Jets vs. Bills Postgame Opener | Beautiful | Mercury Bar West | Basement Chinatown | Noree Thai Bazaar
Jets vs. Bills MNF (9/11/23)
- Aaron Rodgers running out of the tunnel with an American flag was iconic. God Bless America.
1st Quarter
- Bills start the game with a 7-yard slant to Diggs with Sauce on him. After getting 1st Down, the drive stalls as Allen misses on another slant to Diggs this time with DJ Reed in coverage.
- Breece Hall's first touch off his ACL injury is a 26-yard run.
- Lisa Salters from the sideline reports Aaron Rodgers has an ankle and is questionable to return. Diggs up the seam for 25 yards. 3-0 Bills.
- The offensive line is a complete mess. Way to live up to that narrative.
Quarter 2
- Josh Allen throws a punt up to Jordan Whitehead. Followed by Breece Hall for 83 yards.
- Tied 3-3. Rodgers is already in a walking boot. Great. Q-Ball with a tackle for loss.
- Lisa Salters on the sideline reports that Aaron Rodgers’ X-rays came back negative. If it’s a ligament though it’ll be in the MRI tomorrow. (I have no idea, I’m not a doctor.) Stefan Diggs for a TD and then yaps at the camera. 10-3 Bills.
- Zach Wilson just threw an awful interception. Jets fan flips off the ESPN camera zooming in on his misery.
- Bills field goal. 13-3 Bills. Midway through another Aaron Rodger update, I got a call that the apartment I looked at earlier today will be off-market if I want it. Kinda a real-life huge relief, but the sports side of my brain is making this melancholy. Weird.
Halftime
- Jets fan insider at the game said Aerosmith performed at halftime and that they sucked. Look Aerosmith are legends, but c’mon Woody read the room, not the time.
Quarter 3
- MetLife Stadium is dead silent. The Jets need to somehow get Garrett Wilson involved.
- Zach Wilson looks terrible. 13-6 Greg the Leg is good. ESPN plays “Blurry” by Puddle of Mudd, Phins fan insider approves the song.
- Sauce looks a bit off tonight. Diggs has gotten the best of him a couple of times but that could just be the standards I set for him being sky-high. Jordan Whitehead with his 2nd interception. The Jets can’t move the ball so this is turning into a sloppy field position game with a ton of punts. Breece Hall has been the best player on offense thus far and has made something out of nothing on nearly every play.
Quarter 4
- Zach Wilson again looks terrible. Put in Randall Cobb at QB at this point.
- Jermaine Johnson with a sack. He’s going to have a 2nd year leap. Jordan Whitehead with interception #3 off of Josh Allen.
- Nice play by Zach Wilson to avoid a sack and get the ball to Allen Lazard. Garrett Wilson TD.
- Josh Allen fumble. Micheal Clemons with the forced fumble. Josh Allen has really played like an MVP tonight minus the 4 turnovers. He’s playing great!
- Zach Wilson QB sneaks on 4th Down. Gets it. After 3 conservative play calls, 16-13 Jets lead on Greg the Leg.
- 1:48 seconds left. The Bills have the ball. Allen gets loose on 1st play of the drive and gets crushed by Quincy Williams. Bills get two first downs. Stefan Diggs pushes off on Sauce Gardner making it 1st and 20.
- I’m on my 3rd cup of coffee as Bills kicker Tyler Bass clanks one off-the-field goal post and it somehow goes in.
Overtime
- Bills win the coin toss and choose to receive the ball. Superb defensive 3 and out. Great coverage DJ Reed on Stefan Diggs, which leads to…
- Rookie undrafted free agent Xavier Gipson out of Stephen F. Austin scoring on a walk-off punt return.
Week 1 Summary
- With Aaron Rodgers likely out for the season with a torn Achilles, no way to spin it, it sucks. This is by far the most talented Jets team of my lifetime, so not having at least competent QB play will certainly be a bummer.
