Plays that defined 2019: Buffalo Bills at New York Jets, Week 1

The 2019 season is behind us, but the stories live on. Every week brought a different narrative and we look back on the season to tell those stories through the plays that defined the game. Sit back and get ready for the tale of Week 1:

Buffalo Bills at New York Jets

The 2019 season kicked off in New Jersey as the Buffalo Bills took on the rival New York Jets. Two promising young quarterbacks were ready to set the league on fire and usher in a new era of signal callers. Or not. A sloppy game favored the Jets early on and an embarrassing loss for Buffalo seemed inevitable.

Captain Clutch Josh Allen arrived with Motor Singletary kicking into high gear. The Bills scored 17 unanswered points to squeak out a victory. In the end, it was a collapsing Jets team that left the stadium with egg on their face.

Josh Allen pick-six (Q1, 10:42)

Four turnovers in the first half were a primary reason the Buffalo Bills remained scoreless for the first 30 minutes. Despite the early timestamp, this was turnover number two. The gift of six points (missed PAT) put the Jets up early.

Jets force a safety (Q3, 12:01)

Thanks to the defense, the Bills were still only down by the six points they had spotted the Jets early in the game. Needing to move the ball nearly the entire length of the field Buffalo called Frank Gore’s number. Sadly they went the wrong way and gifted Gang Green two more points. The shortened field from the safety kick led to the only points the Jets’ offense would put up the entire day.

Get your Motor runnin’ (Q4, 14:21)

The Bills unleashed Devin Singletary in the second half, with three of his four carries coming in the fourth quarter. At 17.5 yards per carry, Motor Singletary helped fuel the comeback. All three of his carries that half came on this drive, setting up a three-yard Josh Allen touchdown run. Having scored a field goal late in the third quarter, the Bills had pulled within one score.

John Brown’s first Bills touchdown (Q4, 3:07)

Buffalo managed to get the ball back with plenty of time and 80 yards to go. About halfway there the Jets had a chance to stop the Bills. Needing four yards to keep the drive going, Josh Allen found John Brown for 38 and the lead.

Defensive stop (Q4, 1:17)

While the offensive first half by the offense and subsequent comeback were the big attention-getters, a major part of the story was the defense. The Jets were never comfortable, struggling to get anything going all day. While they did get the ball back for a desperation attempt, this play effectively ended the game.

As we begin this year’s edition of “Plays that defined” remember to vote for the play that best “defined” the game, which may not be the best play of the game.