NFL Week 8 New York Jets Vs. Buffalo Bills Quick Hits

Oct 26, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Buffalo Bills guard Cyril Richardson (68) tackles New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) in the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo Bills destroyed the New York Jets 43-23 in Week 8 sending the Jets to 1-7. The Jets were awful committing 6 turnovers (4 by Vick and 3 by Smith), 10 penalties and pretty much handed the game to Buffalo. Everything the Jets do from here should be with an eye towards 2015 and that includes playing those players who will be here then and benching, trading or releasing those that aren’t part of the future.

1) Geno’s horrible, terrible, really bad day – Geno Smith failed to show up today going 2-8 for 5 yards with no touchdowns and 3 interceptions. At no point did Smith look comfortable, poised or prepared to compete. The best play he made was avoiding a pick six with a great tackle that forced a fumble out of bounds at the Jet 1. Other than that any positive momentum Smith had was destroyed. Whether or not he starts again as a Jet is now up in the air.

2) The Jets can run the ball on anyone – The Bills came in not allowing a rushing touchdown all year and only allowing 2.8 yards per carry. The Jets had 114 yards on 20 carries in the 1st half and two Chris Ivory touchdowns. Michael Vick was able to scramble all over the field amassing 57 yards on five carries while Percy Harvin had 22 yards on three carries in the 1st half. Ivory had 35 yards on 10 carries with two touchdowns in the 1st half as well. As the turnovers mounted and the lead got over 10 points the Jets had to pretty much abandon the run in the 2nd half which led to more turnovers and the game getting out of hand. They finished with 33 rushes for 175 yards which averaged out to 5.3 yards per carry.

3) The Jets were done in by six turnovers and two big plays by Sammy Watkins not to mention 10 penalties for 89 yards – Buffalo was handed six turnovers and an average starting field position around mid-field, including starting once on the Jets’ 1 yard line and another time at the Jet 10 and a 3rd time at the Jet 15 but could only muster 20 points off of those turnovers. That includes being bailed out by Dan Carpenter on a three play -4 yard drive after a Michael Vick fumble with a 53 yard field goal. Sammy Watkins had three catches for 157 yards and a touchdown including one for 84 yards on a play where he beat Darrin Walls and started to showboat and was caught from behind by Saalim Hakim who was apparently playing safety for some unknown reason.

Another was a wide receiver screen that went for 61 yards and a touchdown after a missed tackle. Orton had beautiful chemistry with Robert Woods on the 1st drive as Woods had 50 yards on three catches, including a 22 yard grab in tight coverage for a touchdown. Once Woods left the game with an injured knee the Jets were able to more effectively cover Buffalo’s receivers. Buffalo could not get their run game going in the 1st half without Jackson and Spiller only getting 32 yards on 14 carries. Buffalo had 4 1st half 3 and outs.

Oct 26, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone (L) talks to New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan (R) prior to their game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

4) Michael Vick could have his own good, bad and ugly column – Vick’s day was filled with key 3rd down completions, nice scrambles, inaccurate passes, missing open receivers and fumbling three times in the 1st half (losing 1). Vick led the Jets on two long touchdown drives and a quick two minute drill that led to a field goal at the end of the 1st half. He also ran the wrong way on a run play that ended in a turnover and missed Jace Amaro several times when he was wide open. Vick also took a sack on the Jets 2 on the 1st drive of the 2nd half that changed field position where he should have just thrown it away. Then Vick lost another fumble at the Jet 10 that sealed the game for the Bills late in the 3rd quarter. The very next possession Vick overthrew a receiver for another interception that was returned to the Jets 15. The Jets quarterback play was not good enough to compete in this game and they are better off bringing in a middle of the road veteran in the offseason to run the team than drafting another rookie and going back to square one.

5) The Jets ran one of the worst trick special teams play in history – Down 10 in the middle of the 3rd quarter the Bills kicked the ball off to the Jets. Harvin was on one side and Graham was on the other. As the ball was kicked Graham fell to the floor and stayed there while Harvin caught the ball nine yards deep in the end zone. Then Harvin began his return and looked to throw back to Graham but faked it and ran getting tackled at the 2 yard line. The Jets went 3 and out and after the punt the Bills started at the Jet 44 yard line. Every part of that could have been avoided by just taking a knee and starting from the 20. A 3rd down sack by Kyle Wilson saved the Jets from giving up more points but the Jets once again had to start at their own 14 because of Buffalo’s starting field position that was gifted to them by the failed trick play.

6) The Jet defensive front were monsters – Sheldon Richardson, Quinton Coples, Muhammad Wilkerson, and Calvin Pace got to the quarterback with 3 sacks and 5 quarterback hits between them. Demario Davis had a pass defense, a tackle for loss and had a good overall game. David Harris was solid against the run as well. Richardson was especially effective with 2 tackles for loss against the run as well as a quarterback hit and a half sack. Coples had 1.5 sacks and nearly decapitated Orton in the 1st half. This was the best Coples had looked consistently.

7) Percy Harvin looked good other than that trick play – Harvin handled kickoff return duties, played wide receiver and running back and showed nice burst in each facet of the game. Harvin had 28 yards on 7 carries, 22 yards on 3 receptions (targeted 9 times including 1 drop but was overthrown while wide open multiple times) and averaged 24 yards per kick return including a 34 yarder to open the game. As he gets acclimated to the offense and gets timing down with whoever will be the quarterback he will get even better.