Photo Credit: Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images
As the Jets entered today’s matchup against their division rival Buffalo Bills, a lot was on the line as their playoff hopes rested in the hands of Mike White for another week. Sadly, Mike White’s toughness and grit weren’t enough as they couldn’t come out of Highmark Stadium with a victory as they lost to the Buffalo Bills 20-12, in a revenge matchup from losing to the Jets in week 9.
This was a pivotal matchup for both teams, as the Bills were looking to keep up their division lead in the AFC East. Compared to the week nine matchup in Metlife, the Bills had defenders Matt Milano, Jordan Poyer, or Tre’Davious White return to action after being sidelined due to injury. The Bills were looking to avenge their week nine loss against the Jets as they were upset, 20-17 when Josh Allen arguably had his worst game of the year so far.
After coming off a rough loss against the Minnesota Vikings, the Jets were looking to keep hold of the 7th seed in the AFC playoff picture, as the Chargers and Patriots are creeping up that spot. Mike White was called in at quarterback for the third straight week after helping the Jets’ offense reach new heights and their true potential after passing for the most yards in a two-game span since 1993 when Boomer Esiason was in at quarterback for the Green and White. White was also looking to redeem himself from his last matchup against the Bills when he threw four interceptions in week ten previous year.
Fun Fact, Josh Allen and Mike White were roommates at the Manning Passing academy.
The Bills got the ball to start the game, they went three and out to start the game, and Tony Romo pointed out that the weather might be a factor in the game due to the heavy wind and snow starting to come down.
Crazy to be able to have Tony Romo and Jim Nantz call the game, meaning that the Jets are finally getting some recognition throughout the league. Romo and Nantz usually call the games of the week for CBS, and they were assigned to cover the Jets. Throughout the game, Tony Romo was waving about the Jets’ newfound ability to draft young talent while raving about how they “Hit” on their recent draft picks.
Throughout the Jets’ first drive, rookies Zonovan Knight and Garrett Wilson showcased their talent.
As the Bills got the ball after a Jets punt, Josh Allen was challenging Sauce early in the game when he was targeting John brown deep down the field, but Sauce came away with a nice pass deflection. On that same drive on a third down, the Jets came up clutch with a Bryce Huff sack as Huff got pressure on Allen where the pocket was collapsing, and he had nowhere to go.
During the next play, Braxton Berrios gave the Jets a scare when he almost touched the ball and almost gave the Bills the ball back, but it nearly clipped him by a hair, and the Jets regained possession.
On that next Jets drive, Corey Davis would make an excellent third-down catch but got hurt on the play as he got a concussion and was ruled out for the game.
The quarterbacks in the game would have had difficulty throwing the football due to the weather, as the footballs were going all over the place. The game could’ve been different had they been in better weather.
In the second quarter, as Mike White made a completion to Elijah Moore, he was laid out by a Bills defender and went back to the sideline to get checked, he would then come back in and would make an excellent completion to Garrett Wilson for a first down, but the drive would end in a punt.
The game started so slow offensively that it began with ten straight punts. As the Bills were looking to put themselves on the board, they tried going for it on fourth and 1, Josh Allen got the Jets on an encroachment penalty on a hard count as CJ Mosley attempted to make his best Troy Pomula impression, but it failed drastically. The Bills would take advantage of a second chance and eventually score off of a 24-yard Dawson Knox touchdown catch to give the Bills a 7-0 lead at halftime.
Entering now into the third quarter with the Jets getting the ball back, they were looking to get themselves on the board. On a third down and 10, White finds Braxton Berrios for a 25-yard gain as Berrios made a nice contested catch. That play would help the Jets drive down the field for a Bam Knight touchdown to tie the game 7-7. The center and guard pulled for the Jets to help clear the way for Bam knight to get into the endzone.
The Bills would then score on the next drive as Diggs had a nice catch and run, along with Michael Carter II getting called for pass interference, cleared the way for the Bills to score off of a Josh Allen run to give the Bills a 14-7 lead.
As the Jets were looking to do something on offense, Mike White got hurt again on a play where Matt Milano was coming off a blitz to try to get to Mike White, and he laid him out where the hit looked like it got to his ribs.
