A recap of Buffalo’s season finale at the Jets.
Buffalo Bills Insider Chris Brown provides the details. Here is his report:
Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Regular season records: Buffalo (7-9), New York Jets (5-11)
In a nutshell:
The ground game that carried the Bills offense all season had trouble in Buffalo’s first meeting with New York. It proved to be the case again in the rematch. Unable to establish the run, EJ Manuel, in his first start in more than a year, struggled to make plays in the passing game. Buffalo soon found itself behind on the scoreboard and two third quarter turnovers led to 10 points for the Jets in a 30-10 win for New York.
The Bills league-leading rushing attack managed just 68 yards on 28 carries for their lowest yards per carry average of the season (2.4). LeSean McCoy also suffered an ankle injury in the first half and never returned to the game. He had just 10 yards on five carries.
Manuel was largely ineffective in his first start since Week 7 last season. He completed less than half of his pass attempts as he missed some open targets, including Charles Clayin the end zone on one first half drive. He also fumbled on a sack that led to a Jets touchdown.
He was benched after the third quarter and replaced by Cardale Jones, who saw his first regular season playing time in the fourth quarter. But Jones also had a turnover when a pass intended for Justin Hunter was tipped and intercepted by Darrelle Revis.
The Jets scored 13 points of their last 20 points off turnovers in the victory, with the other seven coming on a kickoff that the Bills failed to field in their own end zone that went for a New York touchdown.
The loss dropped the Bills to 7-9, their first losing season in three years.
How it went down:
-The Jets put points on the board first when Ryan Fitzpatrick found Bilal Powell with a two-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter for an early 7-0 lead.
-Buffalo cut into the lead with a field as Dan Carpenter hit from 34 yards out to cap an 11-play scoring drive.
-New York got three points as the first half expired. Nick Folk finished off a 10-play 63-yard drive to make it 10-3 at the break.
-The Jets padded their lead after EJ Manuel fumbled on a sack inside his own 20-yard line. Three plays later Fitzpatrick found Nick Marshall for a six-yard touchdown pass to make it 17-3 with four minutes left in the third quarter.
-The Bills second turnover resulted in another three points for New York. After Jonathan Williams fumbled at the Buffalo 32, Folk put a 36-yard field goal up and through for a 20-3 Jets advantage just before the third quarter expired.
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Bills vs. Jets – Week 17
-A 51-yard interception return by Darrelle Revis led to more points off turnovers. Folk kicked a 25-yard field goal to give the Jets a 23-3 lead with just three minutes left in the game.
-Buffalo then surrendered a touchdown when they failed to jump on a kickoff that wound up in their own end zone. The Jets grabbed the ball for a touchdown (30-3).
-The Bills added a meaningless touchdown in the waning seconds on a one-yard run by Mike Gillislee to make it (30-10).
Subplots:
-EJ Manuel had a tough time hitting open targets in the game. He was benched after three quarters of play with the Bills down by 17. Manuel went 9 for 20 passing for 86 yards. He also fumbled on a sack deep in his own territory that led to a Jets touchdown. He finished with a passer rating of 57.5.
-Cardale Jones entered the game in the fourth quarter and went 6 for 11 passing for 96 yards. He had an interception on a deflected pass intended for Justin Hunter.
-LeSean McCoy suffered an ankle injury in the first half and was initially declared out for the game. But after X-rays were taken he was upgraded to a possible return, but did not take another snap in the game.
-Preston Brown led the team with 13 tackles, while Lorenzo Alexander had a sack to give him 12.5 on the season.
-Buffalo’s defense got a pair of stops on 4th-and-short attempts by the Jets offense taking probable points off the board for New York. Both turnover on downs took place inside the Bills 20-yard line.
-Sammy Watkins left the game in the fourth quarter to have his hip examined in the locker room.
-Nickell Robey-Coleman was put in the concussion protocol early in the second half.
-Cyrus Kouandjio made his fifth start of the season at left tackle in place of the injured Cordy Glenn (back). Kevon Seymour made his third start of the season in place of Stephon Gilmore.
Inactives:
QB Tyrod Taylor, WR Dez Lewis, CB Stephon Gilmore, OT Cordy Glenn, TE Logan Thomas, TE Gerald Christian, DL Adolphus Washington.
Up next:
The Bills 2017 schedule features the AFC West and NFC South.