Plays that defined 2018 Buffalo Bills: New York Jets

With the 2018 NFL season in the books, we look back at the year and our beloved Buffalo Bills. Every week is a story, and we bring this to you through the lens of key plays that defined each game. Your Week 14 match-up:

New York Jets at Buffalo Bills

It was the lucky 13th game of the season and the rival New York Jets were coming to town. The first time the teams had met, Matt Barkley and the Bills had walloped the Josh McCown-led Jets. Both teams’ rookie quarterbacks missed the first tilt due to injury. This time marked the first contest between Josh Allen and Sam Darnold, elevating the stakes in a game that would otherwise have been more about draft position. Just like the week before, Buffalo was in front of most major statistical categories. Except the score...

Josh Allen 31-yard run (Q1, 12:32)

Buffalo out-gained the Jets by a wide margin, mostly due to a large disparity in rushing yardage. The difference was Josh Allen. With 101 yards on the ground Allen single-handedly surpassed the Jets’ total. On this play, his longest run of the day, his vision and ability to slip tackles paid off to the tune of 31 yards. The run set up the first score of the game to give the Bills a lead they’d hold onto until the fourth quarter.

Josh Allen fumble (Q1, 6:05)

Josh Allen giveth, and Josh Allen taketh away. His heroics had put the Bills on the board first. And in an eerily similar start to this play he finds a lane and takes off. His one-handed carrying gets him in trouble this time. Though the defense didn’t allow a first down, the Jets were already in field goal range.

Andre Roberts’s 86-yard return (Q2, 7:14)

The Bills moved the ball better on offense with 120 more yards, nine more first downs and seven more minutes of possession than the Jets. Aside from turnovers, kick returns were a major factor in the loss. Earning 75 more yards on the same number of returns, the Jets routinely saw better starting field position. The Bills would maintain the lead through the half but the Jets kept it close thanks to Andre Roberts. A 51-yard return at the end of the first quarter set the Jets nicely and resulted in a field goal. This 86-yard return helped the Jets with their first touchdown of the day. In comparison, Buffalo’s best return went for 24 yards. Andre Roberts is on our team now.

Defense gives up big run (Q3, 1:56)

Sometimes a defining play is one that bucks the trend. The Buffalo Bills limited the Jets to 78 rushing yards. Nearly half of those yards came on this run of 34. The Bills kept the Jets to 2.8 yards per carry. You might think that this figure omits the long run in the clip above. It does not. Eliminating this outlier it’s 1.6 yards per carry. This momentary lapse flipped the field late in the third quarter. This drive resulted in a touchdown that tied the game at 20.

Josh Allen interception (Q4, 1:07)

The Bills regained the lead with a Stephen Hauschka field goal, but the Jets responded with a touchdown to take the lead for the first time. The Jets had left the Bills with just over a minute and a lot of field to cover. For the second straight week, Josh Allen had the chance to come from behind against a division rival for a miracle last-second comeback. The week before, a preposterously tenacious effort saw Josh Allen do nearly everything right. In this game...not so much. The third and final Allen turnover sealed the game.