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Bills vs. Jets score: Taron Johnson picks off Aaron Rodgers to seal penalty-filled win

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Bills vs. Jets score: Taron Johnson picks off Aaron Rodgers to seal penalty-filled win

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – For the second year in a row, the Buffalo Bills are at MetLife Stadium for a Monday night test against the New York Jets.

Last year, the Bills and Jets met in Week 1 and despite losing star quarterback Aaron Rodgers – who was making his Jets debut after 18 years in Green Bay – on the fourth play of the game to a season-ending Achilles injury, New York found a way to pull out a 22-16 overtime victory on a walk-off punt return touchdown by Xavier Gipson.

There is more drama surrounding the Jets this time around, too, as owner Woody Johnson fired head coach Robert Saleh last week and the team will now be led by defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, while the offensive play calling has been taken away from former Bills offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett and given to Jets QB coach/passing game coordinator Todd Downing.

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It was ugly but it was a win. Taron Johnson intercepted Aaron Rodgers late in the fourth quarter and Josh Allen ran for the first down the Bills needed to run out the clock and stay in first place. Buffalo is 4-2 and New York drops to 2-4.

Josh Allen completed 19 of 25 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns and Ray Davis rushed for 97 yards on 20 carries. Aaron Rodgers went 23 of 35 for 294 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, and Breece Hall had 113 yards rushing on 18 carries. Allen Lazard had six catches for 114 yards and a touchdown and Garrett Wilson made eight receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown for the Jets.

There were 22 accepted penalties for 204 yards.

Welcome back, Taron Johnson.

The nickel corner, who is making his return after missing four games, intercepted Aaron Rodgers at the Bills’ 18-yard line. It was a bizarre possession that included a Rodgers sack and fumble that was reversed to an incompletion, a defensive pass interference penalty and two offensive pass holding penalties.

The Bills have taken the lead. Tyler Bass made a 22-yard field goal to put Buffalo ahead with 3:43 remaining.

Keon Coleman had two receptions totaling 21 yards and Dalton Kincaid took a short pass 15 yards on the possession.

Defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw committed three penalties on the possession. His roughing the passer penalty gave the Bills first-and-goal at the Jets’ 9-yard line. Then he was called for a neutral zone infraction before Bass’ 27-yard field goal attempt. That made it a 22-yard try for Bass. After the field goal, Kinlaw was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Greg Zuerlein missed again. The Jets offense moved 41 yards to get into field goal range and Zuerlein doinked his attempt off the left upright for the second straight time. Zuerlein’s first miss was on the other side of the field at the end of the third quarter.

There have been four missed kicks in the game, two missed field goals by Zuerlein and a missed extra point and field goal but Buffalo’s Tyler Bass.

Buffalo went backward. Spencer Brown committed a false start and Buffalo was called for an illegal formation. Offensive tackle Dion Dawkins was called for unsportsmanlike conduct during the TV timeout between the third and fourth quarters. On third-and-21, Josh Allen completed to Dalton Kincaid for 6 yards. Sam Martin punted 57 yards and Xavier Gipson returned it 8 yards to the Jets’ 34-yard line.

New York had the ball inside the 5-yard line for the second straight drive but this time it got no points. Garett Wilson made back-to-back catches for 16 and 23 yards, respectively, to cross midfield. Breece Hall ran for 10 yards and safety Taron Johnson was flagged for a low block to give the Jets the ball at the Bills’ 12-yard line. Three plays later, Braelon Allen charged into the end zone from 4 yards out but Tryon Smith was called of offensive holding. On third-and-12, Aaron Rodgers threw into the end zone for Garrett Wilson, who ran a nice route but was hit by safeties Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp and the ball was jarred loose. Wilson was injured on the play. Greg Zuerlein’s 32-yard field goal attempt hit the left upright and was no good.

It was a disjointed possession for the Bills. Mack Hollins started it off with a false start. Ray Davis rushed for 6 yards and Josh Allen completed to Dalton Kincaid for 3 yards. On third-and-6, Allen escaped pressure and threw a deep pass to Mack Hollins, who was run into by Jets cornerback D.J. Reed. Reed was flagged for pass interference but Bills offensive tackle Spencer Brown was called for unnecessary roughness and the penalties offset. Allen threw incomplete for Kincaid on the third-and-6 and Sam Martin punted 450 yards to the Jets’ 26-yard line.

