4 takeaways from Bills penalty-laden 23-20 win over Jets

Here are four takeaways from the Buffalo Bills' Week 6 win over the New York Jets.

Ronnie Eastham | 3 Hours Ago

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The Buffalo Bills took a 20-17 lead into the locker room at halftime of their Week 6 Monday Night Football bout with the New York Jets after giving up an Aaron Rodgers Hail Mary right before the conclusion of the second quarter. Buffalo was in a great position to possibly get the double dip and be up big in the third quarter, but what instead occurred was a back-and-forth half that the officiating kept interfering in. An additional three points would ultimately be enough to secure Buffalo a win, as it moved to 4-2 on the young season and remained in first place in the AFC East with a 23-20 win over the Jets.

With that, here are four takeaways from Week 6.

Terrible first half from the defense

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The Bills' defense looked terrible on the first two drives, allowing the Jets to go down the field with ease. Buffalo got it together and started putting pressure on Aaron Rodgers as the game progressed, finishing the contest with two sacks, two quarterback hits, and three tackles for loss. Unfortunately, the Bills' secondary still haven't figured out how to defend a Hail Mary pass, giving up a late touchdown to close the first half.

The Bills might need to start seriously looking elsewhere for a kicker

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Buffalo should have been up 24-17 midway through the third quarter, but Tyler Bass had an extra point blocked and later missed a 47-yard field goal. That's three missed field goals out of 11 this season, and two missed extra points. The extra point was initially called a blocked kick but was later changed to a miss. His contract and the lack of appealing outside options make a change far-fetched, but we're at the point where Bass is actively costing the Bills points, and it's only a matter of time until this manifests into the veteran actively costing the team games.

Bills run defense continues to be a massive issue

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In four of six games, the Bills defense has given up an average of more than five yards per carry. Only the Dolphins and Texans were held to less than five. Breece Hall averaged 6.3 yards per carry on Monday as he picked up 113 yards on 18 carries; it's true that the interior of Buffalo's line is banged up, but this has been a trend all season. It's difficult to chalk it up to ailments when the issues were still present when the defensive line was at full strength. Terrel Bernard and Taron Johnson being back in the second level should shore things up eventually, but this remains a concern for the time being.

Bills run game was dominate against the Jets defense

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With no James Cook, the Bills relied on Ty Johnson and Ray Davis to carry the run game, and they did just that, especially Davis, who finished the game with 20 carries and 97 yards and another three receptions for 55 yards. The team amassed a total of 149 yards rushing, averaging 4.5 yards per carry, and scored one touchdown. Davis is a decisive runner who runs with great power, and his ability in the passing game is fantastic. We're not implying that he should significantly eat into Cook's snaps upon the Pro Bowler's return, but Davis showed on Monday that he should no longer be an offensive afterthought.

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