Bills–Jets rivalry

Bills and Jets face off during the2009 season.
Buffalo Bills New York Jets
Location	Buffalo,New York City
First meeting	September 11, 1960 Titans 27,Bills 3[1]
Latest meeting	September 14, 2025 Bills 30, Jets 10[1]
Next meeting	January 3/4, 2026
Stadiums	Bills:Highmark Stadium Jets:MetLife Stadium
Statistics
Meetings total	130[1]
All-time series	Bills: 72–58[1]
Regular season series	Bills: 71–58[1]
Postseason results	Bills: 1–0[1]
Largest victory	Bills: 37–0(1989) Jets: 42–3(1985)[1]
Most points scored	Bills: 46(1979) Jets: 48(2012)[1]
Longest win streak	Bills: 10 (1987–1992) Jets: 7 (1984–1987)[1]
Current win streak	Bills: 4 (2023–present)[1]
Post-season history[1]
1981 AFC Wild Card: Bills won: 31–27

110km
68miles

Jets

Bills

   

Locations of theBuffalo Bills andNew York Jets

TheBills–Jets rivalry is aNational Football League (NFL)rivalry between theBuffalo Bills andNew York Jets.

Both of these teams play in the same division (AFC East) and as a result, play two scheduled games each season. Both teams representNew York State, with the Bills having their primary fan base inWestern New York, and the Jets in theNew York City area (the Jets moved toNew Jersey in 1984, having originally played in New York).

This rivalry is fueled primarily by the differences betweenthe greater New York City metropolitan area andthe rest of New York State, but also by the Bills being the only team physically located in New York due to the Jets and their NFC counterparts theGiants playing their games in theNew Jersey suburbs of New York City. However, the two teams have rarely been successful at the same time, and as such, their rivalry usually lacks the intensity that is present in other rivalries, such as theBills' rivalry with the Dolphins and theJets' with the Patriots. There have only been four seasons in which both the Bills and Jets finished with winning records.^[2] Regardless, the two teams share a bond due to this seeming inability to field winning teams simultaneously, having been the two NFL teams coached byRex Ryan, and their long histories playing twice yearly against one another going back to the first days of the AFL.

The Bills lead the overall series, 72–58. The two teams have met once in theplayoffs, with the Bills winning.^[1]

There were a handful of memorable games in the early history of this rivalry. The Bills and Jets (then known as the Titans) played each other in what was the inaugural game for both franchises in 1960. During the Jets' Super Bowl winning year in 1968, the Bills defense interceptedJoe Namath five times, including three pick-sixes, as Buffalo upset the Jets 37–35 for its only win that year.^[3][4] In 1973,O. J. Simpson eclipsedJim Brown's rushing yards record to surpass 2,000 yards in a 34–6 Bills win. Eight years later, the teams played their only playoff game together. In the 1981 AFC wild card game, the Bills had a 24–0 lead early in the game, but the Jets came back, cutting their deficit to 31–24. A late game interception ofRichard Todd sealed the win for the Bills, however.^[2]

In the quarterback-rich1983 NFL draft, the Bills selected quarterbackJim Kelly whereas the Jets infamously passed onDan Marino in favor ofKen O'Brien.^[5] Despite Kelly not joining the Bills until 1986, as he played in theUnited States Football League instead until it ceased operations, his Bills tenure eventually saw a period of dominance over the Jets in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Kelly's first game against the Jets is remembered for a bench-clearing fist fight, as refereeBen Dreith famously penalized Jets defenderMarty Lyons for "giving [Kelly] the business".^[6]

The Jets and Bills played two regular season games with playoff implications in the 1990s. The 1993 season saw the Jets failing to secure a playoff berth by losing a game to the Bills via three missed field goals. In 1998, the Jets secured their first ever AFC East division title by beating the Bills.^[2]

As the 2000s approached, Buffalo collapsed from a perennial Super Bowl contender to one of the worst teams in the league, while the Jets maintained a level of success, making the playoffs 5 times despite aperiod of dominance by theTom Brady-ledNew England Patriots. However, the Bills finally ended their league-leading playoff drought in 2017, while the Jets have yet to return to the playoffs since last qualifying in 2010.

In 2008, the Bills were coming off a 5–1 start, but lost 8 of their remaining ten games to finish 7–9 and out of the playoffs. Two of those losses came against the Jets; the latter included aJ. P. Losman fumble returned for the Jets' game-winning touchdown as the Bills were trying to run out the clock.^[7]

Rex Ryan coached both the Jets (top) and the Bills (bottom).

In 2009, the first year ofRex Ryan's six-year tenure as the Jets' head coach,Mark Sanchez threw 5 interceptions to the Bills defense, losing a game in overtime for the Jets in which they rushed for 318 yards.^[8] Later that year, the Jets rematched the Bills inToronto as part of theBills Toronto Series, in which the Jets avenged their loss with a 19–13 win that kept their playoff hopes alive.^[9]

During the2013 NFL draft, the Bills and Jets once again selected quarterbacks with their early picks.EJ Manuel was picked by Buffalo in the first round whileGeno Smith was chosen in the second round by the Jets. Ultimately, neither quarterback panned out and both were gone from their teams after 2016.^[10]

In 2014, the second Bills–Jets game was played atFord Field in Detroit due to afreak snowstorm in Buffalo. The Bills won 38–3.^[11]

