New York Jets 20-23 Buffalo Bills: Aaron Rodgers throws costly late interception in defeat in first game since the firing of Robert Saleh

A weather warning went out around Meadowlands on Monday afternoon. Fans were told to expect powerful winds. They were advised to look after their grills and hang on to their tents. They ought to have been warned: hold on to your hats, too.

But who could have forecast this? Who could have predicted how this night would unfold? Who would have thought two stuttering offenses would produce such an electric first half that blew this way and that?

Who would have thought – at halftime, with the game so brilliantly poised – that this would descend into a tedious festival of flags?

Who would have assumed that a game which saw two kicks bounce off the upright – and two more miss altogether – would ultimately be decided by a field goal?

At the end of it all, the Bills condemned the Jets to a 23-20 defeat and a new era in New York began with yet more frustration.

In the first game under interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich and new play-caller Todd Downing, the Jets had little problem moving the ball.

Breece Hall rushed for 113 yards – nearly double his next-best return over these six games – and Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles survived more than four snaps and he passed for a season-best 294 yards. 

He threw for two touchdowns – including a remarkable 52-yard Hail Mary to Allen Lazard that prevented this night from slipping away from New York before half-time.

Rodgers has denied suggestions that he played a part in the firing of Robert Saleh. What those allegations always ignored? Other quarterbacks can have their say in the Jets’ future, too. And when this game hit crunch time, Josh Allen succeeded where Rodgers failed.

With less than four minutes on the clock – as the Jets trailed by three points – Rodgers took the ball. He moved New York 10 yards down the field. And then he threw an interception.

Moments later, with the game in his hands and the Bills at 3rd and four, Allen rushed for the first down that settled this game. Six yards that could prove pivotal in both these teams’ seasons.

By then, MetLife Stadium was virtually empty and much of the optimism that greeted this new start had gone, too.  The Jets are now 2-4; the Bills have a two-win cushion at the top of the AFC East.

Rodgers arrived for this game in a navy suit and dark sunglasses, shortly before clouds enveloped Meadowlands and bitter winds whipped around the parking lots of MetLife.

The early birds wrapped up against the cold to watch the Mets on big screens and small screens. Flag poles bent in the breeze, smoke blew sideways off the top of grills. Rain began to fall and, for a time, swirling debris gave the impression that snow was coming down, too.

Things aren’t quite that bleak yet. But it has been another stormy week in New York. Saleh was fired just a couple of days after defeat by Minnesota in London and soon division spilled out of the locker room as one player slammed ‘selfish… embarrassing’ teammates’.

Compare that to the last time Bills were in town. That night, the opening MNF of 2023, Rodgers entered the field carrying US flag and shouldering the hopes of a franchise.

Even after the unthinkable unfolded a few snaps later, that night ended with a dramatic overtime victory. It proved the high point of a dismal season. This year was supposed to be different. Instead, after five games, the Jets had scored the same number of points as 2023, when Zach Wilson was under center.

No wonder Rodgers’ entrance was rather more low-key on Monday. No wonder Saleh paid with his job.

The first drive of this new era ended with Rodgers punching the bench in frustration. This year, though, his Achilles was intact and the quarterback had marched the Jets down the field with more fluency than for most of this season.

They had to settle for a field goal but the fuse had been lit. Buffalo replied with a brutal drive of their own as Ray Davis – taking over from the absent James Cook – ate up 48 yards in six carries before Josh Allen scored from the one-yard-line.

The visitors had gone 70 yards in nine plays and 4m 54s. So the Jets went 70 yards in nine plays and 4m 11s. Rodgers found Garrett Wilson in the end zone and New York was back in front.

It was breathless, brilliant stuff. Unfortunately for the Jets, it didn’t last. They racked up 124 yards in their opening two drives. Their next two produced two punts, two sacks on Rodgers and just 26 yards.

Allen wasn’t done, though. The Bills offense had stalled as their season ran into trouble over recent weeks. But before long, he had found Mack Hollins in the endzone. Before long, boos sounded around MetLife as penalties racked up against the Jets and the Bills moved into the redzone once more. This time Allen escaped another sack and picked out Dawson Knox.

Suddenly, with just 21 seconds on the clock, the Jets were trailing by 10 and staring down the barrel. Somehow there was still time for another twist. On the final play of the half, Rodgers stood on the 52-yard line and hurled a Hail Mary into the swirling winds.

In the end zone, Lazard climbed highest. Touchdown. Suddenly the stage was set for a shootout.

Unfortunately, the officials then began to take over. The third quarter produced three points and nine penalties. There was another in the break. Just for good measure

By then, the game had become almost unwatchable. Braelon Allen thought he had put the Jets in front but his touchdown was pulled back. Of course it was.

The Jets missed the field goal that would have given them the lead. And then they squandered another at the start of the fourth quarter. Both attempts by Greg Zuerlein hit the left upright. Earlier in the night, Tyler Bass had failed with a field goal and a conversion.

With a shade under four minutes to play, Bass finally found his range from 22 yards. Rodgers had no answer.