The Buffalo Bills were 11.5 point favorites to beat the New York Jets. Instead Gang Green completed one of the most improbable upsets of the season, beating the heavily favored Bills 20-17 thanks in major part to New York’s stingy defense and punishing running game.
While Bills quarterback Josh Allen — a player many believe is a leading candidate for MVP — torched the Jets with his legs. He ran for 86-yards and scored Buffalo’s only two touchdowns by himself, Gang Green never allowed him to pick them apart through the air.
Allen was sacked five times, and picked off twice. His first interception came on the third play of the game, two plays after he hit Stefon Diggs on a 42-yard go-route down the sideline. While the Jets didn’t score points on the drive, it foreshadowed what was to come.
Allen would get picked off once more when he didn’t see Sauce Gardner waiting for the ball on a critical third down in the third quarter. The pick helped set up the Jets for their go-ahead touchdown when Zach Wilson hit James Robinson in the flat for the score.
SAAAUUUUCCEEEE#BUFvsNYJ on CBS | @iamSauceGardner pic.twitter.com/cWkcIGtF3I
— New York Jets (@nyjets) November 6, 2022
Speaking of Zach Wilson and the Jets offense, they simplified things from last week. Offensive Coordinator Mike LeFluer called a great game, reducing Wilson’s risky throws. The second year quarterback completed 18-of-25 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown.
First TD as a Jet for @robinson_jamess!!!#BUFvsNYJ on CBS pic.twitter.com/6bwhqEYXMq
— New York Jets (@nyjets) November 6, 2022
Instead when it mattered the most the Jets turned to their running game. With the game tied at 17, the Jets had the football on their own 14-yard line with a little over seven minutes to go. The Jets gashed the Bills with the running of both James Robinson and Michael Carter.
Robinson had 35 yards on the drive, and Carter had 32 yards as New York moved all the way to the Bills six-yard line. Perhaps Wilson’s best throw came on a 12-yard slant to Denzel Mims that was key to setting up the go-ahead field goal.
The Jets defense pinned its ears back in the second half. They held Buffalo to 43 yards of offense in the second half, and clamped down hard on the Bills on the final possession of the game. Bryce Huff’s strip sack of Josh Allen put Buffalo in a third and a mile. Then Sauce Gardner ended it with a pass deflection.
