Jets players and plays of the game in the 22-17 loss to the Bills at MetLife Stadium on Thursday night:
Players of the Game
RB Chris Ivory — He's baaack. After three games of rough sledding, Ivory got his night jump-started with a career-long 36-yard reception from Ryan Fitzpatrick. Then he proceeded to a 99-yard rushing game on 18 carries (he was at 100 until losing a yard on his last carry), which included third-quarter dashes of 21 and 18 yards in helping to pull the offense out of its first-half funk.
WR Eric Decker — Another solid game for Deck with six receptions for 85 yards, four for first downs, one converting a third down and a fourth-down conversion for the third straight game. And of course his seventh touchdown catch of the season, a down-the-middle 31-yarder, jolted the MetLife crowd to life as it got the Jets to within five points with 7½ minutes to play.
DE Muhammad Wilkerson — Wilkerson had a strong game keeping QB Tyrod Taylor contained. Mo had two sacks, the first moving Buffalo out of field goal range and the second keeping the Bills to three instead of seven. That gives him 7.0 sacks for the year, tops on the Jets and tied for fourth in the NFL. He also had a third QB hit on Taylor and finished with six tackles, two half-tackles coming in stopping Bills runs at or behind the line.
Plays of the Game
Brandon Marshall 14-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick, 4:39 to play, third quarter — The Jets shook themselves out of their offensive doldrums with an 80-yard drive to this play to cut the Bills' lead to 22-10. Marshall, again double-teamed much of the way and not as impactful as in his previous outings, still made it happen here, running a flat route out of a double slot. Kenbrell Thompkins, on a short slant route, ran into CB Nickell Robey, who was moving to pick up Marshall. The Bills weren't happy but the officials saw the play as legal and it sprung Marshall to make a beeline for the left pylon.
Eric Decker 31-yard touchdown pass from Fitzpatrick, 7:23 to play, fourth quarter — With the wind picking up, Fitzpatrick needed a quick score with a downfield throw — and he got it despite a three-man Bills rush putting eight in coverage. No problem for Decker, who, again lined up in the double slot, took off down the field with Robey. Fitz delivered it perfectly over Robey and with safeties Corey Graham and Bacarri Rambo closing late to Decker at the 5 and he tumbled into the end zone with the score that put the Jets right back in the game.
Buffalo P Colton Schmidt fumbles on 4th-and-2 at Bills 13, 5:12 to play, fourth quarter — This was nearly the game-changer. The Jets didn't have anything to do with long-snapper Garrison Sanborn firing the punt snap high and to the right. But the Kelly green uniforms swarmed Schmidt after he recovered, with Rontez Miles getting a hand on him and Jamari Lattimore finishing him off. The Jets were 13 yards away from taking the lead, which they failed to capitalize on.
