One play can sum up the 2024 New York Jets. It’s Mike Williams falling down.
The Jets, in their first game with interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich replacing fired Robert Saleh, had a shot to beat the Buffalo Bills despite numerous mistakes including a stunning amount of penalties and a couple of huge missed field goals. Aaron Rodgers found Williams downfield for what looked like a massive gain that would have put the Jets inside the red zone. But as Williams started to come back to the ball, he fell down. That allowed Bills cornerback Taron Johnson to dive in front of Williams and get a game-clinching interception.
That’s the Jets this season. An opportunity for something special was there, and they tripped all over themselves getting to it. The Bills ran out the clock after that interception and won 23-20.
The Jets knew the stakes coming into the game. If they won they would be 3-3 and in first place of the AFC East. A loss and they’d be two games behind the Bills, with a disappointing 2-4 record. Even in mid-October it felt like a must-win game for the Jets, especially after the coaching change shook up the organization.
There aren’t any more coaching changes coming. The Jets lost, and now they have a big hole to dig out of. It doesn’t help that they can’t get out of their own way.
Jets get a huge Hail Mary
The Jets were far from perfect but they were moving the ball, mostly through big plays by their stars. Breece Hall came out of his slump and looked like the player we had seen his first two seasons. Garrett Wilson caught a nice touchdown in the back of the end zone and had a productive first half. The Jets didn’t just fire Saleh. They changed play-callers from Nathaniel Hackett to Todd Downing, and the difference was notable.
The Jets’ biggest play of the first half was luck, though it’s getting to a point in which Rodgers Hail Marys seem like a skill. On the final play of the first half Rodgers wound up and threw it to the end zone, and Allen Lazard came down with a 52-yard touchdown. That was his fourth career Hail Mary, and his first with the Jets. Maybe he knows what he’s doing on those plays.
That kept the Jets in the game despite a huge half from Josh Allen. He had a quarterback sneak for a touchdown, two other passing touchdowns and was making big plays everywhere on the field. He scrambled to his right and fired a deep pass to running back Ray Davis for a stunning 42-yard gain.
The Bills had the best player on the field. But the Jets have plenty of talent too, and they were desperate. They just couldn’t stop making critical mistakes.
Jets keep making mistakes
The Jets have a new coach but still made bad mistakes. There was a key sequence in the third quarter when a holding penalty brought back a Braelon Allen touchdown, Wilson had a touchdown in his arms but was crushed in the end zone and dropped it, and then on fourth down Zuerlein bounced a 32-yard field-goal attempt off the crossbar. Then in the fourth quarter Zuerlein, who missed a last-minute field goal that could have beaten the Denver Broncos in Week 4, had another attempt go off the crossbar from 43 yards out. The game was tied 20-20 but the Jets had blown opportunities to get more points.
The Jets have been off all season in terms of execution. A key penalty on either side of the ball, being a bit off on a timing route, missed field goals in key spots, it has all added up for the Jets and it didn’t change Monday night just because they had a new coach.
The Bills had their share of mistakes too. Tyler Bass missed an extra point and a field goal. Buffalo’s offense stalled a bit in the second half. Yet Buffalo still drove down and got a go-ahead field goal with 3:43 to go. And Jets defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw, who got called for a questionable roughing the passer penalty on that drive, got a 15-yard penalty for improper language toward an official after the field goal. Like the Jets needed more unforced errors.
New York had a shot in the final minutes, and the drive was kept alive by a controversial replay reversal that turned an apparent Rodgers fumble into an incomplete pass, and a defensive pass interference call. But a huge holding call brought back a Hall first down. Then Rodgers’ deep pass to Williams was picked off after Williams lost his footing.
Allen picked up a first down on a third-down run and the Bills killed the clock after that.
You won’t often find a football team make that many mistakes in a tight game. Saleh took the fall for the Jets’ disappointing start. But the results didn’t change.
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER36 updates
Bills win, 23-20
The Bills kneel out the clock on a wild night with big plays from both offenses, three missed field goals and more penalty yards (204) than any other game this season. The Bills improve to 4-2 to maintain control of the AFC East. The Jets drop to 2-4 in the first game under interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich.
Josh Allen ices game with first down
Josh Allen just converted on a third-and-4 quarterback keeper to ice the game. The Bills can run out the clock with 59 seconds remaining and the Jets down to their last time out.
Taron Johnson intercepts Aaron Rodgers
Bills cornerback Taron Johnson just picked off Aaron Rodgers on a deep ball with a sensational interception just inside the two-minute warning. Rodgers’ intended target Mike Williams slipped on the play. The Bills have the ball and a 23-20 lead with 1:54 remaining. The Jets have all three of their timeouts.
