Mistakes bring down Jets as Rex Ryan wins in return to NY

For three quarters, they resembled Rex Ryan's Jets. And like those old Jets, they produced a massive letdown.

Sporting Christmas-colored "Color Rush" uniforms Thursday night, it was Ryan's new team, the Bills, that were feeling festive when all was said and done. And once again, it was Todd Bowles' Jets who were left lamenting missed opportunities.

Safety Bacarri Rambo intercepted Ryan Fitzpatrick with 24 seconds left to seal a 22-17 Bills' win in Ryan's much-anticipated homecoming at MetLife Stadium.

That pick was the second of the game for Fitzpatrick (15-for-34, 193 yards, two touchdowns) and the fourth turnover for the Jets. They're now 5-4, tied with Buffalo, after losing three of their last four.

Darrelle Revis -- who held star receiver Sammy Watkins to just three catches for 14 yards -- admitted he was frustrated by the mistakes and the loss. But he remained optimistic. "We control our destiny," he said.

With seven games to play, the Jets' season is far from lost. But they continue to make things harder on themselves.

"Those turnovers hurt us," said running back Chris Ivory, who looked like his old self again with 99 yard rushing yards on 18 carries.

The Jets offense stalled for much of the game, but it stole the momentum late in the fourth. On a gutsy call by coordinator Chan Gailey, Fitzpatrick completed a 19-yard pass to Eric Decker on fourth-and-4 from the Jets' 47. Two plays later, Fitzpatrick hit Decker for a 31-yard TD to pull the Jets to within 22-17 with 7:23 left.

Two key stops by the Jets signaled the tide was turning. First, Muhammad Wilkerson and Leonard Williams tackled Karlos Williams for a loss of 1 on third down, then punter Colton Schmidt fumbled the snap and was tackled by the Jets' Jamari Lattimore for a loss of 15 yards.

That botched snap gave the Jets the ball on the Bills' 13, and yet they couldn't punch it in, despite having second-and-2 at the 5. Tight end Kellen Davis failed to turn around as he broke for the goal line, and Fitzpatrick's fourth-down pass sailed over his head in the end zone. "I got held up a little bit," Davis said. "The [linebacker] jammed me on the release, me and Decker bumped into each other."

Davis, who didn't turn his head around, said he never saw the ball. "No, I didn't see the ball until it was already past me."

"We should have won that game," defensive back Buster Skrine said. "We knew their defense was good, they knew our defense was good. They won the turnover battle. They got turnovers on special teams, too. And a lot of times, if you have two good defenses, it comes down to who wins the turnover battle . . . We had an opportunity at the end to win the game, we didn't capitalize. We've just got to take it and learn from it."

The pregame attention focused solely on Ryan, who, in unprecedented fashion, did not emerge from the tunnel and take the field for warmups.

A second-quarter interception led to a Bills field goal. Rookie receiver Devin Smith fumbled a kickoff return that Duke Williams returned for a touchdown and a 9-3 Bills lead. Buffalo broke it open early in the third when Tyrod Taylor threw a pass to a wide-open Williams, who scampered 26 yards into the end zone to make it 19-3. And the Bills weren't done. Thanks to another Jets mistake -- Ivory's lost fumble on their first drive of the third quarter -- the Bills tacked on a 29-yard field goal to make it 22-3.

Stacy fractures ankle. Jets running back Zac Stacy was carted off at halftime after he suffered a fractured left ankle. He returned a kickoff 9 yards as time expired in the first half . . . Bowles confirmed Fitzpatrick will have surgery Friday to repair ligament damage in his left thumb.