And that his plan of attack so convincingly carved up current Bills head coach Rex Ryan’s defence – was nearly hard to believe. “The Jets were a much better team than we were, especially their offense against our defense”.
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Both teams traded possessions for a while, and the Jets struck next with another slow-and-steady drive that ended in a Matt Forte goalline touchdown. The Bills were able to sack Fitzpatrick only once, which Ryan expected going into the game; few defenses are able to bring down Fitzpatrick before he fires off a pass, Ryan explained.
It was the Jets’ first win in Orchard Park since 2011. Still, it was not enough to win the game. NY ‘s secondary didn’t play incredibly well, but was able to place extra emphasis on stopping Watkins and held him to two receptions for 20 yards. We’ve been in that position a lot since I’ve been here and we’ve made the plays. The Jets entered halftime with a lead, before the Bills took one of their own early in the third quarter.
I asked Marshall as he walked back into the locker room Thursday night, as the Jets were packing for the trip home after their season-saving 37-31 victory over the Bills, if he had just been teasing Ryan. Usually, there isn’t much offense as games are sloppy because teams have barely recovered from the previous week.
Taylor tried to burn the Jets secondary for a third deep touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, but he didn’t lead receiver Sammy Watkins quite enough, and Jets cornerback Marcus Williams adjusted and intercepted at the NY 13-yard line. “One thing that I was proud of, Gilmore, we had a chance to talk and he apologized”.
“That’s a good feeling as a quarterback”, Fitzpatrick said, “having guys look at you with confidence in their eyes”.
But with the exception of the long-distance burn, the Jets dominated the first half.
Marshall went down in the second quarter after catching a short slant pass. More so as Fitzpatrick began warming up.
So, no, it is not too early to start coming to grips with the Buffalo Bills missing the postseason for the 17th year in a row. But given how the first contest went Thursday, don’t expect Ryan to be on the sideline for the New Year’s Day tilt.
Brandon Marshall caught Dan Carpenter’s onside kick. The result? Brady lit up the Bills for 466 passing yards.
“He was hot and they were making plays”, Ryan said after Jets 37, Bills 31.
NY scored on each of its first four drives in building a 20-7 lead. The catch helped set up Decker’s 5-yard touchdown catch that put the Jets up 20-7.
The Bills defense got out to a rip-roaring start, almost forcing two turnovers on the first Jets drive, but couldn’t get out of its own way, extending the drive on third down conversions and penalties until the Jets were in field goal range.
The Bills executed poor time management on the play as EJ Manuel came in and converted fourth-and-one play, but the team allowed several seconds to tick off the clock before calling a timeout.
This is the second time the Bills have been part of a social media broadcast experiment.
Another quick, long scoring drive.
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This time, after Taylor escaped pocket pressure and rolled right, he hit Greg Salas on a broken-play 71-yarder, which narrowed New York’s lead to 20-17. New York’s top three receivers combined for 18 catches and 319 yards between them. And the Bills just couldn’t figure out how to stop them. Fitzpatrick completed a pass to Jalin Marshall in the flat to Fitzpatrick’s right.
