Turnovers cost Jets in 22-17 loss to Rex, Bills
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - The New York Jets could only watch as Rex Ryan pumped his fists, jumped around the sideline and celebrated a victory-sealing interception.
No longer was he their coach. He was the enemy - and had just sent them to a crushing defeat.
Buffalo's defense shut down Ryan's former team for much of Thursday night, and the Bills scored on offense and special teams in a 22-17 victory.
"There's a bad taste in my mouth right now, just how it all went," cornerback Darrelle Revis said. "You know, being down 22-3, that's bad, pretty bad. We had chances during the game to make a play here and there on both sides of the ball. It just didn't work out."
Duke Williams returned a fumbled kickoff 19 yards for the go-ahead points, rookie Karlos Williams had a 26-yard touchdown catch and Dan Carpenter kicked three field goals. Buffalo (5-4) moved into the wild-card playoff picture, while the Jets (5-4) have lost three of their last four games.
"I wouldn't say there's concern, but we just have to get on the other side of the column," wide receiver Brandon Marshall said. "We have to win. It's as simple as that."
Ryan was fired by the Jets after six seasons and immediately hired by Buffalo last January. His defense had two interceptions, recovered a fumble and stopped the Jets inside the Bills 10 in the final minutes - prompting some vigorous fist pumps Ryan repeated, along with a flying headset, when Bacarri Rambo clinched it with a last-minute pick.
"I can tell the truth, this thing is kind of like being dumped by some girl you have the hots for," Ryan said to reporters at an overflowing news conference. "Every guy in this room has been dumped by a girl. You move on, and every now and then, they call you back.
"And they can't have you back."
Ryan Fitzpatrick hit Eric Decker for a 31-yard touchdown with 7:23 remaining to make it 22-17. The Jets then got another golden chance a couple minutes later when Buffalo punter Colton Schmidt bobbled a snap and was tackled at his 13 by Jamari Lattimore.
On fourth-and-4 from the 7 and with a chance to take the lead, offensive coordinator Chan Gailey had Fitzpatrick throw a fade for Kellen Davis - but the ball floated over the tight end and landed harmlessly in the end zone.
"I didn't see the ball until it was already past me," Davis said.
Added Decker: "We both got caught up. He's trying to release and I probably should've given him a little more time and room to release. That's how it happened."
New York got the ball back with 24 seconds left at its own 36. On the first play, Fitzpatrick's deep throw for Kenbrell Thompkins down the sideline was picked off by Rambo - sending Ryan into a full-out celebration.
"You lose games for a reason, and we lost the game because (we lost) the turnover battle," said coach Todd Bowles, whose team had turned the ball over four times. "I'm not going to look back and say we should have won this game."
Fitzpatrick finished 15 of 34 for 193 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He will have surgery Friday on his injured left thumb, but is not expected to miss any games.
Chris Ivory had 99 yards on 18 carries, but also had a costly fumble in the third quarter for the Jets.
Buffalo's Tyrod Taylor was 17 of 27 for 158 yards and a touchdown toss to Karlos Williams. LeSean McCoy ran for 112 yards on 19 carries and had five catches for 47 yards.
With the game tied at 3, Duke Williams scooped up a fumble by rookie Devin Smith on the first kickoff return of his career. Williams scooted 19 yards for a 9-3 lead, but Carpenter missed the extra point wide left.
Carpenter added a 41-yard field goal to make 12-3 at halftime, then kicked a 29-yarder midway in the third quarter after Chris Ivory's fumble. That field goal came after Karlos Williams's 26-yard TD reception on the first series of the second half, making him the second player in NFL history with a touchdown in each of his first six games - he joined New England's Robert Edwards (1998).
The Jets finally held onto the ball long enough to get something going, an 80-yard drive capped by Marshall's 14-yard scoring catch to make it 22-10. That woke up the crowd, and New York forced a three-and-out.
When New York reached the Buffalo 20, though, it eschewed a field goal and tried a strange pass to Marshall well behind the line of scrimmage on fourth-and-2. He was well covered and thrown for a 2-yard loss, then limped off, but returned on the Jets' next series.
NOTES: Jets RB Zac Stacy broke his left ankle at the end of the first half on a kickoff return. ... Bills DE Mario Williams spent most of the game sidelined with what the team called an illness. Ryan said Williams was "sick as a dog" and needed an IV. ... Fitzpatrick now has 138 career TD passes, surpassing Hall of Famer Sid Luckman for the most by an Ivy League QB in the NFL. Fitzpatrick went to Harvard; Luckman attended Columbia.
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