For a second consecutive year, the Buffalo Bills' trek across the border to Toronto ended badly. Thoroughly dominated on both sides of the ball, Buffalo was kept alive by some curious decisions and missed opportunites on the part of the New York Jets, but the "road" team pulled off a 19-13 win nonetheless.
New York dominated this game offensively, rushing for 249 yards and dominating time of possession in the second half. The Jets rushed for 567 yards in two games against Buffalo this season; let's just say that shoring up the run defense should be a priority for the Bills this off-season. You know, once we get that front office and coaching situation figured out.
Buffalo was about as adept at moving the ball offensively as they were stopping it on defense; Ryan Fitzpatrick completed just 9 of 23 passes for a paltry 98 yards, and though the Bills got quality secondary rushing from Marshawn Lynch (6 carries, 60 yards, 1 TD) and Fitzpatrick (5 carries, 32 yards), the Jets bottled up starting running back Fred Jackson (13 carries, 31 yards). When you can't run and you can't throw, you're probably not going to be lighting up the scoreboard.
The Bills trailed 19-10 in the fourth quarter when a Rian Lindell field goal - his third of the game - made it a one score game. Buffalo's defense held on the ensuing Jets possession, giving the Bills one last-gasp attempt at a win. Fitzpatrick was sacked on the first play of the Bills' final drive, and on the next play, he severely underthrew a pass to Terrell Owens (3 catches, 31 yards). Darrelle Revis picked it off, and that's all she wrote.
Lynch's touchdown gave the Bills a 10-6 lead in the second quarter, but Mark Sanchez found Braylon Edwards for a touchdown and Jay Feely added a field goal to make the score 16-10 in favor of New York at the half. Sanchez left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury after the Jets extended the lead to 19-10, but Buffalo still struggled to stop the run consistently with Kellen Clemens in the game. Buffalo just couldn't get anything going with Fitzpatrick to take advantage of the opportunities the Jets afforded them.
Buffalo drops to 4-8 on the season, including a 1-2 record under interim head coach Perry Fewell. They will travel to Kansas City a week from Sunday.