The New York Jets were supposed to be the team to give the rest of the AFC problems in the playoffs and after five consecutive wins, including a 26-20 win over the New England Patriots in Week 16, only Rex Ryan and the 7-8 Buffalo Bills stood between them and a trip to the postseason.
Rex Ryan ruined the Jets’ season because football is poetry
The Jets will miss the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year and it’s again largely Rex Ryan’s fault, except this time he intended it to be.
A win for the Cleveland Browns over the Pittsburgh Steelers would've also clinched a spot for the Jets, but the clean and realistic way to grab a Wild Card berth was just to win. And the Jets couldn't do it.
Instead the Jets lost 22-17 to the Bills, struggling to find a consistent offensive rhythm or keep the Buffalo offense from methodically driving down the field on several drives.
Despite having nothing to play for, the Bills looked like the more motivated team of the two for most of the game, holding Ryan Fitzpatrick to just 16 completions for 181 yards on 37 attempts. Even Mario Williams, who had his effort called into question by a teammate, stepped up to control the line of scrimmage for Buffalo and even added his fifth sack of the season.
The Jets had their moments on offense without Bilal Powell in action, including Chris Ivory busting a 58-yard run and Brandon Marshall catching a 41-yard bomb from Fitzpatrick in the first half, but the Bills offense was far more consistent and had a pair of 70-yard drives in the first half, spanning 13 and 15 plays.
When the Jets finally looked to be grabbing momentum early in the fourth quarter and drove into position to at least kick a field goal to take a lead for the first time on the day, Fitzpatrick threw an interception in the end zone and the Bills responded by moving down the field on a drive that spanned 13 plays and just under seven minutes of clock, ending with Dan Carpenter’s third field goal of the day.
A pair of final drives for New York that needed to finish with a touchdown instead each ended with Fitzpatrick interceptions, icing the Buffalo win.
Tyrod Taylor helped the Bills to convert nine third downs, two fourth downs and he crushed the Jets with his running ability in timely situations, including an 18-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He looked to Sammy Watkins early and often, connecting with the receiver 11 times for 136 yards.
Ultimately, they weren’t the stakes that Ryan hoped the Bills would be playing for when he was hired by the team in the offseason. In January, he guaranteed that the team’s 15-year playoff drought would be coming to an end, but instead the only motivation for the Bills was pride and the chance to boot the Jets from the playoffs.
“I truly thought that this game was gonna set up that hey, this one’s win and in,” Ryan said earlier in the week. “And it is, it’s just only one team playing for it unfortunately.”
Ryan stayed civil when asked about the Jets all week, but considering how tremendously excited he was to deal the Jets a loss in November, it’s hard to imagine he didn’t feel great dealing them a death blow for the season. Fired after four straight seasons without getting the Jets to the playoffs, Ryan got to be a huge reason why the team missed the playoffs for a fifth consecutive time, except this time he was trying to be.
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