Not even Josh Allen's bloody nose could stop the Buffalo Bills offense in a dominating victory over the New York Jets. The Bills rushed for more than 200 yards on the ground as Allen suffered a blow to his nose in the first half, relying on the ground game to pace the team in a convincing 30-10 victory.
The Bills didn't need Allen to be his usual dominant self, as he didn't have a passing or rushing touchdown in this one. James Cook paced the offense with two rushing touchdowns, while the Bills' defense had seven quarterback hits and two forced fumbles. Joey Bosa had both of those forced fumbles in the win, along with a sack and two quarterback hits.
The Jets offense couldn't get anything going until Justin Fields left the game in the fourth quarter with a concussion, punting on seven of their first nine possessions. New York only had 13 yards after its first 12 plays and 102 total yards midway through the fourth quarter. This was a game the Jets would like to forget after an inspired performance in Week 1.
Here are some takeaways from the Bills' convincing win that moved them to 2-0 on the season.
The Jets couldn't get anything going against the Bills' defense all day long, which was quite the change of pace from the season opener. Justin Fields had 27 passing yards through eight possessions, as the only points the Jets could get were on a 51-yard field goal from Nick Folk late in the first half.
Fields had just two passing yards -- on one pass attempt -- in the third quarter. He fumbled the ball once and looked uncomfortable in the pocket all afternoon. The Jets started 0-for-7 on third down and had five possessions in which they had less than 10 yards on their first eight attempts. The Jets averaged 0.6 yards per attempt through eight possessions, not exactly what they are paying Fields $20 million a year for. The Bills had more points (30) than Fields had passing yards (27).
This was a setback for Fields, showcasing the inconsistency we've seen throughout his career.
The intriguing aspect of this game was Allen's nose injury towards the end of the first quarter. Allen appeared to have injured his nose with 1:23 left in the first quarter at the end of a run, and had a gauze on his nose before he reentered the game to start the second quarter.
While Allen missed a few plays, Mitchell Trubisky completed a 32-yard pass to Josh Palmer, showing how much the Bills dominated the Jets on both sides of the ball. Allen only missed three plays before reentering the game, but the injury looked much scarier in Buffalo when Allen took himself out.
The Bills dominated the Jets on the ground, rushing for over 200 yards and three rushing touchdowns by the initial seconds of the fourth quarter in what was a dominant effort. With Allen not at his best throwing the ball -- and battling a nose injury -- Cook rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns after three quarters as this game wasn't even close.
The total yardage was 383-78 by the 13:50 mark in the fourth quarter. It's rare to see a team this dominant in the NFL these days, but that's what the Bills are against the AFC East. They won five straight division titles for a reason.
There were a few impressive plays by the Bills on the ground, but Cook's 44-yard touchdown run with 8:50 left in the second quarter put this game on ice. Cook was dominant on the ground all day long, but his juke on Jets linebacker Quincy Williams takes the cake here.
Cook had a big hole and almost ran into Bills guard David Edwards after the juke on Williams, but stayed balanced and took the ball 44 yards for the score. This was the Bills' second 40-plus-yard run of the first half, the first of which resulted from an Allen stiff-arm at the end of the play.
Cook had 132 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
The Bills (2-0) will host the Dolphins on "Thursday Night Football" to kick off Week 3, while the Jets (0-2) will look for their first win of the season against the Buccaneers next Sunday.
The Jets gave up on Moore very early in his career. He gets his second career rush TD -- this one with the Bills -- as the Bills have 60 rushing touchdowns since the start of the 2023 season (three today). 212 rushing yards for the Bills as they are cruising.
Bills 30, Jets 3
Matt Prater hits a 33-yard FG to extend the lead to 20. Allen went 3-of-4 for 46 yards on the drive, but the Bills went with a heavy dose of Cook -- including on a 3rd-and-4 at the Jets' 15. They are looking to get out of dodge with a win.
Bills 23, Jets 3
Outside of a 27-yard run, Fields has looked like the Bears version of Fields. He's 2 of 8 for 25 yards with a 40.1 passer rating. He hasn't been good, nor have the Jets. Bills looks like the bets team in the AFC at half, even if they haven't been firing on all cylinders either.
