The 13th week of NFL regular season action is in the books, which means that it is now also time for a new edition of the AFC East Report and for a look back at what happened in the New England Patriots’ division over the weekend — from the Buffalo Bills playing some impressive football on Monday night, to the Miami Dolphins earning a victory that was literally hard-fought, to the New York Jets finding new ways to stay winless.
Let’s dive straight in.
1. Buffalo Bills (9-3)
Week 13: 34-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers, in Glendale AZ
With quarterback Josh Allen playing some impressive football and the defense continuing its opportunistic ways, the Bills remain on the way towards their first AFC East title since the mid-1990s. Week 13’s road win over the 49ers once again showed that they are not just a serious contender for the division crown but also one of the better teams in the league right now and a serious Super Bowl candidate.
Buffalo started the game on offense and immediately went to work, with Allen finding a solid early rhythm and marching the team down to the San Francisco 1-yard line. Facing a fourth down, however, the drive ended when Allen was unable to connect with tight end Lee Smith in the end zone. Instead, the 49ers had to start deep in their own territory. What followed was an impressive drive that saw the team also face a fourth down at its opponent’s 1-yard line.
Just like San Francisco’s defense, Buffalo’s stood firm as well to force a turnover on downs. However, the ball ended up back with the 49ers just one play later: Josh Allen and Zack Moss messed up the exchange on a run play and the ensuing fumble was recovered by the de facto home team. Three plays later, San Francisco was up 7-0.
It did not take long for the Bills to answer in style: With big completions to Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis as the catalyst, Allen and company drove right down the field again to tie the contest on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Beasley.
Buffalo’s impressive early offensive performance continued on the next possession. After the defense forced a quick punt, Allen and company marched 69 yards in 14 plays to go up 14-7 on a 4-yard touchdown pass from the former first-round draft pick to Dawson Knox. Again, San Francisco failed to answer — again, the Bills took advantage: Tyler Bass hit a 37-yard field goal as time expired on the first half to give his team a 17-7 lead at intermission.
The third quarter finally saw the 49ers offense come to life again, as it drove to a field goal to turn the contest into a one-score game again. However, Buffalo’s offense continued to have no issues against the San Francisco D: it replied with an 11-play series that ended with Josh Allen’s third touchdown pass of the day, this time to Isaiah McKenzie from 23 yards out. To make matters worse for the reigning NFC champions, Mikah Hyde registered an interception just two plays after the touchdown.
That pick led to more Bills points, with Tyler Bass hitting a 28-yarder to give his team a 27-10 lead. While San Francisco answered with a quick touchdown drive, the visitors continued their offensive domination by driving 75 yards in 10 plays to go up 34-17 on a 28-yard connection from Allen to Davis. Another interception by the team’s defense — Tre’Davious White ended up with the football — then effectively sealed the game.
Even though San Francisco did add a late touchdown to come within 10 points, the Bills left Arizona with an impressive win.
To watch highlights of the game, click here.
2. Miami Dolphins (8-4)
Week 13: 19-7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, in Miami Gardens FL
With Tua Tagovailoa back under center in place of veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Dolphins hosted the 2-8-1 Bengals — a must-win if Miami wanted to stay in a good position in the race for the playoffs and the AFC East. While the game was a close one despite the two teams’ records, the Dolphins eventually pulled out a victory.
The contest started slowly with neither offense being able to generate much momentum. Accordingly, it was no surprise that the first big play of the afternoon belonged to the Miami defense. Xavien Howard’s interception did not lead to any points for the Dolphins, though, as Tagovailoa and company still struggled to get into a rhythm.
The game thus remained a scoreless affair until late in the first quarter, when the Dolphins defense was suddenly beat for a 72-yard touchdown by Cincinnati wideout Tyler Boyd. That score did not necessarily open up the floodgates, but it was followed by Miami points: Jason Sanders made a 25-yard field goal to get his team onto the scoreboard. After that kick, however, the game went back to being a defensively-dominated affair.
