Post Game Thoughts: Jets 27 Bills 11

For the first time all season the New York Jets looked like the team that went to the AFC championship game last season in their most complete performance of the season.

Offense

The Jets looked like a completely different team at the start of the game with a monster opening drive that consumed almost the whole first quarter of the game. It was the most focused the Jets have looked all year before it ended on a QB Mark Sanchez interception in the end zone. There were a number of big positives beyond that first drive of the game. The running game finally seems to be coming alive the last two games. While statistically RB Shonn Greene only averaged 4 YPC, it was the way he ran that was a difference. The issue with the Jets most of the season was that they would run for a yard or less on every carry and then bring the average up with a few runs here and there of 6 and 7 yards. Today was different. It seemed as if every run was 3 or more yards. He never looked passive and ran with a real purpose. His stat line would have been even better if not for a terrible holding penalty by TE Matt Mulligan. WR Plaxico Burress looked tremendous. He was catching everything that came his way and his work after he caught the ball stood out. His catch and run near the goal was exceptional as he nearly dragged Bills defenders into the end zone with him. TE Dustin Keller had a big game but nearly cost himself dearly with a horrible decision to try to leap over a defender. Im not sure I understand the fascination the players have doing that. Too many possibilities to get injured and the reward is basically nothing. WR Santonio Holmes isn’t putting up big numbers, but he certainly gets the respect of a number 1. He was the cause of two PI calls that set up two scores for the Jets. One was a reputation call and the second was blatant pass interference. He made a great grab on a touchdown and did a good job in making sure another pass wasn’t intercepted so he helped bail Sanchez out both times. WR Jeremy Kerley is working his way nicely into the offense and his early grabs set the tone for keeping the Bills off balance the whole afternoon.

Sanchez again had a difficult game to rate. He can be maddening sometimes, much in the same way Eli Manning is for the Giants, a player that I often compare Sanchez to, but he was also throwing darts for most of the game. Sanchez again took his time in the pocket and did a better job of scanning the field and letting plays develop than he has for most of the season. But his bad plays are just terrible. The interception in the end zone is inexcusable. He sailed that ball so far over Kellers head that Keller had no chance to even think of making a play on it. His fumble following a defensive turnover was his second such play this year. It is as if he puts so much pressure on himself to make a play and capitalize on momentum that he somehow forgets the little things. The Jets should have been up by anywhere from 13 to 16 points in the first half and Sanchez’ poor play cost the Jets and allowed the Bills to hang around. When the Jets coaches decided to kneel it out with 25 seconds left from their own 40 at the end of the first half it said everything you needed to hear about the faith the staff had in Sanchez to not make a mistake. But outside of those mistakes he did everything you could want. He moved the team. Converted third downs and eventually got the ball into the end zone. You just have to wonder if the mistakes are ever going to lessen.

The offensive line continues to play better and better. They completely outmuscled the Bills and set the tone on that first drive when the Jets just smacked them around. C Nick Mangold was just blowing guys away in the middle of the field and springing the running game. RT Wayne Hunter had a false start and a sack allowed when it looked like he forgot the snap count. He seemed a bit spooked out by the crowd early but settled down as the game went on. These next few weeks will likely determine if he remains a Jet next year or not. Mulligan, on the other hand, should go now. His penalties are killing the team and the holding on a 40 yard run was a disaster. Im sure he is a good guy and the Jets seemed to love his work ethic on Hard Knocks last year, but he just can not play offense. He’s a detriment to the team right now and he does not bring enough positives that he cant be upgraded.

Defense

I did not think that this years version of the Jets defense had this kind of game in them. They completely dismantled the Bills offense from start to finish. Buffalo relies on RB Fred Jackson to carry the team and the Jets gave him no breathing room on the day. The biggest play of the day came on a 3rd and 1 stop early in the second quarter where the Jets swarmed the line and held Jackson to a 1 yard loss. Buffalo was driving and the crowd was still into the game at that point when the Jets made that stand. That play seemed to get the Bills to change up their gameplan and sent them into panic mode. For as well as the Bills have played all year the talent level on the team is not high and when you take those kind of players out of their comfort zone things go downhill fast and that is exactly what the Jets did this week. I’m sure there are plenty of people simply saying that Ryan Fitzpatrick played terribly, but it was the discomfort of the Jets defense early that helped cause the downturn of his play.

