Jets End Touchdown Drought in Otherwise Dismal Performance vs. Bills

Buffalo posts wire-to-wire victory over visitors in Week 11

Author:
Ralph Ventre
Publish date:
Nov 20, 2023 6:19 AM EST

In this story:

The New York Jets scored their first touchdown in 13 quarters on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, but any additional highlights were few and far between.

The Jets (4-6) fell behind early and dropped a 32-6 decision to the Bills (6-5) on the road in Orchard Park. The offense netted only 155 yards and starting quarterback Zach Wilson was yanked late in the third quarter in favor of backup Tim Boyle.

"I don’t think anyone did anything today: Players, coaches, schemes. It was obviously not good enough. None of it was good enough," said Jets' third-year head coach Robert Saleh.

The problems started on the opening kickoff when Bills' fullback Reggie Gilliam blasted Jets' returner Xavier Gipson and jarred the ball loose. Buffalo recovered the fumble at the Jets' 21-yard line. A Quinnen Williams sack limited the Bills to a field goal, but Gang Green trailed the rest of the way.

The Bills came away with points on four of their first five possessions of the important AFC East showdown.

Trailing 16-0 late in the first half, the Jets successfully executed a fake punt to spark a touchdown drive. They were also aided by a roughing the passer penalty during the 11-play, 84-yard march that ended on a 9-yard scoring strike to running back Breece Hall. It was the team's first touchdown since the first quarter of the Week 8 win over the New York Giants.

Hall finished with 50 yards receiving on five catches, but struggled again to gain traction in the ground game. The second-year pro carried 10 times for 23 total yards.

Outside of the second-quarter scoring drive, Wilson was at the controls for six other possessions, five of which ended in punts. His second-quarter interception led to the Bills' first touchdown.

Prior to the benching, Wilson went 7-of-15 passing for 81 yards. He suffered five sacks.

"It’s easy to point the finger at the quarterback, but it’s pretty easy to see, you’ve got missed protections, you’ve got dropped balls, you’ve got missed routes. Now, obviously, he’s got to get better. There’s things he could’ve done a lot better, but it’s everyone right now.

Boyle wasn't any more effective than Wilson, totaling 33 pass yards on 14 attempts. As a team, including an 18-yard completion by punter Thomas Morstead, the Jets averaged 4.4 yards per pass for the game. Gang Green was successful on 0 of 11 third down attempts.

The Jets' pass protection didn't hold up well against the Bulls' defensive front and the offensive line lost another starter due to injury. Starting left tackle Mekhi Becton injured his ankle in the first quarter and never returned.

"Mekhi’s dealing with an ankle, we’ll check him out tomorrow," said Saleh.

Meanwhile, Bills' quarterback Josh Allen accounted for an efficient passing performance that yielded 275 yards and three touchdowns. The Jets intercepted Allen once, but it was in a Hail Mary situation on the final snap of the first half. Allen, who committed four turnovers in Week 1 against the Jets, posted a 108.2 passer rating this time around.