Jets-Bills: New York Sweeps Buffalo in Thriller, Keeps Hold on First Place

The New York Jets needed to win on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills to keep their playoff hopes alive, and at the end of four quarters, they did just that.

It wasn't always pretty—in fact, it may have been their ugliest win since they beat the Kansas City Chiefs—but the Jets kept their grip on first place with a 31-27 victory at home over the Buffalo Bills.

The team fluctuated for the entire game. Fans were given multiple doses of Jets' football, ranging from dangerously efficient to downright sloppy.

While it's not good football for any fans with heart conditions or violent mood disorders, watching the New York Jets play football until the clock ran out of time was the exact kind of game the Jets needed to play headed into the final two games of the season.

Buffalo played a great game of football that should've been enough to win on any other Sunday. But when the game came down to the final minutes and the Jets needed big plays to escape with a victory, they did what was necessary

The NFL's Jekyll and Hyde

The first drive of the game saw the Jets marching down the field, moving the ball at will, and finishing it with points.

Brett Favre had all the time in the world to hit his receivers with accuracy. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was creative with his play-calling, having Favre roll out left on a bootleg for a 27-yard gain on a third-down play.

And it was all capped off with a record-breaking touchdown run by Thomas Jones.

Football fans know that every drive can't be like that. It's not possible to go through a game without some stalled drives, and bad decisions.

It's the extreme contrast between the quality of play when the Jets are doing well and when they're playing poorly that's most troubling. 

Of course Buffalo's defense would have made adjustments to slow down where the Jets were succeeding. But it's the Jets' inability to respond to those adjustments that makes them look like a team that will struggle to contend.

Are they a great football team, or do they get away with doing just enough to win?

The Importance of the Third Down

On a day where the Jets finally made a backup quarterback look like the backup he is, the Jets' defense still struggled. J.P. Losman is the first quarterback to throw for less than 150 yards since the Jets throttled the St. Louis Rams, but New York still had difficulties on defense.

The pass rush made some brief appearances during the game, but it was the Jets' inability to stop the Bills on third-down that pushed this game to the brink.

Whenever the Jets' defense needed to make one more play to get the ball back in the hands of their offense, they fell over and allowed the Bills to continue their drive.

Marshawn Lynch reminded the Jets that he's in the NFL, torching the once-dominant run defense for 127 yards.

New York failed to tackle, swarm to the ball, or force significant stops until the fourth quarter. Buffalo was allowed to march the ball up and down the field at will against the Jets, and it nearly cost them the game.

One Carry? Only One Carry?

There's a reason most NFL teams have adopted the two-back approach to running the ball. If one running back is struggling, the other may be able to succeed. The change of pace is most important.

Thomas Jones rushed for a respectable 78 yards, but it came on 20 carries.

Leon Washington rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown on one. Is that not an issue for everyone else?

Washington is known as the Jets' spark-plug—their speedy playmaker. Calling his number for only one carry after seeing what he did with it is a travesty. It's the kind of offensive oversight that only validates the Jekyll and Hyde theory.

His Name is Abram Elam—Familiarize Yourselves

Abram Elam has been proving every week why he took the starting safety job away from Eric Smith. Praised for his intelligence, Smith never had the tools to make the kinds of plays Elam does.

When the Jets need a game-changing play, for a momentum to swing back in their direction, it's Elam that makes it happen. His raw athleticism and aggressive style force turnovers that shape the remainder of the game.

Last time the Jets faced the Bills, it was Elam's interception that completely deflated Buffalo.

This time—when the game appeared to be over and the Jets' season was two minutes away from ending—Elam blitzed Losman from his blindside, sacked him, and forced the fumble.

A great recovery and run by Ellis gave the Jets the lead and all of the momentum with less than two minutes left on the clock.

He is the reason the Jets won this game, and he deserves all the credits for keeping New York's season alive—for one more week, at the very least.

Angel Navedo covers the New York Jets for Examiner.com. His work can also be found on NYJetsFan.com, where he is the Head Writer, and on MyGridironSpace.com—a premier social networking site built exclusively for NFL fans.

He is also a Senior Writer at the Bleacher Report, where he is one of the New York Jets Community Leaders.