1 - Buffalo's takeaway streak comes to a halt
The Bills have forced takeaways at an insane rate this season. Unfortunately, the defense and their opportunistic ways fell back down to earth on Thursday night. They were unable to thwart the New York Jets attack and didn't manage to cause a single turnover in the game.
Not only did the Bills not take the ball away, they gave it away also. Buffalo had three turnovers against the Jets, all three on fumbles. "They had three turnovers and we had none," said Lorenzo Alexander. "That's always a big difference on the scoreboard, field position and who wins the games."
Those turnovers are as many as the Bills had all season through seven games.
"We had a couple of turnovers on offense and that's not our style of play," said Tyrod Taylor. "The games we've won and the games where we've had success we've protected the ball. Myself included. I had a fumble and that's not something I do. Got to be able to protect the ball on the road. We can't give those teams those opportunities, especially on short fields. We have to regroup as an offense, regroup as a team and be hitting on all cylinders when we come back."
Buffalo's league-leading turnover differential took a blow on Thursday. Entering the game they sat at plus-14. After tallying three turnovers and not forcing a takeaway their differential dropped to plus-11. That's very respectable and still ranks first in the NFL. The next closest is the Kansas City Chiefs at plus-10.
This is the first game since Week Two that the Bills haven't forced a turnover. The team gets a much needed 10-day break before their next game. Buffalo's back at New Era Field on Nov. 12, for a non-conference matchup against the New Orleans Saints.
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2 – Jets magic number is 27 again**
Entering Thursday's game the key number for the New York Jets was 27. If the Buffalo Bills could've held the Jets to fewer than 27 points their chances for victory would've been good, but they weren't able to do that.
Since 2010 the Jets came into the game with a perfect 8-0 record when they score 27 points or more against the Bills. Their win on Thursday night held to form. With their 34-21 victory, the Jets improve to 9-0 since 2010 when posting 27-plus points against the Bills.
Head coach, Sean McDermott, made no excuses while addressing the media after the game.
"A game is a game. This is a great learning experience for us. It's not the result we wanted," he said. "There's not a man in that room that doesn't feel otherwise. We have to learn from it just like any other game, whether it's national spotlight or not. It's never easy to win in this league."
The Jets offense jumped out to an early lead and didn't look back. Their 34 points was a season-high against the Bills.
So what has happened since 2010 when the Jets don't score 27 points against the Bills?
They're 0-7.
3 - 'Jim Kelly: A Football Life' premieres tonight
NFL Network's Emmy-nominated series, A Football Life, continues tonight with a special guest. Beloved Buffalo Bills quarterback, Jim Kelly, is the subject who's profiled in this week's highly-acclaimed series.
Throughout his life, Kelly has been defined by his toughness and his ability to pick himself up following hardships. The one-hour show produced by NFL Films captures the true meaning of 'Kelly Tough.'
The Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback joined The John Murphy Show on Wednesday to give his take on the show.
"Yeah I saw most of it. It's pretty good," he said. "Thanks to guys like Steve [Tasker], Thurman [Thomas], Frank Reich, and coach [Marv] Levy. I can go on and on. There are so many guys that came on and were willing to talk about my days of playing here."
Jim Kelly: A Football Life discusses a variety of compelling topics. Kelly talks about playing at the University of Miami after Penn State only offered him a scholarship to play linebacker. His decision to play in the USFL after being selected by the Bills in the 1983 NFL Draft. Eventually playing for Buffalo following the collapse of the USFL in 1986. The birth of the K-Gun offense (which isn't named after Kelly). His perseverance to overcome the loss of his son Hunter Kelly and his cancer diagnosis.
The featured film includes several sit-down interviews that help tell the inspiring story. Frank Reich, Kelly's backup quarterback while in Buffalo, is featured numerous times.
"In the football chapter of his life, did we come up one game short? Yeah," Reich said. "But at the end of the day, when you look at the whole story, if it's not all about helping other people out and bringing people together and fighting battles together and going through victories and defeats together - if that's not being a hero I don't know what is."
Kelly's feature in the 13-episode season captures his toughness and grit that's so fitting to blue-collar Buffalo. Jim Kelly: A Football Life premieres tonight at 9:00 PM ET on the NFL Network.
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