ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. _ Sam Darnold was back and led the Jets to their first victory in nearly two months.
The Jets snapped a six-game losing streak as they came from behind to beat the Bills, 27-23, Sunday at New Era Field. Second-year running back Elijah McGuire scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run with 1:17 left.
With the score 23-20, embattled coach Todd Bowles could have gone for the chip-shot game-tying field goal, but he decided to go for the much-needed win. On fourth-and-goal from the 1, McGuire took the Darnold handoff and rumbled off the right side into the end zone.
The Bills had one more chance but Trumaine Johnson intercepted Josh Allen to ice the game for the Jets (4-9). It was Johnson's second interception of the game.
Darnold returned from a three-game absence with a foot injury. He left the game and headed to the locker room after aggravating the injury on his first series. But Darnold returned later in the first quarter.
The rookie quarterback was 16-for-24 for 170 yards, one touchdown and an interception.
After Steven Hauschka kicked a 36-yard field goal with 2:31 left to put the Bills on top 23-20, the Jets took over on their own 39. Darnold marched the Jets down the field, the big play a 37-yard pass to Robby Anderson to the Bills' 5.
On third-and-goal from the 4, Darnold ran it to the 1. He came up limping, but he stayed in the game and handed off to McGuire for the game-winning score.
It was the Jets' third offensive touchdown. They had scored a total of three offensive touchdowns in the previous five games.
This was the first of what should be many duels between Darnold and Josh Allen, who was selected four picks after Darnold in the 2018 NFL draft.
Allen, the dual-threat quarterback, threw for 206 yards and two picks, and ran for 101 yards and a touchdown.
Darnold helped bring the Jets back from 14-3 down and led a game-tying drive early in the fourth quarter. Darnold hooked up with Anderson on a 7-yard touchdown to cap a brilliant series by the young quarterback.
He converted two third downs, including the Anderson touchdown. Darnold scrambled right on the play, reversed field and ran left and then fired it to Anderson. The extra point made it 20-20 with 12:06 left.
On the series before, Darnold made a bad decision on third down from the Bills' 33. He tried to extend the play and forced a pass that Tremaine Edmunds intercepted. The way Jason Myers has been kicking field goals, Darnold should have just thrown it away.
The Bills humiliated the Jets, 41-10, at MetLife Stadium in Week 10. The Jets' defense talked payback all week. Safety Jamal Adams said this game was "personal." But the Bills faced little resistance on their opening drive, going 73 yards on 11 plays. Allen scored on a 6-yard touchdown run.
Buffalo got in the end zone on two of their first three series. The Bills came in only averaging 1.4 offensive touchdowns. They had two in the first quarter and led 14-3 after Isiah McKenzie's 19-yard TD run.
The Jets forced two turnovers in the first half. The first one, a fumble recovery by Adams, resulted in Myers' 47-yard field goal.
On the play before, offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates made another curious decision, calling for a run on third-and-12 from the Bills' 34. McGuire got 5 yards.
The Jets' second scoring drive ended with another Myers' field goal. The score was set by Andre Roberts' 51-yard kickoff return. The Jets had first-and-goal at the 5 and second-and-goal from the 1, but couldn't punch it in as their red-zone struggles continued. They were 0-for-3 in the red zone in last week's loss at Tennessee.
But the Jets finally ended two droughts, scoring an offensive touchdown in the red zone to make it 17-13 with 6:31 left in the first half.
After Roberts took a kickoff 86 yards he was brought down at the Bills' 8-yard line. Two plays later, rookie Trenton Cannon ran it in from 4-yards out. It was the Jets' first offensive touchdown in eight-plus quarters.
The Jets' special teams came up big again at the end of the half after the defense allowed the Bills to take the ball from their own 4 and drive into field-goal range. Lineman Henry Anderson blocked Steven Hauschka's 49-yard attempt just before the half expired.
But Roberts made a rare mistake on the second-half kickoff. He fumbled it, and Buffalo recovered at the Jets' 13. The defense came up with a good stand, holding the Bills to a 29-yard Hauschka field goal.
