There’s little that should be taken away from the Buffalo Bills’ final game of the 2019 regular season, a 13-6 loss in the rain against a New York Jets’ team that was finishing up its playoff-less season.
The Bills, with nothing to play for on Sunday, rested several key players and played mostly backups throughout the contest. In what looked like a preseason game, the Bills struggled to do much of anything on offense. The Jets struggled as well, but did just enough to outlast the Bills as both teams ran for the proverbial bus, just hoping to get this game over and done with.
The Bills wanted to get this game out of the way without any significant injuries before they made their journey out to the Central time zone for a Wild card Matchup against the Houston Texans. Unfortunately, the Bills were unable to escape without significant injury.
Levi Wallace and Ty Nsekhe were knocked out of Sunday’s contest and failed to return. Cody Ford, Taron Johnson and Siran Neal also left the game with injuries, but returned. The injuries were the last thing the Bills’ coaching staff wanted to see. The injury to Wallace was particularly troubling. The Bills’ No. 2 cornerback was hurt making a first quarter interception. It was a non-contact injury, which is never a good thing, as he planted his foot awkwardly in the wet New Era Field turf while trying to pivot and intercept a pass from Jets quarterback Sam Darnold. Wallace turned his ankle on the interception and hobbled off the field with help from a couple of teammates. The Bills get ready to face a Houston passing attack.
Nsekhe and Ford, Buffalo’s two right tackles, were banged up in this game and their absence was felt greatly. The Buffalo offensive line struggled all day against the Jets’ defensive front.
The Bills finish the 2019 regular season at 10-6, earning the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs. Their wild card matchup with Houston will be the first game of the coming weekend, kicking off at 4:30 at NRG Stadium.
Here are four things we learned about the Bills from Sunday’s game and how they relate to Buffalo’s attempt to finally win a playoff game for the first time since 1995 this coming Saturday in Texas.