2005 · Week 17 · Division

Final

Bills

Buffalo

QB Kelly Holcomb

26·30

Jets

New York

QB Brooks Bollinger

Giants Stadium · outdoors · fieldturf · 35°F · wind 0mph

Closing spread

NYJ -1.5

Total

37.5

Model margin

-0.6est.

NYJ perspective

Push chance

None

half-point line — cannot push

Win probability

  • Jets
  • Bills

How each play moved the game.

Jets winsBills wins

Matchup

Where the edges are

Season-long league percentiles for both sides, mirrored. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge.

Billsedge mapJets
  • -0.082EPA / play-0.124
  • 39.5%Success rate40.1%
  • -0.036EPA / dropback-0.093
  • -0.141EPA / rush-0.171
  • 7.0%Explosive rate5.7%
  • 37.9%Third-down rate35.3%
  • 43.1%Red-zone TD rate39.0%
  • 1.44Points / drive1.30
  • 2.6%Turnover rate2.9%
  • +0.069EPA / play allowed+0.002

Bar length is league percentile, already oriented so longer is better. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge; rows within ~12 points are washed as even.

The rivalry

BUF lead 29–25 since 1999

BUF have won 5 straight. Meetings average 42.5 points. NYJ are 25-29 ATS in the series.

Previous meetings
SeasonMatchupScoreWinner
2025 · W18NYJ @ BUF8–35BUF
2025 · W2BUF @ NYJ30–10BUF
2024 · W17NYJ @ BUF14–40BUF
2024 · W6BUF @ NYJ23–20BUF
2023 · W11NYJ @ BUF6–32BUF
2023 · W1BUF @ NYJ16–22NYJ
2022 · W14NYJ @ BUF12–20BUF
2022 · W9BUF @ NYJ17–20NYJ

Possession by possession

How it unfolded

Every drive: who had the ball, how far it went, how it ended, and the score as it settled.

Drive-by-drive log
BallStartPlaysYardsResultBUF–NYJ
NYJQ1 15:0039Punt0–0
BUFQ1 13:07748Field goal3–0
NYJQ1 9:293-7Punt3–0
BUFQ1 7:4710Turnover3–0
NYJQ1 7:29213Field goal3–0
NYJQ1 6:2015Field goal3–0
NYJQ1 5:462-5Field goal3–3
BUFQ1 4:581062Field goal6–3
NYJQ2 14:12246Touchdown6–10
BUFQ2 13:3110Opp touchdown6–17
BUFQ2 13:15519Turnover6–17
NYJQ2 10:40515Missed field goal6–17
BUFQ2 8:491067Touchdown13–17
NYJQ2 3:573-2Punt13–17
BUFQ2 1:5236Punt13–17
NYJQ2 1:0822End of half13–17
BUFQ3 15:00727Field goal16–17
NYJQ3 11:521269Field goal16–20
BUFQ3 5:26945Touchdown23–20
NYJQ3 0:361155Field goal23–23
BUFQ4 10:351032Field goal26–29
NYJQ4 6:1300Touchdown26–30
BUFQ4 5:58720Turnover on downs26–30
NYJQ4 2:4658Punt26–30
BUFQ4 0:5425Turnover26–30
NYJQ4 0:3700End of half26–30

Box score

Individual performances

Bills

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Kelly Holcomb23/3718424

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Willis McGahee221135.10
Lee Evans13939.00
Kelly Holcomb471.80
Shaud Williams300.00

Jets

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Brooks Bollinger11/2015300

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Cedric Houston16553.41
Derrick Blaylock4143.50
Brooks Bollinger7121.70

Where this game is likely to land

  • Model
  • Smooth (normal)
  • Betting line

Probability of each final margin. Football scoring clusters — the spikes at 3 and 7 are real, and a smooth model misses them.

line +1.52.8%4.5%3.0%7.4%7.3%2.9%4.3%2.6%

Positive margins favour Jets; negative favour Bills.

Half-point at risk

2.10%

outcomes that flip if the line moves 0.5

Model home win

47.5%

Expected total

44.9est.

Model

Where the number comes from

Each component is additive, in points of expected margin.

  • Team ratings (opponent-adjusted EPA)+0.37
  • Home-field advantage+2.56
  • Quarterback adjustment-3.35
  • Rest differential-0.16
  • Expected margin-0.57