The Buffalo Bills clawed their way to the top of the AFC East with a hard-fought 23-20 win over the New York Jets on a chaotic Monday Night Football game at MetLife Stadium. In a contest dominated as much by yellow flags as football plays, the Bills managed to hold off Aaron Rodgers’ Jets in a game marked by bizarre officiating and missed kicks.
The game was marred by 22 penalties totaling 204 yards, the highest penalty yardage in a game this season. Fans saw every type of flag imaginable, from questionable pass interference calls to penalties on seemingly clean tackles, with each whistle disrupting the flow and frustrating players and fans alike.
Despite the chaos, Buffalo’s Tyler Bass managed to break the deadlock with a 22-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, marking the Bills’ only points of the second half but enough to secure the win. Aaron Rodgers tried to mount a comeback on the Jets’ final drive, but a costly interception sealed the Jets’ fate and allowed the Bills to run out the clock.
Josh Allen showed resilience, completing 19 of 25 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns, and adding a rushing score to his stat line. Buffalo dominated on the ground, racking up 149 rushing yards, with rookie running back Ray Davis delivering a standout performance with 97 yards on 20 carries—the heaviest workload for a Bills rookie running back since 2019.
Aaron Rodgers, meanwhile, couldn’t break his streak of games without surpassing 300 passing yards, ending the night with 294 yards and two touchdowns on 23 of 35 attempts. Despite moving into the red zone four times, the Jets converted only one of those opportunities into a touchdown. Kicker Greg Zuerlein missed two crucial field goals in the second half, from 32 and 43 yards, leaving the Jets short of the lead in what would be costly mistakes.
Buffalo, now 4-2, claims the top spot in the AFC East, while the Jets dropped to 2-4 and now sit in third place behind the Miami Dolphins. This game was also the debut of interim Jets head coach Jeff Ulbrich after Robert Saleh’s recent firing.
The penalty-heavy game raises questions about NFL officiating, as the league faces scrutiny over the impact of officiating on Monday night’s outcome. With both teams reeling from the unusually high penalty count, it remains to be seen if the league will address the issue moving forward.
