Last Sunday, the New York Jets took on the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium in a highly anticipated matchup this season. After the way the Jets, particularly Zach Wilson played the week before, many fans including Jets fans like myself predicted a blowout loss. However, receipts were once again taken as the Jets stunned the Bills 20-17 and improved to 6-3 on the season. This is the best start to a season since 2010, which was the last time the Jets made the playoffs. This is also the first time the Jets have beaten the Bills since 2019 and 2017 at MetLife Stadium. Strangely for the Bills, this was only their second loss of the season and their first legitimate one too as their first loss they failed to spike the ball to attempt a game-winning field goal in Miami back in Week 2.
In terms of the offense, they stepped up and made big plays when they needed to in order to win the game. QB Zach Wilson completed 18 of 25 passes for 154 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions. Despite being down Breece Hall for the rest of the regular season, both RBs Michael Carter and newly acquired James Robinson combined for 25 rushes for 124 yards and a touchdown. A lot of that good work was done though in the 4th quarter with the game tied at 17, which would produce a time-consuming drive leading to a game-winning field goal.
In terms of the defense, they had arguably not only their best game of the season but their best game in years. They held arguably the #1 passing offense in the league to only 17 points and did an excellent job shutting down Bills wideouts Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. A lot of credit must be given to CBs DJ Reed and “Sauce” Gardner. The swagger this unit is playing with is a big reason why the Jets are 6-3. In addition, DT Quinnen Williams registered another sack in what looks to be another Pro-Bowl season for him. The Bills had one last chance to either tie or win the game late in the 4th quarter but the Jets' defense held up sending MetLife into a frenzy for the Jets fans that were in attendance. I will say though that a lot of Bills fans were in attendance and they were probably expecting an easy win that they did not get. It is fair to say that the Jets' defense today made Josh Allen look like his 2018 rookie self as he threw 2 interceptions.
The Jets will enter their Bye Week next week with a 6-3 record and just a half game out of 1st Place in the AFC East. However, when Gang Green returns to action next week, they will try to get payback on the Patriots after suffering an embarrassing loss to them two weeks ago. The Jets have not won a regular season game in Foxboro since November 2008 and their last win up there was in the Divisional Round of the 2010 Playoffs where the #6 seed Jets took out the #1 seed Patriots 28-21. We all know what happened the following week in Pittsburgh and I’m not going to bore you with details. More importantly, if the Jets want to win next week, Zach Wilson cannot be a source of turnovers, the ground and pound style must be utilized, and penalties cannot be a major problem because we all know the refs always rule in the Patriots' favor. The Jets have been much better as of late keeping the penalties to a minimum but always need to be careful when playing the hated Patriots. Get excited Jets fans…nobody can take away beating arguably one of the best teams in recent memory from you…. J-E-T-S, JETS JETS JETS!!!
-Jack Henry Cicio
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