NEW YORK: Rex Ryan made his homecoming a victorious one Thursday as the Buffalo Bills roared to a 19-point second half lead, then held on to beat his former New York Jets 22-17.
Ryan became head coach of the Jets in 2009 and led them to two AFC Championship games before being fired at the end of the 2014 NFL season.
Ryan had played down his return to the Jet’s MetLife Stadium heading into Thursday’s contest, but afterwards he opened up about his feelings.
“Pretty satisfying,” he said. “Now I can talk the truth. This thing is kind of like being dumped by some girl you had the hots for. That is what it feels like.
“You move on and every now and then they call you back and they can’t get you back.”
Ryan jogged out of the tunnel to a chorus of boos from the crowd just before kickoff.
The boos grew a little louder a few minutes later, when the captains — including Bills linebacker IK Enemkpali, who was released by the Jets after slugging quarterback Geno Smith in a locker room altercation August 12 — went to midfield for the coin toss.
“He never talked to us about how he previously coached the Jets,” said Bills running back LeSean McCoy, who gained 112 yards on 19 carries. “He made it more a division game — a must-win type of game where there would be a hostile environment here in New York.”
The Jets staged a furious late rally but they couldn’t catch the Bills, who won their second game in a row to improve to 5-4 and moved into the thick of the AFC wild card race in their first year with Ryan at the helm.
The Jets, who dropped to 5-4, have lost three of their last four.
The Bills led 12-3 at the half, and extended the lead to 22-3 in the first seven minutes of the third quarter when quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to running back Karlos Williams, and kicker Dan Carpenter booted a 29-yard field goal.
But the Jets pulled within five on a pair of touchdown passes by quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, including a 31-yarder to wide receiver Eric Decker midway through the fourth quarter.
— AFP
