You couldn’t ask for a better Monday Night Football to end Week 6. It was a roller coaster ride of emotions for both teams and it seemed like flags were getting thrown every other play. The good news is that the Bills overcame that type of adversity by securing a close win over the Jets, 23-20.
Buffalo moves to 4-2 and ends their two-game losing streak while they send New York to 2-4. The Bills now have a two game lead over the division. This primetime matchup between the Bills and Jets was definitely a better finish for the Bills as compared to last season.
Despite only scoring three points in the second half, that’s all that the Bills needed to secure this win. They had a dominant first half where they put up 20 points and the Buffalo defense rattled Aaron Rodgers throughout the game. Josh Allen had a much better game than last week. He finished 19/25 for 215 yards and 3 total touchdowns.
It seemed like the Bills were going to take major control of this game going into halftime, but then Aaron Rodgers connected with Allen Lazard on a hail mary pass to end the first half to bring the Jets within three points of the Bills. The good news for Buffalo is that the Jets only managed to score three points as well.
The Buffalo defense stepped up in big moments to shut down the Jets’ momentum. Defensive end A.J. Epenesa was making Tyron Smith look like a rookie off the edge. Safety Taylor Rapp was arguably the best player on defense for the Bills, and the rest of the defense did their job to take down Rodgers.
As for the offense, Allen stepped up in a big way to get the division win. He looked like the MVP candidate that he was playing like the first three weeks of the season. In addition, the Bills’ offense didn’t have James Cook but that didn’t matter with the presence of Ray Davis.
The fourth-round rookie rushed for 97 yards and had 55 receiving yards which included a fantastic 42-yard reception from Allen. This game showed Bills fans that even without Cook, Davis can carry the load.
The Buffalo Bills snap their losing streak and stay on top of AFC East
At one point, there was a scare that the Bills were on their way to having another heartbreaking loss. The Bills had 11 penalties for 94 yards, with a majority of them coming in the second half. At the same time, half of those penalties were highly questionable. Then the refs started calling penalties on the Jets later on in the fourth quarter. They would also end the game with 11 penalties.
As the Jets were driving on their final drive, Rodgers chucked the ball down the field to Mike Williams but Taron Johnson had other plans by sealing the game-winning interception.
WELCOME BACK, TARON‼️
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 15, 2024
📺: @ESPNNFL pic.twitter.com/9s9ZTphPBQ
The Bills can now enjoy this win and stay on top of the AFC East heading into Week 7 where they head back to Orchard Park against the Tennessee Titans.