New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills
1 2 3 4 FINAL
NEW YORK 8 14 7 0 29
BUFFALO 3 7 11 15 36
BUFFALO – A power outage delayed the start of Thursday Night Football's Color Rush affair.
Once the lights came back on, the party began.
Not a 'fun' party mind you, more like a heavily hyped rager that devolved into a couple of dudes fighting over the last of the chips and that one long-term couple arguing on the front steps before breaking up for the 19th time.
Rex Ryan fired Greg Roman at halftime to "inspire" his team.
Aaron Rodgers failed in an effort to call a 4th timeout for his team as time expired in the first half leaving at least 3-points on the board.
Todd Bowles, with a 3-score lead and time running out in the 3rd quarter, neglected to use his special teams unit, allowing a dead-in-the-rights Bills team to win one of the most questionably coached games (on both sidelines) in NFL history.
ESPN's Mark Schlereth, who was in the booth next to this reporter, noticed that seven of the nine 4th down attempts came inside a team's own 38-yard line.
Schlereth quipped that it seemed as if "two angry 9-year olds were coaching the game like they were playing a video game at a sleepover."
When the dust settled, the Buffalo Bills (2-0, 1-0 AFC East) stormed back to take out a devastated New York Jets (0-2, 0-1) squad 36-29.
Leading 29-10 deep in the 3rd, the Jets seemed to have the game squared away. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill had played in flawless fashion passing for 224 yards and two scores through three quarters.
His counterpart Aaron Rodgers was awful over the same timespan.
Rodgers not only short-circuited at the end of the first half, but he also gifted Navorro Bowman a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the 3rd on an ill-advised attempt to throw out of a sack.
"I can't explain it," Rodgers said. "I was the worst player out there for three quarters. The headsets were off and I got rattled and a bit upset. I'm glad we pulled it out."
On a 4th-and-19 from his own 29-yard line with 2:17 left in the 3rd, Rodgers waved off the punting unit and decided (on his own) to go for it.
"We were going to lose and I wanted one more throw," Rodgers said. "We made the play."
Rodgers heaved a Hail Mary throw towards mid-field and found a streaking Amari Cooper for a 45-yard gain. The team managed a field goal to put the score at 29-13.
"Even there (with the score 29-13) we should have finished them off," Bowles said. "That 4th down conversion there really got me - I figured if they got one with 19 to go, we could get one with just inches left; I was wrong."
After what should have been a simple three-and-out leading to a punt, Bowles opted to go for it on 4th-and-short at his own 37-yard line.
The attempt failed.
On the very next play, as time expired in the 3rd, Todd Gurley ran, untouched, 37-yards to make it 29-21 (Buffalo successfully converted the 2-point try).
In the span of 2:17 of game time, the Bills had scored 11 points and made it a game heading into the 4th.
When asked to comment on the Gurley run and failed 4th down attempt during his postgame press conference, Bowles stormed out of the press room, hurling a water bottle at an exit sign hanging above the door.
He missed the sign.
After stopping the Jets again to open the fourth quarter, the Rodgers led attack marched down the field with the All-Pro quarterback finding his tight end Luke Willson for a 17-yard score before converting another 2-point conversion.
Sitting at 29-29, all eyes were on Tannehill who had a chance to calm his team and take control of his opportunity to lead.
Instead, Tannehill went 0-for-2 on his final two pass attempts of the game with two interceptions.
"I blew it," Tannehill said. "I don't know anymore."
In the middle of Tannehill's pair of INTs, Todd Gurley took home another long (38-yard) TD run to seal the victory.
"Man, that was crazy," Gurley said. "I've never seen anything like that."
The Bills next host the Arizona Cardinals while the New York Jets will head to Arrowhead Stadium to play the Kansas City Chiefs.
Once the lights came back on, the party began.
Not a 'fun' party mind you, more like a heavily hyped rager that devolved into a couple of dudes fighting over the last of the chips and that one long-term couple arguing on the front steps before breaking up for the 19th time.
Rex Ryan fired Greg Roman at halftime to "inspire" his team.
Aaron Rodgers failed in an effort to call a 4th timeout for his team as time expired in the first half leaving at least 3-points on the board.
Todd Bowles, with a 3-score lead and time running out in the 3rd quarter, neglected to use his special teams unit, allowing a dead-in-the-rights Bills team to win one of the most questionably coached games (on both sidelines) in NFL history.
ESPN's Mark Schlereth, who was in the booth next to this reporter, noticed that seven of the nine 4th down attempts came inside a team's own 38-yard line.
Schlereth quipped that it seemed as if "two angry 9-year olds were coaching the game like they were playing a video game at a sleepover."
When the dust settled, the Buffalo Bills (2-0, 1-0 AFC East) stormed back to take out a devastated New York Jets (0-2, 0-1) squad 36-29.
Leading 29-10 deep in the 3rd, the Jets seemed to have the game squared away. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill had played in flawless fashion passing for 224 yards and two scores through three quarters.
His counterpart Aaron Rodgers was awful over the same timespan.
Rodgers not only short-circuited at the end of the first half, but he also gifted Navorro Bowman a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the 3rd on an ill-advised attempt to throw out of a sack.
