We've been waiting all year for the Bills to finally put together a complete effort. They not only did it this week, they did it against a division opponent with playoff aspirations on the road and they did it convincingly. They used big plays and an opportunistic defense to pull out a 31-13 rout of the Jets at the Meadowlands.
Willis McGahee not only battled his ribs and ankle injuries but he also battled an illness. None of that would stop him from dominating the Jets and gaining his fifth straight 100 yard game against them. He was able to gain bragging rights from good friend Jonathan Vilma once again thanks to his 125 yard effort led by a beautiful 57 yard touchdown run in the first quarter that set the tone for a day of big plays by the Bills.
The Jets tied the game by bouncing back with a quick drive setup by a nice kickoff return to midfield by the always dangerous Justin Miller. Chad Pennington only needed six plays to find Laveraneus Coles in the end zone for a 10 yard score to tie the game at 7.
The Jets looked like they would take control of the game when Anthony Thomas lost a fumble at the Bills 26 but the defense stiffened and forced the Jets to settle for a field goal and a 10-7 lead for New York.
It appeared the Jets had the momentum at that point as the two teams traded punts but then it was time for another big play for the Bills. J.P. Losman made a nice pump fake and it faked out two Jets defenders allowing Lee Evans to get wide open for an easy 77 yard touchdown reception. It is becoming commonplace for Evans to find a way to get a long touchdown pass every few weeks, this one gave the Bills a 14-10 lead.
They would extend that lead with a big play from the defense a few minutes later as Nate Clements picked off a pass from Pennington and returned it 58 yards to extend the Bills lead to 21-10. Pennington couldn't get in a rhythm all day as the Bills harassed him with pressure and even got four sacks in the game including two on backup QB Kellen Clemens by Aaron Schobel who had a monster game for the Bills.
Schobel had three sacks in all, the two at the end of the game and one in the third quarter that let the Jets know they wouldn't be coming back. His sack forced a fumble that was recovered by Ryan Denney. The offense came through in the red zone after the turnover as Losman hit a wide open Robert Royal for his second touchdown in as many weeks to put the game away late in third quarter.
This win was a statement win for the Bills, they are still not going to the playoffs but this win makes sure that a division rival isn't going either. It also continues a string of solid play since the bye week that has the Bills at 4-2 since the week off. This is definitely something to build on for next season.
Here are our exclusive gameballs and goats from the win over the Jets:
