Bills quarterback Josh Allen stepped up to the lectern in the visitor’s news conference room at MetLife Stadium after the team’s 30-10 thumping of the Jets, sporting a nose that looked nearly doubled in size from what it had been before the game. The postgame interview cut right to the chase.
“How’s the face?” Allen was immediately asked.
“We can breathe, so it’s good,” Allen replied, with some blood on the bridge of his nose and some black and blue already forming on each side. “I don’t know what hit me, if it was a knee, a hand, it was somebody.”
Allen’s helmet went into the bridge of his nose, and that’s when the floodgates of blood began. Allen immediately got up and sprinted to the sideline, took a seat in the bench area as a crowd of Bills doctors and athletic training staff crowded around him. They applied a towel to his nose to try to get it under control
“Obviously gushing blood, I just wanted to get off the field and stop it,” Allen said.
A closer look of Allen’s nose. Some blood and bruising already, it appears. pic.twitter.com/4yGnWK1Dq1
— Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) September 14, 2025
Without a single warmup throw, backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky entered the game cold on a third-and-7 opportunity and served up a cold-blooded, pinpoint pass to receiver Joshua Palmer for a 32-yard gain — and with Jets top cornerback Sauce Gardner in coverage, no less.
The work on Allen’s nose continued and they eventually got the bleeding to stop long enough to take the towel off his face. Allen, who hates missing any plays, was eager to get back on the field as quickly as possible.
Another play went by — a four-yard run by James Cook.
The Bills jammed some gauze up both of Allen’s nostrils to keep the bleeding at bay. Fortunate that the Cook run was the final play of the first quarter, it gave the Bills some extra time to work on it. Allen hopped up with his gauze-filled nose, put his helmet on and ran back onto the field for the next play.
In total, Allen missed only those two plays before Trubisky replaced him in the fourth quarter for garbage time with the Bills up by 27 points. Allen mentioned he hadn’t had a gushing blood incident like that since his high school basketball days.
“It was a weird one, it’s still kind of going on me, but we’ll be all right,” Allen said.
By the time the Bills’ Thursday night primetime game rolls around, there may be a black eye or two prominently showing.
Allen had more bloody noses than touchdowns against the Jets, but the Bills didn’t need their oft-superhero to don his cape on Sunday, getting standout showings from both the defense and the ground game.
Here’s what stood out from the Bills’ second win of the season.
The bounce-back defensive performance Sean McDermott was craving
After surrendering 40 points to the Ravens in Week 1, head coach Sean McDermott noted all week that things needed to be difficult for the team — and, namely, the defense. While yes, the Bills won the game in exhilarating fashion, the defense also gave up yards and points in bunches to a highly talented Ravens offense. McDermott brought up the need for tough conversations throughout meetings and practices. Whatever the Bills did, it worked. The team did a 180-degree turn from its Week 1 showing. The Ravens put up 238 yards on the ground alone and could not be stopped.
Against the Jets, up until quarterback Justin Fields left the game to be evaluated for a concussion with the Bills leading 30-3, New York had a grand total of 80 yards. The Jets had only run 29 offensive plays until Fields’ exit, which yielded a lowly 2.8 yards per play. But it gets even worse for the Jets. They did not convert a single third down with their starting quarterback. And if you think that’s bad, over half of the Jets’ total plays with Fields in the game went for zero or fewer yards.
The Jets had 10 plays of zero yards and five plays of negative yardage. And one of the Jets’ positive yardage plays resulted in a lost fumble. They punted or turned the ball over on seven of their eight drives with Fields.
The Bills’ defense, despite being shorthanded due to injuries, delivered a statement game of its own — and it may have been sorely needed. Although the Week 2 opponent wasn’t nearly as multifaceted as the Ravens’ offense, it was a way for them to restart their season on a positive note against another AFC opponent, and one that just put up over 30 points the prior week. Even with the good result, questions will follow this week.
Quick turnaround possibly leaves the Bills without three starters on Thursday
The Bills entered the game on defense with one expected absence, one surprise absence and one that popped up in the middle of the game — and all three have been mainstays of that side of the ball for years. The one we knew was defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who suffered a mid-week ankle injury in practice and was seen in a walking boot on Thursday and Friday. Nickel corner Taron Johnson missed Wednesday’s practice with a quad injury and returned on both Thursday and Friday. He said on Thursday he believed he’d be able to play on Sunday. However, he appeared briefly on the MetLife field in warmups to test it out, sported a bit of a limp, and was announced as inactive shortly after. Then, during the game, the Bills began the second half with linebacker Matt Milano standing on the sidelines with a new brace on his arm that he wasn’t using to begin the game. The Bills said Milano got “dinged” during the game.
