights out, forcing two Josh Allen turnovers and making key stops to keep the game as close as possible.
Jets now enter week ten 6-3 with a bye, hoping to get some key players back from injuries, including Corey Davis and offensive tackles Max Mitchell and George Fant.
Their next matchup is November 20th, away at Foxboro, against the New England Patriots.
