There were a host of good things the Bills had done to land at 5-2 after seven weeks. 

They, essentially, did the opposite of all those things Thursday night against the Jets. 

Let us count the ways:

–After four straight games of forcing at least three turnovers, the Bills forced zero takeaways. 

–Buffalo’s three giveaways matched the total from all seven previous games combined. 

–The third ranked run defense was torched for 194 yards, more than the three previous games combined (188). 

–The Bills committed 11 penalties, including four 15-yarders. 

–Tyrod Taylor took a season high seven sacks after erasing Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin the week before. 

Thursday Night tends to bring out the worst in most NFL teams, but almost everyone in the Bills locker would not blame the short week. 

Richie Incognito, on the other hand, took time to blast Thursday games. 

“These Thursday night games, they suck,” Incognito said. “They throw a wrench in our schedule. It’s absolutely ridiculous that we have to do this. As physical as this game is and as much work and preparation as goes into this, to force us to play games on four day weeks, it’s completely unfair. It’s bull-(expletive). The league makes money off of it. That’s all they care about anyway.”

There are likely many Bills who agree with Incognito’s take on Thursday night football. As many pointed out, the Jets played the same short schedule. It didnt seem to bother them. 

“This could have been a one o’clock game, it still would have felt the same,” Lorenzo Alexander said. “Obviously, more people saw it (on national TV), so you may get more negative comments on twitter. Whether it’s a one o clock game or Friday night or Thursday night or practice or whatever, to be physically dominated like that, it never feels good.”

The Bills also missed a chance to shine on the national spotlight and prove their 5-2 start was no fluke. Instead, they provided a diesel truck’s worth of fuel to doubters.

“People are gonna take a dump on us in the national media. That’s fine,” Eric Wood said. “We’ll come back and we’ll regroup and we’ll see what were all about.” 

There is a silver lining. The 60-minute face plant may have inadvertently left Buffalo in one of their favorite spots: as the underdogs. 

“A lot of guys in this room relish the underdog role. They like that,” Wood said. “We got a lot of guys here that came from other teams. Maybe they were told they weren’t good enough. A lot of guys take pride in that role.”

Ending up as the underdog might be the only thing the Bills did Thursday night that resembled the rest of their season.