While the Bengals came close to adding to their lead in the late first half, they missed a 53-yard field goal attempt right after both Howard and Boyd were tossed from the game. Jason Sanders, meanwhile, was able to split the uprights from 48 yards out to bring his own club within one of its opponent right before the half.
Coming out of the locker room, the Dolphins took control of the game. First, Tagovailoa led his troops on an eight-play drive that covered 75 yards and ended with a 5-yard scoring pass to Mike Gesicki. Later, Sanders hit a 23-yarder to increase the Miami lead first to nine and later to 12 points. On the drive that followed that score, the game suddenly took a turn for the ugly.
After a Bengals punt that saw Jakeem Grant get injured on an illegal Bengals tackle, benches cleared leading to four more players getting ejected — including Miami wide receiver DeVante Parker. Cooler heads eventually prevailed, but the outcome of the game did not change even after the Dolphins had lost two of their best players to disqualification. Brian Flores’ team therefore improved to 8-4 on the season.
To watch highlights of the game, click here.
3. New England Patriots (6-6)
Week 13: 45-0 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, in Inglewood CA
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To watch highlights of the game, click here.
4. New York Jets (0-12)
Week 13: 31-28 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, in East Rutherford NJ
Five seconds was all that separated New York from its first win of the season, but alas the Jets did as the Jets do: they gave up a touchdown on a questionable defensive coverage call to fall to 0-12, firing coordinator Gregg Williams one day later. Even though the team had played a good game up until that point against a playoff contestant, the ugly ending will be talked about for quite some time.
It all started well for the home team, though. Led by Sam Darnold in his second game back from a shoulder injury, the New York offense marched 74 yards in 12 plays to take a 7-0 lead: the former first-round draft pick connected with Jamison Crowder from three yards out to put his team ahead. Momentum stayed with the club on the next drive, as Arthur Maulet registered an interception to end the Raiders’ first possession.
The Jets failed to take advantage, however, and eventually Las Vegas rebounded to tie the game in the late first period on a pass to Darren Waller — a player who could not be contained by the New York defense: he eventually finished with 13 receptions for 200 yards and two scores. The team, however, answered in style by driving 69 yards for Darnold’s and Crowder’s second touchdown of the day. The extra point, however, sailed wide to the right.
Nonetheless, the Jets were in control of the game even after the missed kick and a lost fumble by Darnold when he was sacked. Yes, the Raiders added a field goal off that score, but New York was still up 13-10. Darnold’s next turnover, however, proved more costly: he threw an interception that set up a Las Vegas touchdown. Darnold’s turnover issues continued on the next drive as he lost another fumble on a sack.
This one was not converted into points, though, with the Jets defense forcing back-to-back sacks to end the first half.
In the second half, the visitors started pulling away with the New York defense surrendering another touchdown to fall behind 24-13. The Jets, however, came back in the early fourth quarter with Darnold reaching the end zone from four yards out and adding two more points on a successful conversion pass to Denzel Mims. They were, suddenly, very much back in the game.
That was even more the case after Marcus Maye recovered a Raiders fumble to set the offense up in Las Vegas territory. A six-play touchdown drive that ended with a 1-yard Ty Johnnson touchdown eventually put the Jets ahead again: with 5:38 left in regulation, they were four points up and looking at their first win of the day. All they had to do was stop the Raiders from getting into the end zone again.
They did it on the first drive, forcing an incomplete pass with 1:42 left. With the Raiders still owning a pair of timeouts, however, New York was unable to run out the clock. Instead, they punted back to the visitors with 35 seconds remaining. What followed was, to put it mildly, stunning. 15-yard pass. Spike. Incomplete deep shot. With 13 seconds left and the Raiders at the Jets’ 46-yard line they needed a miracle.
It came in the form of a Cover 0 all-out blitz called by Williams. Derek Carr and Henry Ruggs took advantage, beating overmatched cornerback Lamar Jackson one-on-one. With five seconds left on the clock, the Jets were done. Again.
To watch highlights of the game, click here.