Bills reflect on 9 sacks vs. Jets: ‘Everybody eats’
Rookie QB and second overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft Zach Wilson faced a Buffalo defense on Sunday that he’ll deal with twice a season every year as a Jet.
It was a trial-by-fire, and Wilson got cooked.
The Bills had nine sacks for a total of 82 yards lost, and
The nine sacks against the Jets were Buffalo’s most in a game under Sean McDermott, and their most in a game since 2011 (10 against WFT Oct. 30, 2011). They now have 19 sacks in their last four games.
The first sack of the day came on Jets WR Jamison Crowder in a failed trick play while the other eight came on Wilson. It was the most he’s been wrapped up in a game this season.
Bills sack leader DE Mario Addison (7) and S Jordan Poyer had two sacks apiece. Poyer’s two takedowns were good for a single-game career-high, and his sack season total (3) is also a career-high.
DT Ed Oliver had a sack and a half in the game along with three quarterback hits, and LB Matt Milano, DE Boogie Basham, and DE A.J. Epenesa each had a sack as well while DE Jerry Hughes also added a half-sack
“Everybody eats,” Oliver said to the press after the game. “Everybody was just on it. It just seemed like everybody was flying around. He wanted to run around and just our overlap and everybody just rushing. So that was a good sight to see especially in the game like this with so much on the line.”
“We won a lot on first down,” fellow DT Harrison Phillips said during his media session. “Our coverage did some great things to make him hold the ball and then our offense scoring early being up kind of the whole game lets us get after the quarterback.”
Buffalo finished the regular season with the top-scoring defense for the first time in franchise history and as the number one total defense in the NFL.
“I just think overall they’re playing faster,” HC Sean McDermott said while addressing the media. “We had some young players mixed in there and then you’ve got some older guys with Jerry and Mario and that blend has come together at the right time.”
And McDermott wasn’t the only head coach in the game to compliment the defense’s level of play.
Jets HC Robert Saleh called the Bills defense a “buzzsaw” after the contest.
“Obviously they are one of the best defenses in football,” Saleh said during his postgame press conference. “We just could not run the ball very well. Obviously, it was tough sledding. And any time we got something going, their front was dominant.”
The Bills clinched the AFC East with the win and are now the No. 3 seed on the back of their four-game winning streak. They’ll host the Patriots for a third matchup this season on Saturday evening for the first-round Wild Card game.