The Jets had first-and-goal from the 3-yard line but only got a field goal. Buffalo appeared to stop New York on third-and-8 to force a three-and-out but A.J. Epenesa was flagged for roughing the passer to negate his sack. Breece Hall burst ran for 42 yards and safety Taylor Rapp made a touchdown-saving tackle at the Bills’ 3-yard line. Aaron Rodgers threw incomplete on first down, Hall was stopped for no gain on second down and Rodgers and Garrett Wilson couldn’t connect in the back of the end zone on third down. Greg Zuerlein made a 22-yard field goal.

It’s been a rough windy night for Tyler Bass. The Bills kicker pushed a 47-yard field goal attempt wide right on the first possession of the second half. He also missed an extra point in the first half. Bass is 8 of 11 on field goal attempts this year.

The Bills are simply a ridiculous team. The Jets took possession with 21 seconds left, the Bills gave them two easy completions to give Aaron Rodgers a chance for a Hail Mary, and then he chucked it into the end zone and three Bills were right there, and somehow Allen Lazard caught it for a gut-wrenching TD. It’s just an inexcusable end to the first half.

Josh Allen completed 10 of 12 passes for 112 yards with two touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in the first half. Ray Davis has 66 yards on 11 carries and two receptions for 50 yards. Aaron Rodgers is 13 of 17 for 192 yards and two touchdowns.

Following a big defensive stop highlighted by a pair of sacks against Aaron Rodgers, the Bills took possession at their 20 with 2:49 left in the first half. They converted a third-and-1 on a keeper by Josh Allen at the 47, and then got plenty of help from the Jets who committed two pass interference penalties totaling 31 yards which put the ball at the Jets 11.

The drive nearly died as Allen was sacked and fumbled, but O’Cyrus Torrence saved the day with a second-chance recovery, and on the next play, Allen hit Dawson Knox for a 12-yard touchdown with 21 seconds left in the half.

New York’s possession was sacked after one big play. Aaron Rodgers completed a 24-yard pass to Breece Hall to get into Bills’ territory. But DaQuan Jones sacked Rodgers for a 7-yard loss on a flea flicker and on third-and-15, A.J. Epenesa swallowed Rodgers for a loss of 8 yards. Thomas Morstead punted 51 yards into the end zone.

The Bills were pushed back to their own 10 thanks to a special teams penalty on Kaiir Elam following a punt, but Josh Allen and Ray Davis combined on a tremendous play, a 42-yard pass that got the Bills moving.

From there, Allen hit Khalil Shakir for a key third-down conversion to keep things moving, and Dawson Knox drew a 10-yard pass interference which led to Allen’s eight-yard TD pass to Mack Hollins.

However, Tyler Bass’ extra point was blocked by Quinnen Williams, so that’s a point the Bills will have to chase.

New York Jets safety Chuck Clark is questionable to return with an ankle injury. Clark went into the locker room for X-rays.

New York picked up one first down on a 14-yard reception by Garrett Wilson. Buffalo’s defense stepped up after that. Taron Johnson stopped Breece Hall for a 1-yard run, Terrel Bernard invaded the backfield to drop Hall for a 5-yard loss and Aaron Rodgers third-down pass was incomplete. Thomas Morstead punted 45 yards and Kaiir Elam was flagged for holding on the return. Buffalo starts from the New York 10-yard line.

It was the first possession without points. Josh Allen threw incomplete, Ray Davis rushed for 4 yards and a third-and-6 completion to Curtis Samuel was stopped after 4 yards. Sam Martin punted 62 yards to the end zone.

For whatever reason, the Bills are helpless when they play against Breece Hall. He came into this game averaging just three yards per carry, but as he has done in the past, he is carving up the Bills defense.

He accounted for 57 rushing and receiving yards on New York’s second possession, and that set up Aaron Rodgers’ five-yard touchdown pass to Garrett Wilson. The Jets matched the Bills TD drive exactly, nine plays, 70 yards, and the Bills provided no resistance.

That was quite an answer by the Bills as they steamrolled their way down the field to take a 7-3 lead.

Ty Johnson opened the drive against his former team with a 12-yard run around right end, then Josh Allen hit Dalton Kincaid for a gain of 14 and he ran over New York’s Tony Adams along the sideline. And from there, it was the Ray Davis show as the rookie carried six times for 48 yards before Josh Allen plowed in from the 1.

