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    • Bill’s ugly win over Jets keeps them in first place in the AFC East
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    Bill’s ugly win over Jets keeps them in first place in the AFC East

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    EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – The Buffalo Bills are somehow still in first place in the AFC East.

    In a game that neither the Bills nor the New York Jets seemed prepared to win Monday night at MetLife Stadium, the Bills eventually rose to claim the 23-20 victory.

    The beleaguered Tyler Bass made a game-winning 22-yard field goal with 3:43 to play, and then Taron Johnson intercepted an Aaron Rodgers pass with 1:52 to go to give the Bills just a first down, and Josh Allen delivered with a six-yard run on a third-and-4 from its own 24, allowing the Bills to close out the game.

    It certainly wasn’t a game that would go to the Smithsonian, but for the Bills it was a big win as it ended a two-game losing streak and kept them two games ahead of the Jets.

    Here are my observations:

    The Bills allowed a Hail Mary touchdown

    The Bills were in control of the game and led 20-10 after an Allen touchdown pass to Dawson Knox with 21 seconds left in the first half, plus they got the ball to start the third quarter.

    But as ugly history has proven, danger lurks when the offense leaves some time on the clock late in the half, and sure enough, the defense suffered an inexcusable slump, a failure far too common for the Bills. Seriously, some of the stupid things that happen to this team are unbelievable.

    After a touchback, Rodgers started from his 30 and completed a four-yard pass to Tyler Conklin and a 14-yard pass over the middle to Garrett Wilson to put the ball at the Jets 48 with eight seconds left, time for a Hail Mary .

    The Bills knew this, and they even called a timeout to make sure everyone knew what they were doing. And of course, as it turned out, no one knew what to do when a play had to be performed.

    They rushed with only two men, which was, well, a choice. They guarded the flanks with two players positioned about twenty yards away on each sideline, in case Rodgers attempted to throw an out to set up a field goal. Of course, Rodgers had no intention of doing that.

    The 40-year-old had all day to get his receivers into the end zone and when he threw it up, there were five Bills defensive backs around the ball: Christian Benford, Taron Johnson, Damar Hamlin, Rasul Douglas and Taylor Rapp . They had Allen Lazard surrounded, but Hamlin, Rapp and Johnson were the most egregious error makers.

    Somehow, none of them were able to even get a hand on the ball and it fell right into Lazard’s hands for a 52-yard touchdown as time expired.

    “Ultimately it didn’t work, so that’s why we have to go back and reexamine it,” coach Sean McDermott said of the defensive setup he used. “There’s a grid that you go through at the end of the half, or in game situations that are based on the time on the clock and the timeouts they have, you try to use your best defense for the situation. They outperformed us, so we have to go back and re-examine to make sure we have the right number of rushers for that situation, as well as the number of cover guys.

    That whole explanation rang hollow because what happened on that play simply could never happen, but it certainly seems to happen to the Bills far more often than it should.

    The Bills didn’t miss James Cook

    What a great night Ray Davis had. The rookie fourth-round pick didn’t start — veteran Ty Johnson got the nod — but Davis was RB1 for most of the rest of the game, which turned out to be a smart move as he ran for 97 yards on 20 carries and caught three passes. for 55 meters.

    He ran angrily whether he was taking a handoff or receiving a pass, and by the end of the first half he had 112 yards from scrimmage. He became the first Bills rookie to gain at least 50 yards in a first quarter since Willis McGahee in Week 8 of 2004 against the Cardinals.

    The Bills had more rushing yards (61) on their opening possession than the total yards they had accumulated on their opening drives in the first five games.

    On that first drive that ended with an Allen QB sneak, Davis carried five times for 48 yards, and then on the second TD drive he made a 42-yard reception that moved the Bills out of the shadow of their own goal post.

    “It’s a next-man-up mentality. For us, it goes down by committee,” Davis said. “It was about doing the same thing every time it was my turn. “We know James is a very explosive running back and he’s really good, so we have to get to that threshold of being explosive and giving the offense a spark.”