Season-high penalty yardage
We’re at 204 penalty yards, the most in a game this season, per the “Monday Night Football” broadcast.
Fumble call overturned as incomplete pass
Aaron Rodgers just lost the ball on what was initially called a fumble that the Bills recovered. Officials reviewed the play and eventually ruled that this was an incomplete pass. Jets retain possession with 3:43 remaining, trailing 23-20.
We have a made FG
After three combined missed field goals (2 by Greg Zuerlein, 1 by Tyler Bass) we have a make. Tyler Bass pays off a 64-yard Bills drive with a 22-yard field goal to give the Bills a 23-20 lead with 3:43 remaining.
Greg Zuerlein hits the upright again
For a second time in two kicks, Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein hits the upright. This time, he hit the left upright on a 43-yard field goal attempt. He missed earlier from 32 yards with the game tied at 20-20. The game is still tied with 9:44 remaining.
This is the first time in a Jets uniform that Aaron Rodgers has resembled his former self. This third-and-11 dart to Allen Lazard for a first down was something.
Bills penalized during break between quarters
The Bills just got penalized for a penalty between quarters. Unsportsmanlike conduct on Dion Dawkins put the Bills in third-and-21 at their own 11-yard line. They punted two plays later on fourth-and-15. Game’s tied at 20-20 early in the fourth.
It’s not clear from the broadcast exactly what happened. Things got heated between the teams during the break as the lights went down at MetLife Stadium.
Greg Zuerlein misses 32-yard field goal attempt
The Jets appeared in line for a 23-20 lead, but Greg Zuerlein missed a 32-yard field goal attempt. We’re still tied at 20-20 late in the third quarter.
Wilson jogged off the field, leaving the Jets to set up for a likely field goal attempt.
Garrett Wilson able to jog off field. Allen Lazard stuck with him til he got up. Jeff Ulbrich met him on the field to check on Wilson before he got to sideline. https://t.co/YhOOVhXhTB
The Bills hold in the red zone after a holding penalty negates a Braelon Allen touchdown run. Garrett Wilson is slow to get up in the end zone after a collision on the failed third-down pass attempt.
Another controversial call favors Jets
The Bills just punted after an unnecessary roughness penalty on right tackle Spencer Brown offset a defensive pass interference penalty downfield. Is this unnecessary roughness?
The Jets have the ball late in the third quarter of a 20-20 game.
Jets tie game after controversial roughing call
Breece Hall broke off a 42-yard run to the red zone after the controversial roughing penalty on A.J. Epenesa. The Bills came up with a red-zone stop to force a field goal. Jets tie the game at 20-20.
Roughing the passer or no?
The Jets just had a drive extended on a controversial roughing the passer call on A.J. Epenesa. Officials determined that Epenesa illegally landed with his body weight on Aaron Rodgers. A sack would have resulted in a likely Jets punt. Instead, the Jets got a fresh set of downs.
Tyler Bass misses a 47-yard field goal on Buffalo’s opening drive of the second half. Bills maintain a 20-17 lead.
Joe Buck, meanwhile, keeps insisting that Bass’ missed extra point earlier in the game wasn’t blocked when it clearly was. The result is the same, but it’s led to an unwarranted pile-on of Bass on social media.
The second half is underway, and the Bills have the ball first with a 20-17 lead.
Notable halftime stats
Josh Allen is cooking and showing the form that generated early MVP buzz before a pair of duds in consecutive Bills losses. He’s created multiple big gains including a touchdown after extending plays that looked broken.
The Jets’ offense is also looking strong after a coaching overhaul in New York — even stronger with Aaron Rodgers’ Hail Mary to end the half. Here are the notable first-half stats:
Josh Allen: 10 of 12 for 112 yards with 2 touchdowns and no turnovers; 4 rushes for 10 yards and 1 TD Ray Davis: 11 carries for 66 yards; 2 catches for 50 yards
Aaron Rodgers: 13 of 17 for 192 yards with 2 touchdowns and no turnovers Breece Hall: 8 carries for 40 yards; 2 catches for 45 yards Garrett Wilson: 6 catches for 68 yards and 1 touchdown
Bills total offense: 217 yards Jets total offense: 225 yards
Bills yards per play: 7.5 Jets yards per play: 6.8
Bills first downs: 17 Jets first downs: 11
Total turnovers: 0
Rodgers threw that ball under pressure roughly 60 yards in the air.
Wild Hail Mary gets Jets within 3
Wow! What an end to the first half. Aaron Rodgers threw a Hail Mary to the end zone with the second-quarter clock expiring. Allen Lazard caught it for a touchdown. One official ruled it incomplete, but another correctly determined that Lazard caught the ball and maintained control of it on his back before it was dislodged.
The Jets cut the Bills’ lead to 20-17 at the break.