3 Takeaways from Jets' Week 9 Win vs. Bills

Don't look now, but the New York Jets are 6-3 and poised to make a push for the postseason. The Jets are flying high after Sunday's stunning win over the Buffalo Bills, and there are plenty of reasons to believe that the victory was no fluke.

A week after falling flat against the rival New England Patriots, New York took it to a Buffalo team that had seemed nearly unbeatable. The Jets pounded the ball on the ground, got mostly clean play from quarterback Zach Wilson and smothered what has been an elite Buffalo offense.

The result was a 20-17 victory that made a bigger statement than the score might suggest. With a 2-1 record in the division, the Jets have a real chance to win the AFC East this season.

The 6-2 Bills still have the division lead for now, but anyone expecting Buffalo to run away with the East could be in for a surprise. New York heads into its bye and has two weeks to prepare for Bill Belichick and a rematch with New England.

Here are our three biggest takeaways from the Jets' Week 9 win over Buffalo.

The Jets dominated Buffalo defensively and on the ground. However, they still could have lost this game if quarterback Zach Wilson made some of the boneheaded mistakes we've seen in the past.

Last week, the BYU product floundered against the Patriots. He threw for 355 yards in that game but also tossed a trio of interceptions. Wilson, who has a career passer rating of just 71.4 and a 13-16 TD-INT ratio, has been mistake-prone in his 19 NFL starts.

On Sunday, though, Wilson played the game-manager role to perfection. He was an efficient 18-of-25 for 154 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 24 yards and did not throw an interception.

Wilson did have a costly fumble in the third quarter, when he was strip-sacked by Von Miller in the red zone. Had he avoided that turnover, the Jets might have had an even more comfortable win.

Of course, Miller is a tough playmaker to avoid, and it's hard to place too much blame on Wilson for that play. It's clear, though, that the Jets are a better team when the 23-year-old isn't asked to do too much.

Whenever it's feasible, this should be the Jets' blueprint moving forward. Wilson is still learning to play quarterback at the NFL level, but New York can win consistently if it can simply ask him to manage the game.

When the Jets lost rookie running back Breece Hall to a torn ACL in Week 7, the offense was poised to take a severe hit. Hall (5.8 yards per carry) was proving to be an explosive playmaker and a centerpiece of the Jets ground attack.

On October 25, the Jets traded for Jacksonville Jaguars running back James Robinson, giving up only a conditional sixth-round pick in the process. That decision is already looking like a brilliant one.

Robinson might not be as dynamic as Hall, but he showed on Sunday that he can make a difference. He carried 13 times for 48 yards while complementing second-year back Michael Carter. It's worth noting that Robinson was dealing with a knee issue and wasn't at 100 percent either.

"There's going to be soreness," Robinson said of his knee before the game, per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.

As a team, the Jets ran for 171 yards against a very good Bills defense. New York gave up very little to acquire Robinson, and if he can keep the ground game rolling, the investment will pay off in a big way.

The most impressive aspect of Sunday's win was the play of the Jets defense. New York largely contained an offense that features standouts like Allen, Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, Dawson Knox and Devin Singletary.

A week ago, Buffalo committed two turnovers and still racked up 27 points and 369 yards of offense. Against the Jets, the Bills had two turnovers but notched 317 and only 17 points. Allen had a particularly miserable game, finishing 18-of-34 for 205 yards and two interceptions.

New York is forging an impressive defense, headlined by Quinnen Williams, Carl Lawson, C.J. Mosley and rookies Jermaine Johnson II and Sauce Gardner. With two interceptions and a league-high 13 passes defended, Gardner is among the early favorites for Defensive Rookie of the Year.

After nine weeks, the Jets rank seventh in total defense and eighth in points allowed. New York hasn't surrendered more than 22 points since Week 3.

This is the sort of defense fans expected to see under head coach Robert Saleh, who previously oversaw the vaunted San Francisco 49ers defense. We didn't see it last year, but we're seeing it now, and defense could pave the way for a deep postseason run.