Rain, sleet, and snow contributed to what the broadcast called a wintery mix in Orchard Park as the Bills picked up a massive division win, 20-12, in their rematch with the Jets.
To avoid as much redundancy as possible, I’m going to try to do things a little differently this week so that this article isn’t just some regurgitated version of what I said on the podcast already. We’ll see how that goes. You can listen to the show using the link below or (hopefully) where ever you get your podcasts.
It was cold. It was raining. It was snowing and it was sloppy, at least for the majority of the first half between the Jets and the Bills. Less-than-ideal offensive performance is to be expected in those conditions. However, most of the time, when there are rainy conditions and the football is slippery you get a run-dominant approach because it’s less risky. What I’m trying to understand, as a Bills fan, is the opposite playcalling philosophy in those conditions.
I get that having Josh Allen is a particular luxury for a play caller and getting the ball in his hands a lot may seem like the most effective way to win games, which is true more often than not. He was still the best player on the field in this game and he played pretty darn well all things considered, but in-game awareness is important and I am worried that not being able to make adjustments before halftime is going to be a much bigger factor moving forward.
Allen was having accuracy issues, players were having trouble hanging onto the ball as well, and there were protection issues on the O-line. Allen got sacked three times in the first half and the Bills’ O-line was racking up penalties. That’s why the offense went 3 & out on three of their first five drives before finding the TD on their final possession of the half. Dawson Knox made a heck of a play on the TD to go maximum effort on his way to the end zone.
| Drive # | 1st Play | Comp. | Pass ATT | Pass YDS | Sacks | Sack YDS | Scram. | Scram. YDS | Carries | Rush YDS | Outcome | Runs on 1st Down |
| 1 | Pass | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Punt 3 & out | 0 |
| 2 | Run | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 | Punt | 1 |
| 3 | Pass | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Punt 3 & out | 0 |
| 4 | Run | 3 | 4 | 16 | 1 | -9 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 5 | Punt | 2 |
| 5 | Pass | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Punt 3 & out | 0 |
| 6 | Run | 4 | 4 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 1 | 0 | TD | 1 |
| HALF | 3/3 | 9 | 16 | 70 | 3 | -17 | 3 | 32 | 9 | 32 | 7-0 | 4 |
Through the first half, the Bills had thrown the ball 16 times. However, they had actually sent in 22 pass plays to only 9 designed runs. Allen was sacked on 3 of those and came up with some big scramble plays on another 3, but there was no real emphasis on even trying to establish the run.
Maybe that makes sense against a team with a really terrible pass defense, but the Jets have one of the best pass defenses in the league and are upper-middle of the pack against the run. So why not even give the run game a chance? It’s something that is easier to look the other way on after a win, but something that I always have my eye on.
Rain has been a nemesis of the Bills but, as the rain turned to snow, their offense was able to string some stuff together. They got close to a 50-50 run-pass split in the second half and scored on three straight drives to answer a Jets’ TD and pushed the lead to 20-7. The game was mostly a done deal at that point, but 13-point 4th-quarter leads haven’t exactly been bulletproof the last week or so in the NFL.
The Jets managed to block a punt, get a safety out of it and turned the next drive into points to cut the lead to 20-12. I could have sworn they need to go for the onside kick there, but with all their timeouts left they kicked it away. They even forced a Bills’ punt but wound up, once again, at the mercy of a Bills defense that played great.
Buffalo turned the Jets over on downs to end the game, but that’s just the cherry on top of what was a great day for the D. Greg Rousseau had a great day that included a pair of sacks, a forced fumble, and a pass deflected. Matt Milano had a big game too with 9 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 passes defended, and a major (clean) QB hit that left Jets’ Mike White in a heap. Ed Oliver had a massive hit on the QB like that as well, and the team finished with 8 QB hits, 7 PDs, 4 sacks, and 7 TFL, holding the Jets’ run game to just 76 yards in the process.
At the end of the day, it’s a good-quality win, against a solid (division) opponent in some less-than-ideal conditions. It was a team effort on both sides of the ball and I can’t ask for more than that, even though I always have some questions and concerns as I’m looking beyond just this game.
I should also say that Mike White is one tough dude. He was getting whacked a lot and got absolutely obliterated on a couple of plays, in particular, to go along with the 4 sacks. He looked much better than the same Mike White who played the Bills last season, and a performance like that is going to endear him to the fans and his teammates.
The Bills stay in Western New York and embrace the cold weather mentality as they get ready for another divisional rematch as they host the Dolphins in Week 15.
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