Jets send warning to league with statement win over Bills

EAST RUTHERFORD — What word do you feel like using? Message is an obvious one. Statement. How about this one: Warning.

The Buffalo Bills are the best team in the NFL. They’re led by the best quarterback in the NFL. They have playmakers littered throughout their offense. They have a championship-level defense.

And the New York Jets just beat them, 20-17.

They didn’t win off a fluky play. They didn’t win with help from the referees. They didn’t face a backup-laden roster.

The Jets beat the Bills because the Jets were a better team than the Bills on Sunday.

So here’s an official warning to the NFL’s 31 other teams: The Jets are here and they are very much for real.

“We know the confidence we have,” quarterback Zach Wilson said. “If anybody mattered outside here they’d be coaches or they’d be players.

“Nobody cares. Everyone is relying on each other. We’re locked in.”

You never want to make one regular-season game bigger than another — especially so early in the season. This was not a playoff game. This didn’t do anything to secure a playoff spot. This didn’t clinch the division. Heck, at 6-3, the Jets are in the exact same position in the AFC East as they were when Sunday began — second.

But the obvious truth to anyone who has followed the Jets over the course of the last decade is that this wasn’t just another game. Not even close. This was more important than any other victory at any other point during this stretch.

The Jets are good. Yes, really.

After 10 years of being everyone’s homecoming opponent, stepping stone and punchline to jokes, the Jets are officially a good football team.

“We’re going to keep playing and we’re going to keep dominating teams,” defensive end John Franklin-Myers said. “Hopefully it plays out.”

You know what good teams do? They bounce back after losing a heartbreaker. The Jets, a week ago against New England, were at their lowest. They felt they should have won that game and they didn’t. Bad teams let that linger. The Jets found a way to put it behind them and beat the kings of the AFC East the last two years.

You know what good teams have? Good freaking players. And suddenly the Jets are overflowing with them. There’s superstar-in-making Garrett Wilson. The wideout caught eight passes for 92 yards as he seemingly gets better and better every seven days. Don’t forget about running back Michael Carter (86 total yards), wideout Denzel Mims (huge third-down catch on the Jets’ game-winning drive) and tight end Tyler Conklin.

You know a trait of a good team? They’re never out of it. The Jets fell behind by two possessions early in this one. Allen’s 37-yard touchdown run in the second quarter put Buffalo up 14-3. It didn’t matter. The Jets crawled back. That’s nothing new, though. The Jets have faced double-digit deficits six times this year. They’re 3-3 in those games.

Maybe the most important aspect of a good team? An identity. The Jets have that, too. It’s their defense which is fast developing a reputation as one of — if not the — best in the NFL. They not only have a dominant front, but, according to Sauce Gardner, the best cornerbacking unit in the NFL with him and D.J. Reed. The Jets made Allen, an MVP candidate, look pedestrian at best. He was 18-of-34 (52.9 percent) for 205 yards with zero touchdowns, two interceptions and a quarterback rating of 46.8. His yardage, touchdown and quarterback rating were his lowest since Week 16 of last year.

“We play for each other, man,” Reed said. “We really love each other.”

There isn’t a soul over at One Jets Drive who saw this start coming. They knew they’d be better this year than last — well, hoped they would. They were realistic, though, because of the number of first- and second-year players they planned to start. The goal was four wins before the bye. If they did that, they’d position themselves to play meaningful games down the stretch.

Take that and throw it out the window.

The Baby Jets have matured so quickly, a testament to Coach of the Year candidate Robert Saleh. They’re steamrolling toward the playoffs, especially if the Zach Wilson who started against Buffalo is the quarterback they’ll have the rest of the year.

Wilson, fresh off a brutal three-interception game against the Patriots, wasn’t electric against Buffalo. He completed 18-of-25 passes (72 percent) for 154 yards with a touchdown and zero interceptions. Those numbers, aside from his career-high completion percentage, won’t wow many outside green-and-white faithful, but he played within the structure of the offense and commandeered his team to a victory, highlighted by three drives of 12-plus plays, including the game-winning, 13-play, 81-yard drive that ended with Greg Zuerlein’s field goal.

That begs the question: Just how far can these Jets go?

“What do you think?” Saleh said when asked if the Jets have successfully closed the gap between themselves and the AFC’s best teams. “I think we’re a lot better.”

The Jets need and want this break. The bye really couldn’t have come at a better time. But virtually every player in the locker room stressed their excitement to see their bitter division rivals again.

There is a 24-hour rule in Florham Park. You’re not supposed to think about any game after that stretch. But that Patriot game lingered a little longer.

The Jets have a score to settle.

And this year they’re good enough to do it.

“I can’t wait,” Gardner said.