EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Christian Benford’s eyes widened when the Buffalo Bills cornerback saw Jets quarterback Justin Fields flip the football to rookie receiver Arian Smith.
Benford wasn’t fooled by the Jets’ play call. First, Fields faked a short pass to tight end Jeremy Ruckert, then the quarterback acted like he was going to hand it off to running back Breece Hall.
By the time Smith got the ball on a wide receiver reverse, he was headed right at Benford, who stymied the Jets’ third drive of the game by tackling him for a 15-yard loss.
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Bills cornerback Christian Benford celebrates a tackle on Jets receiver Aaron Smith during the first half of Sunday's game at MetLife Stadium. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
“I saw a lot on that play,” said Benford. “They tried to create misdirection, but I was ready.”
It ruined a drive that could have been a turning point for the Jets. On the first play, fullback Andrew Beck created a hole for Hall to gain 12 yards. Fields picked up another first down on the next play with an 18-yard pass to wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who gained inside leverage on Bills safety Taylor Rapp with a slant route. The Jets were down 10-0 and finally in a rhythm against a defense that allowed 433 total yards one week earlier.
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Fields threw consecutive incomplete passes, including a drop by Wilson, and the Jets were forced to punt again. The Bills drove 46 yards on nine plays, with Matt Prater kicking a 52-yard field goal to make it 13-0. On the Jets’ next drive, they lost 7 yards on three plays because Fields was sacked and Hall got dragged down by Tre’Davious White for a 5-yard loss.
“We had a double corner blitz called,” Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard said of Benford’s tackle. “They tried a reverse and he made a great tackle, like we know he does. It stunted the drive. It stopped the bleeding for a minute and that was another turning point in the game. It was huge to see guys make plays.”
O’Cyrus Torrence visualized the play before Josh Allen escaped the pocket.
Torrence, the Buffalo Bills’ edge rusher, planned to drive both of his hands into Jets edge rusher Michael Clemons with enough force to push his opponent toward the right sideline and create an open lane in the middle of the field for Allen to run for a big game. If the Jets were in man coverage, they were toast.
But as Torrence shoved Clemons to the ground, the Bills lineman panicked. The hole wasn’t nearly as wide as Torrence expected because he fell on top of Clemons and his right leg was in Allen’s way. The reigning MVP hurdled Torrence and gained 40 yards, the second-longest scramble of Allen’s career.
James Cook capped the 12-play, 81-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run that gave Buffalo a 7-0 lead.
“Looking up at the big screen, it worked out perfectly,” said Torrence. “Even better than it did in my head. Whenever I sit on a pass play and sit out wide and push a guy even wider, I have a feeling Josh has a chance to hit the gap. If I own a guy and throw him down or something like that, it almost guarantees it depending on the coverage.”
Early takeaway
Jets tight end Jeremy Ruckert collided with A.J. Epenesa and shadowed the Bills edge rusher to try to prevent him from getting to Fields.
Epenesa was disciplined, though. He didn’t bite on the fake handoff and stalked Fields as he rolled left. As Fields scanned the field, Epenesa’s focus was on running toward his left hip because it was the Jets’ quarterback to run to the middle of the field if he didn’t have an open receiver.
Fields took off and, as he fell to the ground, Bills edge rusher Joey Bosa punched the ball out to force a fumble. Epenesa recovered, giving the Bills the ball at the Jets’ 24-yard line. They settled for a 28-yard field goal to take a 10-0 lead with 5:04 left in the first quarter, but the early turnover fueled their defense.
“In my head, I’m thinking I have to try to pull him up and get to his outside hip and get him back to where our defense is,” said Epenesa. “I was able to accomplish that and whenever you do that, those sharks are coming from inside out and they can get big hits. That’s exactly what happened.”
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Bills defensive back Cam Lewis strips the ball from Jets receiver Garrett Wilson during the second half on Sunday. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
As soon as Bills center Connor McGovern snapped the ball to Allen, the Jets’ defensive line moved to the right.
The Bills anticipated this. They practiced the exact zone run and situation this week. Torrence drove two hands into Leonard Taylor III and passed him off to right tackle Spencer Brown, who continued to push Taylor out of the way. Torrence quickly blocked linebacker Jamien Sherwood, allowing Cook to cut back to the weak side. Cook made another jump cut to avoid linebacker Quincy Williams, then the Bills running back sprinted toward the right pylon for a 44-yard touchdown that helped Buffalo increase its lead to 20-0 in the second quarter.
Cook became the first Bills running back with a rushing touchdown in six consecutive games since 1988.
“It was muscle memory,” said Torrence. “I didn’t know I did it until I looked up and James was running for a touchdown. It was a perfect play. You practice it all week, but you never know if it’s going to work until it shows up in the game.”
The Bills’ third drive could have been a disaster.
Allen went to the sideline because of a bloody nose. As soon as the bridge of his nose was hit by someone, Allen knew that he needed to get to an athletic trainer to stop the bleeding.
Mitch Trubisky entered the game with the Bills facing third-and-7 at their 23-yard line. Trubisky didn’t have a chance to get warm, yet he dropped back and threw a perfect pass to Joshua Palmer for a 32-yard gain. Allen missed just two plays and Matt Prater kicked a 52-yard field goal to make it 13-0 with 14:06 left in the second quarter.
“Obviously gushing blood, I just wanted to try to get off the field and stop it,” said Allen. “And for him to come off the bench like that and no warmup, no nothing to be ready, I think that’s a true embodiment of the character and the man that he is coming in there and making a play on third down for us. That was a huge drive. It was a big play, so shout out Mitch.”
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