Flacco would sub in for one play where he would give up a fumble, and the Bills were able to recover. Joe Flacco has helped the Jets a little bit, but it’s tough watching him play where his mobile ability in the pocket is as bad as it looks like he has bricks in his cleats.
The Bills would use that opportunity to get a 38-yard Tyler Bass field goal giving the Bills a 17-7 lead.
Later in the game, after Mike White went to the locker room to get checked out, he would came back in the game. His injury was said to be a rib injury, and they could treat it and go back in the game, but the pain was still there.
Later in the fourth quarter, as the Jets try to get back in the ball game, rookie Jermaine Johnson gives the Jets new life as he contributes on special teams by blocking a punt and forcing a safety to make the score 20-9. Johnson just snuck right through to block the kick.
As the Jets got the ball back and were looking to add more points to the board, running back Michael Carter fumbled the ball, as it ended up in possession of the Bills. The play was huge, as the Jets could’ve used that drive to get back in the game.
After a Jets field goal on their next drive to score 20-12, they stop the Bills and make them go three and out.
But even with 40 seconds left, it wasn’t enough as the Jets fell short of a comeback to the Bills 20-12
The Jets had a lot of injuries which was scary enough. Quinnen Williams, who was dominating the line of scrimmage, was taken out of the game due to a calf injury; it looked scary after the play cause it was a non-contact injury.
This game showed everyone one thing: Mike White can stick it out through the games after he was beaten up all day by the Bills’ defense. The offensive line allowed four sacks, 8 QB hits, and 21 pressures in 51 dropbacks. White was taken to a local hospital for precautionary tests on his ribs; he rejoined the team in time to make the flight home.
Mike White did get a lot of respect from his Jets teammates like Connor McGovern, who said:
“He’s a dog, man. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to win. That’s what every guy in this locker room does; if they aren’t that way, they need to be that way. I believe everybody is that way.”
Garrett Wilson gave White a lot of praise, stating:
“He’s got a lot of heart, and he’s going to lay it on the line for his boys. I would do the same for him”
Michael Carter said Mike White is “A f*****g Soldier.”
Besides the injuries, turnovers were also crucial in determining the outcome of today’s game. The Michael Carter fumble late in the fourth quarter was costly for the Jets, for they could’ve had some points taken to make the competition tighter. Carter said, “We ran power, it opened up like Disney World, and I just tried to score a touchdown. I tried to run him over; I tried to crank him up. He (Taron Johnson) made a good play.”
On a positive note, the Jets’ defense continues to play lights out, especially against the Bills. The Bills had 1130 net passing yards, their lowest of the season (The previous low was 183 against the Jets). They had 102 net rushing yards, just 1 yard more than their season low of 101 against the Titans in week 2. The Jets’ defense caused season-lows all over the place. Josh Allen had a season-low 147 pass yards, while Stefon Diggs had a season-low 37 receiving yards. The Bills also had a 15% 3rd-down conversion rate which was another season low and allowed them to punt eight times which was the most in a game since 2018. Sauce Gardner continues to play lights-out defense. The nearest defender only had two targets and yielded one catch for 6 yards on those plays. Stefon Diggs matched against Gardner 9x pre-snap + had 0 marks with him as the nearest defender. Gardner has allowed only 39% completion since week four as ND, which is the best in the NFL.
Regardless of the outcome of yesterday’s game, Head coach Robert Saleh still has high praise for his team and predicts that they will make the playoffs and believes it to be the Buffalo Bills again.
“We’ll see these guys again.”
After the Chargers won against the Dolphins, bumping the Jets out of the 7th seed, it only gets more challenging for the Jets from here on out as they play their next two games at home against the red-hot Detroit Lions, who are currently 5-1 in their last six games after going 1-6. Then a Thursday night game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who upset the Tennessee Titans 36-22. The defense has been playing lights out for the Jets, but the offense needs to pick up the slack after Mike White was getting a beating, and not being able to produce many points on offense will not help in their goal of making the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. Next week should be fun as the Detroit Lions travel to Metlife to play the Jets as both teams’ playoff hopes rest in their own hands. Either way, if they want to make a playoff run, they’ll have to stick with Mike White, who has shown that he can stick it out through each game with his toughness and grit, as he has earned much respect throughout the team and also throughout the league.
