The result of Sunday’s matchup between the Bills and Jets, a 27-11 New York win, certainly wasn’t totally unexpected, as the Jets have dominated the series since Rex Ryan became their coach. There was some hope on Buffalo’s side going into the game, as the Bills have gotten some big monkeys off their collective backs in getting off to a 5-2 start, the biggest being finally beating New England. But it wasn’t to be as the Jets, rested coming off their bye week, proved to be the more desperate team. Their defense was pretty dominant, holding Buffalo’s offense in check for the first time this season. Their offense did just enough to get the win, rushing for 126 yards and keeping drives alive by converting third downs all day long. The game featured some horrendous officiating by Ed Hochuli’s crew, as the Jets got away with numerous pass interference violations, both offensively and defensively, while the Bills were flagged for questionable interference calls. Two of those calls led directly to 14 Jet points, and while the officiating didn’t really change the outcome of the game, it certainly made the score much more lopsided than it should have been.
In their 3 losses so far this year, the Bills have followed the same formula – they’ve turned the ball over, failed to get any heat on the opposing quarterback and struggled to get off the field on third down on defense. In this game, the Bills’ defense holding the Jets to the 126 rush yards would normally be a positive, since it’s less than half of the 279 yard average per game they’ve given up to the Jets in recent meetings. However, it was still a game where, despite not breaking off any huge runs, the Jets seemed to get yards at will when they needed them on the ground to sustain drives. Contrast that with the Bills’ offense’s inability to convert 3rd and 4th downs needing less than a yard, and you have what would have been a relatively easy Jet victory even without the help from the zebras.
Still, the Bills shouldn’t be discouraged. Thanks to some late-game heroics by Eli Manning and the Giants at New England, they are now locked in a three-way tie atop the AFC East with identical 5-3 records. The Pats and Jets lock horns next Sunday night, so if the Bills can tough out a road win at Jerry Jones’ Palace in Dallas next week, they’ll still be right in the thick of the playoff race.
Margaret
November 9, 2011 at 11:42 pm
Ed Hochuli has been known to call “non-penalties” to get on TV and show off his “pipes” 🙂 Seriously, I thought a game changer was the reverse of George Wilson’s interception, which looked clearly like an interception on the replays. The Jets’ pass defense was spot on, though, as they were stuck to the receivers like Velcro.