New York Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams vowed that their defensive performance against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday would not be repeated.
The Jets gave up more than 200 rushing yards to the Buffalo offense in a 30–10 loss. It was a far cry from the dominant performance in the trenches against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1. Williams said Thursday that during a team meeting, the defense severely critiqued itself and vowed to do better.
He said the defense did what it needed to do in Week 1 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even though the Steelers won that game 34–32, the Jets held the Steelers’ rushing attack to just 53 yards. Running back Jaylen Warren was Pittsburgh’s leading rusher with 11 carries for 37 yards; Kenneth Gainwell added another 19 yards on 7 carries; quarterback Aaron Rodgers had -1 yards on a single rush; and rookie Kaleb Johnson had -2 yards on his lone carry.
But in Week 2, the Bills ran roughshod over the Jets’ defense. On a 3rd and 8 on the Bills’ first possession, quarterback Josh Allen escaped pressure, leaped over a defender who had been taken to the ground, and strolled through a wide-open middle of the field for a 40-yard gain. Running back James Cook broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run in the second quarter; on at least two other occasions, he fought through several tackles to gain first-down yardage.
The Bills finished the day with 224 yards on the ground. Cook finished the game with 21 carries for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns; Allen had a total of 6 carries for 59 yards; rotational back Ray Davis rushed 9 times for 24 yards; wide receiver Elijah Moore had two carries for 6 yards, including a touchdown on a jet sweep play. Running back Ty Johnson added another 6 yards on 2 touches; and backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky had three carries for -3 yards while filling in for Allen.
Williams fully agreed with his coach’s assessment.
“The coaching staff has done an unbelievable job, when it comes down to putting us in the right position, the right way. We’ve got to make the tackles, we’ve got to not make penalties on third down. We’ve got to get the ball out of the quarterback’s hand fast. We’ve got to win our one-on-one’s up front, and we’ve got to do the things that the coaches can’t control on the field,” he said.
“When we [stop] making stupid penalties on third downs, and when we stop making mental errors when it comes down to fundamentals and execution stuff like that, we’re going to be a ... defense that’s going to be probably one of the best in the league.”
Tackling was particularly an issue for the Jets. On Allen’s long run, edge rusher Will McDonald IV missed a chance to grab Allen from behind early. On Cook’s first touchdown, cornerback Michael Carter II missed a tackle that would have stopped him short. Cook’s long touchdown run was caused by a missed shoestring tackle by linebacker Quincy Williams. Wide receiver Khalil Shakir fought through a tackle for a first down in the third quarter.
Late in the third quarter, Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner had Allen dead-to-rights on a cornerback blitz, but Allen spun out of the tackle and got a first down at the New York 5-yard line. Moore scored his TD on the next play: safety Andre Cisco had a chance to hit Moore but whiffed as he cut inside.
Penalties also struck the Jets. In the first quarter, New York backed Buffalo into a 3rd and 19, but a roughing the passer call on defensive lineman Micheal Clemons gave the Bills a fresh set of downs, which set up Cook’s TD. Safety Tony Adams was called for holding on a 3rd down in the second quarter. Gardner also had a holding call on 3rd and 7 in the first quarter, but it was declined.
“We really honed in and focused on the step back that we took from Week 1 to Week 2, and all made a pact as a defense, player-to-player, that that won’t ever happen again,” Williams said. “So moving forward, just getting better every single day doing things that we know we can do as a defense.”
