Bills 28, Jets 9
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills emerged victorious in a battle of underachieving teams, defeating the New York Jets 28-9 at Ralph Wilson Stadium Sunday afternoon.
The longtime AFC East rivals finished the season with identical 6-10 records, and the Bills finished in the division basement for a fifth consecutive season.
C.J. Spiller, who rushed for 169 yards in the first meeting between the teams, found the going tougher this time, but the Bills third-year running back still managed 131 yards (59 rushing and 72 receiving) and a touchdown. It was the 10th time this season Spiller surpassed 100 yards, the most by a Bills running back since Thurman Thomas in 1991. Stevie Johnson chipped in with 111 yards on six catches, and extended his Bills' record to three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Mark Sanchez, back in the Jets' starting lineup after being benched the week before, completed 17 of 35 passes for 204 yards. He also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown and fumbled twice, losing one.
Nick Folk accounted for all the Jets points, booting three field goals.
Jets running back Shonn Greene gained 74 yards on 19 carries and surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second consecutive season. Jets receiver Jeremy Kerley had three catches for 88 yards.
Folk's 47-yard field goal gave the Jets a 3-0 lead six minutes into the game. The score was set up by Greene, who had 26 yards on five carries during the opening drive.
After a Bills punt, Sanchez threw into triple coverage in the flat and was intercepted by linebacker Bryan Scott, who returned the ball 20 yards for a touchdown to give Buffalo a 7-3 lead with 3:34 left in the first quarter.
The Jets cut the lead to one on Folk's 23-yard field goal with 10:54 left in the half. Alex Carrington of the Bills got his hand on the ball, but the kick fluttered over the goal post.
New York took a 9-7 lead on Folk's third field goal, a 28-yarder with 3:49 to go in the half.
On Buffalo's next series, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a slant pass to Spiller, who sprinted 66 yards down the middle of the field for the touchdown that put the Bills up 14-13.
The Jets squandered a golden opportunity to regain the lead early in the third quarter after Spiller was stripped of the ball by tackle Mike DeVito and it was recovered by safety Yeremiah Bell at the Bills' 20. New York was unable to move the ball, and Folk's 39-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Marcell Dareus.
Buffalo failed to pad its lead later in the third when Rian Lindell missed field goal attempts from 50 and 46 yards.
The Bills increased their lead to 21-9 on a four-yard run up the middle by wildcat quarterback Brad Smith with 10:52 to go. The key play during the drive was a 37-yard pass from Fitzpatrick to Stevie Johnson. The reception enabled Johnson to surpass the 1,000-yard receiving mark.
Buffalo closed out the scoring on Tashard Choice's 13-yard touchdown run with 1:10 left in the game.
NOTES: The Bills affixed "WWFD" decals on their helmets in honor of the two West Webster, N.Y., firefighters - Lt. Mike Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka - who were murdered while responding to a fire on December 24. Buffalo tight end Scott Chandler visited two other West Webster firefighters - Joe Hofstetter and Ted Scardino - who were wounded and are recuperating at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester on Friday . . . The Jets won the first meeting between the teams, 48-28, and had won eight of the previous nine games in the series . . . Midway through the third quarter, many in the announced crowd of 54,533 mockingly began chanting "Tebow! Tebow! Tebow!" in hopes Jets backup quarterback Tim Tebow would replace Sanchez.