    The attack started well, but then foundered

    The Bills scored touchdowns on three of their four possessions in the first half, with Davis and Allen doing great work. They entered the night with just one touchdown drive of 80 yards or more this season and they had two on back-to-back drives in the second quarter.

    But things came to a standstill in the second half as they only scored three points, and the same things that have plagued this team all season reared their ugly heads.

    The lack of an on-field passing game just kills Buffalo, because when they get into bad down-and-distance situations, of which there were plenty thanks to an absurd number of penalties, but also good second-half defense from the Jets, they have the Bills no way to escape.

    They don’t have anyone who can get open, and it didn’t help that when Khalil Shakir was back, he wasn’t really able to play a big role as he was clearly hampered by his injured ankle. And what made it even more difficult is that the Jets used one and sometimes two spies on third down to make sure Allen couldn’t simply put the ball away and scramble for first downs.

    What was really devastating about this is that the Jets started the game without their starting nickel corner, Michael Carter, and then lost safety Chuck Clark and star boundary corner DJ Reed during the game.

    “I wanted to come out and play a clean game, get through my reads quickly,” Allen said. “I’m not sure what I finished with, but I felt like we were pretty efficient on the offensive side of the ball. There were a few plays I missed that I want back.”

    Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson were big problems

    The running back and wide receiver are really the only two reliable weapons Rodgers has at his disposal, and no one knows this better than the Bills. Still, they struggled all night to contain Hall and Wilson.

    Hall came into the game as one of the most disappointing players in the league as he averaged just three yards per carry. But he tore through the bills all night long. I’m convinced that if he played 17 games against Buffalo, he would be a guaranteed Hall of Famer. He now has five 100-yard games in his career and two have come against the Bills.

    And Wilson surpassed 100 yards receiving for the first time against the Bills, though he also has games of 92 and 78 yards against them. In this one he had eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.

    The referees did their best to ruin the match

    Referee Adrian Hill and his crew just disrupted the flow of the game because they couldn’t resist pulling those pesky yellow flags out of their pockets all night, and to be clear, they called everything on both teams.

    On the national stage of Monday Night Football, these seven guys ruined a compelling game as it seemed like every time either side made a big play, it was wiped out. It was as if they wanted to make a decision with every action, instead of letting the players play the game and take the penalties that were actually penalties.

    “Yes, it seemed a bit ridiculous, some of it seemed really bad, including the fact that the passerby was bothering me. That’s not harassing the passerby,” Rodgers said. “If we’re going to call that stuff, we might as well be playing Sarcastaball. And I thought the one on (Javon) Kinlaw (against Allen) didn’t bother the passer either.

    The Bills required 11 penalties worth 94 yards, the Jets 11 for 110 yards, and that didn’t include some offsetting penalties.

    “Yes, we have a lot of cleanup to do,” McDermott said. “We have to be more disciplined, we can’t beat ourselves, situational football.”

    Tyler Bass is now officially a head case

    Yes, Bass made the chip shot 22-yarder, but the Bills have a kicker problem, and there’s no question about that anymore. Bass’ extra point after the Bills’ second touchdown was originally put on the stat sheet as a blocked punt, but that was changed after replaying the video and is now just a straight shaft. Earlier this season, he blocked a PAT. In his first four seasons, he missed just five PATs combined.

    And in the third quarter, he botched a promising drive at the start by missing a 47-yard field goal, his third miss in 12 attempts, a 75% success rate that isn’t good enough in the NFL.

    Of course, the Jets’ usually reliable kicker, Greg Zuerlein, made two field goals off the uprights in the second half, either of which would have given the Jets the lead.

    “He knows he has to make those kicks, that’s what it comes down to,” McDermott said. “He knows he has to make those kicks.”

    Yes, we know he knows. No one cares because he doesn’t make them. Kickers will undoubtedly drive coaches, teammates and fans crazy because if you don’t have a good one it can cost you games.

    Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades, including 35 years as a full-time beat writer for the D&C, and has written numerous books on the team’s history. He can be reached at [email protected], and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

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