Aaron Rodgers, Jets rue penalties, missed chances in loss to Bills - ESPN

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — For the third straight week, New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was left to explain a loss in which his team missed an opportunity to win the game on its final possession. This time, he seemed more frustrated — and concerned — than ever.

«We need to get going,» Rodgers said Monday night after the Jets — in their first game under interim coach Jeff Ulbrich — dropped to 2-4 with a 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium. «This was a golden opportunity. Some games you win in the NFL and some games you give away. This was a giveaway.»

Not only was he critical of the Jets' performance, but Rodgers questioned the officiating, too. The teams combined for 22 penalties and 204 yards, including 11 for 110 by the Jets, who suffered the same issues under former coach Robert Saleh.

«It seemed a little ridiculous,» Rodgers said of the officiating. «Some of (the calls) seemed really bad, including the roughing-the-passer on me [by AJ Epenesa]. That's not roughing the passer. You might as well play Sarcastaball [a reference to the TV show 'South Park'] if we're going to call those things. And I thought the one on [Javon] Kinlaw wasn't roughing the passer, either.»

Rodgers also bemoaned a «phantom holding call» on tackle Tyron Smith that nullified a scoring run by Braelon Allen that would've given the Jets a 27-20 lead in the third quarter. They got no points out of it, as Greg Zuerlein missed his second field goal of the night.

The Jets, who fired Saleh last Tuesday, capped a tumultuous week with a performance that smacked of so many others. There were too many penalties and too many blown opportunities.

Under new play caller Todd Downing, who replaced the demoted Nathaniel Hackett, the offense