Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills won their fourth-straight game on Sunday, beating the New York Jets, 20-12, at Highmark Stadium to improve to 10-3 this season.
Here are my Arrows from the game, starting with Up after the win:
ARROW UP:
Defensive line
The entire Buffalo defensive line did a tremendous job, both individually and as a unit, responsible for four sacks, seven quarterback hurries, and two forced fumbles.
DE - Greg Rousseau
Rousseau made several big plays at key times to help the defense get out of a tough situations, including two sacks - one of which resulted in a fumble recovery by the Bills - a batted pass, and two quarterback hurries.
LB - Matt Milano
Not only was Milano his usual, dominant and versatile self, but he was all over the field while battling a knee injury that listed him as questionable coming into the game.
He finished with a game-high nine tackles, including one for a loss, plus a fumble recovery and had two pass breakups.
Run defense
The last time these two teams played, the Jets had 174 yards rushing and averaged 5.1 yards a carry. This time around, the Bills held them to just 76 yards and 3.5 per-carry on the ground.
K - Tyler Bass
In tough conditions, Bass was still perfect, connecting on two extra points and two field goals, including an important 49-yarder in the fourth quarter.
P/H - Sam Martin
Martin got his most work of the season, punting seven times. On four of them, the Jets started at their 21-yard line or worse.
He was also the holder for Bass’ four kicks and did a good job in the wintry conditions.
TE - Dawson Knox
Knox led all Bills pass catchers with four grabs for 41 yards, and scored the first touchdown of the game, which didn’t occur until 26 seconds left before halftime.
Four-straight scoring drives
The Bills offense certainly didn’t have its best day, but they did score on four-straight drives spanning the end of the first half through the early fourth quarter, connecting for two touchdowns and two field goals.
That was the only scoring they would have all day, so they were all vital in, what turned out to be, a one-score game.
ARROW DOWN:
232 yards of offense
The Bills offense had its lowest yardage output since last year’s windy Monday night loss to the New England Patriots, gaining only 232 total yards. It was the first time since 2018, and only the third time since 2009 they won a game with 232 yards or less.
It was not a good day for the offense overall.
Third down offense
The Bills came into the game as the best third down team in the league, but were just 2-for-13 (15.4%) against the Jets.
First five drives
The Bills punted on their first five drives of the game, with three of those drives were three-and-outs. They gained a total of 58 yards on those drives.
Isaiah McKenzie's drops
The veteran wide receiver had two big drops in the game that both occurred on third down and would have both given the Bills first downs.
Dion Dawkins' penalties
The Bills left tackle was called for four different penalties on the afternoon. Three were holding penalties, although one was declined.
Lack of Bills wideouts
All Bills wide receivers combined for just nine catches for 89 yards.
3rd-and-long defense
Once again, the Bills defense allowed several 3rd-and-long plays, including two 3rd-and-10s and a 3rd-and-12.
Blocked punt
Ahead 20-7 in the fourth quarter, the Bills punted from their own nine-yard line. The Jets came after it and blocked it for a safety, making it an 11-point game with them getting the ball back.
Fourth quarter drives with lead
Up 20-9, the Bills got the ball with just 5:34 remaining in the game. They went three-and-out, including with a penalty, and punted the ball back to the Jets with 3:25 left.
Then after New York kicked a field goal to cut its deficit to 20-12, the Bills got the ball again with just 1:12 remaining in the game. They went three-and-out again, and this time only used 19 seconds off the clock thanks to an incomplete pass and two Jets timeouts.
It was a downright bad display of end-of-game management.
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