HALFTIME: Bills 20, Jets 3
Allen is only 8-of-16 for 70 yards, but the Bills have 147 rushing yards. They are outgaining the Jets 248-44 in the final minute of the first half. This was the first possession (out of 5) the Bills didn't score.
The Bills have two rush plays of at least 40+ yards today. This one is a 44-yard TD form James Cook to the house. Buffalo has 136 rushing yards and 201 total yards of offense -- and this is with Josh Allen struggling to throw the football.
Cook has two rushing TDs in the first half.
Bills 20, Jets 0
Lot's of gauze in Allen's nose, as it's still bothering him. He's still in the game.
The Jets, meanwhile, have run 12 plays for 13 yards. Punt, fumble, punt, punt.
Prate was coaching 9-to-11 year old football just 10 days agao. Still hasn't missed a kick with the Bills, drilling a 52-yard FG after Allen reentered the game.
Keep in mind Prater is 41 years old.
Bills 13, Jets 0
Allen did not play the remaining 1:23 of the first quarter, but he appears to have injured his nose. No word if it's broken or not. The slow motion replay looked like the nose snapped.
Allen is back in the game to start the 2nd quarter.
Allen goes into the sideline and runs to get treatment. We'll let you know what the injury is. Mitchell Trubisky enters the game. Allen was holding his nose.
Trubisky enters the game and throws a 32-yard completion.
Failed end around, lost 10 yards
Arian Smith called offsides on a 17-yard catch that was later ruled incomplete.
Garrett Wilson drop.
0 points on three possessions. 9 plays for 20 yards.
Prater hit a chip-shot 28-yard FG for and hasn't missed a FG attempt nor extra point since the Bills signed him last week. Prater is filling in for Tyler Bass (injured reserve). Bills don't fully capitalize on Field fumble.
Bills 10, Jets 0
On the 2nd play of the Jets ensuing possession, Fields fumbled and gave the ball back to the Bills. That's the 45th fumble by Fields since his rookie year in 2021, by far the most in the NFL.
Three plays later for Buffalo, James Cook punches it in for the TD -- after the roughing the passer call on 3rd-and-19 gave the Bills an automatic first down. Poor penalty by the Jets and the Bills capitalize. Cook had 5 carries for 22 yards and a scor on that opening drive. Allen was 1 of 3 for 4 yards.
Bills 7, Jets 0
Allen didn't get his "push pass" back to the line of scrimmage. I guess that's what we can call it. Allen didn't even try to get the ball back to the LOS.
Didn't affect the Bills anyway, as Clemons hit Allen late on a 3rd-and-19. It's a bad penalty and really didn't affect the play, but that will be called every time. Just an easy call for the official to amke.
Allen had a 40-yard rush on a 3rd-and-8 eon just the third play of the game. Towards the end of the run, Allen used his massive frame to stiff arm Tony Adams at the end of the run. What can't Allen do?
The Bills are looking to take command of the AFC East after two weeks (no team in the division outside of the Bills won in Week 1). The Jets are looking to avoid an 0-2 start. This is a big one.
His Best Since
Team pts -- 32 (Week 6, 2024)
Total TD/TO -- 3-0 (Week 5, 2023)
Yds/att -- 9.9 (Week 13, 2022)
Passer Rtg -- 119.1 (Week 5, 2023)
The Jets had 182 yards on the ground in Week 1, a significant uptick from 2024. Last season, the Jets averaged just 91.8 rush yards per game. With Justin Field adding that dual-threat ability, the Bills defense will have to keep him on contain.
Watch out for Breece Hall, who rushed for 107 yards last week in the opener.
Fields has just 2 turnovers in 7 starts over the last 2 seasons (40 turnovers in his 1st 38 career starts). He had 0 turnovers and 0 off-target passes in Week 1 -- Fields' 1st career start with 0 off-target attempts (45th start)
Fields was also 3-of-3 passing on throws of 15+ air yds in Week 1 -- included in that was the 33-yd TD pass to Garrett Wilson.
Allen has an impressive resume against the Jets, no matter where he plays. He has a 9-4 record with 24 total TD against the Jets. However, he has 18 turnovers in his career vs Jets (his most TO vs any team)
That has changed in recent years. Allen is 3-0 with 9 total TD to just 1 TO in his last 3 games vs Jets .
White was questionable throughout the week, but he's good to play on Sunday. Massive for a Bills pass defense that has to contain Garrett Wilson today.
