The Buffalo Bills feature a good defense even against the best of offenses – they only allow 15 points per game even after yielding 17 to the Jets Sunday – so “unforced errors” will push an opponent even further behind the 8-ball, so to speak.
Based on their offensive performance on Sunday, though, the Jets weren’t just behind the 8-ball, they were getting crushed by it.
“They’re a really good defense. They have a lot of rotation pre- and post-snap and gave us a lot of looks, and we just didn’t execute at the end of the day,” said Mike White, who threw for 251 yards but tossed four picks on the day. “You have to be able to adjust to those things. We knew they did a good job of mixing up coverages and not showing tendencies, and I had to go through progressions to make sure I didn’t make a bad play worse or put is in a bad situation.”
White took a lot of the heat for the Jets’ poor offensive performance, which saw them turn it over five times in all. The first one was an interception where White was hit as he threw, but on the other three picks in the second half, he blamed himself on trying to be too aggressive – even if it’s understandable given the Jets were down 24-3, 31-3, and 38-3 at the time.
“The deep one to Elijah (Moore) I got a little too aggressive instead of taking what they gave me,” White said of the first, which came one play after Buffalo took the opening drive of the second half to the house. “I think I let the score dictate my decision making there, and that just can’t happen. I need to not get so aggressive and think we can score it all back in one play with the deep throw to Elijah.”
As for the other two picks, White blamed a miscommunication with Davis for the third INT of the day, and then “I left the ball inside and didn’t finish my throw” on a pick intended for Keelan Cole that would’ve been a touchdown if caught.
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But it wasn’t all White, as Davis also had a costly fumble at the end of the first half, coughing up the ball at the end of a 28-yard catch and run that turned a potential points opportunity for Gang Green into a half-ending kneel-down for Buffalo.
That was bad on my part. I just have to hold on to the ball,” Davis said bluntly. “They’re a good defense with a lot of veterans and a lot playmakers, and we didn’t play well. We had a lot of penalties, and too many self-inflicted errors against a team like that.”
“When you play a team of Buffalo’s caliber and have the self-inflicted wounds we did, you’re going to give up points and not score many, and it looks ugly,” head coach Robert Saleh added. “Right there at 17-3, you have a chance to get to 17-6 worst case, but I know Corey is fighting and trying to gain yards, and it’s not for lack of effort. Credit them for getting the ball out.”
Penalties were the other half of it, as New York was penalized nine times for 69 yards. Two of them stopped potential first-half drives almost in their tracks.
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“We have to find a way; we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot, which we did way too much of today,” running back Michael Carter said. “Everybody is going to point to the quarterback because of the picks, but there’s a lot that goes into that. It’s everybody’s responsibility to take care of the ball; when your teammates have the ball, you have to put yourself in position to help them take care of it, whether that’s an extra block or whatever.”
Added guard Greg Van Roten: “We have to stop those self-inflicted wounds, which are kind of the story of games that go against us. Every mistake you make, they’re going to capitalize on. We need to get together as an offense, make sure we’re on the same page, and stop hurting ourselves.”
There was one other questionable play, too, that came early in the second quarter: facing a fourth-and-1 at the Buffalo 45, the Jets took a delay of game penalty, which led to a Braden Mann punt. Perhaps the Jets were trying to draw Buffalo offside, one might think, but it was actually another unforced error.
“We felt good with our alignment and procedure, and we should’ve gotten the ball off,” Saleh said.
By the time the jets knew what hit them, it was all but too late, and it led to another blowout loss – their third of the season by 25 or more points, and third time in four games they’ve been down at least that much at some point.
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“A tough loss but at some point we have to flip it. We have to stay together, and it’s on to the next. We have to start locking in on the details,” Davis said.
Added White: “There’s a lot of passionate and frustrated guys in the locker room. We have some very good wins, and some games where what we put on tape is not who we are as a team. There’s a sense of urgency to get better because we’ve shown we can be a good football team, and we have to consistently do that.”
The Jets host the 3-7 Dolphins, who have yet to have their bye, next week, and if they don’t flip it next Sunday, they’ll be staring a second straight last-place finish in the eyes.
“We’ll come in tomorrow, watch the tape, make the corrections, and move on to Miami,” Van Roten said. “This is the NFL; no one will feel sorry for you, and if there’s blood in the water, they’ll smell it.”
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