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Monday Night Football: Bills hold on for 23-20 victory in flag celebration
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Monday Night Football: Bills hold on for 23-20 victory in flag celebration

Monday night football was a thing.

There were 22 penalties accepted, a few questionable and a few more ticy-tack, for 204 yards to go, along with a Hail Mary at the end of the first half, four missed kicks and a total of 752 yards. The Bills held on for a 23-20 win over the Jets.

Buffalo moved to 4-2, while the Jets fell to 2-4.

The Jets, playing their first game with Jeff Ulbrich as interim head coach and Todd Downing as play caller, will lament the opportunities they missed. Greg Zuerlein missed field goals of 32 and 43 yards from the left side in the second half, and the Jets scored just one touchdown and 13 total points in four red zone chances.

The Jets’ last chance ended with 1:52 to go. Taylor Rapp and Taron Johnson made big defensive plays on back-to-back plays for the Bills, causing Buffalo to run out the clock. Rapp knocked the ball loose from Jeremy Ruckert on second-and-16, and Johnson, returning from a forearm injury, made a spectacular interception, taking the ball away from Mike Williams on the Buffalo 18.

The Jets had a chance to get the ball back, but on third-and-4 Josh Allen ran down the left sideline for a six-yard gain before sliding downfield. That put the Bills in victory formation.

Allen contributed a total of three touchdowns, all in the first half, when he threw an 8-yard touchdown to Mack Hollins and a 12-yard touchdown to Dawson Knox and ran for a 1-yard touchdown. Allen was 19 of 25 for 215 yards. Ray Davis, who was injured by running back James Cook, had 23 touches for 152 yards.

The Bills’ only points in the second half came on a 22-yard Tyler Bass field goal with 3:43 to go. But Bass also missed a 47-yard field goal and a PAT.

The Bills had a commanding 20-10 lead on the final play of the first half when Aaron Rodgers threw a Hail Mary that AllenLazard downed for a miraculous 52-yard touchdown. Zuerlein tied the game with a 22-yard field goal with 6:13 left in the third quarter, but the Jets squandered their chances to take the lead.

Rodgers was 23 of 35 for 294 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He had a 5-yard touchdown throw to Garrett Wilson, who caught eight passes for 107 yards. Lazard made six catches for 114 yards.

The Jets lost safety Chuck Clark (ankle), who was replaced by Ashtyn Davis, and cornerback DJ Reed (groin), who was replaced by Brandin Echols.