Defense propels rejuvenated Jets

It was late Thursday night, and Jets coach Todd Bowles and starting quarterback Josh McCown were having a relaxed news conference after an impressive 34-21 victory over the Bills at MetLife Stadium.

The Jets had just broken a three-game losing streak with one of their best efforts of the season.

“As a whole, yes, we are getting better,” Bowles said Friday morning. “I still think we have another gear to get to, but we played complementary football last night. It was the most we played this year.”

The defense had a season-high seven sacks, forced three turnovers and held LeSean McCoy to 25 yards rushing. The offense produced 24 second-half points as the Jets built a 34-7 lead in the fourth quarter.

“I know we showed ourselves that we’re going to play hard and fight,” Bowles said. “If we correct certain things, we have a chance to win some ballgames, and I think the guys know that. I’m proud of what they’ve seen for themselves.”

One main correction was the running game. One week after complaining about the Jets’ lack of commitment to that area, Matt Forte rushed for a season-high 77 yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns. The Jets ran the ball a season-high 41 times for 194 yards against the third-best defense against the rush.

McCown benefited from a balanced offensive game, going 14-for-20 for 140 yards with one touchdown pass, a 25-yard strike to Robby Anderson that gave the Jets a 17-7 lead with 9:50 to play in the third quarter.

“The defense was lights out. They set the tone, didn’t stop,” McCown said. “We went three-and-out that first drive. We were committed to running it, and we showed it, and I think sometimes that’s what you have to do. Even if it’s three-and-out, if you call three runs and you’re committed to it, it sets a tone with the guys to let them know, ‘Hey, we’re committed to it.’ Everybody was clicking on all sides and playing at a high level, so it was a great win.”

The Jets will get the weekend off before returning to work Monday to prepare for Tampa Bay.

“We showed we can get takeaways and we showed we can get sacks and we showed we can stop the run all throughout the season,” said defensive end Leonard Williams, who picked up a half-sack, his first of the year. “But this is our first time putting it together on takeaways, quarterback hits, sacks, everything. I felt like now that we showed it and put it on film.”