The Jets (4-12) lost to the Bills (13-3), 40-14, in Orchard Park, NY, Sunday. Here are three takeaways from the game.
Taylor Performs Well in Relief
Backup QB Tyrod Taylor made his Jets regular season debut in relief of Aaron Rodgers in the fourth quarter and led two scoring drives, primarily against Buffalo's reserves. The first possession went 75 yards on 13 plays and was capped by a 9-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson, his 7th of the season.
Wilson, who became the fifth player in NFL history Sunday to have at least 80 receptions and 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons, led the team with 66 yards on 7 receptions. It was the 25th time the 2022 first-round pick has led the team in receiving yards in the 50 games he's played.
Wilson also is the sixth player in the NFL since 2016 to have consecutive seasons of at least 95 receptions (95 last season, 97 this season) within his first three seasons in the league. He and Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase are the only players this season to have at least 3 catches in every game.
After Taylor's first scoring series, he led the Green & White on an 8-play, 58-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard strike to TE Tyler Conklin for his 3rd TD reception this season, which ties his career high (2021, 2022). Conklin led the team with 8 receptions, which tied his career high.
"Conk is a great player," Taylor said. "He's played at a high level for us this year. The [touchdown] was one we talked about on the sideline, trying to create a switch release getting Conk with a mismatch."
Conklin said of Taylor: "Awesome teammate, awesome person. The way he goes about his work every single day, it's admirable to see what he does day in and day out. To be able to go out there and get in the end zone for him, to not quit as a unit and play for your guys, it's important when you're in a situation like this where you're not playing for much. It was ugly, but the one thing you can't do as a man and a professional is quit."
Braelon Allen on the Brink of History
The Jets running backs, particularly Breece Hall, started fast Sunday at Buffalo. Hall averaged 6.3 yards in the first quarter on 3 carries and had 6 rushes for 39 yards (6.5 avg) at the half.
The Green & White, down 12-0 after the second quarter, used a heavier dose of the aerial attack in the final two frames (24 of the team's 32 pass attempts came in the second half) as the offense tried to put points on the board. Hall finished Sunday's Week 16 matchup with 45 yards on 10 carries.
Rookie RB Braelon Allen had 26 yards on six carries and became the second player in NFL history to record 300 career rushing yards before his 21st birthday (Jan. 20). He trails HB Elmer Angsman, a third-round pick of the Chicago Cardinals in 1946 out of Notre Dame, by 9 yards for the most rushing yards under the age of 21 in NFL history.
Penalties Galore
The Jets were the most penalized team in the NFL in Week 17 with 16 flags for 120 yards including 4 for unnecessary roughness.
"Most important the ones that we call non-hustle penalties," LB Quincy Williams said, who co-led the team with 10 tackles. "Those are penalties like after the play, unnecessary roughness, just being a hot head. As we do every week, we'll go back and look at the penalties, look at the film and we grade them as far as non-hustle penalties and hustle penalties. We had a couple of hustle penalties that were questionable but if we play a good game then we don't leave it up to the refs."
