Mistakes and injuries lead to a Jets loss in Buffalo after the hope following the win in week 12. Winning games in the NFL is very difficult. There is a reason the saying “Any Given Sunday” exists, as the talent in the league is very good, and games can be decided because of the most minor details.
It becomes exponentially harder to win in the NFL when dealing with injuries and mistakes that lead to missed opportunities. That was the main story behind the Jets’ 20-12 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 14. In the mistake category, the Jets were hurt by a few key ones on both sides of the ball.
C.J. Mosley had an offsides penalty near the end of the first half that enabled Buffalo to take a 7-0 lead into halftime. Without that penalty, the Jets most likely are getting the ball back in the third quarter with an opportunity to take the lead. Cornerback Michael Carter II committed two pass interference penalties that enabled Buffalo drives to continue. On offense, Joe Flacco and Michael Carter had fumbles that ultimately killed the momentum the Jets were building. The Flacco one occurred immediately after Mike White got shaken up, while the Carter one happened during a drive that would have given the Jets a great chance to win the game.
On top of this, the Jets suffered critical injuries to Corey Davis, Quinnen Williams, Mike White, and George Fant at different points of the game. Davis and Williams were enormous losses for most of the game, as Davis provides a mainly sure-handed presence in the middle of the field while Williams was dominating the Bills’ interior offensive line until his exit. Their absences were visible, as the Jets had drops on routes that Davis would have run and did not generate the same push in the trenches as when Williams was playing.
Despite getting banged up, Fant was able to return to the game. As was Mike White, who demonstrated an incredible level of toughness after getting knocked out of the game on two separate occasions. Despite continuously getting leveled by Bills defenders, White still stood tall in the pocket and delivered accurate passes to the Jets’ wide receivers. His resiliency was a significant reason why the Jets had a good chance to win the game at different points.
Mistakes and Injuries Lead to a Jets Loss in Buffalo
Head Coach Robert Saleh spoke about the team’s two critical fumbles after the game.
“The big one, the fumble right there in the fourth quarter, I thought the defense did a really nice job in both situations in minimizing the damage, but two turnovers are always…when you lose the turnover battle, you’re not giving yourself a chance to win a football game.”
Saleh also spoke about what he saw with White’s performance on Sunday.
“He’s tough. I mean, shoot, he plays the game really well, he plays very fast, he processes very well, gets—for the most part—gets rid of the ball pretty well. I think it showed everybody else, more than what we already knew, in regard to how tough he is.”
There were positives to take away from this game for the Jets. Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed shut down the Bills’ receivers again and helped limit Josh Allen to 147 passing yards. Zonovan “Bam” Knight continued to impress, having 17 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown, which is why we did a focus piece on Bam previously. Garrett Wilson and Elijah Moore both had six receptions, with Wilson having 78 yards and Moore having 60 yards.
At the end of the day, though, the Jets are now in a spot where every game on their schedule is essentially a must-win. Not winning against Minnesota or Buffalo opened the Jets up to competition from the Los Angeles Chargers, and losing to New England twice allowed them to stay in the race as well. So depending on New England’s s Monday night game, the Jets could slide from their number 8 slot to the number 9 slot in the AFC.
The remaining schedule is not as easy as it once seemed, as Detroit, Jacksonville, Seattle, and Miami are not pushovers in the slightest. These four teams all have exciting qualities and could challenge the Jets down the stretch.
At the same time, the Jets are a talented and dangerous team. Their defense can match up with anybody, as proven by their ability to shut down the high-octane Bills offense twice. The team’s offense will also have an excellent opportunity to exploit the weak defenses on their remaining schedule, especially if Mike White continues the level of play he has shown over the past three weeks.
The Jets’ squandered opportunities and made too many mistakes against Buffalo, missing out on a chance to firmly solidify their playoff hopes. It remains to be seen what the end result will be for this team. But with four winnable games remaining on their schedule, the postseason dream is not dead just yet. A tough road awaits this team, but if the Jets have proved anything this year, it is that they can play with anybody and exceed all expectations given to them.