Though the running and passing games earned an A and a B+, respectively, there were a few bad grades after the Buffalo Bills' ugly 23-20 win over the New York Jets. Check out Jay Skurski's report card below.
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Grading the Buffalo Bills in their 23-20 victory over the New York Jets on Monday at MetLife Stadium …
Running game: A
The Bills ran with bad intentions right from the start of the game. Rookie Ray Davis set the physical tone, plowing his way to 97 yards on 20 carries. Davis ran with conviction, helping to make up for the loss of James Cook, who was out because of a toe injury. Ty Johnson chipped in 34 yards, and the Bills ran for 149 as a team.
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady wisely kept the ball in quarterback Josh Allen’s hands on the game-deciding play. Allen used his athleticism to get to the edge, gaining 6 yards on third and 4. While not quite as prolific as the game last year against Dallas in terms of statistics, the game showed the Bills can win when the ground attack is the main focus. Buffalo attempted 33 rushing plays to 25 passes.
Passing game: B+
A week after going 9 of 30, which was one of the worst games of his career, Allen responded by going 19 of 25 for 215 yards and two touchdowns. He has yet to throw an interception through six games this season, and his 127.9 passer rating against the Jets was the third time in six games that he’s finished with a rating that high or better.
Seven different players caught at least one pass. Tight end Dawson Knox and receiver Mack Hollins saw their only catches of the game go for touchdowns. Tight end Dalton Kincaid topped 50 yards for the first time this season, finishing with a team-leading six catches for 51 yards. Curtis Samuel finished with three catches for 44 yards, doubling his best single-game yardage total as a member of the Bills. Davis led the Bills with 55 receiving yards, 42 of which came on another Allen special as he rolled toward the right sideline. According to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Allen was traveling 16.26 mph when he released the ball on his completion to Davis, the fastest speed by a quarterback on a deep completion (one that travels at least 20 yards in the air) since Week 1 of the 2022 season. Rookie Keon Coleman had three catches on four targets for 26 yards.
Run defense: D
It is a bit of a mystery as to why the Jets didn’t run the ball more. Breece Hall, as he seems to do every time he plays the Bills, piled up 113 yards on just 18 carries – a healthy average of 6.3 per rush. New York ran the ball just seven times in the second half. Three of the Bills’ top four tacklers were members of the secondary – Taron Johnson, Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin. That’s not a good sign for what was happening up front on the defense. Linebacker Terrel Bernard made a great play, shooting the gap to drop Hall for a loss of 5 yards in the first half. At the time, the Bills’ defense needed something to go right. As he so often does, Bernard delivered.
Pass defense: C-
The secondary made the plays when needed, with Johnson providing a pivotal interception late in the fourth quarter in his first game back from injury. It came a play after Rapp, who also was returning from injury, made his team-leading third pass defended. Those plays helped polish an uneven performance.
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who looked completely washed in Week 5, went 23 of 35 for 294 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Bills had a very tough time defending Jets receiver Garrett Wilson, who finished with eight catches on 10 targets for 107 yards and a touchdown. New York’s Allen Lazard had six catches for 114 yards and a touchdown that came on a 52-yard Hail Mary to end the first half. That was an inexcusable breakdown by the Bills’ secondary (and coaching staff, but more on them later).
Special teams: F
Oh boy, where do we begin? It is clear the Bills have a big problem with kicker Tyler Bass. He may or may not have had another extra point blocked. Either way, it missed badly. Then, Bass missed a 47-yard field goal in the third quarter. At this point, it is a pleasant surprise when he makes a kick. It was windy in MetLife Stadium, but that doesn’t hold up as an excuse. The Bills need Bass to be a lot better. Time, and faith, is running out.
Sam Martin had a net average of 43.7 yards on three punts, even though none of the three were covered inside the Jets’ 20-yard line. Kaiir Elam had a costly penalty on a punt return, hurting field position.
Bills coach Sean McDermott watched as his team held on for a 23-20 win Monday over the Jets. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
Coaching: D
The Bills were undisciplined, at times, as their 11 penalties against would suggest. Sure, some of those flags were iffy and some were outright bad, but that’s still way too high a number. What in the world was the coaching strategy at the end of the second quarter? Why did the defense willingly give up so many yards at the start of the drive, which allowed the Jets to even reach Hail Mary territory? Why did Sean McDermott only rush two defenders on that play? The Bills had to burn a timeout early in the third quarter of a three-point game. If ever a win felt like it came despite the team’s coaching, this is it.