The Buffalo Bills dominated the New York Jets in their Monday matchup, winning by a score of 38-3. Buffalo halted New York's offense at every turn, preventing Michael Vick from completing even half his passes and holding him to no touchdowns and an interception before he left in the second half.
Jets vs. Bills 2014 final score: 3 things we learned from Buffalo’s 38-3 win
The Buffalo Bills knocked off the New York Jets Monday, 38-3
Geno Smith came in and fared slightly better, but the Bills were already well ahead. There weren't any huge performances on the offensive side of the ball, but quarterback Kyle Orton played solid football with few mistakes, and wide receiver Robert Woods had a good day receiving. It was a textbook win from a team that had a whole lot of uncertainty this past week.
The first half was pretty quiet, with Buffalo putting up a nine-play, 44-yard touchdown drive on its first possession of the game. Orton hit Woods for a 7-yard touchdown pass on a third down and seven to cap off the drive. The Jets finally put up their first points on their third possession, going 28 yards in nine plays before ending with a Nick Folk 27-yard field goal.
Near the end of the half, the Bills put together another extended drive, going 90 yards in 13 plays, capping it off with a 19-yard touchdown pass to tight end Scott Chandler, which gave Buffalo the 14-3 lead heading into the half.
It was more of the same in the second half -- just worse for the Jets. Buffalo kicked another field goal on the opening possession, and then things got really out of hand when the Bills managed to block a Jets' punt, which was recovered by Manny Lawson in the end zone for a touchdown. Vick threw an interception five plays later, and the Bills took over deep in New York territory. A couple plays later, Fred Jackson scored a 5-yard touchdown run, giving the Bills a 31-3 lead.
Buffalo took the clock down with another extended drive, and Anthony Dixon added insult to injury with a 30-yard touchdown run. It was a good run, but the game was long over.
Three things we learned:
1) The Jets might be a good football team if they could actually play offense
The Jets came into this game ranked 14th in the league in opponent passing yardage, with 240.5 passing yards allowed per game. They also ranked third in the league in rushing yards allowed at 83.2 per game. Against Buffalo they obviously were not perfect, but if they were supplemented by a good offense, the game wouldn’t have looked the way it did. New York effectively stopped the run game and put consistent pressure on Orton with that defensive front. There’s a lot of untapped potential on that side of the ball but it’s becoming clearer and clearer that Rex Ryan can’t bring it out with any regularity.
2) Robert Woods has some pretty decent hands
Woods is clearly behind Sammy Watkins on the receiver depth chart in Buffalo, but Woods has been a very dependable target. He came into this game second on the Bills with 361 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Watkins has 649 yards and five touchdowns. But Woods also had a big game against the Jets Monday, putting up 118 yards off of nine receptions with a touchdown.
That includes this awesome one-handed grab:
3) Preparation = Overrated?
There were a ton of issues for the Bills this week, which led to missed practices and a ton of uncertainty. Teams typically plan out their road trips and all of their practice sessions weeks in advance, and anything that can disrupt those plans is always considered a big deal. But the Bills went out Monday and looked like they’ve had a calm, relaxing week while the Jets were the team that looked totally unprepared. It’s tough to know, without being in that locker room, whether or not one team is more disciplined than the other, but Doug Marrone had the Bills ready for Monday’s game.
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