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Jets Beat Bills 27-20
Bills incredibly stay close despite awful play.
by Steve Saslow
The Skinny:
Geno Smith connected deep downfield against the depleted Bills secondary early and often as the Jets put on an offensive show on their way to a 27-20 win over the Bills. Smith hit Santonio Holmes for a 69 yard touchdown pass 1:16 after the Bills had somehow tied the game early in the fourth quarter to lift New York to the division win. The Jets dominated both sides of the ball all game long but several penalties helped the Bills tie the game at 20 on their only touchdown drive of the game. EJ Manuel hit Scott Chandler for a 33 yard score on a third down pass. Stevie Johnson caught the two point conversion to tie the game momentarily. Stephen Hill caught a 51 yard touchdown pass and Geno Smith had an 8 yard TD run as the Jets built a 20-6 lead. Dan Carpenter hit four field goals and Kiko Alonso picked off a pass to lead a brief comeback in the second half.
The Turning Point:
The Jets Final TD: The Bills had amazingly tied up the game but the Jets responded quickly with the big touchdown pass to Holmes.
The Big Drive:
The Opening Drive: The Jets set the tone for the game when they converted a 3rd and 7, 3rd and 17, and 3rd and 3 on their way to their opening drive touchdown. They went 80 yards in 12 plays taking up the first 5:54 of the game. The Big play was a 45 yard completion to Stephen Hill and an 18 yard pass to convert a third and long to Jeremy Kerley. Geno Smith finished the drive with an 8 yard designed QB keeper.
Stat I Did Like:
Jets Penalties: The Jets had a whopping 20 penalties for 168 yards that almost evened up the stats sheet and the game.
Stat I Didn't Like:
Jets Total Yards: The Jets had the most yards they ever had in a game under Rex Ryan with a whopping 513 yards in the game.
Quick Slants:
- The Bills won the toss and deferred to the second half.
- The Jets called timeout on their opening series when the Bills had just 10 players on the field.
- The Bills used Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller in the backfield together on one series.
- Spiller carried the ball nine times in the first half for nine yards and had one catch for one yard. He left with a knee injury after one second half carry.
Key Matchup Results:
The winners of the battles highlighted in our preview article:
QB EJ Manuel vs. QB Geno Smith: Winner: Smith. He threw for 331 yards and was constantly completing deep passes. Manuel struggled mightily until heating up a bit in the fourth quarter.
DC Mike Pettine vs. HC Rex Ryan: Winner: Ryan. Ryan dominated his protege as Pettine's defense gave up the most yards the Jets ever got offensively under Ryan.
WR Stevie Johnson vs. CB Antonio Cromartie: Winner: Johnson. He had six catches for 86 yards and a two point conversion and drew a couple of penalties.
DE Mario Williams vs. LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson: Ferguson: Williams drew a holding penalty but didn't get close to Smith..
Keys To The Game Results:
How the keys highlighted in our preview article turned out:
1. Dealing With The Crowd: Success! It didn't seem to affect their communication but the execution was very poor.
2. Have Patience Offensively: Failure! They did try to establish the run but just couldn't get things going. They panicked a bit by going for it on 4th and 2 and then trying to score and getting off the field too quickly late in the first half on a three and out.
3. Get Off The Field: Failure! The Jets converted a 3rd and 7, 3rd and 17, and 3rd and 3 on their way to their opening drive touchdown. The defense did better later in the game but the damage was done.
My Take:
The new age Bills? They Looked like the same old Bills for most of this game. They laid an egg on the road like they have so many times over the last 13 years. The one silver lining was when all looked lost they did battle back and made a game of it. Despite the brief hope early in the fourth quarter they looked like the same old weary road warriors who get whipped on the road. The Jets dominated every aspect of the game and if they didn't shoot themselves in the foot so many times the final score would have mirrored how thoroughly beaten the Bills were.
What's Ahead:
It's back to the drawing board with a lot of work to do before welcoming the defending champion Ravens to Orchard Park next Sunday. With this game being at home the Bills may be inspired but a victory looks extremely doubtful if you look at how well Baltimore played today.
Gameballs
Fred Jackson - Had a nice 59 yard run and rumbled for 72 yards on just seven carries.
Dan Carpenter - 4 for 4 on field goals. He was the Bills offense.
Kiko Alonso - Had another interception that the offense couldn't capitalize on.
Goats
Justin Rogers - Was beaten badly on five deep balls for 229 yards on just those five plays! May have been the worst game I ever saw from a cornerback.
EJ Manuel - He struggled mightily before heating up somewhat in the fourth quarter. He completed only 19 of 42 passes for 243 yards.
C.J. Spiller - 10 total yards on 11 touches before leaving with an injury.
Offensive Line - They were dominated as Manuel was constantly running for his life. They gave up a whopping eight sacks.
Player Of The Week
Dan Carpenter - Hit field goals from 37, 23, 43, and 26 yards out without missing any kicks. Gonna be hard to cut him when Dustin Hopkins is healthy.
 Positional Breakdown and Grades
NFL.com Gamebook
Jets Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
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