NFL 2011 Week 9 - Jets Pound Bills on Both Sides of Ball, Take Share Of AFC East Lead

Jets Pound Bills on Both Sides of Ball
Take Share Of AFC East Lead
Charles Roberts

Orchard Park, NY

Relentless defense, clock-chewing offense and a 17-point third quarter helped the New York Jets secure a 27-11 victory over the Buffalo Bills Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Leading 3-0 at halftime, Santonio Holmes' 8-yard touchdown reception was the final of three third-quarter scoring drives - giving the Jets a 20-3 lead and effectively slamming the door shut.

"They played well; we played poorly," said Bills head coach Chan Gailey. "It's my responsibility to get our team ready to play each week and I didn't get these guys ready to play well enough to play this ball game."

The Jets' defense forced three turnovers, but none more critical than recovering Bills running back Fred Jackson's first fumble of the season with 10:10 remaining in the third quarter. LaDainian Tomlinson scored the game's first touchdown - a 1-yard run - less than two minutes later to give the Jets a 13-0 lead after the extra point.

"It was just how I got hit," said Jackson, who finished with 18 carries for 82 yards, of the fumble. "I'll take that one on the chin. That was my fault. I let the team down and let the ball go. We can't do that - can't have turnovers like that."

The Jets had the ball on offense for 37:52 - more than 20 minutes of which came in the first half. The Bills produced just 73 total yards in the first half and converted only three of 11 third-down situations by game's end.

"Playing New York Jet defense," said Jets head coach Rex Ryan on how they stopped the typically potent Bills' offense. "They spread us out to run the ball and they do different things, but our personnel, I think the back end did a tremendous job. And we're a team; they feel off each other. It was just a great team effort."

"It's totally attitude," said Jets defensive tackle Sione Pouha. "It's 'Jetsitude' the way we look at it…It's playing like a Jet - aggressiveness, going out there in attack mode. I think today just kind of displayed just what Jet football is all about."

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez connected on 20 of 28 pass attempts for 230 yards with a touchdown and an interception. His counterpart, Ryan Fitzpatrick, completed 15 of 31 passes for 191 yards with two interceptions.

Jets wide receiver Plaxico Burress caught a game-high five passes for 79 yards.

The win is the third straight for the Jets (5-3), giving them a share of first-place in the AFC East with the Bills (5-3).