ORCHARD PARK – Don’t the let the final result fool you. Jets 42, Bills 36 cannot be regarded as the defining moment when Herman Edwards’ team turned its season around. Instead, the Jets should consider themselves fortunate that on a week where they needed a weakling to beat up on, the hapless Bills were more than accommodating.
It’s wasn’t long ago that Ralph Wilson Stadium was an automatic loss for a visiting team. But these new-millennium Bills go overboard in their hospitality. In a game they needed to win as badly as the Jets, the Bills offered the warmest of welcome mats, committing three first-quarter turnovers that the Jets cashed in for three touchdowns and a 21-6 lead.
The turnovers – a fumble recovery by Marcus Coleman that led to a Curtis Martin touchdown run, an interception by Marvin Jones that led to a Vinny Testaverde TD pass to Richie Anderson, and a seven-yard fumble return for a touchdown by John Abraham – should have set the table for an easy afternoon for the Jets.
Not only were the Bills handing the Jets the game, but the hosts lost their starting QB Rob Johnson with 3:04 left in the first quarter when he took a elbow to helmet from Lewis while sliding at the end of an scramble. A woozy Johnson had to be helped from the field and ultimately into the locker room, and it seemed any chance of a Bills comeback went with him.
But instead of burying the Bills, the Jets continued to show symptoms of a team with an aversion to tackling. Suddenly, Bills RB Travis Henry was ripping through the Jets defense for huge gains. It was an awful reminder of the way the 49ers had stormed through the Jets on Monday night en route to gaining 233 yards rushing with the help of 18 missed tackles by the matador Jets.
With Henry finding running room and Alex Van Pelt, who had thrown just 14 passes over the past four seasons, proving to be a capable replacement at QB, the Bills got back in a game that should have been owned by the Jets.
A 28-yard run by Henry set up a Bills field goal that made it 21-9 Jets, then Van Pelt hit TE Jay Riemersma for a three-yard TD that cut a 28-9 Jets lead to 28-15 in the second quarter.
Two plays into the third quarter, the Jets were up only 28-22 after Van Pelt drilled Peerless Price on a slant pattern and the Bills wide receiver sprinted 70 yards through a spacious Jets secondary for a stunning touchdown.
Just that quickly, the Jets were in a fight with a rejuvenated team that had no business being back in the game. This despite 113 first-half rushing yards by Martin.
Edwards had called the Jets’ tackling against the 49ers “embarrassing.” It wasn’t proving to be much better against the Bills. Henry ran over FS Chris Hayes en route to a 28-yard gain in the first quarter and Hayes missed another tackle when he was turned into road kill by Price as Bills WR raced to his third-quarter touchdown.
Certainly, this was not the type of performance defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell had hoped for, coming back to a place where he had coached as an assistant for 10 years.
But if the Jets have their issues, the Bills are a mess. Back in the game at 28-22, they gave up 14 quick points to hand it back to the Jets. Testaverde capped a 68-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown pass to TE Anthony Becht, and Lewis added another touchdown when he scooped up a Larry Centers fumble and returned it 15 yards for another score. Suddenly, it was 42-22, with 28 of the Jets’ points coming off Bills turnovers. Thank you very much.
Yes, the Jets had their moments defensively. But good teams are going to give the ball away the way the Bills did yesterday. Not the Dolphins, who visit the Meadowlands next week, nor the unbeaten Rams, who will visit in two weeks.
The schedule had the Jets playing the right team and the right time. Next week, they won’t be that lucky.