| 
 2001
|
Regular
Season October
7, 2001 New York
Jets 42
Bills 36
Attendance:
72,654
Rick Anderson -- Just when you thought it couldn't get any
worse, the roof caved in on the Buffalo Bills Sunday when they lost
to the New York Jets 42-36. The score isn't an indication on how sloppy
the Bills played. Four costly turnovers all led to Jet touchdowns and the
Bills' tendency to lose the ball at the worst possible times is concerning
to say the least.
| Scoring
Summary |
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
F |
| New York
Jets |
21 |
7 |
14 |
0 |
42 |
| Bills |
6 |
9 |
7 |
14 |
36 |
|
First Quarter
NYJ TD, CURTIS MARTIN 16 YARD RUN (JOHN HALL KICK), 12:06.
NYJ TD, RICHIE ANDERSON 4 YARD
PASS FROM VINNIE TESTAVERDE (JOHN HALL KICK), 11:13.
BUF TD, ERIC MOULDS 46 YARD
PASS FROM ROB JOHNSON (FAILED TWO-POINT CONVERSION), 8:10.
NYJ TD, JOHN ABRAHAM 7 YARD
FUMBLE RECOVERY (JOHN HALL KICK), 3:27.
Second Quarter
BUF FG, JAKE ARIANS 28 YARD, 10:34.
NYJ TD, CURTIS MARTIN 4 YARD
RUN (JOHN HALL KICK), 5:49.
BUF TD, JAY RIEMERSMA 3 YARD
PASS FROM ALEX VAN PELT (JAKE ARIANS KICK), 1:18.
Third Quarter
BUF TD, PEERLESS PRICE 70 YARD PASS FROM ALEX VAN PELT (JAKE
ARIANS KICK), 13:55.
NYJ TD, ANTHONY BRECHT 2 YARD
PASS FROM VINNY TESTAVERDE (JOHN HALL KICK), 2:50.
NYJ TD, MO LEWIS 15 YARD FUMBLE
RECOVERY (JOHN HALL KICK), 1:46.
Fourth Quarter
BUF TD, LARRY CENTERS 2 YARD RUN (JAKE ARIANS KICK), 4:32.
BUF TD, LARRY CENTERS 6 YARD PASS
FROM ALEX VAN PELT (JAKE ARIANS KICK), 0:07.
|
Bumbling, stumbling, fumbling are perfect words for the Bills these days
and they lived up to it Sunday before a cold, wind-blown crowd in Ralph
Wilson Stadium. This is the worst Bills start since 1985, when they lost
their first 6 games. The way things are going for the Bills, they may be
hard pressed to win one game this season.
To make matters worse, Bills beleaguered quarterback Rob Johnson was
injured when he was hit from behind by Jets' Mo Lewis. Lewis hit Johnson
late with an elbow to the back of Johnson's head after Johnson had
scrambled with the ball. It was a blatant hit and will be reviewed by the
league which is trying to crack down on those kind of hits on
quarterbacks. A stiff fine and maybe even a suspension is in order for
Lewis.
"I'm running behind him and he's trying to slide," explained
Lewis. "It seems like he popped back up. I can't stop on a dime. I
still have to touch him. I just hustle to the ball and make a play."
"You give a guy a free shot," Johnson countered. "You're
giving yourself up for a couple of yards. You are not supposed to be
hit."
Johnson had to be helped off the field after laying prone for several
minutes. It capped one of the worst first quarters in recent Bills
history.
After three quick turnovers, the Jets were up 21-6 less than 12 minutes
into the game. The Jets took a 28-9 lead and it appeared as if the Bills
were running for the bus before Alex Van Pelt came in and started to
finally get the Bills offense clicking for the first time all year. Van
Pelt, who threw 41 passes for 268 yards on 23 completions, looked like he
may stage a miraculous comeback similar to the one Frank Reich pulled off
in the Wild Card game against the Houston Oilers in the mid 90s.
