What went wrong for the Bills against the Jets

It was a disappointing effort by the Bills in Sunday’s 20-17 loss at the Jets. The Bills seemingly carried over their performance from the second half of last weekend’s Packers game, as the offense and run defense fell flat again.

The Bills started out hot on Sunday getting out to an early 14-3 lead thanks to two rushing touchdowns by Josh Allen. However, the tides of the game quickly turned when the Jets had a long scoring drive towards the end of the second quarter, and Buffalo then missed a 55-yard field goal in the final seconds of the half.

After that, the Jets controlled the time of possession, they controlled the trenches and they dominated in the run game. Buffalo missed the presence of Matt Milano and Jordan Poyer as the Jets gashed the Bills for 174 yards on the ground.

Ultimately the demise of the Bills was losing the game in the trenches. The Jets controlled the line of scrimmage on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. They created holes for their running backs and they were able to pressure Josh Allen.

Allen had two very bad interceptions in which it looked like he almost didn’t even see the guy there. One of the interceptions was in the red zone and the other was right after Von Miller made a tremendous play on the defensive side of the ball in which he caused a strip sack of Zach Wilson.

The Bills offense seemed stale, lacking uniqueness and variety to the playcalling. If it wasn’t going to Diggs, then chances were, it wasn’t a positive play. Gabe Davis had a couple bad drops, and the Bills weren’t able to scheme anyone open.

We do have to give some credit to the Jets defense as they have been playing at a very high level so far this year. They blanketed their guys and didn’t let Allen get comfortable all game.

Overall for the Bills, it was not a great game. The offense couldn’t muster anything consistently and the defense failed to make adjustments to stopping the ground game. Allen has thrown four interceptions before he’s thrown his last touchdown pass. He has not looked great, but everyone struggles at some point in the season, so let’s just hope this is the little blip that Josh has this year.

The Jets played the exact game they needed to play to win this game: control the clock, control the trenches and win the turnover battle. They did all three and it ultimately led to a victory for them.

To end on a positive note, I will say this:

– The Bills two losses this year have come by a combined 5 points to divisional opponents on the road. Divisional away games are always tough games no matter who it is you’re playing.

– The Bills are still atop of the AFC as they hold the tiebreaker against all three division leaders.

– They have a very winnable schedule the rest of the way, including three home divisional games still.

– They had a rough patch last year in the middle of the season against the Jags, Colts etc. and they ended up being fine and Allen was sensational in the playoffs.

The Bills still have a long way to go until playoffs begin. They still have a very talented team and a very good coaching staff. The sky isn’t falling.