The Buffalo Bills have been on a downward slide, losing two games in a row to fall to 5-5 for the season. With their hopes of breaking a 14 year playoff drought slowly slipping away, the Bills had every excuse to fold up their tents and give up on the year after the weather event of this past week put them at a real disadvantage. The heavy snowstorm stranded the players in their homes for days, forcing cancellations of vital practice sessions. It also forced their scheduled Sunday home game against the New York Jets to be moved to Detroit and postponed until Monday night. To make things worse, the Jets were coming off a bye week, so they had two weeks to prepare as opposed to the two days the Bills got. Despite all that, the Bills went to Detroit and played an inspired game, excelling in all three phases to blow out the Jets, 38-3. On offense, quarterback Kyle Orton shook off a pair of subpar performances to play a solid game, highlighted by ending the team’s red zone troubles by tossing a pair of scoring passes, to Robert Woods and Scott Chandler, in the first half. The ground game wasn’t spectacular but did enough to keep the Jets honest, and Fred Jackson and Anthony Dixon scored rushing TDs. Dixon also contributed to a special teams touchdown, blocking a Jet punt that Manny Lawson recovered in the end zone for the score. Special teams also contributed a 53 yard field goal by reliable Dan Carpenter, and kept Percy Harvin in check on kickoff returns. Harvin stubbornly kept attempting to run out kicks from deep in his own end zone, and the Bills on most occasions didn’t allow him to reach the 20 yard line.
It was said before the game that the players, cooped up in their homes all week, were anxious to play the game, and the Bills’ defensive unit played like a bunch of caged tigers who were set free. They dominated the Jets all night, containing New York’s rushing attack and shutting down the passing game with seven sacks and an interception. Mario Williams, who is playing his best football since signing with the Bills, had a pair of sacks and was relentless all night. Jerry Hughes, who some NFL coaches are saying is the most impressive athlete on a talented Buffalo D-line, also had two sacks. It was the Bills’ most dominating defensive performance this season. I haven’t always been very impressed with the job head coach Doug Marrone has done in his two years here, but he deserves credit for focusing his players in very tough circumstances, resulting in a great “team” win. By having the game rescheduled to Monday night, the Bills also are put at a disadvantage again this week, as they now have one less day to prepare for an important conference matchup on Sunday against Cleveland and their old defensive coordinator, Mike Pettine. It has to help that they’ll be back in their friendly confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium, with their home fans and the elements hopefully helping to motivate them.