New Faces Shine as Buffalo Bills Beat New York Jets

The Buffalo Bills kicked off their 2017 regular season by hosting the division rival New York Jets in a “Battle of New York”. A lot of new faces shined.

The Buffalo Bills emerged with the victory on Sunday afternoon, beating the New York Jets 21-12.

The Jets, surprisingly, held pretty tough for a while, but the Bills separated themselves in the fourth quarter.

There were not a lot of surprises from the Bills running game. Being the league’s top rushing team the last two years, LeSean McCoy had over 100 yards from scrimmage. He did not seem to skip a beat.

Tyrod Taylor threw an early interception off a deflection but quickly recovered to play solid. Mid-game, he took over the Bills’ franchise record for most rushing yards by a quarterback. Tyrod threw for two TDs and slung it for over 220 yards.

The only surprising thing about this game was some of the Buffalo Bills’ new faces playing outstanding. The Jets are not exactly an opponent to set your standards to, but the performances are still very encouraging.

ORCHARD PARK, NY – SEPTEMBER 10: Jordan Poyer (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

Jordan Poyer had the best Bills debut Sunday. He was able to record a sack, where he went essentially untouched, and then recorded a hard-fought INT from Josh McCown. Along with three tackles, Poyer emerged as a potentially great player for his new team.

The Bills continued to get production from the newly rebuilt secondary with Micah Hyde. He sealed the deal with an interception in the 4th quarter. He too recorded three tackles.

Rookie first round pick Tre’Davious White did not have anything as glorifying as a pick but played outstanding for the Bills. He is all about fundamental football and never seemed too lost in his first NFL game. He put together four tackles and a pair of pass breakups.

E.J. Gaines also had a solid game. I didn’t really know what the Buffalo Bills were getting with the Sammy Watkins trade, but Gaines looked sharp. He was responsible for five tackles and did not give up too much in terms of catches and yardage.

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On offense, Jordan Matthews, who is indirectly Sammy Watkins’ replacement, did not blow up the stat book or find the end zone but led the team in receiving. He snagged two Tyrod passes for 61 yards.

Andre Holmes, a free agent signee, found the end zone once. The TD was his only catch, and oddly enough his only yard, but it was a pretty good spot to record his only play.

Mike Tolbert, who was one of the earliest Bills offseason acquisitions, found himself on the field a lot. He took one of his 12 attempts to the end zone for a Bills touchdown and totaled 42 yards on the ground.

Ramon Humber is not a new face, per say, however, he did shine for the very first time Sunday. He played like a mad man and ran around the field for 13 tackles. Humber is adjusting to the new system just fine.

For all the new faces that shined, a few bigger names struggled.

Rookie Zay Jones had four targets but only a lackluster one reception for 21 yards.

Former Pro Bowl DT and once ascending star, Marcell Dareus was virtually useless and his very little production is a big morale blow. The former third overall pick failed to record a single tackle.

Stephen Hauschka missed his lone field goal attempt but made all three extra points. It was a difficult field goal but he was brought in by the new regime to make those kinds of kicks.

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The Buffalo Bills new front office pretty much rebuilt the entire roster and wiped most of former GM Doug Whaley’s draft picks clean. Therefore, it was pretty inevitable for new players to make some plays. However, the Bills new faces overachieved, with each one looking like a good fit.

It is a long season, but after winning the game, the Buffalo Bills sit alone in first place in the AFC East.

Will new faces continue to shine next week against the Carolina Panthers? We’ll have to wait and see.

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