Todd Bowles and his New York Jets ruined their shot at a top three NFL Draft pick by defeating the Buffalo Bills in Week 17.
- New York Jets 30 (5-11)
- Buffalo Bills 10 (7-9)
- NFL, Final, Box Score
- MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
With a chance of the third overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft on the line, Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Jets soundly defeated the Buffalo Bills in Week 17 by the final of 30-10.
FINAL: @nyjets beat the Bills! #JetUp#BUFvsNYJ pic.twitter.com/f3pAVm5pfx
— NFL (@NFL) January 1, 2017
Bye-bye Top 3 pick
Now, thanks to the victory, it doesn’t matter what happens with the Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, and Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jets, regardless of what happens with the 5-10 San Diego Chargers, will choose No. 6 in the NFL Draft (thanks to the strength of schedule tiebreaker).
Ryan Fitzpatrick, of course
Leave it to Fitzpatrick to put up one of his best games of the season. In a meaningless contest, one that only does harm to the franchise, Fitz went for 210 yards and two touchdowns on 20-of-30 passing.
He finishes the season with a stat-line that’d make Browning Nagle blush: 2,710 yards, 12 touchdowns, 17 interceptions.
The bright spots on this gloomy day turned out to be some of the weapons and Bilal Powell.
Jalin Marshall caught his second TD of the season when Fitz felt the pressure and unloaded the ball perfectly:
Jalin Marshall can most definitely be a third/fourth WR in this league. pic.twitter.com/EKtWlXZor8
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) January 1, 2017
Quincy Enunwa led the way with 81 yards on five grabs.
Powell, who’s definitely been underutilized through his entire career, rushed for 122 on 22 carries.
Defense, Darrelle Revis?
Even the hapless defense showed up on a day many Jets fans wanted them to take the week off.
Darrelle Revis picked up his first interception of 2017 in the fourth quarter after a Cardale Jones pass deflected right to him.
Call in the National Guard and 10 oxygen tanks. Darrelle Revis almost collapsed at the 20-yard line. #NYJ pic.twitter.com/VkQzs7W4pb
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) January 1, 2017
If this was the last play of his Jets career, he definitely left on a high note. Although, the drive afterward resulted in a big play by Justin Hunter, a speedy youngster who abused Revis. So, Revis’s last play turns out to see him fall to the ground after getting beat badly on a nine-route.
Future
It’s all done. The 2016 New York Jets finish with a 5-11 record and now have major work to do moving forward.
Mike Maccagnan will need to strip the age and the knuckleheads while performing a real and true rebuild, not one that’ll simply act as a Band-Aid (like his infamous “aggressive rebuild” that masked so many issues in 2015).
It’ll start with free agency in March and end with the sixth slot in the 2017 NFL Draft.