It was nine-play, 70-yard drive, and the Bills even overcame a penalty at the 1 that pushed them back five yards.

Buffalo won the coin toss, deferred as it loves to do, and then the defense went out and looked pretty uninspiring on the Jets opening possession. New York moved right downfield and the only thing that stopped Aaron Rodgers was a third down dropped pass by Breece Hall, so the Jets settled for a 34-yard Greg Zuerlein field goal.

Rodgers completed a 24-yard pass to Garrett Wilson to get the Jets into field goal position, a play where Dorian Williams missed an open field tackle.

As expected once we saw that Frank Gore was called up from the practice squad, Cook will not be playing Monday night due to the toe injury he suffered last week in Houston.

However, the Bills are getting back their most productive receiver as Shakir will be back after getting hurt in Baltimore and then missing the Houston game.

Also, Johnson will be playing for the first time since the first quarter of the season opener against Arizona when he suffered a broken forearm. The Bills’ defense has sorely missed Johnson, particularly in the last two losses to the Ravens and Texans. His return should help solidify the Bills run defense as well as his slot coverage, where he’s likely to see a healthy dose of the Jets best receiver, Garrett Wilson who lines up in the slot about one-third of the time.

We already knew defensive tackle Ed Oliver would be inactive, and he’s joined by Cook, LBs Joe Andreessen and Edefuan Ulofoshio, OL Will Clapp, and FS Mike Edwards.

We won’t know for sure whether RB James Cook is playing until the inactive list is announced at 6:45, but an indication that he might not comes via the news that Gore is being added to the 53-man roster.

There is still a chance that Cook will be available, and perhaps Gore is only up in case there’s a turn for the worse. He could be inactive. Or, it could be that both players will be active and Gore will be nothing more than an insurance policy.

The good news for the Bills is that by not elevating a wide receiver from the practice squad, that would seem to say that Khalil Shakir is going to play. Like Cook, he was listed as questionable for the game.

  • Date: Monday
  • Time: 8:15 p.m.
  • Place: MetLife Stadium
  • Betting line: Bills -1
  • Over-under: 41
  • Money line: Bills minus-120 (bet $120 to win $100) and Jets plus-100 (bet $100 to win $100).

When I made my original pick early in the week, I had the Bills winning the game. Now that the Jets have switched head coaches, and it’s looking like both Cook and Shakir will be unable to play for an offense that is already struggling mightily, I have to switch. My sense is that the Jets defense, which remains one of the best in the league, is going to give the Bills’ punchless offense fits, and the Jets are also going to get an inspired effort as they play for a new head coach, plus will have passing game coordinator Todd Downing calling the offensive plays instead of beleaguered Nathaniel Hackett. Jets 20, Bills 16

  • Play-by-play: Joe Buck
  • Analyst: Troy Aikman
  • Sideline reporter: Lisa Salters

∎ Cable/Network TV: ESPN. The game will be available on Spectrum channel 24 in Rochester, Syracuse and Albany, channel 25 in Binghamton, channel 29 in Elmira, channel 30 in Buffalo, channel 43 in Utica.

∎ Online streaming services: With your TV subscription you can watch on your phone or tablet on ESPN.com, the ESPN mobile app, and ESPN Deportes. You can also watch games on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and you can subscribe to NFL+, the league’s own streaming service, though you can’t cast the games to your TV – you must watch on your phone or tablet.

∎ TV streaming: You can also stream if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, DirecTV, fuboTV, NFL+, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, and YouTube TV.

Watch Bills vs Jets live on Fubo (free trial)

You can listen on SiriusXM satellite radio on channel 225 (Bills feed) and channel 226 (Jets feed), and on traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations all across the state. Chris Brown has the play-by-play, Eric Wood is the analyst, and Sal Capaccio is the sideline reporter. The network includes:

  • Rochester (WCMF 96.5 and WROC 950 AM)
  • Buffalo (WGR550, 550 AM)
  • Syracuse (WTKW 99.5/WTKV 105.5)
  • Binghamton (WDRE 100.5FM)
  • Ithaca (WIII 99.9/100.3 FM)
  • Bath (WVIN 98.3 FM)
  • Newark (WACK 1420 AM)
  • Dansville (WDNY 93.9 FM)
  • Elmira (WNGZ 1490 AM)
  • Auburn (WAUB 98.1 FM/1590 AM)
  • Geneva (WGVA 95.9 FM, 1240 AM)

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

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