With a game in just four days, it’s a matter of whether the Bills will have any of that defensive trio available to play the Dolphins. The context clues of how they all looked on Sunday are not exactly promising, and the Bills may just want to play it safe given that they’ll have a 10-day break ahead of their Week 4 game. The Bills may need to do it again in Week 3 with a makeshift group in key areas.
Bills switched up their DL rotation from Week 1
With Oliver’s absence, the Bills made some significant adjustments to their rotation deployment against the Jets. The first noticeable change — before the game entered garbage time as Fields left the contest — was in their defensive end usage. The Bills effectively reduced that group to a three-man rotation with Greg Rousseau, Joey Bosa and A.J. Epenesa getting almost all of the snaps. Javon Solomon mixed for a snap here or there, but it was clear that Solomon getting a reduced role was one of their mid-week adjustments. Solomon did mix in as an interior pass rusher on a few obvious passing plays.
At defensive tackle, the Bills provided a mild surprise in having fourth-round rookie Deone Walker get the start at three-technique over second-round rookie T.J. Sanders. Walker, who is generally a one-technique in the Bills’ scheme, was likely used next to Jones to put a bigger body against a run-heavy opponent such as the Jets. But when you look at the snaps of Walker and Sanders, it was a pretty even split while Fields was still in the game. Unofficially, Walker had 13 snaps to Sanders’ 11. Jones led the way with 19 snaps, staying in the game for the majority of obvious passing downs. There is a chance the Walker and Sanders deployment could shift with a different type of offensive opponent on the way in Week 3.
James Cook had 132 yards rushing and two touchdowns against the Jets. (Vincent Carchietta / Imagn Images)
The one-two punch of the Bills’ rushing attack
Most of the focus is on the Bills’ defensive showing after their Week 1 struggles, but the running game was outstanding. Although you can’t say it was a painless day for Allen due to the condition of his nose, he didn’t have to do his usual amount, and the Jets could not stop the Bills’ ground game. The Bills’ offensive line, which is one of the best starting groups in the NFL, was able to push around a talented Jets defensive front, headlined by talented defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
The offensive line set the table all game, but it was the patience of running back James Cook that brought the whole game together. His ability to set up his blocks and wait just a tick longer than most running backs are willing to do is part of what has made him one of the better running backs in the NFL. His 44-yard touchdown was a perfect example of both pieces working in unison, as the Bills created the initial hole, Cook read the body setup of his blockers and waited for the perfect time to strike and bounce the run outside after an initial gain. Cook’s 132-yard, two-touchdown showing is yet another reminder why the Bills gave him a new contract this summer.
Bills give Elijah Moore more run as the WR usage flattens
Teams often downplay the notion of a “revenge game,” but by some of the Bills’ actions during the game, you could tell there was a bit of intentionality in how they used reserve receiver Elijah Moore. Moore, a 2021 Jets second-round pick, was with the Bills’ offense for the first snap Sunday, giving him the start against the team that moved on from him. Not only that, but when the Bills got down to the goal line, they had a play ready for Moore, who took a handoff four yards for a touchdown he’ll likely never forget.
Moore’s usage was a part of a shift from Week 1, with the Bills moving away from the condensed snap approach against the Ravens. Last game, the Bills favored the trio of Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir and Palmer to a grand degree. While that trio still was the top three in offensive snaps against the Jets, Moore, Shavers and the tight ends mixed in a lot more in Week 2. Ahead of garbage time, all Bills receivers, unofficially, were under 60 percent of snaps. Coleman went from close to a 90-percent snap player to around 58 percent. Shakir downshifted from near 70 percent to 57 percent, and Palmer went down to around 51 percent. The Bills enjoy having a versatile offense, and look to be a team that will vary its approach for snaps given who it will be up against.
Bills MVP: DE Joey Bosa — Two forced fumbles and a sack were the splashy day the Bills were hoping for when they signed him. He needs to stay healthy, of course, but the early returns have been promising.
Bills LVP: Edge contain — Even with the good Bills defensive performance, Fields popped them for a pair of big gains on a quarterback keeper in which the defensive end took the bait. It was an issue against the Ravens, and while not prominent, it’s on tape for upcoming opponents with a mobile quarterback.
Up Next: The Bills (2-0) return to Orchard Park for a Thursday night game against another AFC East foe, the Miami Dolphins (0-2).
(Top photo of Josh Allen: Elsa / Getty Images)
