BuffaLowDown
Fansided

Bills Throwback Thursday: The last time Bills vs. Jets was on TNF

By Cam Boon

facebooktwitterreddit

Welcome to Throwback Thursday! Each week, we’ll preview the upcoming week’s game by taking a look back (sometimes WAY back) at a game either of relevance to the week, or something that happened to the day. Hope you enjoy, as we throw it back to Dec. 3, 2009:

There they were again. The Buffalo Bills had endured two separate three-game losing streaks up to the Week 13 matchup with the New York Jets. Their record was 4-7 heading into the game, and there was some sense of optimism at One Bills Drive. No, not because of what was happening on the field.

Owner Ralph Wilson had seen enough of the Dick Jauron era, giving him his pink slip and showing him the door after the Bills started 3-6 on the season. Defensive Coordinator Perry Fewell had taken over the head coaching duties. After losing his debut to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Fewell earned his first win as a head coach against the Miami Dolphins in front of the home crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Next up was a “home” game against the Jets on Thursday night. Why is home in quotes? It was one of those Toronto Series games in which Buffalo never drew more than 52,134 people. They also went 1-5 in these games. One of those losses came against these Jets.

It turned more into a soccer game than a football affair, as the kickers Jay Feely and Rian Lindell combined for a perfect 6-for-6 days in field goals, with Feely’s four accounting for 12 of New York’s 19 points. The only other score for New York on the day was the game-winning touchdown, as Mark Sanchez found Braylon Edwards for a 13-yard touchdown to seal the win for the Jets.

This game was far from an offensive juggernaut, as this Thursday’s game doesn’t seem like it will be filled with scoring either. Both quarterbacks, Sanchez for the Jets and Ryan Fitzpatrick for the Bills, combined for 202 yards passing. The only respectable number put up was by Jets running back Thomas Jones, who gained 109 yards on the ground.

Buffalo’s lone touchdown came from the strong legs of Marshawn Lynch, who pounded in a second-quarter touchdown from 15 yards out, giving the Bills a 10-6 lead. The Jets proceeded to rattle of 13 unanswered points, ending in the Sanchez-Edwards touchdown.

More from Bills History

This game reminds me a lot of what this week is going to be as well. This week could be more of good defense rather than terrible offenses like it was in 2009, but I don’t see

Tyrod Taylor

or Fitzpatrick lighting up either of these defenses. One incredible battle to watch will be

Sammy Watkins

vs.

Darrelle Revis

on the outside.

Both teams have arguably better quarterbacks than in this matchup, as Fitzpatrick is better than Sanchez and Taylor is better than Fitzpatrick was at the time, at least in my mind.

Oh and one other thing, this will be the second time that Rex Ryan is involved in a Bills/Jets TNF matchup. Except this time, he’s on the other sideline. But expect it to be just as much of a grind it out type of game as this one was in 2009.

More from BuffaLowDown

Home/Bills History