Jets Win 37-31! Fitzpatrick And Offense Soar!

 Sheldon Richardson made the biggest defensive play of the night stopping the Buffalo Bills who went for it on a 4^th and 1 near mid-field. Even with a favorable Buffalo spot, Richardson’s effort closed the deal and the Jets went on to win a seesaw battle 37-31. The stars for the Jets were mostly on the offensive side of the football. Put them in any order you want but Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Forte, Eric Decker, Brandon Marshall, Quincy Enunwa and even back-up center Wesley Johnson (in for injured LG James Carpenter) all deserve tons of credit.  Ryan Fitzpatrick was everything you want in a quarterback the way he played against the Bills. His passing was accurate, he saw the field well most of the night and even the chances he took running the ball himself were mostly positive yardage.

  In the opening drive the Jets had the ball for 8:19 and had to settle for a field goal. Quincy Enunwa might have had the catch of the night on a 3^rd down to keep the drive going. A 34-yard reception where he jumped for and muscled his way to catch the ball. In only 2 games it is becoming obvious that Enunwa has the chance to become a special player. Buffalo answered on a 3 and 12 with a 84-yard TD pass to Marquise Goodwin who ran right past Darelle Revis. The Jets closed out the quarter with a 29-yard field goal by Nick Folk. Like every Jet fan watching my thoughts were, “Here we go again. Move the ball between the 20’s and hope.”

  In the 2^nd quarter the Jets drove down the field for a touchdown highlighted by 2 pass completions to Brandon Marshall who left the game with a knee injury after his face mask was grabbed and he seemed to twist his knee on the way down. On the same play guard James Carpenter went out with a calf injury. Matt Forte scored on a 1-yard run. The Jets scored again on a nice 7 play drive highlighted with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Decker. The Bills ended the 1^st half scoring with a 39-yard field goal.

  On the Bills first possession in the second half they scored on a 71-yard pass to Greg Salas. I have no idea what Jets safety Rontez Miles was doing on that play. On the following Jets drive Jalin Marshall fumbled a 2-yard completion and the Bills ran it in for another touchdown. Right there Jet fans began to second guess themselves for staying up on a work night to watch this game that was looking like it was turning ugly. On the Jets next drive, Brandon Marshall had his usual one dropped pass for the game. Like the Bengal game, this would have been for good yardage also. The Bills went 3 and out. The next Jets touchdown may have been their best drive of the game. They went 84-yards on 12 plays. Fitzpatrick mixed up his passes and runs to perfection. He spread his passes around to Brandon Marshall, Decker, Enunwa and Jalin Marshall. Matt Forte ran the ball well and scored on a 3-yard run. A thanks has to go out to Rex Ryan who helped out when his defense had 12 men on the field. Thanks Rex! Brought back a lot of memories.

  In the 4^th quarter, Folk hit a 36-yard field goal. The drive was highlighted with a nice 3^rd down 27-yard pass reception to Jalin Marshall to his back shoulder. On the very next play Fitz hit Decker for 35-yards over the middle.

  On the Bills next drive they were moving the ball until the 4^th and 1 stop by Sheldon Richardson. The Jets took over and went down the field and scored a TD on a 12-yard run by Matt Forte, his 3^rd of the day.

  The Bills then went down the field as the Jets were in a prevent defense and made it look too easy. They scored on a TD pass with 1:22 to go. The Bills tried an onside kick that failed. The Bills ended up getting the ball back but it was too little too late.

  Give credit to the Jets offense. They moved the ball up and down the field. The offensive line did a great job. Matt Forte is a Pro’s Pro. He runs the ball, catches it out of the backfield and he blocks. The chemistry Fitzpatrick has with Eric Decker is terrific. Jet fans shouldn’t be concerned about the lack of a pass rush coming off the Bengal game (7 sacks). Because of the running threat QB Tyrod Taylor is, the Jets defensive line looked like they practiced staying in their lanes, trying to contain Tyler from getting outside. Even though Revis got burned, he seemed to settle down and he made a couple of nice 3^rd down tackles.

Uppers and Downers

Uppers

1.     Ryan Fitpatrick

      One of his best games as a Jet. But please cut down on the head first runs.

2.     Jet Receivers

Except for a couple of Brandon Marshall ill timed drops, the Jet receivers are catching everything thrown near them.

3.     Darron Lee

He was more visible than week 1. The play he made slicing through the line on a tackle for a loss showed his quickness.

    

             Downers

1.     Shuffle Pass

Coach Gailey, please take this out of the playbook (see Bubby Brister).

2.     Lorenzo Mauldin

After a good week 1, he was almost invisible and jumped offside on a key play.

3.     The NFL

They are so money hungry the timing of the commercials are too close to the beginning of many plays. Also they have to let the plays breath and show more replays and less of Rex Ryan on the sidelines.

Green Tidbits:

….Bowles had to go for the 2-point conversion after last TD….Jets 3^rd down efficiency was 8-13 (61%)….Jets secondary cannot be dependent on the defensive line pass rush….Teams will begin to adjust for Enunwa and will take double team off Brandon Marshall….Marcus Williams had a bounce back game highlighted by his 2^nd INT that was a game changer….Looking at Bill’s Jerry Hughes on the sideline and the dripping from his mouth, I thought I was watching one of the Alien movies….We need James Carpenter to be healthy. Anyone have Willie Colon’s phone number?....Tackle Ryan Claddy got beat early in the game but had a solid 2^nd half…. Lac Edwards still looks good punting. What a difference from Quigley….Calvin Pryor is usually in the right spot but is missing too many tackles….I’m dusting off my Dolphins cap for Sunday….

@GreenRewind



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