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| Jets kick returner Chad Morton returned six kickoffs for 278 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Jets' opening day win. |
The Jets were coming off a 10-6 season to make the playoffs under first-year head coach Herm Edwards, where they were eliminated with a 38-24 loss to the Oakland Raiders in the Wild Card Round.
But with veteran quarterback Vinny Testaverde and running back Curtis Martin returning, the Jets had high hopes to make the playoffs again.
While Jets fans were looking forward to the season starting, Bills fans were ecstatic as they had acquired former New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe in the offseason, who had famously lost his job to Tom Brady following a Week 2 injury after an hit ironically against the Jets.
With Bledsoe at the helm at quarterback, the "Bills Mafia" expected nothing less than a return to the playoffs as they had missed the postseason the previous two years.
The Bills got the ball to start the game as they did not pick up a 1st down on their first three plays, forcing them to punt when punter Brian Moorman was hit by Jets defensive back Nick Ferguson, drawing a 15-yard roughing-the-punter penalty and giving Buffalo a 1st down at their 28-yard-line.
From there, Bledsoe would complete his next four passes totaling 33 yards to set up a 52-yard field goal by Mike Hollis to give the Bills a 3-0 lead with 9:04 left in the first quarter.
The Jets would go three-and-out on their opening drive, giving the ball back to the Bills who took over at their 32-yard-line and drove to the Jets' 32-yard-line until Bledsoe was intercepted by Jets cornerback Aaron Beasley, whose 24-yard return give New York the ball at its own 44-yard-line.
The Jets would punt the ball back to the Bills who would take over at their 20-yard-line and would drove 80 yards in nine plays, aided by two 15-yard New York penalties as defensive tackle Giradie Mercer was called for roughing the passer following a 18-yard completion from Bledsoe to Pearless Price, followed by a 15-yard face mask on Beasley, giving the Bills a 1st down at the 18-yard-line.
Four plays later, Henry was in the end zone following a five-yard touchdown run to increase the Buffalo lead to 10-0 with 12:25 left in the second quarter.
Having being out-gained 175-8 up to this point, the Jets would going to need a spark to turn the tide and get back in the game.
They would get it on the ensuing kickoff as Morton caught Hollis' kick at his two-yard-line, then sliced through the Bills kick return coverage unit for a 98-yard touchdown to cut the Bills' lead to 10-7 with 12:11 to go in the first half.
Morton's touchdown did give the Jets some momentum as the Bills' third play from scrimmage following the kick return, Bledsoe was intercepted again, this time by New York's other cornerback, Donnie Abraham, who returned the pick 13 yards to the Buffalo 19-yard-line.
Two straight penalties pushed the Jets back to the Bills' 29-yard-line, setting up 1st & 20 when Testaverde found tight Anthony Becht for a 21-yard completion and New York's first 1st down of the game.
Two plays later, Testaverde connected with Becht for an one-yard touchdown to give the Jets their second touchdown in under three minutes and a 14-10 lead.
The Bills would respond with a 12-play, 74-yard drive which saw Bledsoe complete four of five passes for 48 yards before letting Henry finish off the drive as he carried the ball four straight times with the last one being a three-yard touchdown to give the lead back to Buffalo at 17-14 with 2:37 left before halftime.
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| Drew Bledsoe completed 26 of 39 passes for 271 yards and threw a touchdown in his first game as the Buffalo Bills' starting quarterback. |
Taking over at his 25-yard-line, Testaverde went to a no-huddle offense in an effort to score more points before halftime as he would complete nine of 11 passes for 59 yards to set up a 34-yard field goal by John Hall to tie the game at 17 as the first half came to a close.
The Jets would get the ball to start the second half as they would drive 42 yards in six plays to set up another field goal from Hall, this one from 45 yards out which allowed for New York to retake the lead at 20-17 with 10:50 left in the third quarter.
The Jets would get an opportunity to increase their lead when defensive back Damien Robinson forced and recovered a Travis Henry fumble to give New York the ball at their 46-yard-line.
However, the Jets would go backwards, losing 16 yards on their next three plays, forcing them to punt the ball back to the Bills, who took over at their 37-yard-line.
The Jets defense would force a three-and-out to get the ball back at their 20-yard-line only to fumble the ball on the second play of the drive when running back Lamont Jordan was hit by Bills defensive tackle Pat Williams to knock the ball loose which was recovered by linebacker Keith Newman at the New York 29-yard-line.
From there, the Bills would drive 29 yards in six plays, with Henry carrying the ball five times for 25 yards, including the two-yard touchdown to give Buffalo a 24-20 lead with 58 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Jets would drive 43 yards in six plays before settling for a 48-yard field goal attempt by Hall, which was no good, giving the ball back to the Bills at their 38-yard-line.
