Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Orton tosses 4 TDs as Bills rout sloppy Jets 43-23

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Kyle Orton settled in as the game went on and looked pretty comfortable connecting with his Buffalo Bills receivers.

Meanwhile, Geno Smith was benched in the first quarter by the New York Jets, and Michael Vick wasn't much better.

Orton tied a career high by throwing four touchdown passes and the Bills forced the Jets into six turnovers — three each by Smith and Vick — in a 43-23 rout Sunday.

Orton won for the third time in four games since replacing EJ Manuel as the starting quarterback for the Bills (5-3), tossing TD passes to Robert Woods, Lee Smith, Scott Chandler and Sammy Watkins.

Orton finished 10 of 17 for 238 yards, and Watkins had three catches for 157 yards — but was embarrassed when he was caught from behind while celebrating early on what appeared would be a long TD.

Stephon Gilmore, Preston Brown, Aaron Williams and Da'Norris Searcy had interceptions for the Bills, who sent the struggling Jets (1-7) to their seventh straight loss.

The Jets have lost seven in a row for the first time since 2005, in Herm Edwards' final season as coach. Smith threw interceptions on three consecutive possessions in the first quarter and was pulled in favor of Vick, who was picked off once and lost two fumbles.

Percy Harvin, acquired last weekend by the Jets from Seattle, caught three passes for 22 yards and had 28 yards rushing on four carries in his debut with New York.

Buffalo got on the scoreboard on its first possession, with Orton zipping a pass to Woods for a 22-yard touchdown early in the first quarter.

Smith then threw three straight interceptions and was benched after the Bills turned the last interception by Williams into a score one play later, on Lee Smith's 1-yard touchdown catch with 4:36 left in the opening quarter.

Geno Smith finished 2 of 8 for 5 yards and the three interceptions — for a 0.0 quarterback rating. The Bills also became the first team to have three interceptions in the first quarter since Arizona against Atlanta in 2012.

Vick jogged onto the field to loud cheers from the MetLife Stadium crowd, which had been booing Smith just moments earlier, and led the Jets on a 13-play, 76-yard scoring drive.

On third-and-6, he scrambled out of trouble for an 8-yard gain. He hit Jace Amaro for a 20-yard gain two plays later, and connected with Jeremy Kerley for 16 yards later in the drive on third-and-7 to put the ball at the 10. After an 8-yard run by Vick, Chris Ivory barreled up the middle for a 2-yard touchdown.

But the Jets' defense gave up a huge play on the Bills' next possession as Watkins hauled in a long pass from Orton and took off down the field. But Watkins looked up at the videoboard and pointed in premature celebration as New York wide receiver Saalim Hakim, put in on defense on the third-and-7 play, caught him from behind.

Two plays later, fullback Frank Summers pushed his way into the end zone from 2 yards to make it 21-7.

Vick, 18 of 36 for 153 yards, was an early spark but wasn't without his share of mistakes. He had a 12-yard scramble negated by a questionable 15-yard taunting penalty when he spiked the ball on the sideline at the end of the run.

Two plays later, he took off for a 5-yard run but had the ball knocked out of his hands by Nigel Bradham and recovered by Duke Williams at the Jets 31.

The Bills settled for a 53-yard field goal by Dan Carpenter that increased the lead to 24-7 with 6:16 left in the half.

Ivory's second 2-yard TD run of the first half with 1:50 to go cut the Bills' lead to 24-14 on an 11-play drive that featured runs of 6, 7 and 9 yards by Harvin, and a 24-yard scramble by Vick.

After the Jets held the Bills to three-and-out, Nick Folk kicked a 55-yard field goal as time expired in the opening half.

Vick lost his second fumble of the game deep in Bills territory, and Buffalo took advantage with a 29-yarder by Carpenter that made it 30-17 with 1:11 left in the third quarter. Vick was picked off by Searcy a few plays later, and Orton hit Chandler for a 12-yard touchdown that made it 37-17 just 49 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Watkins added a 61-yard touchdown catch, and Bilal Powell capped the scoring with a 3-yard run for the Jets late in the game.

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