Geno Smith was sacked and pressured all day by the Bills.
Credit: Getty Images
After two weeks of talk the Jets could be a playoff team, they looked anything but in a 37-14 loss at the Bills. What should have been a winnable game against a team that came into Week 11 with three straight losses by a combined 38 points turned into an unmitigated disaster.
The Bills raced out to a 20-0 lead by halftime, the catalyst being a link-up between Bills quarterback E.J. Manuel and T.J. Graham for a 34-yard touchdown and a 10-0 lead. The Jets had zero answer for the Bills on either side of the ball.
With the loss, the Jets have yet to put together a winning streak this season, failing to build on their impressive Week 9 win over the Saints.
What we learned …
1. Dee is an ‘F’
First-round pick Dee Milliner was supposedly among the top four players on the Jets’ draft board when he was selected No. 9 overall this past April, but he’s looked like anything but a top-tier cornerback. He was burned on the Bills’ first touchdown of the game when he got turned around on Manuel’s heave toward Graham. He also gave up a 40-yard connection midway through the third quarter, when he was burned over the top and tight against the sidelines. Right now, Milliner is nothing short of a liability on the field. He needs to be benched.
2. Geno Smith’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad game
Smith didn’t look like a franchise quarterback on Sunday, at least not in the NFL. It would be easy to blame Smith’s bad day on an offensive line that wasn’t at its best or on the fact that he’s a rookie quarterback and still developing. Instead, it might just be that he’s not very good and struggles to read defensive coverages. He consistently threw into double coverage and all three of his interceptions against a very good Bill secondary were avoidable — including twice underthrowing his targets. Smith was yanked by the end of the third quarter with a stat line that read 8-of-23 for 103 yards with three interceptions and a blindside fumble in an abysmal afternoon. Week 11 represented the sixth time in his young NFL career he has thrown multiple interceptions in a game. The Jets have won just one of those six games. He finished with a passer rating of 10.14.
3. Play of Simms
If there was a bright spot for the Jets, it was the play of Matt Simms. The second-year quarterback entered the game in the fourth quarter and had far more of a pocket presence than his rookie predecessor. He orchestrated a six-play, 62-yard drive on his first possession and completed all three of his passes for 48 yards. He found Jeff Cumberland for a 13-yard touchdown to cap it off. The small measure of respect for the Jets showed that Simms can play at this level and there should be a quarterback controversy in Jets land. He was very nearly picked off on his second drive of the game but there is clearly some potential here.
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
