Mark Sanchez was just 17/35 passing for 180 yards and an interception, but threw four touchdown passes as the New York Jets (6–5) held off a last-minute attempt by Buffalo (5–6) to win 28–24 at MetLife Stadium Sunday afternoon.
The much-needed win for New York snaps a two-game losing streak for Rex Ryan’s crew while sending the one-time front runners of the AFC East to their fourth straight loss.
It wasn’t easy though.
After Mark Sanchez found Santonio Holmes for a 16-yard score (Holmes’ second touchdown) to put the Jets up by four points with 1:01 left, Ryan’s defense dodged several bullets before while on for the win.
Armed with three timeouts and the ball starting at their own 27, Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick hit targets David Nelson and Scott Chandler for gains of 18 and 11 yards respectively on their first two plays to move into Jets’ territory with 40 seconds left on the clock. After a short completion to Nelson on first down, Fitzpatrick found a wide-open Steve Johnson inside the 15-yard line with a pass that was inexplicably dropped by the team’s leading receiver, much to the relief of the 79,088 in attendance.
Following a pair of scrambles by Fitzpatrick for 15 and 3 yards, the 29-year-old from Harvard again found Johnson open, this time in the end zone, but was off-target. The missed opportunity set up a third-and-seven from the 24-yard line with eight seconds remaining.
After the Jets called timeout to set up their defense, the Bills ran a fade route to former Jet Brad Smith in the corner of the end zone, which went off the hands of the diving Smith, setting up one final play for Buffalo. Operating from the shotgun as he had been the entire drive, Fitzpatrick again went for his leading receiver Johnson who was closely guarded this time. The pass was off-target and sailed over Johnson’s head as the clock ran out.
For the game, Fitzpatrick was 26/39 for 264 yards and three touchdowns while Johnson pulled in a team-high eight balls for 75 yards and a touchdown, as the Bills enjoyed success in the air against Ryan’s proud defense.
Johnson’s celebration after his second-quarter touchdown grab resulted in a penalty, enforced on the kickoff. The Bills then took a gamble and tried an onside kick, sending a line drive right at one of the Jets’ front-row players. The ball bounced back towards Buffalo but was ultimately recovered by New York at Buffalo’s 36-yard line. Three plays later, Sanchez found Plaxico Burress for a 14-yard score.
Burress finished with four catches for 54 yards and that touchdown.
His teammate Antonio Cromartie had a game to forget, though.
The former first-round pick out of Florida State fumbled a punt away to Buffalo in the third quarter, with the Jets up 21–14. The very next play on defense, Bills wide receiver Brad Smith burned him for an incredible 36-yard touchdown catch. Smith and Cromartie both went up for the pass, but Smith managed to tip the ball back to himself, caught it on the rebound, and ran in for the score as Cromartie fell to the turf.
Smith ended up with a team-high 77 receiving yards against his old team.
Another player with a good game against his former club was defensive end Aaron Maybin. The former first-round pick out of Penn State had two of the team’s three sacks on Ryan Fitzpatrick.
