The Buffalo Bills rolled to a 32-6 blowout win over the New York Jets on Sunday, evening the series at 1-1 for the season after New York’s improbable Week 1 win.
Tensions between the AFC East foes boiled over after the contest.
Fight Breaks Out After Bills-Jets
Buffalo took a fairly uneventful win over New York on Sunday in pulling ahead 16-0 early on and adding 16 more second-half points to remain well out of reach throughout. Josh Allen threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns, which proved to be plenty of offense in the contest.
Perhaps the night’s biggest action came after the game, however, as a fight reportedly broke out between members of the two teams, according to Jets beat reporter Connor Hughes.
There was just a HUGE fight in hallway leading back to the locker rooms between the #Jets & #Bills. Dion Dawkins was involved in it from the #Bills. A very emotional Michael Clemons off field, too.
Heard from a #Bills player as he walked back to locker room: “And we beat that… pic.twitter.com/OW6rQVMtZK
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) November 20, 2023
Hughes further reported that the fight began between Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins and Jets defensive lineman Michael Clemons as they came off the field before it bled into the tunnel.
“Whoever trying to fight Clemons? I don’t know about that one,” Jets cornerback DJ Reed said of the fight after the game.
The fight marked an ugly end to what was indeed an ugly game for the Jets.
Starting quarterback Zach Wilson was largely ineffective as he went 7 of 15 for 81 yards, one touchdown, and an interception while taking five sacks. He was benched late in the third quarter in favor of Tim Boyle, who went 7 of 14 for 33 yards and one interception while taking one sack.
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Standout running back Breece Hall was also held in check to the tune of 10 carries for 23 yards on a night where not much went well for New York’s offense.
It was much the same story for the Jets on defense in allowing a season-high 32 points and several big plays. Perhaps none drew more attention than Khalil Shakir’s 81-yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter to make it 29-6.
Shakir narrowly beat Sauce Gardner in coverage and improbably cut between three defenders to score a touchdown as Gardner could be seen slowing down during the play, drawing ire from some fans.
The Bills' Bobby Wagner audible leads to an 81-yard TD!
📺: #NYJvsBUF on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/jckqnJwdb2 pic.twitter.com/Y2VbFDppTX— NFL (@NFL) November 19, 2023
Gardner took to X (formerly Twitter) to comment on the play on Sunday night in a since-deleted Tweet.
“Y’all must not know defense if y’all think I’m just allowing an 81 yd TD on that play,” Gardner’s Tweet read. “Yes I could’ve still made a play … We gotta be better.”
Gardner finished the game with two solo tackles and one pass breakup.
It all amounted to a night New York (4-6) will hope to soon forget ahead of its Black Friday showdown with the Miami Dolphins (7-3). Buffalo (6-5), meanwhile, gets a longer break before facing the formidable Philadelphia Eagles (8-1) on Sunday.
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