EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – The Buffalo Bills won. Hurrah.

They beat the New York Jets, and while there are some circumstances that make the Bills happy with a 23-20 win in the Meadowlands, the Jets are terrible and fired their head coach a week ago and probably still would have won on Monday night should.

The game was a dog's breakfast.

The Bills put on an Alpo-level performance, but they did their best to compensate for their third straight loss with uncharacteristic lapses in discipline and situational awareness. They allowed an inexcusable Hail Mary touchdown at the end of the first half. They imposed unreasonable penalties. Tyler Bass missed more kicks.

Jets kicker Greg Zuerlein made two field goal attempts from the left upright in the final 16 minutes. Bass finally made it – just – from 22 yards out with 3:43 left in the game.

Bills coach Sean McDermott called the win “tough.” Much of the night could be described with another word that rhymes.

“A lot of cleaning to do,” McDermott said, “and a short week to do it.”

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Lindy Ruff, the head coach of owner Terry Pegula's other team, said Saturday of the first win since returning to the Buffalo Sabers that the moment was more of a “stress reliever” than a cause for celebration. The Sabers desperately needed a win, as did the Bills, who were trying to avoid their first three-game loss in six years.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen still hasn't lost three straight as a starter. After last week's disastrous performance against the Houston Texans, in which he completed nine of 30 throws, he went 19 of 25 for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Rookie tailback Ray Davis, filling in for injured Pro Bowler James Cook, helped break the deadlock with 97 rushing yards and 152 scrimmage yards, a record for any Buffalo player this year.

But a jump in the other direction and firefighter Ed is strutting through the station in a good mood today.

For example, big-play receiver Mike Williams was wide open but slipped on the MetLife Stadium turf at the Buffalo 18-yard line, allowing nickelback Taron Johnson to intercept Aaron Rodgers with 1:52 to play in the game . Zuerlein might have missed a third field goal, but you could hear the Bills' sideline in Orchard Park exhaling almost the entire time.

“It's easy to check tape when you're winning,” Bills cornerback Rasul Douglas said. “When you lose, it’s hard.”

The Hail Mary touchdown at the end of the first half was a devastating blow that pulled the Jets within three points. (Elsa/Getty Images)

For the third week in a row, the defense allowed an absurdly long touchdown.

With 8 seconds left until halftime and the Jets at the Bills' 48-yard line, McDermott and defensive coordinator Bobby Babich decided to attack Rodgers with only two defenders guarding the sideline to prevent the Jets went out of bounds so Zuerlein could attempt a field goal on the final play of the game.

Rodgers threw an arcing spiral into the middle of the end zone, where receiver Allen Lazard jumped between Bills safeties Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin and Johnson for the 52-yard touchdown, pulling the Jets within three points.

“At the end of the day, they did better than us,” McDermott said, declining to elaborate on his strategy. “We have to take another look and make sure we have the right number of rushers and also the right number of cover guys for this situation.

The Bills didn't score a single 50-yard touchdown last year, but have given up one in each of the last three games. Derrick Henry sprinted 87 yards on the Ravens' first snap, and last week Texans receiver Nico Collins injured his hamstring on a 67-yard touchdown strike by CJ Stroud in the first quarter. At least Rodgers waited a while to take advantage of Buffalo's deference.

A few years ago I coined the term “derble derp” to describe the downside of coin tossing and procrastination. A double dip is when the team controls time and scores on the last possession before halftime, then receives the kickoff in the second half and scores again.

So instead of scoring on consecutive drives, Buffalo allowed another embarrassing touchdown and Bass missed another field goal, this one from 47 yards wide left, with 11:06 left in the third quarter. He has now converted just two of his five attempts between 40 and 49 yards. Bass also missed an extra point in the second quarter after the Bills rushed 90 yards in 10 plays, finishing off with Allen's pinpoint dart to Mack Hollins from 8 yards out.

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No NFL game this year had more penalty yards, with referee Adrian Hill's team calling 22 that were accepted for 204 yards. Both numbers were the most in a Bills game since 2018. The Bills were docked 11 times for 94 yards, the Jets 11 times for 110 yards. Six other sentences were overturned and two were rejected. That makes 30 flags.

“I'm not one to blame the refs,” Bills right tackle Spencer Brown said, “but when they start interfering in the game and making decisions that can go either way, it heats up that side and then comes back and heats up the other side.” .

“It's like we're a bunch of wasps in a jar. We stay pretty calm and do our own thing, but as soon as you start shaking the glass we all get pretty angry.”

McDermott tallied six penalties against Buffalo before the snap or after the whistle. Brown was called for unnecessary roughness on a third-and-6 in the third quarter, offsetting a defensive pass interference call that would have put the Bills down about 30 yards in a tied game. Instead, they poked.

“It’s non-negotiable,” McDermott said. “We don't tolerate anything like that. We definitely need to do a better job in this category.”

Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins celebrated the victory at his locker stand. He wore sunglasses and a green jacket, which he told reporters he wore to further taunt the Jets. The Rahway, New Jersey, native has been badmouthing the Jets for months and received a costly penalty between the third and fourth quarters for taunting defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. The unsportsmanlike conduct put the Bills in a third-and-21 situation from their own 11-yard line and resulted in a punt.

But as Douglas discovered, mistakes are less stressful when you're winning.

Instead of struggling with three straight losses and slipping to second place behind the Jets in the AFC East standings (imagine that), the Bills remain undefeated in the division and can make the case that they'll know more about themselves on Monday night learned than they knew in five games.

“Our No. 1 goal is to make the playoffs, and you do that by winning your division,” Allen said. “So we understand how serious this type of game is. We are 4:2 and have a two and a half game lead with the direct win, as opposed to 3:3 and second place.

“But overall it was the next one and therefore the most important.”

(Top photo: Lucas Boland / Imagn Images)