New York Jets Let Playoff Hopes Slip Away

“This is the most fun I’ve ever had in a season with the guys in this locker room, the run we kind of had in December, ” he said. “You get experience and try not to put too much into it, say what you have to say and move on”. “I wish (the Jets were) going in somebody’s place. But I know it was real emotional for me then”.

He had Buffalo’s lone sack against the Jets. He becomes just the 10th Bills receiver to reach that mark. And while you hope that perhaps they will enjoy the taste of real victory one day, it’s perfectly okay to laugh at their pain for now. “There’s still football that has got to be played”.

“It’s hard to come up with words, just because we really came together as a team this year, and I feel like we fought through a lot of adversity”.

But unlike their Meadowlands co-tenant, the Jets don’t need a staff upheaval during this off-season.

“He’s a first year starter, and he’s got some things we have to work on through the offseason, I’m sure”. On the final drive of the Jets on offense, Jets starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw what would be the game-ending interception that sealed the win for the Bills and sealed the end of the season for the Jets.

The Fitzpatrick package – some great performances in this, his 11th season as an NFL QB, and the way he cares about his teammates and his team and the game – are reasons that his teammates and head coach Todd Bowles have said they want the potential free agent to return for another season in green and white. They are hopeless to begin with, so if anything goes well for their team then it’s just a pleasant surprise. “It was a tough one”.

“Definitely was a big game for us”, quarterback Tyrod Taylor said after the game.

Bowles ended his season with a news conference today and despite it being a disappointing end, there were a lot of positives for the Jets in the first year of the Bowles era. Taylor scrambled out of the pocket and tucked an 18-yard touchdown inside the left pylon with 5:55 left in the first quarter. He absolutely turned on the afterburners in his last six games, with more than half his yardage for the season (679 yards) and 35 catches coming from November 29 on.

He rebounded, going three-for-three on field goal attempts through the rest of the game.

Best of all, though he and his squad were eliminated from the playoff race two weeks ago, Ryan’s players didn’t quit on him, or themselves, in a season finale that meant nothing to them … but everything to the Jets.

All the Jets needed to do was beat the Bills in Buffalo, and they’d get in the playoffs.

The Jets using a balanced offensive approach with Chris Ivory powering the running game and Marshall and Eric Decker leading the passing attack with each surpassing 1,000 yards receiving. He’d hit Decker for a score on New York’s previous possession, to pull within two points. The team is a heck of a lot closer than what is out there. Sometimes that takes a little longer than anticipated. I mentioned that the Cowboys fell behind 24-0 to start the game against Washington.