"I can't explain it," Rodgers said. "I was the worst player out there for three quarters. The headsets were off and I got rattled and a bit upset. I'm glad we pulled it out."
On a 4th-and-19 from his own 29-yard line with 2:17 left in the 3rd, Rodgers waved off the punting unit and decided (on his own) to go for it.
"We were going to lose and I wanted one more throw," Rodgers said. "We made the play."
Rodgers heaved a Hail Mary throw towards mid-field and found a streaking Amari Cooper for a 45-yard gain. The team managed a field goal to put the score at 29-13.
"Even there (with the score 29-13) we should have finished them off," Bowles said. "That 4th down conversion there really got me - I figured if they got one with 19 to go, we could get one with just inches left; I was wrong."
After what should have been a simple three-and-out leading to a punt, Bowles opted to go for it on 4th-and-short at his own 37-yard line.
The attempt failed.
On the very next play, as time expired in the 3rd, Todd Gurley ran, untouched, 37-yards to make it 29-21 (Buffalo successfully converted the 2-point try).
In the span of 2:17 of game time, the Bills had scored 11 points and made it a game heading into the 4th.
When asked to comment on the Gurley run and failed 4th down attempt during his postgame press conference, Bowles stormed out of the press room, hurling a water bottle at an exit sign hanging above the door.
He missed the sign.
After stopping the Jets again to open the fourth quarter, the Rodgers led attack marched down the field with the All-Pro quarterback finding his tight end Luke Willson for a 17-yard score before converting another 2-point conversion.
Sitting at 29-29, all eyes were on Tannehill who had a chance to calm his team and take control of his opportunity to lead.
Instead, Tannehill went 0-for-2 on his final two pass attempts of the game with two interceptions.
"I blew it," Tannehill said. "I don't know anymore."
In the middle of Tannehill's pair of INTs, Todd Gurley took home another long (38-yard) TD run to seal the victory.
"Man, that was crazy," Gurley said. "I've never seen anything like that."
The Bills next host the Arizona Cardinals while the New York Jets will head to Arrowhead Stadium to play the Kansas City Chiefs.
Miami Dolphins @ New England Patriots
1 2 3 4 FINAL
MIAMI 7 7 13 9 36
NEW ENGLAND 3 3 0 9 15
NEW ENGLAND – The Tom Brady-less Patriots (1-1, 0-1 AFC East) were no match for their rivals from down south at the Miami Dolphins (2-0, 1-0) dominated throughout during their 36-15 victory in Foxboro Stadium.
"Once again, they outplayed us," Bill Belichick said. "Over the past four (against Miami) Tommy's only gotten to see them for a half, so hopefully we come out better prepared with him when we get another shot in Week 17."
The Patriots last minute quarterback stand-in Brandon Doughty turned the ball over three times with two interceptions and a fumble (leading to a 36-yard scoop and score for the Dolphins Courtney Upshaw).
Even New England punter Ryan Allen threw an interception to Kyle Fuller on a fake punt attempt.
"We wanted to play it pretty close to the vest," Adam Gase said. "We were really conservative early, I think we punted five times in the first - we knew we could wear them down."
Once the turnovers started piling up, the Miami rushing attack took over.
Chris Ivory, Thomas Rawls, Jalston Fowler and Duke Johnson combined for 268 yards on the ground for the Dolphins.
Rawls led the way with 122 yards on only eight carries. Ivory supplied the bulk of the workload with his 19 carries for 115 yards.
"We love sharing the load, honestly," Ivory said. "We are all just trying to do one thing: That's grind them down and get to that end zone - if we can bull someone over along the way, that's a bonus."
The Miami defense, in addition to their four takeaways, notched another 5.5 sacks on the day.
The Dolphins will finally play on home soil as they host Cam Newton and the Cleveland Browns Sunday in Miami.
"Once again, they outplayed us," Bill Belichick said. "Over the past four (against Miami) Tommy's only gotten to see them for a half, so hopefully we come out better prepared with him when we get another shot in Week 17."
The Patriots last minute quarterback stand-in Brandon Doughty turned the ball over three times with two interceptions and a fumble (leading to a 36-yard scoop and score for the Dolphins Courtney Upshaw).
Even New England punter Ryan Allen threw an interception to Kyle Fuller on a fake punt attempt.
"We wanted to play it pretty close to the vest," Adam Gase said. "We were really conservative early, I think we punted five times in the first - we knew we could wear them down."
Once the turnovers started piling up, the Miami rushing attack took over.
Chris Ivory, Thomas Rawls, Jalston Fowler and Duke Johnson combined for 268 yards on the ground for the Dolphins.
Rawls led the way with 122 yards on only eight carries. Ivory supplied the bulk of the workload with his 19 carries for 115 yards.
"We love sharing the load, honestly," Ivory said. "We are all just trying to do one thing: That's grind them down and get to that end zone - if we can bull someone over along the way, that's a bonus."
The Miami defense, in addition to their four takeaways, notched another 5.5 sacks on the day.
The Dolphins will finally play on home soil as they host Cam Newton and the Cleveland Browns Sunday in Miami.
