There was plenty of action to go around within the AFC East this week. The New York Jets are still looking for their first win of the season, as they were no match for the defending champions Kansas City Chiefs. Meanwhile in South Beach, the Miami Dolphins were able to get Tua Tagovailoa his first career win with a dominating defensive performance against the Los Angeles Rams. Wrapping up the division was a battle in Orchard Park where the Buffalo Bills finally beat the New England Patriots to remain in control of the AFC East. This week on the AFC East Roundup, we look back at some of the highlights within the division.
Against the Chiefs, Justin Zimmer was a split-second away from forcing a huge fumble that would have given the Bills’ offense a chance to drive down the field for the win. Instead it was overturned and the Chiefs were able to finish off the game without any issues. Sunday, Zimmer had another chance as quarterback Cam Newton was running the ball deep in Buffalo territory to set up the game-tying field goal to send the game into overtime. Zimmer made an excellent play to punch the ball out, which was then recovered by Dean Marlowe to seal the victory for the Bills.
You have to give New England credit for putting up a great fight despite coming into Orchard Park on a three-game losing streak. In the second half they were trailing 21-14 after Buffalo had a short scoring drive courtesy of a failed onside kick attempt. New England responded with a big 72-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by Newton running it in at the goal line to tie things up.
Miami’s defense and special teams provided plenty of highlight material to help out their rookie quarterback on Sunday. In the second quarter, the Rams had a 2nd-and-goal opportunity with the game tied at 7. Emmanuel Ogbah had a huge sack of Jared Goff causing a fumble that was returned 78 yards for a touchdown by Andrew Van Ginkel. Then on the following series after the defense forced a three-and-out, Jakeem Grant took a punt 88 yards to the house to make it a 21-7 lead in the blink of an eye. Do not sleep on this Miami team, which is starting to heat up at the right time.
It was a rough afternoon for Jets fans, as the team was only able to muster up three field goals against the Chiefs. Their highlight would be that the loss keeps them in the front running for the number-one pick in the upcoming draft.