But before his new team, the Buffalo Bills, held off Todd Bowles’ Jets by a 22-17 count in a bittersweet MetLife Stadium homecoming, Ryan exposed himself as a not-so-nice guy after all by walking his talk and sending out IK Enemkpali as one of his captains for the coin toss.
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Duke Williams returned a fumbled kickoff 19 yards for the go-ahead points, rookie Karlos Williams had a 26-yard touchdown catch and Dan Carpenter kicked three field goals.
It was the worst kind of defeat for Bowles, whose team has now lost three of its last four games.
The Jets might have won last night if quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had been able to connect with tight end Kellen Davis on a fourth-down pass in the end zone. Although the Jets have fallen to 5-4 on the season, Fitzpatrick has filled in nicely as the Jets quarterback and his health will be a key factor if they want to make a run at the postseason.
That field goal followed rookie Karlos Williams’ 26-yard TD reception on the first series of the second half. They got one more possession in the first half and drove deep into Jets territory, but settled for a field goal to make it 12-3 at the half.
Zach Braziller: The one play the Jets wished they could have back. It was Bills 22-17 then. Instead, New England went into Buffalo and dismantled the Bills.
New York’s blitzes kept Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor off-balance and Buffalo got their first three points thanks to Corey Graham’s interception off a bobble by Jets receiver Brandon Marshall. The Jets finally made something of the repeated stops midway through the fourth when Fitzpatrick engineered a nine-play, 69-yard drive, capped by a 31-yard touchdown pass to Eric Decker that made it a five-point game with plenty of time to play. They failed once already in the fourth quarter on fourth down.
Chris Ivory had 99 yards on 18 carries, but also had a costly fumble in the third quarter for the Jets.
“We have a nose, a feel for what they like to do”, Brandham said.
“It’s pretty satisfying, without question”, Ryan said about beating the Jets after they fired him.
The NY tabloids had their typical fun with Ryan Friday morning. But Ryan’s defense held. He was well covered and thrown for a 2-yard loss. He plans to be ready for the Jets’ game at Houston on November 22.
A few called it unwatchable – and that wasn’t just because the Jets and Bills were playing. It was the one career guarantee Ryan actually backed up, and the one he really needed to spike into a trash bin the way he spiked his red cap and headset Thursday night after Bacarri Rambo’s interception decided things in the final seconds.
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“I talked to Coach Chudzinski, a guy I’ve got the utmost respect for”, Campbell said.
