The visiting New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills 19-13 on Thursday in a match between two sides from New York State played in Canada’s largest city.
The Jets clinched victory when cornerback Darrelle Revis intercepted a long pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick intended for Terrell Owens. The Jets then ran out the final two minutes of the game.
The interception by Revis, his fifth of the season, capped a brilliant game for the Jets defensive back, who shut down the dangerous Owens, limiting him to three catches for 31 yards.
“I just try the best I can,” Revis said. “We know he’s a big-time receiver.”
The defensive struggle at the Rogers Center lifted the Jets to 6-6 and dropped their AFC East rivals to 4-8.
One sour note for the Jets was an injury to starting quarterback Mark Sanchez, who left the game midway through the third quarter because of a problem with his right knee.
Backup Kellen Clemens replaced Sanchez and relied on the Jets’ strong rushing attack, which accounted for 249 of the team’s 331 yards gained.
The game was the second in a five-year agreement with Rogers Communications that began last season and generates US$78 million for the Bills, who hope to stimulate fan support in Toronto, which is two hours away from the western New York city.
Buffalo lost last year’s game in Toronto 16-3 to Miami.
The Bills struck first with a 49-yard field goal by Rian Lindell and led 10-6 after a 15-yard second-quarter touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch.
Jay Feely’s third field goal of the game pulled the Jets back to 10-9, and just before intermission Sanchez connected on a 13-yard touchdown pass to receiver Braylon Edwards to give New York a 16-10 halftime lead.
The teams traded field goals in the second half, with the Jets defense preserving the lead after Sanchez hurt his knee diving forward to get a first down.
“They had a good defensive scheme. They brought a lot pressure on our offensive line. We didn’t handle the pressure very good,” said Bills coach Perry Fewell, whose team made first downs on only one of 11 third-down chances.
Jets coach Rex Ryan was pleased, but also frustrated at the injury to Sanchez.
During the week, the Jets had brought baseball’s New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi in to work with Sanchez on sliding to avoid injury after he hurt his knee last week.
“He’s just competitive, trying to get the first down. OK, if he had slid we might not have got the first down, but we might not have had a quarterback get hurt either. I know why he did it, but he’s got to understand I don’t care about the first down, I care about him.”
“He can’t be reckless,” Ryan said.
“I never want him diving forward. I don’t want to see that. I thought we were clear on that. He’s our knucklehead and we love him, but man,” he said.
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