The Buffalo Bills' 2019 regular season is now complete after a 13-6 home loss to the New York Jets at New Era Field. The game didn’t mean anything, but the Arrows still do.
ARROW DOWNThe Jets were credited with 10 tackles for loss against the Bills. That’s 10 plays that went for negative yardage, which is far too many.
- No touchdowns and red zone offense
It was the last home game of the season and it would have been great for the Bills to at least get in the end zone one time to give the fans something to cheer about, regardless of who was playing and who wasn’t. However, they weren’t able to and came away with only six points on the day. The Bills got inside the Jets' 20-yard line twice, but came away with only one field goal to show for it.
The Bills converted only 4-of-14 (29%) third down chances.
Bojorquez had a poor day, punting the ball six times, but only for a 34.3 net yard average. He did place two punts inside the Jets' 20-yard line, but even those could have been deeper based on the field position the Bills had when he punted it.
We don’t know the extent of them right now, but it appeared cornerback Levi Wallace and offensive tackle Ty Nsekhe both had concerning ankle injuries. With a limited number of players to be able to used, it was impossible for Sean McDermott to sit everyone, but of course the biggest concern coming into the game was trying to keep everyone healthy and that wasn’t the case. The good news is cornerback Taron Johnson, safety Siran Neil, and tackle Cody Ford were all cleared to go back into the game after they also suffered injuries.
ARROW UPWilliams lived up to the expectations many had when he saw his first action since October, catching six passes for 108 yards, the first 100-yard game of his NFL career. He was also terrific running with the ball after the catch, showing not only power but even some ellusiveness for his size.
Sweeney showed he’s a capable option to be activated on Sunday if there’s another tight end who has an injury. He made several big grabs and runs after the catch, finishing with five catches for 76 yards.
Yep, that’s right. McKenzie was not only a wide receiver, but also played cornerback after both Levi Wallace and Taron Johnson went down. It wasn’t even planned or prepared for during the week. He was simply asked to play to help out and he did.
The Bills defense, with mostly backups, limited the Jets to 86 yards rushing and only 3.2 yards per-carry. Le’Veon Bell ran for a minuscule 2.6 yards per-carry, gaining only 41 yards on 16 runs.
Murphy was in the Jets backfield often, collecting two sacks and adding another two quarterback hurries.
Liuget led the Bills with six tackles, and two of them were for losses.
THE BIG PICTURE
Well here we are. No more waiting. No more wondering. No more hoping.
The Bills are about to play a playoff game. That’s all that should matter to anyone, not what happened Sunday, outside of a couple of injury concerns.
The season started with a come-from-behind win over the Jets in Week 1. Then they got to 3-0 before falling to the New England Patriots for their first loss. From that moment on, they were the very first Wild Card team, and the fifth seed in the AFC, and never moved. So, as much as this season may have been unexpected for many people, it’s been right on track for the last four months.
The Bills won 10 games for the first time since 1999. They’re going to the playoffs for only the second time since then, and they’re playing a team they’ve been on a collision course with for the last several weeks.
On Monday, while 20 NFL teams will be having locker room clean-out day, preparing for free agency and the draft, or maybe even to hire a new head coach or general manager, Bills coaches and players will begin preparation for the postseason and the Houston Texans. They’ll start putting in a game plan to stop Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, and maybe even J.J. Watt.
It doesn’t matter what the Bills' strength of schedule was this year. It doesn’t matter how many winning teams they beat. It doesn’t matter how good anyone thinks they are or aren’t. They’re playing next weekend as one of only 12 teams with a chance to win the Super Bowl.
