The week for the New York Jets started with four players getting hit with the flu bug. The week ended with numerous players leaving the game with an injury, including the heart and soul of the defense.
Couple that with two killer fumbles lost and it added up to a 20-12 loss to the Buffalo Bills, dropping the Jets to 7-6 on the year and delivering a blow to the Jets’ playoff chances.
The Jets do still hold the last playoff spot for now, but now have are hoping for losses by the Chargers on Sunday night against the Dolphins and the Patriots on Monday night against the Cardinals. Especially the Patriots because of the season sweep. They also lost some ground in the wild card race with the Bengals winning to move to 9-4.
You can probably forget about the division at this point with the Bills now sitting at 10-3.
Credit the Jets for fighting, especially quarterback Mike White. You talk about a gamer, White took about as much of a beating as you could imagine and yet just kept fighting. White finished 27/44 for 268 yards. He was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons, as said by head coach Robert Saleh after the game. The Jets also lost wide receiver Corey Davis due to a head injury in the first quarter.
The Jets also saw good production, once again, from some of their rookie offensive players. Garrett Wilson caught seven passes for 78 yards and set a new franchise record for receiving yards as a rookie. Wilson now has 868 yards this season. The previous record was 844 by Keyshawn Johnson.
Zonovan Knight also had another productive day with 71 yards rushing on 17 carries.
But the key in this one was a pair of costly fumbles by Joe Flacco (in his short relief period for White) and Michael Carter (who finished with five yards on five carries). Carter’s especially, as the Jets had a chance to get within a possession with more time than they eventually did.
The Jets turned the ball over two times and were unable to take the ball away from the Bills. You can’t expect to win on the road in December without creating turnovers, especially against a team like the Bills.
They also gave up a few too many key throws to Bills quarterback Josh Allen. While his numbers may not wow you, he did enough to rattle the Jets on a day where New York’s offense was beaten up.
The Jets did get some good news on the injury front regarding Quinnen Williams. Saleh said Williams is considered “day-to-day” and has a chance to play next week against the Lions. That would be great news for the Jets after getting a huge scare earlier in the day with Williams leaving and being ruled out.
With the Jets now at 7-6 and going 0-2 on this key two-game trip to Minnesota and Buffalo, their final four games — vs. Lions, vs. Jaguars, at Seahawks, at Dolphins — become incredibly huge. Their playoffs more or less start next week against a Lions team that is getting hotter and just knocked off that same Vikings team.
The goal at this point is to stay as healthy as possible and fend off two teams on their quest for their first playoff berth in 12 years.
