Thursday night’s “Christmas Bowl” played between the Buffalo Bills (wearing all red uniforms) and New York Jets (all decked out in their green gay apparel) turned out to be a big win for the Bills as far as keeping their playoff hopes alive is concerned. Buffalo took advantage of 4 Jet turnovers to pull out the 22-17 triumph in what was for the most part an ugly game. Corey Graham had one interception but the hero of the game was safety Bacarri Rambo, who forced 2 fumbles (one of which was scooped up and returned for a touchdown by Duke Williams) and a pick at the end of the game that sealed the victory. On offense, Buffalo’s running backs made the biggest contribution to the win. LeSean McCoy had his second straight 100 yard rushing game, carrying 19 times for 112 yards, while also grabbing 5 catches for another 47 yards in what was a pretty pedestrian Bills’ attack. The other back, rookie Karlos Williams, didn’t have any great runs this week but got open for a 26 yard scoring pass from Tyrod Taylor, giving him touchdowns in every game he’s played in this year. McCoy’s effort was especially impressive since the Jets have the top defense against the run in the entire NFL. As far as Taylor’s performance, he struggled most of the night against the Jets’ blitzing defense but made just enough plays to pull out the win and didn’t turn the ball over at all. That’s the formula the Bills need from him each week. The defense didn’t have it’s best performance but came up huge when it mattered the most, stopping the Jets on fourth down twice when the game was on the line.
Coach Rex Ryan insisted all week that his return to the place he coached for so many years didn’t have any special significance to him other than it was a big divisional game with playoff implications, but his reaction after Rambo’s interception put the game away said otherwise. It was nice of Santa’s red elves to deliver their coach (and their fans) an early Christmas present with a big prime time win. Next up is what looks like an impossible challenge – going into Foxborough to take on Tom Brady and the unstoppable New England Patriots in another prime time contest, next Monday night.