The individual efforts were great all around. LB Calvin Pace had an interception and is having a Pro Bowl type year. This is his best season as a Jet. S Eric Smith played extremely well. He sniffed out plays to the running backs all game long and made some critical stops. It was his best game since the playoffs last season. NT Sione Pouha was extremely active and consistently penetrated the line. He was really the player responsible for setting the tone of the game up front. LB David Harris had a better game and made a really nice interception off a Fitzpatrick pass. Though his tackling left a bit to be desired I don’t think CB Antonio Cromartie even gave up 1 reception. CB Kyle Wilson continues his improvement, though he needs to lay off the gestures everytime his guy doesn’t make a catch. Really the only defender that is probably going to go to sleep thinking they could have done better was CB Darrelle Revis who allowed Stevie Johnson to catch 3 passes for 84 yards. Johnson is proving to be an incredible talent and is going to make huge money. Revis, who is the Jets best player, is allowed a day off every now and then.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the game is the fact that the defense played as a team. There was no shaking heads, pointing fingers with hands on the hips, or running wildly before the snap to pick up an assignment. Everyone seemed to know who their assignment was and what they were supposed to do. The Jets don’t have the most talented defense in the world, but when they are all on the same page as they were today there are few better. It might not mean anything three weeks from now, but this sure looked like it could have been a turning point for this unit and that would go a long way towards helping them make another playoff run.

Special Teams

I tweeted during the game that you simply can never tell what you will get out of a kicker year to year and K Nick Folk is proof of it. Folk, who did miss a long one, has simply been money this year. With the Jets offense often in a funk the pressure has to be amazingly high, but he makes everything. Last year he was a worry every time and the last few years he has battled just to keep a job, but he is arguably the best kicker in the AFC. Joe McKnight had another big kickoff return as he has made everyone forget Brad Smith, who did nothing for the Bills today. TJ Conley downed a punt at the 1 with a great job by Marquice Cole to catch the ball in the air and down it. Kerley did have an ill advised catch inside the 10 on booming punt by P Brian Moorman, who was spectacular.

Coaching

Rex Ryan was well aware of his record off the bye and certainly seemed to do a far better job preparing his guys than he did the last two seasons. During the week there was a lot of talk about the playoff picture and what this game meant and the Jets played like it was a playoff game. They were more physical than the Bills and played like they understood the hole they would be in with a loss. The last two years the Jets played this post bye games as if they assumed the opponent would feel the Jets were better, roll over and play dead. This time they played as if they knew they were better and went out to make sure the Bills understood it. That is a message from the coach. Fitzpatrick seemed to have difficulty figuring out the defense and the offense was always in control even though they were not scoring points. Clearly the Bills seemed to get away from what they like to do as they attempted to adjust to the Jets gameplans. The challenge of a spot was grasping at straws coaching by the Bills.

The only two criticisms of the game are small. Late in the 2nd quarter the Jets seemed unprepared for the possibility of the Bills converting on 3rd down which forced them to burn a timeout when Buffalo went to a hurry up and the Jets were trying to get the right personnel package on the field. Late in the game I have no idea what they were doing running Wildcat with Joe McKnight and having Sanchez block. I just dislike the idea of wasting those plays in an essentially meaningless situation.

Overall And just like that the Jets are right back in the thick of the AFC East division race and they actually looked like a team that deserves to win the division. The Jets are finally rounding into form and this team looks nothing like the team that played against Miami a few weeks ago. It took a number of weeks but the Jets are starting to click. This is close to what they envisioned when they ended the lockout and began training camp. There were no gifts or lucky breaks in this one. Just a dominating performance that seemed to make the clock strike midnight for Buffalo.

Still its just one game and if the Jets want to really make some noise they can do it next week by defeating the reeling Patriots. New England has lost two in a row and it could have easily been three in a row. The offense hasn’t scored more than 20 the last three weeks and the defense was dismantled late in the loss against the Giants. Ryan challenged the league to beat New England for the Jets and they are doing just that. Now Rex has to get his team to beat the Patriots. The way the schedule works out if the Jets can beat New England they have a schedule in front of them that can allow them to be 10-3 before heading to Philadelphia.

Success is a strange thing in the NFL. Logically speaking an easy schedule is an easy schedule whenever it occurs, but teams have their confidence broken by losing and those easy schedules become pretty tough. Not that you can compare a team like the Rams to the Jets, but you wont find a tougher schedule to start the year then theirs or an easier stretch over the next 6 weeks, but here they were losing to a miserable Cardinals team that and was starting a backup QB. Things can snowball in this league making a win against the Patriots very important.

Clearly the AFC is wide open. Every division, except the South, is a multi-team tie, and the Jets are one of those teams. A win next week puts the Jets in a very strong position to get that elusive home playoff game that has escaped them since 2002. A loss and they are right back to square one and battling a host of teams for a playoff spot. You always want to keep a margin for error and 6-3 with a 3-1 divisional record leaves you a pretty big margin for error while 5-4 and 2-2 does not. The Jets blew this opportunity last year, but that was in Foxboro against a confident New England team. This is in the Jets home building and Im not sure how confident this Patriots group can really be right now. As Bart Scott would say…”Cant Wait”. Go Jets!