Van Pelt hooked up with Peerless Price on a 70-yard touchdown scamper
early in the third quarter to make it 28-22. But then the Jets struck back
quickly. Vinny Testaverde hit Anthony Becht's from 2-yards out and then
Larry Centers fumbled when the ball was stripped from him and Lewis picked
it up and scampered 15 yards for the TD. In a minute 4 seconds, the Jets
had caused major damage to any comeback hopes the Bills had.
"We talk about momentum switches," Moulds said. "We thought
we had a chance to make some plays and they come back and make a play and
switch the momentum around. It just went downhill from there."
The Bills defense, which was No. 3 last year and No. 1 in the league the
year before, has become the laughing stock of the NFL. Curtis Martin
shredded the Bills defense for 135 yards on 26 carries and scored two
touchdowns. Meanwhile, veteran quarterback Testaverde connected 14 times
on 23 passes for 174 yards and 2 strikes.
The 42 points scored on the Bills were the most since the
strike-shortened 1987 season when the Indianapolis Colts piled up 47 on
Buffalo.
Bills coach Gregg Williams has seen his share of misfortunes this season
with all the injuries and some discord in the locker room. However, he is
not ready to wave the white flag yet.
"We have to rally as a team," said Bills coach Gregg Williams,
"and start our own streak of wins, and do our part as a team, to have
an opportunity to win as a team, and enough energy to win as a team. One
or two individuals can't win a game for you, I think we have to do it as a
team, and if some of our bumps and bruises, we have to rally as a team to
do that."
NOTES (AP) -
Martin passed Matt Snell and Johnny Hector
to become the Jets' third leading rusher with 8,150 yards. ... Before
leaving the game, Johnson hit Eric Moulds for a 46-yard touchdown pass,
the Bills' first at home this season. ... Testaverde, deeply affected by
last month's terrorist attacks in New York City, said it was difficult to
play knowing that U.S. Forces began bombing Afghanistan three hours before
the game. "My immediate thought was to refocus and concentrate on
what I had to do, which was tough," he said. "It was
distracting."
| Game
Breakdown |
|
NYJ |
BUF |
FIRST DOWNS
3RD-DOWN EFFICIENCY
TOTAL NET YARDS
Average gain
NET YARDS RUSHING
Rushes
NET YARDS PASSING
Completed-attempted
Yards per pass
Times Sacked
Yards Lost To Sacks
Had Intercepted
PUNTS
Average Punt
PENALTIES
Penalty Yards
FUMBLES
Fumbles Lost
TIME OF POSSESSION |
21
4-10
335
5.9
162
32
173
15-25
6.9
0
0
0
6
32.8
6
56
2
0
28:41 |
26
7-15
473
6.0
162
32
311
26-45
6.6
2
14
2
3
49.0
7
55
4
3
31:19 |
INDIVIDUAL
STATISTICS
New York
Jets Rushing
Curtis Martin 26-135, Laveranues Coles 2-15, Richie Anderson 1-8,
LaMont Jordan 2-5, Vinny Testaverde 1- (-1).
Buffalo Rushing
Travis Henry 19-113, Rob Johnson 3-27, Larry Centers 5-14, Alex Van
Pelt 2-8, Sammy Morris 2-4, Eric Moulds 1-(-4).
New York Jets Receiving
Laveranues Coles 5-77, Anthony Becht 3-21, Wayne Chrebet 2-49, Curtis
Martin 2-18, Richie Anderson 2-9, LaMont Jordan 1-(-1).
Buffalo Receiving
Larry Centers 12-75, Eric Moulds 5-107, Peerless Price 4-103, Jay
Riemersma 4-35, Travis Henry 1-5.
New York Jets Passing
Vinny Testaverde 15-25-173-2-0.
Buffalo Passing
Alex Van Pelt 23-41-268-3-1, Rob Johnson 3-4-57-1-1.
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