Getty Several members of the Buffalo Bills sitting on the sideline of an NFL game.
The New York Jets caught a lot of flak, despite their 5-3 record heading into Week 9, for being a poser.
A team that had simply beat up on bad teams, faced backup quarterbacks, and got plain lucky in several contests. So with Gang Green set to host the Buffalo Bills, the consensus Super Bowl favorites, most expected them to get blown out.
The folks over in Vegas had the Jets as a two-touchdown dog at home and several Bills fans flexed their muscles throughout the week. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out in their favor.
Bills Fans Get Owned on Social Media by Jets Fans
The Jets ended up beating the Bills 20-17 and earning their statement win of 2022.
There were no excuses to be found after the green and white punched Buffalo in the face.
However, in the buildup to this matchup, several fans called out the Jets. Aaron Quinn said the Vegas spread made sense for this game because, “Vegas knows, like me, that the 5-3 record is a little fraudulent.”
He doubled down on that take in a separate tweet saying the Jets “feel like the most fraudulent 5-3 team I’ve ever seen. They could easily be 2-6 right now.”
Look I won’t “sleep” on any team, and I sure as hell know the Bills players won’t.
But the New York Jets feel like the most fraudulent 5-3 team I’ve ever seen.
They could easily be 2-6 right now.
Danny Frisina accused the Jets of owning an “inflated record” based on who they have played this season.
The #Jets 5-3 record ‘is a little fraudulent’ 🧐 + ‘an inflated record’? What are we saying now #BillsMafia? Hmm interesting 🤔 #Bills #TakeFlight #BUFvsNYJ
One fan said he’d be “surprised” if the Jets finish the season with an above .500 record this season.
Another fan said the Bills should’ve been “favored by at least 17.”
@BoyGreen25 @ESPNStatsInfo Definitely disrespectful. Bills should be favored by at least 17
If all of that wasn’t bad enough one Bills fan had the intestinal fortitude to say that he feared the Jets more when they had Joe Flacco at quarterback than Zach Wilson now.
@Billsfandiehard @BoyGreen25 @ESPNStatsInfo I was more afraid of the Jets when Flacco was the QB to start the season
The Jets Have a Massive Target on Back Moving Forward
So while all of that was good fun, with this win, the Jets have established themselves as a team that is absolutely for real.
There were a ton of questions about the wins that they found ways to pull off this season, but most Jets fans didn’t care because after one winning season in 11 years they would take wins however they came.
However, it bothered a lot of them that other fans/teams weren’t taking them seriously despite their success. Well, all of that talk is now officially dead.
It harkens me back to a quote from 2008 when the 7-3 Jets beat the then 10-0 Tennessee Titans. Former Gang Green quarterback Brett Favre said he wasn’t going to call his team the best in the NFL, but he emphatically said we just beat the best team in the NFL.
I bring myself back to a quote from former #Jets QB Brett Favre (@BrettFavre) who said after NYJ beat a 10-0 #Titans team in 2008:
I’m not going to say we’re the best team in football, but I think we beat the best team in football today.
While the record may not say so for the Bills now at 6-2, they were widely considered the best team in all of football heading in.
The Jets imposed their will on Buffalo and when the Bills knew they were going to run the ball, they still couldn’t stop it.
This Jets defense was suffocating all day and forced Josh Allen into one of his worst games as a professional quarterback.
Now moving forward the Jets will have a massive target on their back and raised expectations for this 2022 season.