From whiteout to wipeout

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Ralph Wilson stadium was filled with more than 70,000 fans Sunday, most of whom came wearing white to help support the team's "Whiteout" promotion.

In the end the whiteout became a wipeout as the Jets beat the Bills 27-11.

Even when they've lost this year, the Bills offence had always managed to score enough points to keep them in the game.

All that changed Sunday as the Jets defence made life miserable for Ryan Fitzpatrick and handed the Bills their first home loss of the season.

Realizing what was at stake, Fitzpatrick felt the Bills failed to make a statement against an AFC East rival.

"We were really excited about this game and really to show our division we're here and we're a better team than we've been in the past and unfortunately today we didn't show that," he said.

The Bills struggled mainly because their high scoring offence had too many three-and-outs and ended the game a paltry 3-for-11 on third down.

"We didn't show up like we usually do," said receiver Stevie Johnson. "We were three-and-out, three-and-out, three-and-out. You can't do that to a team like that."

Fellow receiver Donald Jones wasn't about to give any credit to the Jets for the Bills' problems on offence.

"It wasn't their defence at all. It was all on us. We didn't play good at all," he said. "You can't win with how many turnovers we had. Everything is on us."

Like Johnson, Jones believes their inability to convert on third down cost them dearly.

"Today, we just didn't play good," he said. "On third down we got stuffed twice on third-and-one. That's not us at all, so we'll get it together."

Chan Gailey wasn't happy how the offence responded to what the Jets defence was doing to them.

"They kept us off balance," the coach said. "We can't allow them to keep us off balance. We've got to keep them off balance"

A great example of what kind of day it was for the Bills took place in the fourth quarter with the Jets leading 20-3. By that point the Jets were winning the time of possession battle handily and wearing down the Bills defence.

Mark Sanchez and the Jets then put together a crushing 14-play, 84-yard scoring drive that took seven minutes and 58 seconds off the clock.

Bills safety George Wilson said the Jets didn't do anything fancy Sunday.

"They didn't do anything we didn't expect them to do. They played Jets football today with trying to pound it in the run game and going play action off of it."

The general feeling in the Bills locker room afterwards was one of lost opportunity. The Bills were looking at this game as a chance to beat another division rival and further cement their status in the AFC.

"It's disappointing. Everybody knows this is like a rivalry with the Jets. Nobody wants to lose to the Jets; that's how we feel in here," said Johnson. "But I mean we've got to be ready for them in three weeks. We've got to deal with it for 24 hours, like coach (Gailey) says, and get back to work," said Johnson.

Afterwards, a tired looking Wilson grudgingly paid respect to the Jets and the way they played Sunday.

"We got to take this one on the chin; tip our hats to the Jets," he said. "They came in not having won a road game and they showed they could win on the road by coming in and beating us today. We just have to take this one of the chin, go back and look at the film, correct our mistakes and start looking towards Dallas next week."

The Bills will be in Dallas next week as they embark on a three game road trip that wraps up Nov. 27 in the Meadowlands when they face the Jets.

Notes: Kicker Rian Lindell suffered a shoulder injury when he tackled Jets kick returner Joe McKnight in the third quarter.

Jim Lang is co-host of Brady and Lang in the morning on SPORTSNET 590 The FAN and a columnist for sportsnet.ca.