Jets’ desperate play-calling change no help in loss to Bills

The Jets changed play-callers Sunday, but they could not change offenses.

Jets coach Adam Gase turned over the play-calling to offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, hoping that might spark the team’s dismal offense against the Bills. It appeared to work for a little while, but then the offensive ineptness Jets fans have come to know and loathe returned.

The Bills won the AFC East matchup 18-10 at MetLife Stadium, dropping the Jets to 0-7.

If you’re looking for positives, the Jets at least looked like an NFL team on defense and for some early stretches on offense. They still scored only one touchdown. They now have seven offensive touchdowns in seven games.

After experiencing some early success with Loggains calling the plays, they could do nothing in the second half. Quarterback Sam Darnold returned after missing the last two games and looked good early, but threw a critical interception just before halftime that handed the Bills momentum.

The Bills moved the ball throughout, but managed only six field goals. The Jets saw their halftime lead disappear but still had a chance to pull the game out. But they just could not move the ball, with three straight three-and-outs in the second half. They had just 4 yards of total offense in the second half after gaining 186 in the first half.

The Jets looked good immediately with a 10-play, 62-yard drive to begin the game. But the same issue that plagued the offense when Gase was calling the plays showed itself with Loggains in charge — the unit struggles to move the ball in the red zone. The Jets settled for a field goal from Sergio Castillo, who was elevated off of the practice squad Saturday, to take a 3-0 lead.

The Jets got into the red zone on their next drive and this time went for it on fourth-and-1. The Bill stuffed the rushing attempt by La’Mical Perine and the Jets came away with no points.

Perine reached the end zone on the team’s next drive, scoring on a 5-yard sweep with 7:22 left in the first half to give the Jets a 10-0 lead.

Darnold started off well in his return after missing the previous two games with a sprained shoulder. He completed a beautiful third-and-20 pass to Braxton Berrios for 22 yards. The offense was moving well with him on the field until its final possession of the first half.

The Jets got the ball with 2:42 left in the half after a Bills field goal. They moved the ball 21 yards to their own 46. On second-and-10, Darnold made his worst throw of the day into coverage and was intercepted by cornerback Dane Jackson. The Bills converted that turnover into a field goal just before halftime to cut the Jets’ lead to 10-6.

Darnold was sacked six times in the game.

The Bills kept kicking field goals in the second half. Tyler Bass made a 46-yarder and a 37-yarder in the third quarter to put Buffalo up 12-10. He missed from 37 yards with 12:19 left in the game to keep the Jets in it. But the Jets could not capitalize. It looked like Darnold had converted on third down with a 14-yard completion to tight end Chris Herndon, his first catch of the day, but it was wiped out by a penalty on rookie tackle Mekhi Becton for lining up off of the line of scrimmage.

The Jets defense played much better than it had this season. It gave up some yards to the Bills, but kept them out of the end zone. Tarell Basham had a strip-sack of Bills quarterback Josh Allen in the red zone that John Franklin-Myers recovered. Allen had some long runs, but did not kill the Jets.

The defense came up with another red-zone stop with just over six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Quinnen Williams sacked Allen on third down to force a 29-yard field goal from Bass. This time, he made it and gave Buffalo a 15-10 lead with 6:01 left in the game.

The Jets got the ball back with a chance to regain the lead but went three-and-out.

Bass kicked his sixth field goal with two minutes left, a 40-yarder.

The Jets’ last gasp of a drive featured two sacks, a holding penalty and ended with a Darnold interception off a deflected pass.

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