REPORT CARD VS. JETS

PASSING OFFENSE
B -- J.P. Losman was 22 of 38 for 328 yards, all career marks, as Roscoe Parrish and Lee Evans each topped 100 yards receiving. Unfortunately for the Bills, Losman's coming out party was spoiled by his two fumbles after sacks, one that resulted in a Jets' touchdown, and an ill-advised interception to kill another drive. The Bills came away with just six points (two Rian Lindell field goals) after driving to the Jets' 35, 19, 28, and 1-yard lines when it was still a close game. Losman did a strong job early finding his hot read, connecting with Parrish on a quick-hitting pass on the second play of the game, resulting in a 51-yard touchdown when Parrish turned on the jets and split the Jets' secondary. The Jets kept more people in coverage after that play. Josh Reed (4-45) made some big catches again, but on fourth-and-3 at the Jets 28, he was stopped a yard shy of the marker by Erik Coleman after catching a quick out pass from Losman. Kerry Rhodes had both of the Jets' sacks off safety blitzes from the right side. The Bills made the adjustment after Rhodes' first sack, but on sack No. 2, RB Willis McGahee whiffed on the block protecting Losman's blindside. The ball squirted free and LB Victor Hobson returned it 32 yards for a TD to give the Jets a 21-10 lead in the third quarter. Tight ends and running backs remained non-factors in Buffalo's passing game.

RUSHING OFFENSE
B-plus -- McGahee made it four 100-yard games in four starts against the Jets, rambling for a career-high 150 on 26 carries. His day included a 32-yard burst to set up a field goal. Blocking was terrific at times and McGahee could've topped 200 yards had Buffalo not fallen behind by two scores. He had just seven carries for 35 yards in the second half. Losman scored on a pretty 12-yard scramble to cap a late frantic drive but he was caught for a 9-yard loss on a third-and-goal bootleg at the Jets' 1-yard line with 9:54 left, forcing the Bills to settle for a field goal. It is hard to blame the blocking; Jets defensive end Bobby Hamilton stayed home and was there to make the play.

PASS DEFENSE
C-minus -- Buffalo was riding high with 10 sacks in two games but Chad Pennington proved a tougher nut to crack than New England's Tom Brady and Miami's Daunte Culpepper. Pennington's three-step drops and savvy decision making frustrated the Bills all afternoon, and he was sacked just once while completing 19 of 29 for 183 yards and one TD with no turnovers. All three of New York's TD drives included big Pennington pass completions (47 yards to running back Leon Washington, 18 to Jerricho Cotchery, 16 to Laveranues Coles). TE Chris Baker sprung wide open in the end zone on a nice cross-grain pass by Pennington after rolling right with a play fake. Bills CB Nate Clements was whistled for a costly tripping penalty on Coles during Jets' clock-eating clinching TD drive in the fourth quarter. The Bills, who allowed eight passing first downs, weren't as aggressive with press coverage as they needed to be after getting burned by Washington's catch.

RUSH DEFENSE
C-minus -- Buffalo's suspect run defense will move up in the NFL rankings after holding the Jets to 74 yards on 24 carries for a healthy 3.1 average. What's not seen in the numbers is the weak effort in all three Jets' scoring drives. In those drives, the Bills allowed 52 yards on the ground on 13 carries (4.0 average), a critical fourth-down conversion on a QB sneak by Pennington, and two TDs in first-and-goal situations by running backs Kevan Barlow and Cedric Houston. LBs Angelo Crowell, London Fletcher and rookie Keith Ellison combined for 25 tackles but the Bills needed more big plays. Allowing the Jets, who no longer have Pro Bowler Curtis Martin, to cover the final 17 yards of their clinching TD drive with runs of 7, 5 and 5 yards is inexcusable.

SPECIAL TEAMS
C-plus -- The Bills botched a fake field goal when a shovel pass by holder Brian Moorman to OT Jason Peters was behind him and fell incomplete. Buffalo did recover an onsides kick with 1:15 to play that Losman did nothing with, PK Rian Lindell (2 of 2) remained perfect on the season, and coverage units did a solid job on dangerous Jets return specialist Justin Miller, who burned the Bills for a 95-yard kickoff TD a year ago. Jets punter Ben Graham had a Moorman-like four punts drop inside the Bills 20-yard line, a great performance in the windy conditions.

COACHING
C -- After rolling up 475 yards on offense and holding the Jets to 256 on defense, the game plans were good enough to win with. Buffalo's undoing was three turnovers and some too-cute play calling on the part of Dick Jauron and offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild. The fake field goal, a fourth-down out pass against the wind, and a naked bootleg on third-and-goal left plenty of material for second-guessers.

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