EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Buffalo Bills, somehow, some way, are still in first place in the AFC East.

In a game that neither the Bills nor the New York Jets seemed willing to win Monday night at MetLife Stadium, the Bills finally stood up and claimed the 23-20 victory.

Beleaguered Tyler Bass made a game-winning 22-yard field goal with 3:43 left to play, and then Taron Johnson intercepted an Aaron Rodgers pass with 1:52 to go to put the Bills just a first down away, and Josh Allen delivered with a clutch six-yard run on a third-and-4 from his own 24 which enabled the Bills to kneel the game out.

It certainly wasn’t a game that will go into the Smithsonian, but for the Bills, it was a big win as it ended a two-game losing streak and kept them two games ahead of the Jets.

Here are my observations:

The Bills allowed a Hail Mary touchdown

The Bills were in control of the game, leading 20-10 after an Allen touchdown pass to Dawson Knox with 21 seconds left in the first half, plus, they were getting the ball to start the third quarter.

But as the ugly history has proven, if the offense leaves any amount of time on the clock at the end of a half, danger lurks and sure enough, the defense suffered an inexcusable breakdown, one that is just far too common for the Bills. Seriously, some of the stupid things that happen to this team are unbelievable.

After a touchback, Rodgers started from his 30 and completed a four-yard pass to Tyler Conklin and a 14-yarder over the middle to Garrett Wilson to put the ball at the Jets 48 with eight seconds left, time for a Hail Mary.

The Bills knew this, and they even called a timeout to make sure everyone knew what they were doing. And of course, as it turned out, no one knew what to do when there was a play to be made.

They rushed only two men which was, well, a choice. They were guarding the flanks with two players lined up about 20 yards downfield on each sideline incase Rodgers tried to throw an out to set up a field goal. Of course, Rodgers had no intention of doing that.

The 40-year-old had all day to let his receivers get to the end zone and when he heaved it, there were five Bills defensive backs around the ball - Christian Benford, Taron Johnson, Damar Hamlin, Rasul Douglas, and Taylor Rapp. They had Allen Lazard surrounded, but Hamlin, Rapp and Johnson were the most egregious error-makers.

Somehow, none of them were able to even get a hand on the ball and it fell right into Lazard’s hands for a 52-yard touchdown as time expired.

“At the end of the day, it didn't work, right, so that's why we have to go back and reexamine it,” coach Sean McDermott said of the defensive alignment he used. “There's a grid you go through at the end of half, or in game situations based off the time on the clock and timeouts they have, you try to put your best defense out there for the situation. They executed better than we did so we have to go back and reexamine making sure we have the right number of rushers for that situation, as well as the number of cover guys.”

That entire explanation rang hollow because what happened on that play simply can't happen, ever, but it sure seems to happen to the Bills way more than it should.

The Bills didn’t miss James Cook

What a tremendous night Ray Davis had. The rookie fourth-round pick did not start - veteran Ty Johnson got the honor - but Davis was RB1 for most of the rest of the game which proved to be a smart move as he ran for 97 yards on 20 carries, plus caught three passes for 55 yards.

He ran angry whether he was taking a handoff or catching a pass and by the end of the first half he had 112 yards from scrimmage. He became the first Bills rookie running back to have at least 50 yards in a first quarter since Willis McGahee in Week 8 of 2004 against the Cardinals.

The Bills had more rushing yards (61) on their opening possession than their total amount of yards they accumulated in their initial drives in the first five games.

On that first drive which ended with a Allen QB sneak, Davis carried five times for 48 yards, and then on the second TD drive, he made a 42-yard reception that got the Bills away from the shadow of their own goal post.

“It’s a next-man-up mentality. For us, it’s running back by committee,” Davis said. “It was about, whenever my turn presented, just do the same thing. We know James is a very explosive running back and he’s really good, so we’ve got to make that threshold of being explosive and providing the offense a spark.”

Offense started well, and then bumbled

The Bills scored touchdowns on three of their four first-half possessions with Davis and Allen doing some great work. They entered the night with just one touchdown drive of 80 yards or more this season and they had two on back-to-back drives in the second quarter.

But then in the second half, it came to a grinding halt as they scored only three points, and the same things that have plagued this team all season reared their ugly head.

The lack of a downfield passing game just kills Buffalo because when they get into bad down-and-distance situations, of which there were plenty thanks to an absurd amount of penalties but also some good second-half defense by the Jets, the Bills have no way to escape.

They have no one who can get open, and it didn’t help that while Khalil Shakir was back, he really wasn’t capable of playing a big role because he was clearly hampered by his injured ankle. And what made it more difficult is that the Jets were using one and sometimes two spies on third down to make sure Allen couldn’t just tuck the ball and scramble for first downs.

What was really damning about this is that the Jets started the game without their starting nickel corner, Michael Carter, then lost safety Chuck Clark and star boundary corner D.J. Reed during the game.

“I wanted to come out and play a clean game, get through my reads quickly,” Allen said. “I'm not sure what I finished with, but felt like we were pretty efficient on the offensive side of the ball. There were a couple plays that I missed, that I want back.”

Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson were big problems

The running back and wide receiver are really the only two reliable weapons Rodgers has at his disposal, and no one knows this more than the Bills. Yet they struggled all night to contain Hall and Wilson.

Hall came into the game as one of the most disappointing players in the league as he was averaging just three yards per carry. But he tore through the Bills all night. I’m convinced that if he played against Buffalo for 17 games, he’d be a guaranteed Hall of Famer. He now has five career 100-yard games and two have come against the Bills.

And Wilson topped 100 yards receiving for the first time against the Bills, though he also has games of 92 and 78 yards against them. In this one, he had eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.

The officials did their best to ruin the game

Referee Adrian Hill and his crew just destroyed the flow of the game because they could not resist pulling those annoying yellow flags out of their pockets all night, and to be clear, they called everything on both teams.

On the national stage of Monday Night Football, these seven guys ruined what was a compelling game because it seemed like every time either side made a big play, it was wiped out. It was as if they were looking to make a call on every play, rather than let the players play the game and call the penalties that were actually penalties.

“Yeah, it seemed a little ridiculous, some of them seemed really bad, including the roughing the passer on me. That’s not roughing the passer,” Rodgers said. “Might as well play Sarcastaball if we’re going to call those things. And I thought the one on (Javon) Kinlaw (against Allen) was not roughing the passer either.”

The Bills were called for 11 penalties worth 94 yards, the Jets 11 for 110 yards, and that did not include several offsetting penalties.

“Yeah, we have a lot to clean up,” McDermott said. “We have to be more disciplined, we can't beat ourselves, situational football.”

Tyler Bass is now officially a head case

Yes, Bass made the chip shot 22-yarder, but the Bills have a kicker problem, and there is no longer any doubt about that. Bass’ extra point following the Bills’ second touchdown was originally put on the stat sheet as a blocked kick, but that was changed after video replay and now is just a flat out shank. Earlier this season he had a PAT blocked. In his first four seasons he missed only five PATs combined.

And then in the third quarter, he ruined a promising drive at the start by missing a 47-yard field goal, his third miss in 12 attempts, a 75% success rate that isn't good enough in the NFL.

Of course, the Jets usually reliable kicker, Greg Zuerlein, doinked two field goals off the uprights in the second half, both of which would have given the Jets the lead.

“He knows he needs to make those kicks, that's the bottom line,” McDermott said. “He knows he needs to make those kicks.”

Yeah, we know he knows it. No one cares because he's not making them. Kickers will, without question, drive coaches, teammates, and fans crazy because when you don’t have a good one, it can cost you games.

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills unsightly win over Jets keeps them in first place in AFC East