Buffalo Bills: Recapping the Thursday night debacle against the Jets

The Buffalo Bills suffered their third loss of the season on Thursday night as poor line play led to a 34-21 loss to the division rival New York Jets.

To start off, this game was not nearly as close as the scoreboard reflects. Two late garbage time touchdowns by the Buffalo Bills didn’t really do anything besides pad the stats.

Glass Half Full

Although the Buffalo Bills were outmatched for the entire game, there are still some things that should have The Bills Mafia encouraged.

Zay Jones and Tyrod Taylor continued to build their chemistry. The rookie wideout had a breakout game. He had seven receptions for 53 yards and caught his first career touchdown.

The rookie finally showed signs of being the guy Buffalo traded up for in the draft. He picked a national stage to do so.

As for Tyrod Taylor, “T-Mobile” was under severe pressure all day. It is easy to blame him for playing bad, except he didn’t. Tyrod was able to cumulate three total touchdowns, 285 pass yards, and 35 rushing yards (which led the team).

The pressure the Jets brought all night was not ideal for the Bills. But Taylor, despite all the circumstances, capitalized and was the Bills’ best player on a night they needed him to be.

Despite falling to 5-3 and suffering a second conferences loss, after the week concluded, the Bills remained in the AFC Playoff picture. Once all the Week 9 scores were settled, the Buffalo Bills still sit at the sixth seed in the AFC which is the last playoff spot.

The Jets

The New York Jets are not nearly as bad as we all thought. On Thursday, they actually looked like a good team.

Josh McCown‘s composure was insanely surprising. He didn’t gun sling the football like crazy. He protected the ball, his team won the time of possession, and the Jets looked prepared to win a big game.

The entire team was composed, ready, and pumped up. Just look up #JetsDanceToAnything on Twitter. Those videos alone show the narrative of how the game went for them.

It Was Not Shady In New Jersey

The common factor since his arrival in 2015 is that the Bills success or failures against the Jets seem to lie on the back of LeSean McCoy.

If Shady runs for over 100 yards, the Bills have a clear advantage. When he runs for less than that (he had just 25 on Thursday) the Jets have the clear advantage.

Poor offensive line play by the Bills cannot be blamed enough. Shady had no room to run forward or do his famous cuts. “Gang Green” ganged up on him and smothered him all night.

Depleted Roster

Zay Jones might have had his first breakout game to date, but he left Thursday night’s game with a knee injury.

Newly acquired wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin sported Bills gear on the sideline but he was inactive for the game.

The Bills were also without cornerback EJ Gaines, weakening the secondary.

On special teams, AFC Defensive Player of the Month Micah Hyde was returning punts in lieu of Brandon Tate, who was out.

Taiwan Jones broke his arm on an onside kick and has since been placed on injured reserve.

More from Empire Writes Back

Injuries are not the reason the Buffalo Bills got embarrassed against the Jets but there were definitely enough to make an impact.

Notes

The Buffalo Bills now sit 1-1 in the AFC East, having played both games against the Jets.

Buffalo fell to 1-3 on the road this year. A stark difference from their perfect 4-0 start at home.

The Bills have now completed half of their games for the 2017 season.

Stephen Hauschka extended his points streak.

The Bills signed running back Travaris Cadet to the roster to replace Taiwan Jones.

Next: Five players responsible for the Jets unexpected 4-5 start

Final Thoughts

Next week, the Buffalo Bills return home to the regular Sunday afternoon time slot to face the red-hot New Orleans Saints in a Week 10 matchup.

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