Here are Jay Skurski's grades for the Buffalo Bills in their 35-8 victory Sunday over the New York Jets.
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Grading the Buffalo Bills in their 35-8 victory Sunday over the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium …
Running game: A+
How’s this for a stat. Ray Davis had 151 yards rushing against the Jets. He came into the game with 124 rushing yards … for the season. His performance was a reminder for the Bills and the rest of the league: Davis can play. Getting him more carries proved to be a challenge because of how good James Cook was all season, but give Davis a ton of credit for making the most of his opportunity. As a team, the Bills piled up 211 rushing yards on 43 carries. Ty Johnson added 36 yards on 13 carries, while Cook padded his season total with 15 yards on two attempts. The Bills will finish as the NFL’s No. 1 rushing team, with an average of 159.6 yards per game.
Bills offensive lineman Alec Anderson celebrates with fans after Buffalo's 35-8 victory over the Jets on Sunday in what was likely the final game at Highmark Stadium.
Derek Gee, Buffalo News
Passing game: A+
Mitchell Trubisky went off. Seriously. The Bills’ backup quarterback torched the Jets, going 22 of 29 for 259 yards and four touchdowns – a passer rating of 142.1. That’s a fairly absurd stat line. It’s also exhibit A as to why the Jets completely quit on the season, but that’s beside the point. Trubisky completed passes to 10 different receivers. Gabe Davis led the Bills with five catches for 41 yards and a touchdown. “I knew I was playing a lot of the snaps this week and just wanted to have a good game, and I was blessed tonight,” Davis said. Dalton Kincaid had three catches for 48 yards, while No. 4 tight end Keleki Latu had three catches for 31 yards. Keon Coleman caught two of his four targets for 49 yards, including a long of 37 yards that was Buffalo’s longest gain from scrimmage.
Run defense: A+
It bears repeating: The Jets were an absolute train wreck of a team. Nevertheless, give the Bills’ run defense credit. It held New York to 69 yards on 23 carries, an average of just 3.0 yards per rush. Fourth-string running back Khalil Herbert led the Jets with 42 yards on 12 carries. New York’s longest carry was just 7 yards. Linebacker Dorian Williams led the defense with seven tackles. The Bills had five tackles for loss, with Joe Andreessen leading the way with two. Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi had his most impactful game of the season, with six tackles, including one for a loss.
Pass defense: A+
Rookie defensive tackle T.J. Sanders earned his first career sack. The Bills finished with two passes defensed. One by safety Darnell Savage and one by defensive end A.J. Epenesa, who was one of the few starting-caliber defensive players who saw significant playing time. The Bills limited Jets rookie quarterback Brady Cook to 60 yards passing, as he completed 11 of 22 attempts. The 53 net passing yards allowed by the Bills were their fewest in a game since Week 2, when they gave up 54 against, you guessed it, the Jets. Rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston suffered an ankle injury in the fourth quarter, which is about the worst thing that could happen when the score was 35-0. Tre’Davious White has continued to play good football over the past six weeks or so in the Buffalo secondary.
Special teams: A-
Matt Prater made three extra points in the first half before leaving the game when his quad injury flared up. Clearly, that’s a big concern heading into next week. Mitch Wishnowsky didn’t punt once. Ray Davis’ lone kickoff return went for 22 yards. He ended up leading the NFL this season in kickoff return average, which is impressive given he wasn’t even expected to have that job coming into the season. Coleman handled punt-return duties. We’ll ignore for a second that it’s quite a fall from grace for Coleman to be doing that job in a fairly meaningless Week 18 game, because we don’t want to sour the mood. The kickoff return unit did allow a 49-yard return by the Jets’ Isaiah Williams, which isn’t ideal. That’ll need to be cleaned up heading into the postseason.
Coaching: A
Sean McDermott was in a no-win situation as it pertained to playing time for Cook. It would have been nice to see him pad his rushing lead, but if Cook got hurt, that would have been a disaster. It also would have been nice to see Josh Allen get his 40th touchdown of the season to extend that streak to six straight seasons of at least that many. But once Allen left the game, it was clear he wasn’t going back in. Remember: The head coach’s job is to do what’s best for the team, not the individual. McDermott is taking some heat for having Hairston in the game late into the fourth quarter, but the team had just three healthy boundary cornerbacks available for the game, and Christian Benford didn’t play. McDermott prioritized putting a good performance on display in what’s likely to be the final game at Highmark Stadium. It mattered to him. He delivered in that regard. The coach even wore a throwback hat to his postgame press conference, saying he did so as a tribute to Marv Levy. McDermott gets it. He understands why the Bills are so important to this community. That might not mean much if he doesn’t win a Super Bowl with McDermott, but the coach handled the final game at Highmark Stadium with a lot of dignity and grace.
