WHO’S IN FIRST?
Well, they opened against the Jets, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to the Bills,
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.— The new-look Buffalo Bills might be better than advertised under rookie head coach Sean McDermott.
The Jets, however, opened the season playing well below even their meagre expectations.
Tyrod Taylor showed no lingering signs of a concussion that sidelined him for two weeks by throwing two touchdowns in a 21-12 win on Sunday. The Bills never trailed after opening the scoring on Taylor’s one-yard touchdown pass to Charles Clay 31⁄
2 minutes into the second quarter.
Andre Holmes also scored on a oneyard catch and Mike Tolbert scored on a one-yard run.
Buffalo’s defence had three interceptions, including linebacker Ramon Humber picking off Josh McCown’s pass to thwart a twopoint conversion in the third quarter. Safety Micah Hyde sealed the victory by intercepting McCown at Buffalo’s 41to end the Jets’ final series.
“It was big for coach McDermott and big for us as a team,” said Taylor, who completed 16 of 28 passes for 224 yards and an interception.
McDermott was pleased with the performance from a team that featured just 26 players who had been on the roster a year ago. And yet the former Carolina Panthers defensive co-ordinator was also quick to temper his emotions.
“This is one win, let’s keep things in perspective,” said McDermott, who was hired in January after Rex Ryan was fired in the final week of last season. “I’m extremely proud of it. That said, we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
For one week at least, the Bills can lay claim to leading the AFC East after the Patriots lost to Kansas City on Thursday and the Miami Dolphins’ opener was postponed due to Hurricane Irma.
The Jets face an uphill climb to be respectable.
New York couldn’t run and couldn’t stop the run, which were supposed to be two of the team’s strengths.
The running back tandem of Bilal Powell and Matt Forte combined for 38 yards rushing. The defence gave up 190 yards rushing, including 110 to LeSean McCoy, who consistently beat New York’s defenders around the edge.
“Missed assignments. Missed assignments,” coach Todd Bowles said, repeating the phrase on several occasions. “We’re not going to hang our heads. We’re going to get ready and not make the same mistakes next week.”
The lack of a ground game placed far too much emphasis on the 38-year-old McCown to produce with a patchwork group of receivers that included Jermaine Kearse and tight end Will Tye, neither of whom was on the team 10 days ago.
McCown refused to provide any excuses or buy into the off-season narrative pegging the Jets for pulling the plug on this season in order to build through next year’s draft.
“That’s not how we approach it,” McCown said. “We’re disappointed absolutely, but we plan on responding.”
McCown completed 26 of his 39 attempts for 187 yards and opened his15th NFL season by extending his personal losing streak to eight games. The skid dates to Oct. 11, 2015, when he led Cleveland to a 33-30 win over Baltimore. McCown is1-17 in his last 18 starts.