The Bills week two game against the New York Jets was the complete opposite of their season opening victory over Baltimore. There was next to no stress as the Bills defeated their AFC East rivals for the ninth time in the last 11 meetings. The game was basically over by halftime when the Bills were leading 20-3.
The only real stressful moment for Bills fans came late in the first quarter. After a Josh Allen run, the quarterback got up and sprinted for the Bills sideline as if something was wrong. Some really bad and scary thoughts were going through my mind as backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky took Allen's place. As it turned out Allen took a hit to the nose and was bleeding profusely. He only missed a couple of plays and Bills Mafia resumed breathing normally.
Allen and the Bills passing offense did not have a good day but the combination of the Bills running game, their suffocating defense and the Jets self inflicted errors added up to an easy triumph. The Bills are now 25-6 in regular season matchups against AFC East rivals since the start of the 2020 season.
Bills running back James Cook was (sorry) cooking. As usual, Cook got yards after initial contact. As usual, Cook showed off tremendous vision and cutback ability. As usual, Cook turned what appeared to be a small gain into a bigger play. Cook also ripped off a highlight reel 44 yard touchdown run that had to leave Jets defenders scratching their heads. Cook played just three quarters, because the game turned into a blowout, but still ended the day with 132 yards on 21 carries. Both of those are the second highest in a single game in Cook's Bills career.
Allen was just 14-25 for 148 yards and had his first zero touchdown game since week four of last season at Baltimore. But he played a clean game with no turnovers and did have a big 40 yard scramble on a third and eight during the Bills first possession of the game. That was the key play as the Bills took the lead, for good as it turned out, on a drive that culminated with a Cook touchdown run.
The Bills scored on six of their first seven possessions with three touchdowns and three Matt Prater field goals. They had the ball for nearly 38 1/2 minutes while rolling up 403 net yards. The Bills run game piled up 224 yards on 43 carries for a very healthy average of 5.2 yards per carry.
On defense, the Bills had a big bounce back from the opener. Of course the Jets are nowhere near Baltimore when it comes to comparing offenses. However it was a Jets offense that looked very good in their season opening 34-32 loss to Pittsburgh. But the Bills had the upper hand all game long. Playing without tackle Ed Oliver and cornerback Taron Johnson, the Bills still limited the Jets to just 110 yards on 38 plays covering nine drives. That was before the Jets final drive which was a garbage time touchdown. New York was 0-11 on third down.
Quarterback Justin Fields was a measly 3-11 passing for 27 yards. Three time thousand yard receiver Garrett Wilson had four catches on eight targets for 50 yards. The Bills run defense, which was bludgeoned by Baltimore's Derrick Henry, completely shut down Breece Hall and the Jets ground game. Hall had only 29 yards on 11 carries.
New Bill Joey Bosa had a very good day. He ended up with a sack, two quarterback hits and two forced fumbles of Fields and six pressures in just 26 snaps. But there were contributions across the board which made this truly a team effort on that side of the ball.
It's early but the Bills special teams look better than they were last season. The coverage units were solid and Sam Franklin made a couple nice plays on kick coverage. Coming off his game winning field against Baltimore, Prater had a perfect day. He was 3-3 in field goal attempts including one from 52 yards. That was his 82nd career field goal of 50 or more yards, extending his NFL record. Prater also connected on all three of his extra point attempts.
In case you were wondering here is how the AFC East stacks up after two weeks:
Bills 2-0
New England 1-1
New York 0-2
Miami 0-2
The Dolphins, who will be at Highmark Stadium Thursday night, lost to the Patriots 33-27 on Sunday. Miami has given up 66 points while dropping games to the Patriots and Colts.