Josh Allen, Bills defense breaks out against the Jets

ORCHARD PARK – The Buffalo Bills have taken care of their business, but now they will have to wait until next weekend to find out who they will host in the AFC Wild Card Game at Highmark Stadium.

By pulling away in the second half to beat the truly awful New York Jets 40-14 on Sunday afternoon, the Bills secured the No. 2 seed in the AFC bracket and their first-round opponent will be either the Denver Broncos or Cincinnati Bengals his or the Miami Dolphins. The Indianapolis Colts were eliminated with a tough loss to the New York Giants.

While the fates of these teams unfold, the Bills will play a now meaningless Week 18 game in New England, where Sean McDermott will be able to rest a number of his key players, including quarterback Josh Allen.

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That’s why beating the Jets was so important, because the last thing the Bills wanted to do was go all out against the Patriots to secure a chance to host two postseason home games and perhaps a third in the AFC Championship Game -weekend, if the Bills can survive the first two rounds and the Chiefs somehow stumble in the divisional round, as unlikely as that may be.

“It gives us options,” McDermott said of the win. “And I think that’s the most important thing for us. We’ll see where it takes us. We have some guys who are a little sore at the moment and maybe need some rest, but we’ll see. We also have some guys that we might want to take a look at, whether it’s on offense, defense or special teams, that we’re a little curious about that maybe haven’t been ready to take action yet. So I think that plays a role.”

Allen will likely start the game to keep his streak of 113 consecutive games played, including the postseason, alive, and then he’ll retire after a series or two, handing the reins to Mitch Trubisky.

“I’m not sure what next week brings, but it gives us an opportunity to give certain guys a break and we’ll just go with the flow and do whatever (Brandon) Beane and McDermott tell our guys.” said Allen.

They have this chance because they absolutely crushed the Jets, turning a 12-0 game into a 40-0 road win in 13 minutes in the second half.

“Yeah, it’s fun, it’s a lot of fun and it definitely makes my job easier,” McDermott said of how quickly the game exploded. “I thought it was great to see.”

Here’s how I rated the performance:

Pass offense: B-

Allen had to fight through a challenging first half as the Jets gave him the same fits they always do. They came under pressure, made life difficult for the wide receivers, and after a TD drive to open the game, he was only able to make a field goal on the last play of the second quarter.

Thanks to the defense allowing him short turnovers, he scored three rushing touchdowns in the second half, traveling only 38, 37 and 15 yards, and capped them off with a magnificent 30-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper, one 14-yard throws it up hoping for the best pass to Keon Coleman and James Cook’s one-yard TD run. The score went from 12-0 to 33-0 in a flash and he spent the rest of the afternoon on the bench.

It was nice to see Cooper make a few plays as he had three catches for 56 yards, and Coleman’s play was excellent as he jumped high in the air to catch the TD with traffic around him. He did have a few drops though. Khalil Shakir was strangely quiet with just three catches for 25 yards, as was Dalton Kincaid, who had two for 24 yards. Allen finished the game with just 182 yards, but with two touchdown passes and one rushing, he now has 40 total touchdowns.

As for Trubisky, his only pass went to Tyrell Shavers, who turned it into a 69-yard touchdown. What about efficiency?

RUN OFFENSE: C+

There was some wasted time which helped lower the per carry average as the Jets were able to gang up on Ray Davis and Ty Johnson for most of the fourth quarter trying to drain the clock.

Even more telling was the performance in the first half, when the Bills managed 75 total yards on 17 attempts, an average of 4.4. Still, the Jets’ front gave the offensive line some problems and Cook finished with just 53 yards and a touchdown while the Bills managed 94 yards on 37 attempts, a 2.9 average.

Pass Defense: A

Speaking of garbage time, old friend Tyrod Taylor thrived when the game was 40-0. He replaced Aaron Rodgers and completed 11 of 14 for 83 yards and two TDs as the Bills essentially gave up on defense, so we’ll choose to ignore all of that and focus on Buffalo’s dominance over Rodgers.

The 41-year-old future Hall of Famer looked washed, and if he can throw his 500th career TD pass next week against the Dolphins, he should really ride off into the sunset and call it a career. The Bills made him look old by picking him twice, sacking him four times and shutting him out in the three quarters he played.

He completed just 12 of 18 for 112 yards as he failed to get WRs Davante Adams and Garrett Wilson going. Even RB Breece Hall, who was a weapon in the passing game, had to make a catch. The Bills got Taylor Rapp and Rasul Douglas back and that made a difference, but it was Buffalo’s big-play ability that changed the game.

Christian Benford was intercepted; Greg Rousseau deflected a pass that resulted in a pick for Jordan Phillips; Ed Oliver forced a fumble that Matt Milano recovered; Rousseau had a big fourth down stop on New York’s first possession; and AJ Epenesa had a sack for a safety.

RUN DEFENSE: B+

Hall started well but then disappeared, finishing the game with just 45 yards on 10 carries, 17 of which came on one play. The Jets’ inability to get him rolling was part of their downfall, especially given that Hall has traditionally been a thorn in the Bills’ side.

The Bills’ defensive line had its way with the Jets’ struggling offensive line, not only in the pass rush but also in the running game. The majority of the Jets’ 112 rushing yards came outside of the tackles. LBs Terrel Bernard, Matt Milano, Dorian Williams and Joe Andreesen combined for 24 tackles and Cole Bishop, starting again at safety, had five and nearly got a sack on a blitz.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-

On a windy and sometimes damp day, Tyler Bass was perfect as he hit a 39-yard field goal and all five of his extra points. And Sam Martin had a 51-yard punt and a 39-yarder that went down on the 5th, ultimately setting the stage for safety Epenesa.

Returnee Brandon Codrington, acquired from the Jets in a trade before the season, had a nifty 25-yard punt return and Ty Johnson returned three kickoffs, one 45 yards. In coverage, the Bills were solid on both punts and kickoffs as Xavier Gipson was not effective and Bass also had four touchbacks.

Perhaps most impressively, on a day when referee Clete Bakeman and his team looked like they were trying their hand at quarterback with all the flags they threw, there were none on the Bills’ kicking units.

COACHING: A-

Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich had a tough few weeks, but he had his guys ready for this week. The big plays and turnovers were crucial to the final result, and part of that was due to some creativity in the pass rush and back end that kept Rodgers guessing.

On offense, Joe Brady struggled to get things going in the first half, especially after the first drive, a TD march helped by three Jets penalties. And then in the second half, with so many short fields to work with, he didn’t need too many big plays, but when he did, Allen executed.

As for McDermott, the Jets are a team he definitely enjoys beating. There seems to be more bad blood between the players than usual, and he had the Bills prepared, but was also aware not to get stupid. There was an initial altercation that resulted in a 15-yard penalty on Connor McGovern, but nothing came after that as the Bills overrode the Jets’ feisty nature.

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