Ryan’s banged-up Bills can spoil Jets’ playoff hopes

The New York Jets will travel upstate to face former head coach Rex Ryan’s Buffalo Bills with an opportunity to seal a playoff spot for the first time since 2010.

“We won’t sit down by a cozy fire and roast marshmallows and talk about it”, Fitzpatrick said.

“I just think, when I’m like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna be in the playoffs.’ I just honestly, 100 percent believed that”.

After the Bills handed the Jets their fourth loss of the season, many expected this week 17 matchup to be sort of a “play in” game between the two teams because after the week 10 defeat, Rex Ryan’s team were ahead of the Jets in the wild card standings.

In 2008, the year before Ryan arrived in NY, the Jets committed 77 penalties; that number jumped to 88 in Ryan’s first season, according to Stats LLC. If they lose, they can still get in if the Steelers fall to the Browns.

“I look back on those four years as a great learning experience for me”, Fitzpatrick said of his time in Buffalo. Rex Ryan says anything and everything. The Bill defeated the Jets earlier this season at MetLife Stadium.

Their relationship has also blossomed on the field, and it has them this close to celebrating a first playoff trip together.

“You obviously don’t want a lot of people to enjoy what you haven’t been able to”, Wood said. But I’m the guy that should be criticized, that’s fine.

Rex Ryan will retain his position as the Buffalo Bills coach despite missing out on a place in the National Football League play-offs. Rookie right guard John Miller (ankle), safety Bacarri Rambo (shoulder/knee) and cornerback Ron Brooks (neck) are also battling nagging injuries.

FOND FAREWELL: Gailey bid a brief but teary-eyed farewell after being fired by the Bills.

The Jets got the ball back with just under four minutes to play; this time, on third-and-long, Fitzpatrick was wrapped up by Marcel Dareus as he let go of a ball intended for Brandon Marshall, and it came down short, picked off by Manny Lawson.

“The past couple weeks have been playoff games, ” Bowles said.

“You can’t help but be excited; you’ve just got to temper it and stay focused”, Bowles said.

Since that moment, Marshall and Fitzpatrick’s relationship has blossomed into one that is becoming, believe it or not, one of the more deadly combinations in the entire NFL. Buffalo is banged up physically and pridefully with its 7-8 record and 16th straight season of no playoffs, yet still skilled enough to damage the Jets’ dreams. Decker has 75 receptions for 977 yards and 11 touchdowns, giving him 16 TDs, the second most of any receiver in team history in their first two seasons with the franchise, trailing only Art Powell’s 19 in 1960-61. At the time, the Bills were 4-2 and Fitzpatrick had 12 TD passes and six interceptions. “It’s the criticism that our teams takes that bothers me because…and the reason I say that is these guys play hard, man, and they prepare”. They’re going to call some plays they likely wouldn’t call in the middle of the season when they’re trying to get into the playoffs.