(Cuteline: Josh Allen had a low passer rating on Sunday, but gained 40 yards on this run and 59 for the game. Photo by Kostas Lymperopoulos/Buffalo Bills)
By CHUCK POLLOCK, Sun Senior Sports Columnist
What would you say the Bills chances were of winning a road game when their defending NFL MVP quarterback, Josh Allen, for the first time in his eight-year pro career, failed to run or throw for a touchdown and had to leave the game with an injured nose?
Well, in a decidedly boring game, Buffalo hung a 30-10 defeat on the Jets, on a perfect Sunday afternoon at Metlife Stadium in a game you never thought the Bills could/would/should lose.
After being embarrassed defensively seven days ago in a miracle 41-40 win over Baltimore, a team clearly with more talent, left the Ravens in a state of shock.
Yesterday, Buffalo’s ‘D’ played like the second coming of the 1985 Bears, flummoxing the Jets after they scored 32 points in a two-point home loss to the Steelers a week earlier.
Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich’s crew held New York (0-2) to a puny 154 yards total offense, 54 of them passing, while sacking the Jets QBs four times — two of starter Justin Fields before knocking him into concussion protocol in the second half, the others suffered by former Bill Tyrod Taylor.
Buffalo (2-0) held coach Aaron Glenn’s offense to 22 minutes time of possession, 0-for-11 on third down, and had one takeaway.
MEANWHILE, Allen, in one of his worst statistical games in the NFL (14-of-25 passing for 148 yards, no TDs or picks, and an embarrassing 73.4 passer rating. He also had six carries for 59 yards including a 40-yarder and still controlled the game.
That is until he was sacked by Jets backup tackle Jowon Briggs late in the first quarter. He jumped to his feet, signaled for backup QB Mitch Trubisky and raced to the sideline with blood gushing from his nose.
He missed two plays and returned to the game to start the second period.
When asked about the injury, Allen said, “I don’t know what hit me, if it was a knee, a hand. My helmet just kind of came down right on the bridge of my nose and it just started leaking (blood).
“It was kind of like playing high school basketball when you get elbowed in the nose on a rebound.”
What saved Allen’s bacon was running back James Cook, who rushed for 132 yards on 21 carries with touchdowns of 1 and 44 yards, his fifth carry of that distance or longer during his career.
He now has the most rushing TDs in the NFL since the start of the 2024 season with 19.
But, the man of few words, when asked about his performance, merely allowed, “Our identity is to run the football … and that’s what we did.”.
For the game, Buffalo rushed 43 times for 232 yards.
NOTES from the Bills’ 30-10 victory over the Jets Sunday afternoon at soldout Metlife Stadium.
— New York defensive tackle, Harrison Phillips, the former Bill, was tabbed as captain against his previous team.
— Buffalo’s only takeaway was a fumble by Jets quarterback Justin Fields off a hit by edge rusher Joey Bosa with a recovery by the opposite edge, A.J. Epenesa.
The Bills first sack of Fields was shared by backup tackle Zion Logue and end Greg Rousseau. Logue was one of the subs for Oliver. Matt Milano got the other while tackle Deone Walker and Bosa each got one of former Bills QB Tyrod Taylor after Fields left the game to enter concussion protocol.
— There were two key defensive back inactives for the Bills, Taron Johnson (quad), one of the NFL’s elite nickel corners, and Jordan Hancock (shoulder), the rookie draft choice who saw considerable action in the absence of Tre- Davious White (groin), Buffalo’s No. 1 draft pick in 2017, who sat out last week’s win over Baltimore. This week he’s back and the rookie mostly sat.
Meanwhile, top draft pick Maxwell Hairston (leg) will still be on injured reserve two more weeks.
Another key loss was Oliver, defensive star of the win over Baltimore, by causing the momentum-changing fumble by running back Derrick Henry, logging a sack of quarterback Lamar Jackson, three tackles for loss and six tackles, all solos. But, during the past week at practice, he was a victim of “friendly fire” as a teammate stepped on his ankle, knocking him out of the lineup for a week or two.
Also inactive for the Bills were healthy wide receiver Curtis Samuel, linebacker Shaq Thompson (hamstring/hand), tackle Chris Lundt and defensive end Landon Jackson.
Walker, a former draft choice, replaced Oliver while with Taron Johnson out, the Bills instead went with three linebackers including Dorian Williams who took what would have been Johnson’s position.
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