Buffalo would go three-and-out and were to set punt from their 41-yard-line when Jets linebacker Jason Glenn would come in and block the punt to give the Jets the ball at the Bills' 24-yard-line.
However, the Jets would not pick up a 1st down and would be forced to settle for a 33-yard field goal by Hall which cut the Bills' lead to 24-23 with 9:25 left in the fourth quarter.
Buffalo got the ball back at their 16-yard-line and seemed to poise to add to their lead when Bledsoe hit Eric Moulds for a 52-yard completion on 3rd & 6 to give the Bills a 1st down at the Jets' 28-yard-line.
But the Jets defense would hold, forcing the Bills to settle for a 50-yard field goal attempt by Hollis, which he missed to keep it a 24-23 game and give the Jets the ball at their 40-yard-line with 6:22 left in the fourth quarter.
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| Bills running back Travis Henry carried the ball 31 times for 149 yards and scored three touchdowns. |
From there, Testaverde would complete three straight passes for 24 yards until he was intercepted by the Bills' Pierson Prioleau, only to have linebacker Eddie Robinson get called for pass interference, nullifying the interception and giving New York a 1st down at the Bills' 18-yard-line.
That is when Testaverde connected with Wayne Cherbet for a 18-yard touchdown to give the Jets a 29-24 lead when Edwards decided to go for two.
The Jets would successfully convert on the two-point conversion as Testaverde completed a pass to Becht to increase the New York lead to 31-24 with 4:47 left in regulation.
The Bills took over at their 24-yard-line and drove 16 yard to their 40-yard-line when on 3rd & 10, Bledsoe was sacked by Jets defensive tackle Jason Ferguson for a seven-yard-loss forcing the Bills to punt the ball away with 3:21 left.
But the Bills would get another roughing the punter call, this time on Robinson, giving the Bills 15 yards and an automatic 1st down at their 48-yard-line.
On the very next play, Henry carried for nine yards, but was followed by two plays which lost a yard setting up a 4th & 2 at the Jets' 44-yard-line with two minutes to go.
The Bills would go for it and make the 1st down as Bledsoe connected with Price for 14 yards, giving Buffalo a 1st down at the New York 30-yard-line.
A holding penalty on left guard Ruben Brown would push the Bills back 10 yards to the Jets' 40-yard-line as the next three plays would pick up 11 yards setting up a do-or-die 4th & 9 from the New York 29-yard-line with 34 seconds left in regulation.
That is when Bledsoe fired toward the end zone and found Moulds for the 29-yard touchdown that with Hollis' extra point, tied the game at 31 with 26 seconds left in regulation.
The Jets would get the ball at their 26-yard-line following a 18-yard return by Morton and three timeouts in their pockets in hopes of driving to set up a potential game-winning field goal.
Testaverde would hit Cherbet for 21 yards on the first play of the drive, which was followed by an illegal contact penalty Bills cornerback Nate Clements to give New York a 1st down at the Bills' 48-yard-line and an opportunity at a Hail Mary.
However, the Jets could not pull off the Hail Mary as an incomplete pass followed by a 24-yard scramble by Testaverde as time expired sent the game into overtime with the game tied at 31.
The Jets would win the critical coin toss and elected to receive to start the extra period.
Morton would catch the kickoff at his four-yard-line, who made one cutback across the field and was gone as he returned the kick 96 yards for a touchdown to give the Jets a shocking 37-31 overtime win.
It marked only the second time that the overtime kickoff had been returned for a touchdown with the previous occasion being Dave Williams' famous 95-yard kickoff return touchdown on Thanksgiving Day in 1980.
The Bills would go on to finish the season at 8-8 as Bledsoe would throw for 4,359 yards, the second most yards he throw during a season in his career.
Two years later, Bledsoe would be traded to the Dallas Cowboys as the Bills would not make the playoffs until 2017.
As for the Jets, they would lose their next four games as Testaverde would be benched in favor of Chad Pennington, but the team would continue to struggle as they fell to a 2-5 record when Edwards launched his famous "You play to win the game" rant during a midweek press conference.
That outburst and Pennington's play sparked the Jets to a 7-2 over the rest of the season to finish with a 9-7 record, good enough to win the AFC East and earn a second straight trip to the playoffs where the Jets humiliated the Indianapolis Colts 41-0 in the Wild Card Round, before being eliminated by the Raiders 30-10 in the Divisional Round.
As for Morton, he would play four more years in the NFL, two with the Washington Redskins, and two more with the New York Giants, as he returned only one more kickoff and one punt for a touchdown during his last four years in the league.
But he is still remembered fondly by Jets fans for his memorable performance on Opening Day in 2002.
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