In a battle between two rookie quarterbacks, the Buffalo Bills traveled to New Jersey to take on the Jets. Yeah I know they’re the New York Jets, but they play in New Jersey and I try to point that out as much as possible.
Geno Smith and EJ Manuel in the first of what should be many meetings had two very different games. Smith started the scoring with an 8 yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He would connect with Stephen Hill in the second quarter on a 51 yard touchdown pass that put the Jets up 14-6.
Manuel struggled with almost every throw in the first half as he was unable to establish any rhythm whatsoever. CJ Spiller was ineffective on the ground and would leave the game with a lower leg injury. With all their struggles on offense, the Bills found themselves down 17-6 at half.
The Jets would kick a field goal to make it 20-6 in the third quarter and then the Bills began to make a comeback.
Back to back drives that resulted in field goals cut the Jets lead to 8 and then Manuel lead the Bills on a 6 play, 80 yard touchdown drive that was capped off by a 33 yard touchdown pass to tight end Scott Chandler. The Bills would go for two and convert to tie the game at 20.
With all the momentum favoring Buffalo, Geno Smith turned the tide back in favor of Jets connecting with Santonio Holmes for a 69 yard touchdown strike.
All game Manuel faced pressures. He was hurried and pressured on almost every drop back. The Buffalo Bills were able to stay in the game in large part due to the number of penalties the Jets committed throughout the game.
With 4:36 left in the fourth Geno and the Jets took the field with a 7 point lead starting on their own 12. It was an opportunity for the Jets to run their 4 minute drill and put the game away, but they were unable to get more than one first down and with 2:56 left the Jets punted the ball back to the Bills.
In what would be the story of the game, on fourth down the Jets came with a heavy blitz and forced an errant pass by EJ Manuel. Manuel was sacked 8 times by 7 different Jets. It was impossible for the Bills to develop a rhythm on offense due to all the pressure put on by the Jets.
Geno Smith took advantage of a depleted Bills secondary, throwing for 331 yards and 2 touchdowns. Running back Bilal Powell had his first career 100 yard rushing performance on his way to having 26 carries and 146 yards. The Jets overcame 20 penalties that resulted in 168 yards of penalty yards. Through all of that the Jets defeated the Bills 27-20 to improve to 2-1 on the year.
For the Jets, this season has started off about as good as they and their fans could hope for. Beating Tampa Bay and Bills and playing the Patriots tough. Geno Smith is the guy for the Jets moving forward and though he hasn’t played great in every game, he has 2 wins. The Buffalo Bills move to the bottom of the AFC East but the season isn’t even a month old yet. Based on today, the Manuel vs. Smith battles should be great matchups moving forward for years to come.
