New York Jets lose to Rex Ryan and Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football
By Nick Ziegler
The New York Jets hosted the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football with the big story line of Rex Ryan returning to New York.
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New York came out unexpectedly throwing the ball down the field, as Ryan Fitzpatrick took three shots down the field but was unsuccessful. The Bills came out firing as well, as Tyrod Taylor took a shot down the field to Sammy Watkins, but a slightly mistimed jump resulted in an incomplete pass.
The Jets would get on the board first late in the first quarter, as a questionable call on a first down catch by Eric Decker helped spring a drive that resulted in a Randy Bullock field goal.
With a three-point lead, Fitzpatrick would try to squeeze a pass into Brandon Marshall which bounced up in the air and was intercepted. The Bills would take advantage of the good field position and tie the game with a field goal.
On the following kickoff, Devin Smith would fumble on a really nice play by the Bills’ special team units to force the fumble with Smith inches off the ground. The Bills would return the fumble for a touchdown, but missed the extra-point.
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The Bills were able to have another nice drive before halftime to add another three points on the board.
To start the second half, the Bills orchestrated an 80-yard drive that ended with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to Karlos Williams. The Jets committed another turnover after the Bills scored, as Chris Ivory fumbled the ball. The Jets’ defense was able to hold the Bills to just a field goal, as it kept the Jets in the game.
The Jets’ offense finally came alive in the third quarter, as they went on an 80-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass by Marshall. After forcing a three and out, the Jets went on another nice drive into Buffalo territory, but a costly dropped pass by Eric Decker on third down ended the threat.
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Decker would make up for the drop midway through the fourth quarter with a nice 31-yard touchdown catch to make the score 22-17.
A botched punt by the Bills set the Jets up in great field position, but a questionable decision to go for it on fourth down by Todd Bowles resulted in zero points for the Jets. The Jets could have elected for the easy field goal with three timeouts and the two-minute warning at the time, but Bowles went for a touchdown.
The Bills would kill enough clock on their next drive to essentially end the game with the Jets getting the ball back with just 24 seconds remaining. The Jets needed to push the ball down the field, and a deep pas by Fitzpatrick was intercepted by the Bills to end the game.
It is a huge win for Rex Ryan and the Bills, as they move to 5-4 with a tie-breaker over the Jets in the division and the same record. For the Jets, they finally started to play some good football in the second half, but the Bills are now another team to worry about in the AFC playoff picture.