Sometimes when you watch your favorite football team repeatedly get punched in the teeth for 60 minutes, you just need to take a night off from talking - or thinking - about it. Hence our unusually late post-game recap from yesterday's 27-11 thrashing that the New York Jets handed the host Buffalo Bills.
Do you know what was surprising about this game? Not a single, solitary thing. We knew the Jets would make life difficult for Ryan Fitzpatrick and the passing offense because of their outstanding secondary and exotic pressures; Fitzpatrick completed 15-of-31 passes for 191 yards with a garbage time score and two early interceptions. Chan Gailey couldn't find a chink in the Jets' armor defensively.
On the other side of the ball, the Jets - surprise! - ran the ball effectively (126 yards as a team) and set up the play-action game for Mark Sanchez (20-28, 230 yards, one touchdown, one interception). Buffalo trailed just 3-0 at halftime, but the Jets had dominated to that point, keeping the Bills in it with two ugly turnovers.
Buffalo is now 5-3 and in a three-way tie with the Jets and New England Patriots, who lost a home game yesterday. As I said last week, it was just one game - and the Bills are still obviously alive in the divisional race. After getting outclassed by the Jets, however, one must wonder how seriously they can contend.