Silencing the critics

Jets linebacker Bart Scott is never at a loss for words.

After the Jets 27-11 win Sunday over the Bills, Scott had a lot to say about the defence he plays for and the way the national media views his team.

Scott and the Jets defence frustrated Ryan Fitzpatrick all day long as they handed the Bills their first home loss of the season.

At halftime the Jets defence had held Fitzpatrick to 24 yards passing and intercepted him twice.

Scott was proud of the way the Jets defence played against the high scoring Bills offence.

"The good thing about this defence is we can adjust to any style," he said. "We had some growing pains and some things we had to clean up. But we have a lot of professionals. A lot of guys who have a lot of pride and don't like what was being written; but we earned what was written. If we wanted to change it and didn't want to hear it anymore it's our job to fix it."

Scott said the game plan on Sunday was focused around stopping Bills running back Fred Jackson.

"He's their No. 1 playmaker and we knew if we were going to have an opportunity to slow them down and beat them we had to stop him," he said.

Scott bristled at the notion that it took until Week 9 for the Jets to pick up their first road win of the season and downplayed the significance of the feat.

"We were going through a lot of adversity at the beginning of the year with Nick (Mangold) being down. We just take them as they come," he said. "Away, home; I think we proved last year we're capable of winning on the road. It didn't work out this season so far, we know we believe in each other and sometimes that's all you have is each other.

"I'm sure now there will be something written about 'the Jets are back' and we won't listen to that either because at the end of the day we know you guys don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Scott felt the defence's ability to make key plays at key points in the game was critical to their success.

"The game was tight, we didn't capitalize early on and it still was within one play - and we never let them get that one play to put them back into the game," he said. "When you want to be a quality defence that's what you have to do."

Head coach Rex Ryan echoed Scott's comments about the play of the Jets defence: "We know how to play here. I think the backend did a tremendous job. And we're a team - they feed off each other. It was a great team effort."

Scott feels the Jets have learned some valuable lessons throughout the first half of the season.

"Across the board we know we have maybe one of the most talented teams in the NFL; that doesn't always equate to wins because the best team wins not the best individuals," he said. "We've always been portrayed as the bad guy and we relish in that role."

Riding a three game winning streak, the Jets will host the Patriots next week in the Sunday night game.

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