Jets revert to bad habits, outclassed by Bills; Justin Fields suffers concussion

Justin Fields of the Jets walks to the sidelines after he was sacked during the fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Jets took several giant steps backward on Sunday and might have to go forward without their starting quarterback.
Justin Fields suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter of the Jets’ 30-10 loss to the Bills on Sunday at MetLife Stadium and is in the concussion protocol. Tyrod Taylor finished the game, which wasn’t much of a game because of mistakes, penalties and overall poor play by the Jets.
They allowed the Bills to score on their first four possessions and take a 20-0 lead just over 21 minutes into the game. They were booed loudly on several occasions, didn’t put up much of a fight and continued to beat themselves by being overly aggressive on defense and inefficient on offense.
“Apparently I didn’t have the guys ready to play,” Aaron Glenn said. “It’s not OK. It’s not OK to lose like that.”
Glenn said he was “very disappointed” after a performance that numbed all the good feelings, hope and optimism the Jets created in their 34-32 loss to Pittsburgh in Week 1. They still are not in the league of the five-time reigning AFC East champions from Buffalo.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” cornerback Sauce Gardner said. “Even though we lost last week, it was one of those things where we were like, we know what type of team we’re going to be. We didn’t display that today at all.”
Adding injury to insult, Fields had to leave the game early in the fourth quarter after he hit his helmet hard on the turf. The Jets also lost starting edge rusher Jermaine Johnson (ankle), safety Tony Adams (groin) and nickel back Michael Carter (shoulder) in this game.
The Jets’ offense couldn’t produce much as Fields struggled to get the ball to his receivers. They totaled 154 yards of offense, had only 8 net passing yards with Fields in the game and finished with 54.
“We didn’t play well when we were on the field,” receiver Garrett Wilson said. “It felt like we weren’t on the field. Not good enough.”
Fields, who accounted for three touchdowns last week, had some bad misses. On the first series, he overthrew Wilson for what would have been a big gain on third down. He completed only 3 of 11 passes for 27 yards.
Fields led the Jets in rushing with 49 yards on nine carries but fumbled in the first quarter deep in Jets territory. The Bills converted that into a field goal.
Taylor was 7-for-11 for 56 yards and threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Ruckert with 3:28 left in the fourth quarter. It was the Lindenhurst product’s first career touchdown. Wilson had four catches for 50 yards. Breece Hall rushed 10 times for 29 yards. After rushing for 182 yards last week, the Jets were held to 100.
“All week we felt we had a good plan, we had a good week of practice,” Wilson said. “And we come out and lay an egg when it matters. We got to figure it out.”
This wasn’t a game that reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen dominated. He didn’t have to because of the Jets’ breakdowns on both sides of the football.
Allen completed 14 of 25 passes for 148 yards and no touchdowns, but the Jets’ defense gave up three rushing touchdowns. James Cook ran for 132 yards and two scores and former Jet Elijah Moore scored on a 4-yard run.
The Jets gave up 224 rushing yards, their most since 2021.
“Very disappointing,” Gardner said. “We got to be better all around — stupid penalties, missed tackles, everything.”
The Jets’ first offensive and defensive series set the tone for the entire day.
They went three-and-out to start the game and then opened the door for Buffalo to score a touchdown with bad penalties.
The Jets allowed a 40-yard run by Allen on third down and had 5 more yards added to it because of a holding penalty on Carter. Later on the drive, Micheal Clemons was flagged for roughing the passer on Allen after he threw incomplete on third-and-19 from the Jets’ 30. It gave the Bills a first down at the Jets’ 15. Three plays later, Cook ran it in from a yard out.
“When you hit the quarterback high,” Glenn said, “when you hit him in the head and neck area, that’s just what they’re calling now, so we have to be smarter than that.”
On the ensuing possession, Fields fumbled on first down trying to escape the collapsing pocket. Buffalo recovered at the Jets’ 24 and settled for a field goal.
Another third-down penalty — this time holding on Adams — negated an incomplete pass by Allen and extended Buffalo’s next drive. It ended with Matt Prater kicking a 52-yard field goal.
After another three-and-out by the Jets, Cook broke free for a 44-yard touchdown. There were multiple missed tackles on that one, including one by linebacker Quincy Williams.
“I’m not a big fan of sitting here telling everybody, ‘Guys, it’s OK,’ ” Glenn said. “No. No. You don’t just lose like that and it’s OK. It makes you go back to work. You start to fix those problems that you saw on tape and you move on to the next week. That’s what we’re going to do.”