East Rutherford, N.J. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Bills improved to 4-2 on the 2024 season following a 23-20 win on "Monday Night Football" over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.
The win, after a two-game losing streak, means I get to start with my Arrows Up once again:
ARROW UP:
RB - Ray Davis
The rookie was terrific, running physical while also catching the ball.
He ran 20 times for 97 yards, averaging 4.9 yards per-carry, and caught all three targets thrown his way for another 55 yards. That gave him 153 total yards from scrimmage in the win.
CB - Taron Johnson
Playing his first game since Week 1, Johnson was all over the field, tying for a team-high with eight tackles.
Johnson then had a beautiful, and incredibly athletic interception just after the two-minute warning to, essentially, seal the game.
S - Taylor Rapp
Rapp also had eight tackles on the night to tie for the team lead with Johnson. He also had three absolutely huge pass breakups along the way.
QB - Josh Allen
The numbers weren’t overwhelming, but Allen was much more calm, collected and in control most of the night than the previous two weeks.
Allen completed 19 of his 25 pass attempts (76%) for 215 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also ran nine times for 18 yards and another score, finishing with 233 total yards and three total touchdowns.
RB - Ty Johnson
Johnson only ran four times, but totaled 34 yards (8.5 yards per-run!), including a 12-yard run on the very first offensive play of the game, which set the tone for the first drive.
The opening offensive drive
After the Jets started the game with a field goal, the Bills took their opening offensive drive 75 yards in nine plays. Eight of those plays were runs. And they were very physical doing it, dominating the Jets' offensive line.
It was capped off by one-yard touchdown run by Allen.
TE - Dalton Kincaid
Kincaid was the Bills' leading receiver on the night, catching six passes for 51 yards. Several of those were very important to move the ball at the first down marker.
DE - A.J. Epenesa
Epenesa had two sacks in this game. After one of them, though, he was called for unnecessary roughness on the quarterback. It was a bad call.
He still got credit for the sack, and was also credited with four tackles and two quarterback hurries.
The final drive
After not handling the end-of-game situation well last week in Houston, the Bills were faced with a very similar situation in this one (less than two minutes remaining and the Jets still holding all three timeouts).
This time around, they closed it out with three-straight runs, including a third-down run from Allen for a first down to put it away.
They did a much better job and played it well.
Third down defense
The Jets converted just 4-of-12 third down attempts (33.3%).
Red zone offense and defense
The Bills were very good in the red zone on both sides of the ball, converting 3-of-4 (75%) chances offensively, while holding the Jets to just 1-of-4 (25%) chances defensively.
ARROW DOWN:
K - Tyler Bass
Bass had an extra point tipped that hooked badly wide-left, and then missed a 47-yard field goal wide to the right, adding to an already inconsistent season.
The Hail Mary
On the very last play of the first half, Aaron Rodgers launched a ball 52 yards down field for a Hail Mary attempt. It was caught by Allen Lazard for the touchdown.
The Bills had a 10-point lead, and had taken firm control of the game to that point, but that touchdown made it a 20-17 game at halftime.
The Bills didn’t defend it well, and it cost them.
Composure
Bills players, including veteran offensive linemen Spencer Brown and Dion Dawkins, lost their composure on several occasions, getting into it with Jets players and getting out of their game.
Penalties
The Bills were called for 11 penalties for 94 yards. Some certainly shouldn’t have been called, but that’s still far too many. Several pre-snap penalties, specifically, killed drives, including multiple times on the very first play of a series.
Officiating
There were 22 accepted penalties in the game, 11 on both sides, and also several offsetting penalties.
Far too many times the officials took over the game by throwing the yellow flag, or taking too long to sort things out. It was frustrating for everyone.
5.8 yards per-carry-against
The Bills weren’t allowing the Jets to control the line of scrimmage and run all night, but they still allowed 121 yards on 21 carries, an average of 5.8 yards per-run-against.
Tackling
The Bills missed too many tackles in this game, especially in the first half.
Still lack of wide receiver production
Allen throwing to Bills wide receivers was much better in this game, but still concerning. Wideouts caught a total of nine passes (on 12 targets) for 97 yards and a touchdown. No wide receiver caught more than four passes.
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