In a historic first, there is a “gate”-type controversy involving the AFC East that does not involve the New England Patriots.
Rather, it involves the upstart New York Jets and the juggernaut Buffalo Bills.
The two New York-based teams (though, to be fair, the Jets play in East Rutherford, New Jersey) did battle on Sunday, with the heavily favored Bills suffering a stunning 20-17 loss in which they were outscored 10-3 in the second half at MetLife Stadium.
It was in that second half, however, that a freak accident nearly derailed the home team’s upset bid.
During the third quarter, while the Jets were trailing the Bills 14-10, one of the cables holding up the SkyCam snapped, causing the expensive piece of equipment to abruptly dangle over the field.
Sky Camera is down for Jets vs Bills and game was delayed pic.twitter.com/sRzJc2KiiK
— Alex 👋 (@Dubs408) November 6, 2022
The SkyCam issue necessitated a 12-minute delay in the game as the crew worked to fix the issue.
Now, it needs to be noted that this delay could not have come at a worst time for the upset-minded Jets.
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New York was putting together an impressive drive to take the lead (or at least cut the lead to 1 point) when the delay occurred.
Whatever momentum and groove the offense had been building was completely neutralized.
Given that the Jets were 11 plays into that particular drive when the delay occurred, the gassed Bills defense also got an impromptu chance to catch their breath.
The Jets were so out of sync that the very first snap from scrimmage after the delay was a false start penalty on New York. After a short pass and run following the penalty, disaster struck on 3rd down.
Bills standout pass rusher Von Miller registered a strip sack, forcing a turnover and snuffing out even a field goal attempt.
Von Miller strip sack! @BuffaloBills take over.
📺: #BUFvsNYJ on CBS
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/pSFLuCQneJ pic.twitter.com/pZd7gw77Ru— NFL (@NFL) November 6, 2022
Fortunately for the Jets, NFL MVP candidate and Bills quarterback Josh Allen played perhaps his worst game of the year. Two quick plays after the strip sack, Allen threw an interception to kill whatever momentum Buffalo had built.
Afterward, the Jets had some fun with the whole ordeal, likely made much easier by virtue of the fact that they eventually beat the Bills.
“That was weird for sure,” Jets running back Michael Carter told WFAN radio while laughing. “Definitely like a conspiracy theory. But no, it wasn’t that big of a deal. We were moving the ball, but I don’t want to get too deep.”
WFAN even went so far as to dub the comical episode “Camera-Gate,” a clear reference to the practice-filming and ball-deflating allegations lodged against the Patriots.
“I’ve never seen that before, but I didn’t think it affected our momentum,” quarterback Zach Wilson said.
“A little delay was annoying, but it is what it is,” standout Jets receiver Garrett Wilson said. “Did it hurt us? Maybe, but hindsight is 20/20.”
This is the second time in as many months that a SkyCam has been at the heart of a mild controversy. Some viewers thought that the SkyCam tipped a thrown football in a “Monday Night Football” game between the Patriots and Chicago Bears, though ESPN has denied those allegations.
The Bills will host the division-leading Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
The Jets will get their bye week before traveling to Foxborough the following Sunday to face the Patriots.
