‘Did you really think that with 13 seconds left to play, with no timeouts at your disposal when you took the snap at the Buffalo 24-yard-line, that the Bills were going to jump the short route and forget about defending the end zone?’
Report Card
‘Gun shy on some fourth downs and another squib kick nearly backfired but Gregg Williams’ guys beat a much more talented team.’
With Door Open, Jets Hit a Wall
‘”All I’m going to say is the play came in from the sideline and we executed it the best we could,” he said. “I’m not going to say `what if’ because then it looks like I should be calling the plays and whatever play came in was wrong. You guys can make you own decisions based on what happened.”‘
Defensive Holes Catch Up With Jets
‘”I think we had this game in the bag and let it slip away,” he said. “We did not stay focused. We didn’t do what we needed to do to win.”‘
Jets Get Signals Crossed
‘But with defensive end John Abraham injured, Buffalo, which had the 23rd-ranked rushing offense, ripped large swatches out of the Jets’ defense, rushing for 192 yards. Ted Cottrell, the Jets’ first-year defensive coordinator, shook his head and muttered as he left the locker room. “This was not good,” he said.’
Wind Proves to Be a Foe
‘In the second quarter, the Jets went into the wind, which prevented them from trying a field goal from Buffalo’s 29-yard line as time expired. Edwards asked Hall if he thought he could make the kick — it would have been about a 47-yard attempt — and Hall said no.’
Clock Ticking on Jets
‘The Jets, once thought to be a playoff shoo-in, imperiled their postseason hopes yesterday with a dreadful 14-9 loss to the lowly Bills — a performance eerily reminiscent of … well, last year’s late-season collapse.’
Hackett Botches Final Call
‘He said he thought the Jets had time to run two plays after they had spiked the ball at the Buffalo 24.’
Testy QB Passes the Buck
‘Vinny Testaverde threw a pair of interceptions and had no touchdown passes, but he seemed unwilling to accept at least some of the blame for either one of them in the Jets’ 14-9 loss to the Bills yesterday.’
Ringing in New Year With More Of the Same Old Finish
‘Good teams can make mistakes and win. Not the Same Olds. They began the day with the best turnover record in the NFL. They take it away and they don’t cough it up. Yesterday, they coughed it away three times and every one of them was painful.’
Questionable Calls
‘The Bills confused the Jets with a “bunch” formation, resulting in a 22-yard TD pass to WR Peerless Price. CB Ray Mickens, responsible for Price in man-to-man coverage, got picked on the play, according to Edwards.’
Jets’ Report Card
‘Herman Edwards made several tactical errors. Clearly, the Jets underestimated the Bills.’
Jets take page from dismal past
‘”We had an opportunity to do something special today, but we just didn’t get it done . . . I still don’t believe we lost,” linebacker Marvin Jones said.’
Hackett takes lumps for last call
‘”We just didn’t have enough time,” Hackett said. “We had 13 seconds and we thought we had two plays [left]. Everybody knows that, but it turned out we only had one.”‘
Finally, Bills get big break
‘”It would have been easy for us just to give up and go home,” said Van Pelt. “Ever since I’ve been here, that’s not the way we’ve done things, no matter what the odds are.”‘