Hole Proved Too Big: The Jets scratched and clawed to get back into the ball game, but it's awfully difficult to win in this league when you spot your opponent a 19-point second half advantage. A week after finishing +4 in the turnover margin department against the Jaguars, the Green & White finished -4 against the Bills. The visitors scored 12 points off of those takeaways.
4th Down Trouble in the Fourth: Trailing 22-10 to start the final stanza, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a quick hitch to Brandon Marshall on fourth-and-two. But rookie Ronald Darby made a solid tackle as the Bills turned the Jets away. Then with the Green & White looking poised to take the lead and trailing 22-17, they were forced to once again turn the ball over on downs when a Fitzpatrick fourth-and-four toss to TE Kellen Davis fell incomplete. In addition to their late problems on fourth down, the Jets finished just 3 of 13 on third down (23%) and 1 of 3 in the Red Zone (33%).
Ivory Back on Track: After being held in check against the Patriots (17-41), the Raiders (15-17) and the Jaguars (23-26), the Jets got Chris Ivory rolling against the Bills. In the defeat, Ivory came up one-yard short (18-99) of his third 100-yard effort in 2015 and he also added 36 yards on two receptions. Star cornerback Darrelle Revis also fared very well in his matchup with Sammy Watkins, holding the explosive wideout to just three catches for 14 yards.
Wilkerson Was Outstanding: Jets DE Muhammad Wilkerson was dominant Thursday, racking up a pair of sacks of the elusive Tyrod Taylor and adding three QB hurries. David Harris quietly turned in another solid performance, finishing with nine tackles, a sack and a pair of QB hurries. Bills RB LeSean McCoy was brilliant for the visitors, running for 112 yards and adding 47 yards receiving.
Injury Front: Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14-34-193-2TD-2INT) will have surgery Friday to repair the torn ligament in his left thumb. Running back Zac Stacy fractured his ankle on a kickoff return at the end of the first half. Rontez Miles, who started in place of Calvin Pryor (ankle), was active throughout and finished with seven total tackles.
Logjam in the AFC: While the Jets have lost three of four, they are one of three teams in the AFC who own a 5-4 record. Seven games remain and the next three contests line up like this: @ Houston (3-5), vs. Miami (3-5) and @ New York Giants (5-4).
