The Bills needed a bounce back after two consecutive loses to the Chiefs and Titans, respectively, and they got it against the Jets. It wasn’t easy, especially in the first half, but the Bills rallied from being down 10-0, to pull out an 18-10 victory.
The Bills needed rookies from all across the roster to make plays, whether it was fullback Reggie Gilliam, cornerback Dane Jackson, defensive end AJ Epenesa, or kicker Tyler Bass. It was a great team performance, that was marred by an inconsistent red zone offense, poor decision-making, and bad penalties.
Buffalo still pulled out the victory to sweep the Jets in 2020 and move to 5-2 on the season. With that, let’s see who performed or underperformed in New Jersey via this week’s stock report:
Stock up
Dane Jackson
The Bills came into their game against the Jets with a secondary that’s missing some key pieces, cornerbacks Josh Norman and Levi Wallace were both out due to injury. It’s also a secondary that hasn’t made many plays this season, but rookie Dane Jackson, in his first career game, looked up to the task. Jackson started off strong by breaking up a pass on third down to force a New York field goal early in the contest.
Jackson continued his debut by making three tackles, breaking up two more passes, and picking off quarterback Sam Darnold once. It was the type of performance that the Bills secondary hasn’t seen this season, and Jackson could have played himself into a starting role in the backend of the season.
Tyler Bass
Kicker Tyler Bass hasn’t had the best start to his NFL career, but the Bills never had to rely on the rookie… until they faced the Jets. Buffalo’s offense struggled once they made it into Jets territory, that meant Bass needed to produce. He attempted eight field goals, making six of them, with a long of 53 yards.
Frankly, Bass was one of the reasons that Buffalo beat the Jets, while Bass hasn’t been perfect this year, he showed up when his team needed him.
Cole Beasley
While Buffalo only scored 18 points they moved the ball relatively well up until the they hit the red zone and receiver Cole Beasley was a big part of that. Beasley finished the day 11 catches, a new career high, for 112 yards. Quarterback Josh Allen found Beasley on the underneath routes, and then Beasley made defenders miss when the ball was in his hands.
Beasley also made a tremendous one handed grab in the red zone, showing his awareness and great hands.
Jerry Hughes
This spot could have gone to the entire defensive line because for the first time this season the Bills generated consistent pressure with their front four. The Bills defense sacked Darnold six times, with two of the six coming from Jerry Hughes. The other four came from the likes of: Tre’Davious White, Matt Milano, AJ Epenesa, and Trent Murphy.
Hughes finished the game with six tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, and the game sealing interception.
Honorable mentions
Josh Allen had a bounce back performance with 368 total yards, but made some bad decisions that cost his team points. Zach Moss, the rookie back, had a strong second half, finishing the game with 72 total yards. Tyler Kroft, the lone tight end had four catches for 64 yards.