Top 3 Things We Learned

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Top 3 things we learned from Bills at Jets | Monday Night Football | Week 6

Oct 15, 2024 at 10:17 AM

Alec White

Content Coordinator

CB Taron Johnson. New York Jets vs Buffalo Bills, Regular Season, October 14, 2024 at MetLife Stadium.

The Buffalo Bills came away with a hard-fought 23-20 win over the Jets on Monday Night Football in Week 6 in what turned out to be a nail-biting finish.

The Bills (4-2) remain in first place in the AFC East and snap a two-game losing streak.

Here are the top 3 things we learned from the victory:

1 — A total team effort to close out the game

Amidst the chaos that unfolded during the course of nearly three and a half hours on Monday Night Football, the Bills managed to come away with the win in large part because of how they stuck together as a team and made plays down the stretch.

In the final four minutes of the game, the Bills kicked a go-ahead field goal, got a defensive pass break up from Taylor Rapp, an interception by Taron Johnson and a first down to run out the clock on the road to snap a two-game losing streak.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott waited outside Buffalo's visiting locker room, greeting and high-fiving each player after the victory.

"You guys found a way, that's what toughness does, guys hung together all three phases, man," McDermott told the team in the postgame locker room speech.

Bills QB Josh Allen — who finished the night 19 of 25 passing for 215 yards, two touchdown passes and another on the ground — said the team knew the importance of this early-season contest in the AFC East.

"We understand the gravity of this type of game, us being 4-2 and a two-and-a-half game lead with the head-to-head win, as opposed to being 3-3 and being second place. So big game for us in terms of where it stands," Allen said.

Following the interception by Johnson, Allen called his own number on a third down run from his own 24-yard line, picking up a first down and icing the game in the process. What appeared to be a pitch play to the right, instead turned into a QB run to the left with Allen skirting past Jets DE Micheal Clemons.

"17 kind of drew that one up in the dirt a little bit," McDermott laughed.

2 — Return of Rapp & Johnson proves vital

The Bills defense got a much-needed boost with the return of nickel cornerback Taron Johnson and starting safety Taylor Rapp to the lineup. Both players made game-changing plays throughout the night.

Rapp showed great instincts in the secondary for much of the night, knocking a would-be touchdown out of the hands of WR Garrett Wilson and making a bang-bang hit on Jets tight end Jeremy Ruckert on the final drive, one play before Johnson's INT. The safety also saved a touchdown on Breece Hall's long run.

"He made some huge plays, some huge hits. Happy he's on our team," Johnson said of Rapp.

Rapp tied Johnson for the team lead with eight tackles and led Buffalo with three pass break ups.

"We're a resilient team," Rapp said. "We're gonna always fight to the end. It's just a testament of the DNA of these guys in the locker room."

On Johnson's INT, the corner said the defense knew that they needed to make a play at the end of the game to secure the win.

"I was just reading the quarterback, saw the ball was floating in the air a little bit," Johnson said.

Johnson credited Buffalo's red zone defense, which limited the Jets to scoring on just 1 of their 4 red zone chances as a key reason why the Bills got the win.

"Our red zone defense was really good, definitely changed the game," he said. "They were moving the ball, but we made some big plays."

3 — Everybody loves Ray Davis

With the news coming before kick off the RB James Cook was going be out with a foot injury, that meant rookie RB Ray Davis would have an increased role.

Davis shined in his opportunity, leading the Bills with 97 rushing yards on 20 carries and adding a team-high 55 receiving yards. Davis is the first Bills rookie to lead the team in both receiving yards and rushing yards in a game since Ronnie Harmon in Week 8 of 1986 against the Patriots.

He credited a lot of his success Monday to the confidence his teammates have given him throughout his first NFL season.

"Every day those guys continue to push me," Davis said. "Those guys tell me that I'm good at what I do, and just, you know, keep the faith and understand that they gave me the ball the first two times. It showed that they had a lot of trust and confidence in me. As a running back, that's something that you love."

Davis also shared postgame that the Bills went into Monday night with the intent to be physical in all aspects of the game.

"That was something we really wanted to do. We stressed all week about going out there and taking it to them, you know, taking the physicality to them, understanding that maybe some guys may not want to tackle. So it's about just going out there and bringing the physicality, lowering your pads, running behind your pads, and getting those tough, tough yards," he said.

Josh Allen was impressed by the way Davis lowered his pads and fought for extra yards every time he touched the football.

"It was awesome to see. That's why we drafted him," he said. "He's tough to bring down, and he runs the ball super hard, protects the ball. I'm very proud of him for stepping up."