Mike White may have cooked in his last five NFL quarters.
Against the Buffalo Bills, however, he was the one being served up on a plate as the Jets took a 45-17 pounding Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
And White threw for 224 yards on 44 attempts with four interceptions with zero touchdowns.
Most of his picks were from inaccurate throws that didn’t resemble the moments White produced against the Bengals and Colts.
A rough outing was a possibility going against a tough defense. The Bills’ defense was first in yards allowed per game (262.6), points (14.8), and passing yards allowed (177) coming into Sunday.
And they made White look like a fifth round pick with marginal talent instead of the long-term solution. When his initial read wasn’t there, he checked it down to a running back — Ty Johnson and Michael Carter combined for nine catches.
But when the Bills took away the short plays and forced White to throw the ball down the field, he struggled. White went 6-of-14 for 120 yards with three interceptions on throws over 10 yards, according to Next Gen Stats.
It wasn’t all White’s fault, he was under pressure on 23 of his drops backs. That caused the rest of his interceptions.
White’s first interception came in the first quarter on the second drive. Bills’ defensive tackle Ed Oliver beat guard Greg Van Roten and hit White’s hand as he threw over the middle to Jamison Crowder. That forced a lollipop throw and Taron Johnson snagged the interception.
That sent the offense into a funk and they couldn’t get much going in the first half. They had only 163 yards with three points. They could have scored before the half but a Corey Davis fumble the Bills scooped, after a 28-yard gain with under a minute to go, signified the type of day it was.
The Jets offense never entered the Bills red zone and didn’t cross the 30-yard line in the first half.
The second half wasn’t much better. White tossed three more interceptions, which put the nail in the coffin for the backup QB as a potential long-term starter. Once Zach Wilson is ready to go, it’ll be Wilson’s time again.
It wasn’t all on the offense, though. The defense didn’t show up either. Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs dominated the Jets for four quarters — Allen had 366 yards passing with two touchdowns and Diggs had eight catches for 162 yards with a touchdown.
The Bills ground game ran through the Jets’ defense and collected a total 139 yards and four touchdowns.
Gang Green’s defense started slowly, allowing 10 points in the first quarter. Allen threw a touchdown pass to Matt Breida on the first drive and the Bills got a field goal on the second.
And during the two-minute drill, Allen and Diggs connected for a 57-yard gain that got the Bills to the Jets’ 23. A few plays later, Allen floated a beautiful fade route to Diggs for a touchdown.
The Jet defense’s continued struggles in the second half amounted to four touchdowns allowed. In the last four games the Jets (2-7) allowed 40 points or more in three of them.
