New York Jets lose to the Buffalo Bills: The offense can't do quite enough

The morning after, we break down the New York Jets 21-12 loss to the Buffalo Bills from New Era Stadium.

Now, nobody was expecting a lot from this New York Jets team in 2017. Some fans were talking about Sunday being the day that the quest for the number one pick began. There are fans actually pulling for the tank as well. Whether it’s Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen or whomever else is in the quarterback-rich draft class in 2018, Jets fans believe this is the year they will finally get that franchise quarterback.

But there is a season to play first. And no matter how you feel about the team and whether or not they should “tank”, we are going to break down the games just like any other season. The Jets could have won this one as they were in it for a long time. But the Bills pulled away in the fourth quarter as we all saw. How did it happen?

Final. 21. 16. 12. 30

The first half went just the way the game had to go for the Jets to have a chance. They didn’t put up a first down in the opening quarter but the defense was solid, keeping the game scoreless. There was even the long drive early that ended with the Juston Burris end zone interception. It was just 7-6 at halftime.

Gang Green couldn’t take this one over the hump because they couldn’t give the defense a rest. The defense got tired. The reason? The running game was awful and Matt Forte was worse. The Jets posted 38 net rushing yards at 2.5 yards per carry. How can you take pressure off of the quarterback at that rate? You can’t. The Jets offense is not good enough to have Josh McCown win any game on his own.

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Now, Matt Forte is supposed to be that old pro that takes the pressure off of everyone right? Not on this day. Against the Bills, Forte ran it six times for 16 yards. He is normally a reliable receiver but he dropped two catchable passes. I’m not going to call him “done” yet but the early returns are not good.

Bilal Powell wasn’t much better with seven carries for 22 yards. The Jets offense won’t be anything if they can’t run the football. It doesn’t matter who plays quarterback.

The defense simply lost its ability to keep up. A Todd Bowles defense is normally stout against the run but in this one they allowed 4.5 yards per carry and 190 net rushing yards, 110 of those to LeSean McCoy. They also couldn’t get off of the field on third down, giving up a 47% conversion rate (8-17). That will never cut it.

The Jets had the opportunity to tie it when Josh McCown scored from one yard out to make it 14-12. They weren’t able to convert the two point conversion and the soon to come Mike Tolbert touchdown run put the game out of reach.

Next: Initial observations of Jets vs. Bills

There was a moment where Todd Bowles appeared to coach “scared”. Down nine with exactly four minutes to go from their own 35, he decides to punt and work his time-outs. Many thought that if he was looking to go for the comeback he would have gone for it. Since he had a full slate of time-outs his answer can be justifiable, though that late in the game going for it might have made more sense.

It was a competitive effort which is what we all hoped for. This team will not give up, which is a good sign for the future.

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New York Jets lose to the Buffalo Bills: The offense can’t do quite enough

By Alan Schechter | Sep 11, 2017

The morning after, we break down the New York Jets 21-12 loss to the Buffalo Bills from New Era Stadium.

More from Empire Writes Back