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Bills rout Jets in windy Buffalo

Nov 17, 2013 - 11:48 PM Orchard Park, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - The see-saw season for the New York Jets continued on Sunday in Buffalo.

Coming off their bye, the Jets were hoping an odd-numbered week would result in another win as it had in the previous odd weeks of the season. Instead, the Buffalo Bills snapped their own three-game losing streak with a 37-14 victory on a windy day at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

The Jets (5-5), who roughed up New Orleans in their last outing two weeks ago, became the first team in NFL history to alternate wins and losses in their first 10 games, while the Bills (4-7) head into a bye with their first victory since Week 7 at Miami.

EJ Manuel won the second battle of rookie quarterbacks with New York's Geno Smith. The Jets notched a 27-20 win in Week 3 at MetLife Stadium when Manuel completed only 19-of-42 passes and Smith threw for 331 yards with a pair of scores.

"It was a physical game, we took advantage of some opportunites, thought (Manuel) played well," said Bills coach Doug Marrone.

On this day, Manuel connected on 20-of-28 throws for 245 yards with a pair of long touchdown passes into the wind for Buffalo, while Smith completed just 8- of-23 passes for only 103 yards and was intercepted three times.

Jairus Byrd came away with two of the picks and Da'Norris Searcy returned one 32 yards for a touchdown. Smith, who was benched in the fourth quarter, was also sacked four times and lost a fumble deep in his own territory that set up another Buffalo touchdown.

"You got to give all the credit to Buffalo. They did a tremendous job, outplayed us in every phase of the game," said Jets coach Rex Ryan.

The wind problems cropped up for the Jets on their second possession when Nick Folk's perfect season came to an end, as the wind took his 48-yard field goal try well to the right.

Buffalo, though, had no such issues going into the wind in the second quarter.

Dan Carpenter's 40-yard field goal went straight down the middle just over two minutes into the second and the Bills drove 68 yards in 13 plays with their ensuing possession for a touchdown.

Buffalo was set to punt on 4th-and-5 from the Jets' 37, but an offside penalty made it 4th-and-inches and Manuel's sneak picked up the first down. Manuel went to the end zone three plays later and his throw into the wind came up short, but T.J. Graham adjusted to the underthrown ball inside the five and scooted into the end zone for the 34-yard score and a 10-0 lead.

Two turnovers then led to 10 more Buffalo points before the intermission.

Smith was stripped of the ball on the second play after the kickoff and the Bills recovered at the New York four. After C.J. Spiller was stopped for a yard, Frank Summers found room through the middle on the next play for a touchdown.

Byrd then picked off Smith two plays after the following kickoff to set up Carpenter's 42-yard field goal with just 1:15 left in the half.

Buffalo was forced to punt on its first possession of the second half and a fumbled snap led to a two-yard punt into the wind, giving the Jets the ball at the Buffalo 40.

After a sack, Smith found Santonio Holmes for 38 yards to set up a first down at the five. It took four more plays, but Chris Ivory nudged his way into the end zone from inside the one to get the Jets on the board.

The Bills, still going into the wind, used two big plays to extend their lead with 4:40 left in the third. Graham caught a 40-yard pass on the first play after a Jets punt and Marquise Goodwin outraced Antonio Cromartie down the field on the next play and hauled in Manuel's perfectly thrown ball in stride for a 43-yard touchdown and a 27-7 lead.

Smith was intercepted by Byrd for the second time less than a minute later, but the Buffalo offense could not cash in. The Jets QB wasn't as fortunate on the next series, as Searcy stepped in front of a bubble screen pass and raced untouched to the end zone with the interception for a 34-7 margin with 1:14 left in the third.

After one more poor series for Smith, Matt Simms took over and threw his first career touchdown pass, a 13-yard toss to Jeff Cumberland 5 1/2 minutes into the fourth.

Carpenter tacked on a 43-yard field goal to account for the final margin.

Game Notes

The Bills surrendered less than 20 points for the first time this season ... Folk had been 23-for-23 on field goal tries and had made each of his 14 PATs before the first-quarter miss. He hadn't missed a kick since last Dec. 30 in Buffalo ... Ivory finished with 98 yards on 15 carries, with a 69-yard jaunt late in the fourth accounting for the majority of the output ... The Bills ran for just 68 yards, including 34 on 12 carries for Fred Jackson ... Holmes returned to the lineup for the Jets after missing five straight games with injuries and caught two passes for 71 yards ... The Bills will next play on Dec. 1 at home against Atlanta ... The Jets visit Baltimore next Sunday.