4 losers (and 2 winners) from Jets' humiliating Week 2 disaster vs Bills

The New York Jets delivered an embarrassing performance in Week 2, falling to the Buffalo Bills in a game that somehow managed to exceed even the lowest expectations for disappointment.

What started as cautious optimism after a competitive Week 1 showing quickly devolved into a familiar nightmare, as the Jets proved once again that hope is nothing more than a setup for heartbreak in East Rutherford.

Justin Fields looked lost, the defense crumbled, and the coaching staff appeared overwhelmed by the moment as Buffalo methodically dismantled a Jets team that seemed unprepared for the intensity of divisional football.

While a few players managed to salvage something from the wreckage, the overwhelming majority of performances ranged from disappointing to downright disastrous. Here are the biggest winners and losers from a game that reinforced every negative stereotype about this franchise.

Winners and losers from Jets' Week 2 disaster loss to the Bills

Loser: QB Justin Fields

This was arguably the worst performance of Justin Fields' entire football career, which makes it even more jarring considering the best game of his NFL career came just seven days earlier.

Fields completed just 3-of-11 passes for 27 yards before leaving the game with a concussion early in the fourth quarter. The Ohio State product finished with a downright abysmal -0.58 EPA per attempt, which was indeed the worst of his NFL career.

Fields now looks set to miss time with a concussion, and when he returns, the Jets will need a drastically improved version of their quarterback if they have any hope of winning games this season. This performance was as bad as it gets.

Winner: DT Jowon Briggs

Sunday's game was a disastrous performance for almost every player on the Jets' roster, but one unheralded contributor who quietly made the most of his snaps was defensive tackle Jowon Briggs.

Briggs was the Jets' highest-graded player in Week 2 (based on preliminary Pro Football Focus grade), finishing with an excellent 91.8 grade. He tallied two pressures, a sack, and four total run stops.

This was a calamitous performance from the Jets, but Briggs provided a rare bright spot for a defensive line that struggled mightily throughout the afternoon.

Loser: Jets coaching staff

Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said it best when speaking to reporters after the game: "Apparently, I didn’t have the guys ready to play… It’s not OK to lose like that." Glenn's admission feels eerily familiar to Jets fans.

It's the same accountability speech they've heard from countless coaches before, followed by the same disappointing results that define this franchise's endless cycle of misery.

The Jets' coaching staff was thoroughly dominated, with Steve Wilks' defensive scheme raising more questions than providing answers through two weeks. The team's offense didn't even reach 100 total yards until the fourth quarter. This was a nightmare game for the Jets' new coaches.

Winner: TE Jeremy Ruckert

There weren't many positive takeaways from Sunday's disaster, so we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. But hey, Jeremy Ruckert caught his first career touchdown in garbage time — so that's something, right?

It was Ruckert's only catch of the game and came against a Bills defense that had already pulled some starters, but the moment was still cool for the homegrown Long Island native who grew up bleeding green and white.

Ruckert entered the 2025 season firmly on the roster bubble but has quietly had a solid start to the year. It was nice to see his efforts rewarded with his first career score on Sunday, even if the moment came under the worst possible circumstances.

Loser: Jets defensive line

The Jets' defensive line was embarrassed on Sunday. The Bills' offensive line bullied the Jets all afternoon, as running back James Cook was able to rush for 132 yards and two touchdowns on a healthy 6.3 yards per carry.

In fact, per NFL Next Gen Stats, Cook rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, averaging over 7.0 yards per carry, when rushing between the tackles. The middle of the Jets' defense was gashed by Buffalo's offensive line.

Will McDonald finished with a sub-25.0 PFF tackling grade and was invisible as a pass rusher. Jermaine Johnson left early with an ankle injury. And Micheal Clemons, along with the rest of the Jets' defensive line depth, proved borderline unplayable. This was a brutal performance.

Loser: Jets offensive line

It wasn't just the Jets' defensive line that got whooped on Sunday. After a stellar performance in Week 1, the Jets' offensive line struggled to create the same opportunities against the Bills.

Some of the issues in pass protection were a result of Fields' horrific day, but the Jets' offensive line wasn't able to create any holes in the running game. Breece Hall carried the ball 10 times for just 29 yards in Sunday's loss.

You aren't going to win many games at this level if you can't win the battle up front. The Jets were dominated on both sides of the trenches in Week 2, and the final score reflects that complete breakdown.