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Bills Took Control Early In 43-23 Win Over The Jets
Bills force six turnovers while Sammy Watkins makes two big offensive plays.
by Steve Saslow
The Skinny:
The Jets turned the ball over six times helping the Bills to a decisive 43-23 win in a Stadium they had never been victorious in. Geno Smith threw interceptions on three consecutive series leading to his benching for Michael Vick who came in and gave the Jets some life. He would also turn the ball over three times himself with an interception and two fumbles. Kyle Orton threw for a career high tying four touchdowns on just 10 of 17 passing for 238 yards. He hit Robert Woods for the first touchdown of the season by the Bills on their opening possession. Lee Smith turned an Aaron Williams interception and return into the Bills second score on a one yard catch. Frank Summers scored for the Bills after an 84 yard bomb to Sammy Watkins came up short when he celebrated too early. Vick came in and led the Jets to 10 points in the final two minutes of the first half to pull them to within a touchdown at 24-17. The Bills put the hammer down in the second half as Dan Carpenter hit two more field goals and Scott Chandler and Watkins caught scoring passes.
The Turning Point:
Watkins Long Gainer: Watkins got behind the defense too catch the 84 yard bomb from Orton that goes down as the longest non touchdown pass in Bills history. It wasn't a touchdown because Watkins began celebrating early and was caught from behind. It is an embarrassing lesson for the rookie but a valuable one. Frank Summers bailed him out with a two yard touchdown plunge and it gave the Bills back their two touchdown lead after the Jets had cut the first half lead in half.
The Big Drive:
The First One: The Bills scored a touchdown on their opening possession for the first time all year and it gave them a lead they would never relinquish. It was their best drive of the game as well as they went 64 yards in 7 plays that ended with a 22 yard touchdown pass from Orton to Robert Woods. Woods had a 25 yard catch earlier in the drive.
Stat I Did Like:
6 Takeaways: They got interceptions from Stephon Gilmore, Preston Brown, and Aaron Williams in successive possessions against Smith knocking him out of the game. Nigel Bradham forced a Vick fumble that was recovered by Duke Williams. Corbin Bryant forced a fumble of Vick that was recovered by Stefan Charles. Da'Norris Searcy picked off a Vick pass and returned it 32 yards to setup a Scott Chandler touchdown reception.
Stat I Didn't Like:
Points Off Of Turnovers: The Bills turned six turnovers into only 20 points when they could have put the game away earlier by converting more efficiently.
Quick Slants:
- This is the first time the Bills have lined up to play without both Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller in four years. Jackson did travel with the team and was right in the middle of the pregame huddle as usual.
- Mike Williams was active for a second straight week since Marcus Easley and Marquise Goodwin could not go with injuries. Newly signed Phillip Tanner was inactive leaving just two running backs active.
- Percy Harvin was introduced with the Jets starting offense to big cheers before the game and they got the ball in his hands right away when they won the toss and chose to take the ball. He returned the opening kickoff from five yards deep in the end zone and brought it out the 30 yard line.
- The Bills scored a touchdown on their opening possession for the first time all season.
Key Matchup Results:
The winners of the battles highlighted in our preview article:
LT Cordy Glenn vs. DE Muhammed Wilkerson: Winner: Glenn. Wilkerson had a half a sack but didn't do too much as Orton had time to throw much of the time.
WR Sammy Watkins vs. CB Darrin Walls: Winner: Watkins. He may have only caught three passes but one went for 84 yards and the other on a slant pattern went the distance for a 61 yard score.
Bills Coverage Units vs. KT/PT Percy Harvin: Winner: Bills Coverage Units. Harvin only had a 24 yard average on kickoff returns and was stopped inside the 20 three times including once at the 2 when he was looking to throw a lateral.
DT Marcell Dareus vs. C Nick Mangold: Winner: Mangold. Dareus had his quietest game of the year.
Keys To The Game Results:
How the keys highlighted in our preview article turned out:
1. Protect Orton: Success! He was sacked four times but had time to throw at big spots and made enough big plays for the win.
2. Rattle Smith: Success! They rattled him right out of the game in the first quarter with three interceptions.
3. Big Week Of YAC Yards: Success! Although it only happened once it was the exclamation point of the game when Spiller caught a pass in the seam and went untouched the rest of the way for a 61 yard score.
My Take:
It wasn't pretty as the Bills allowed a very bad Jets team to hang around much longer than they should have. The conservative play had Bills fans tearing the hair out of their heads as the Bills played into the strength of the Jets defense most of the game. For the second week in a row it wasn't very pretty but it was a win and this week they managed to put the hammer down and put the game away. Despite being conservative they did make two long plays in the passing game that kept the Jets from mounting a serious threat. It hasn't been easy, and it hasn't always been pretty but it has been a very successful first half to the season. The Bills have a new owner who is keeping the team in Buffalo and they are 5-3 at the bye a game out of first. It may not get any easier but it's nice to see this team in the hunt with something to look forward to in the second half of the season.
What's Ahead:
The Bills are now on their bye week which was perfectly located at the halfway point of the season. After the week off they are home against a pretty good Kansas City Chiefs team that is a also surprisingly over .500 as they went to 4-3 with a decisive win today over St. Louis.
Gameballs
Preston Brown - He gets better every week. Nine tackles and an interception.
Kyle Williams - One and a half sacks, seemed to play better after missing plays when he was bent backwards.
Sammy Watkins - Despite the bone headed premature celebration he had three catches for 157 yards.
Dan Carpenter - Hit all three field goal attempts including a 53 yarder when they game was still in reach. He did miss an extra point but if you are going to miss, then you should miss when up by 26 points in the fourth quarter.
Goats
Nigel Bradham - Four stupid penalties and several missed tackles.
Player Of The Week
Sammy Watkins - His long gainers are directly responsible for 14 big points when they weren't scoring off of turnovers.
 Positional Breakdown and Grades
NFL.com Gamebook
Jets Game Preview
Gameday Homepage
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