The 2015 offseason saw some notable personnel swaps between the teams. On January 12, Rex Ryan was hired as the head coach of the Bills shortly after his dismissal by the Jets, serving as Buffalo's head coach for the next two years.^[12] In addition, the Jets hired former Bills head coachChan Gailey as their offensive coordinator^[13] and traded for former Bills starting quarterbackRyan Fitzpatrick who later became their own starter.^[14] The Bills also added former JetsPercy Harvin^[15] andIK Enemkpali, the latter one day after he was released for breakingGeno Smith's jaw in a locker room altercation.^[16] The Bills won both games in 2015, knocking the Jets out of playoff contention with their second win.^[17] Tensions arose during the first game onThursday Night Football when both teams were still in the hunt for a playoff spot, especially after Ryan made Enemkpali a team captain for that game.^[18] Despite Ryan's short tenure as the Bills' coach and firing before the second Bills-Jets matchup of 2016, his presence on the Bills briefly re-energized the rivalry.^[19]

In the2018 NFL draft, the Bills and Jets each traded up in order to select a highly touted quarterback.^[20] This resulted inSam Darnold landing with the Jets 3rd overall andJosh Allen being selected by the Bills 7th overall.^[21][22] Allen and Darnold met on the field for the first time as rivals on December 9, 2018, with both having missed the first Bills–Jets match-up that year due to injury. The Bills jumped to an early 14–3 lead under Allen, but the Jets fought back with good special teams play to set up short fields and tied the game at 20 by the fourth quarter. After the Bills scored a field goal to retake the lead with just over two minutes to go, Darnold led a game-winning drive for the Jets, including a 37-yard pass toRobby Anderson to set up the go-ahead touchdown run byElijah McGuire.^[23][24]

On September 8, 2019, the Bills overcame a 16–0 third quarter deficit and four turnovers to beat the Jets 17–16 at MetLife Stadium on opening day of the season. The Jets unraveled after losing linebackerC. J. Mosley to injury and were also hampered by ineffective placekicking fromKaare Vedvik.^[25] The momentum would carry over as Buffalo wound up making the playoffs while New York was unable to overcome a 1–7 start, despite both teams being expected to be competitive that year. Having clinched a playoff spot by then, the Bills rested several starters during the week 17 rematch, which the Jets won 13–6.^[26]

The second Bills–Jets matchup of the 2020 season was noteworthy as the then-winless Jets held a potent Bills offense out of the endzone, but Buffalo still prevailed 18–10 thanks to six field goals by rookie kickerTyler Bass.^[27] Not only did the Bills sweep the yearly series, but the franchises had nearly exact opposite years with the Bills finishing13–3 but the Jets just2–14 to begin the new decade, continuing a long general trend of the two teams being unable to be simultaneously successful. Allen had his best season thus far with a 107.2passer rating and 37 touchdowns, while Darnold had his worst with a 72.7 rating and just 9 touchdowns in 12 games. The Jets traded Darnold to theCarolina Panthers following the season,^[28] draftingZach Wilson to replace him.^[29]

After Allen and the Bills swept the Jets in 2021, the Wilson-led Jets won the first matchup in 2022, as a 6-minute-long drive that started at New York's 4-yard line set up the game winning field goal. With under 2 minutes left, the Bills were unable to respond, as a holding penalty against tackleDion Dawkins and a strip sack of Allen that left him injured caused the Bills to turn the ball over on downs, allowing a 20–17 Jets upset win over the heavily-favored Bills.^[30] This game was the first time since2011 that both teams met with winning records.^[31] By the time of the rematch, Wilson had been benched forMike White, who had started one game against Buffalo the previous year, and the Jets were in the middle of what would become a six-game losing streak to end the year out of playoff contention while the Bills were in the middle of a seven-game winning streak to end the year. Just as in his previous start against Buffalo, White struggled and was injured during the 20–12 Bills win. During this game, he was knocked out of the game twice, suffering what was later revealed to be broken ribs, but decided to return to the game both times, earning the respect of fans and players from both teams.^[32]

The following season, New York traded for longtimeGreen Bay Packers quarterbackAaron Rodgers, setting up what would become a highly anticipated opening week game between the Bills and Jets onMonday Night Football. Unfortunately, Rodgersruptured his Achilles tendon on just his fourth play in the game, but the Jets forced Allen to turn the ball over four times, and ended up winning in overtime 22–16 onXavier Gipson's punt return touchdown.^[33] Gipson's next touch against the Bills did not fare as well, as he fumbled the opening kickoff return in the rematch in Buffalo after being tackled by Bills fullbackReggie Gilliam.^[34] This sparked a 32–6 Bills victory in what was considered a must-win game for both teams, as the Jets could not contain a refocused Allen and struggled on offense, leading to Zach Wilson being benched again. The game also saw tensions flare between several players, includingMicheal Clemons andDion Dawkins.^[35]

• 
  Oil painting of Bills OGBilly Shaw blocking forBobby Smith against Jets in 1964
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  Bills RBO. J. Simpson rushing against Jets in 1973
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  Bills RBJoe Cribbs runs against Jets in 1981 Wild Card game
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  Pre-snap activity between Bills and Jets in 2009
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  Jets RBThomas Jones runs for a long touchdown against Bills in 2009
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  Players chatting following a game
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  Jets QBAaron Rodgers about to take a snap against the Bills in 2023, shortly before his Achilles injury

The most notable connection between the Bills and Jets has beenRex Ryan, who carried over many of his staff from the Jets when he was hired as the Bills' head coach.

Several players have been members of both teams during their careers, including:

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• AFC East

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• American football in New York (state)
• Buffalo Bills rivalries
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