Buffalo coach Rex Ryan made a successful return to the MetLife Stadium to take on his old team as the Bills beat the New York Jets 22-17 on Thursday.
Buffalo’s defense shut down the Jets, while the Bills scored on offense and special teams to move level with New York on 5-4 win-loss records in the American Football Conference East Division.
Duke Williams returned a fumbled kickoff 19 yards for the go-ahead points, rookie Karlos Williams had a 26-yard touchdown catch and Dan Carpenter kicked three field goals.
Photo: AFP
Buffalo’s offense made just enough key plays and held off a late surge by the Jets after Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for two touchdowns.
Ryan was fired by the Jets after six seasons and immediately hired by Buffalo in January. When his defense stopped the Jets inside the Bills 10-yard line in the final minutes, he celebrated with some vigorous fist pumps, and repeated them when Bacarri Rambo clinched it with a last-minute interception.
“Pretty satisfying,” Ryan said. “Now I can talk the truth. This thing is kind of like being dumped by some girl you had the hots for. That is what it feels like. You move on, and every now and then they call you back and they can’t get you back.”
Photo: AFP
“He never talked to us about how he previously coached the Jets,” said Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy, who gained 112 yards on 19 carries. “He made it more a division game — a must-win type of game where there would be a hostile environment here in New York.”
The early action was dominated by some fierce defense.
New York’s blitzes kept Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor off-balance and Buffalo got their first three points thanks to Corey Graham’s interception off a bobble by Jets receiver Brandon Marshall.
Carpenter kicked a 47-yard field goal to make it 3-3.
Williams added to that immediately, scooping up a fumble by rookie Devin Smith on the first kickoff return of his career. Williams scooted nine yards for a 9-3 lead, but Carpenter missed the extra point wide left.
Carpenter added a 41-yard field goal to make 12-3 at halftime, then kicked a 29-yard effort midway through the third period after Chris Ivory’s fumble.
New York’s turnover completely turned the game in Buffalo’s favor.
That field goal followed rookie Karlos Williams’ 26-yard touchdown reception on the first series of the second half.
The Jets finally held onto the ball long enough to get something going, an 80-yard drive capped by Marshall’s 14-yard scoring catch to make it 22-10.
New York forced a three-and-out by the Buffalo Bills offense and regained the ball.
When New York reached the Buffalo 20, though, they eschewed a field-goal opportunity and tried a strange pass to Marshall well behind the line of scrimmage on fourth-and-two.
He was covered and thrown for a two-yard loss, then limped off, but returned on the Jets’ next series.
Fitzpatrick hit Eric Decker for a 31-yard touchdown with 7 minutes, 23 seconds remaining, then got another golden chance a couple of minutes later when Buffalo punter Colton Schmidt bobbled a snap and was tackled at his 13, but Ryan’s defense held.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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