- No excuses. The Jets have a win now team. Next man up. Zach Wilson has to improve and he’ll basically have Aaron Rodgers as a full-time coach if #8 is done.
- The Jets could also be in the market for another QB. The free agent market has the likes of Carson Wentz, Colt McCoy, and Will Grier…imagine Tom Brady… People will laugh and I don’t think the Niners would trade him because they probably like his backup QB upside but Sam Darnold would seriously be the guy I hope they target in a trade to compete with Zach Wilson.
- The roster is already loaded and in win-now mode. They still have some money in cap space so who knows. It’s only Week 1 so I’m not going to overreact too hard, but if the Jets just get below league-average play at QB they are a playoff team - they just can’t have the absolute worst QB play or yeah, the season is over.
- Clown columnists (**cough, cough, Connor Hughes, Rich Cimini, all the nerd-beat reporters who get clicks off Jet hate, cough, cough**) are already saying there is no silver lining from winning tonight. Well, how about the fact that the Jets as a team just beat the Buffalo Bills, the team that’s won the AFC East every year since Brady left, and they did it without Rodgers… Who is to say the Bills don’t spiral from something like this? Wasn’t the Jets’ biggest problem last year that they couldn’t close out games?
- Lastly, tonight was a brutal, melancholy, beautiful team win on Primetime Monday Night Football, but hey this is the life of a Jets fan, no excuse, we got Dallas at 4:25 PM ET on Sunday.
Alright @YouTheReader,
Beautiful by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell Williamscame out in January of ‘03. It reached the height of #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was #2 on the Rap Songs Charts.
Full disclosure, this Pint&Pen&Paper was written up over the weekend in advance of the Jets-Bills game. This way, regardless of the outcome of the game, I could let you know that you are really special. Once again, regardless of the outcome of the Monday Night Football game that took place.
@Mom “whip” in this situation is code for car.
Unfortunately, Snoop Dogg Apparel launched in ‘08 and wasn’t as successful as his music. According to BET, it was lots of T-shirts and pants; lots of Snoop Dogg logos. We couldn't be mad though, Snoop was having a renaissance and it was only right that he had a clothing line that reflected it. (BET) I’m sure Snoop’s okay though, he is an extremely successful entrepreneur and one of the most successful rappers of all time.
Beautiful was on in one of these fine drinking establishments, on to the pints….
Guinness Challenge Season #1
@Kids don’t try this at home. Not just because you’re underage and will have plenty of pints to drink if that ends up being your thing when you’re older but also because Guinness is actually best served in a pint glass from a tap. A pint of Guinness varies depending on the drinking establishment. If the keg it sits in is rarely poured, it can lead to some underwhelming taste. Rather than stealing gimmicks, I’d like to start taking Notes while drinking Guinness. My grandfather from Connemara, who I never got the chance to meet, Thomas Davis, used to drink pints and by all accounts was a self-taught thinker. The one rule I’ve imposed on myself is that I will only have 1 pint per sitting from each establishment I review, so @AnyoneWorrying, don’t worry about my drinking habits. The Guinness Challenge is to “cut the G” on your first sip (more like a gulp and a half). If this is your first time hearing about it, I didn’t come up with the fun challenge @YouTheReader can try the next time you have a Guinness. The 0.0 to 10.0 scale will be extraordinarily nuanced but as a reference point, the only perfect 10.0 I plan ever to give out is at the Guinness Factory in Dublin one day.
Song On In The Background: Cold Heart by Elton John & Dua Lipa
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Popcorn shrimp tacos are recommended. Blood orange margaritas are also the recommended cocktail. Friday and Saturday they have 80s, 90s, and Top 40 Now DJs for music. They have a massive Guinness logo painted on a large portion of exposed brick directly behind me. Not going to lie it looks feckin’ awesome.
I couldn’t find a picture of the painted Guinness logo, but believe me, it looks great! Mercury Bar West is a great bar to swap stories where the wine and the talk flow until the early mornings of the hours. They are the true flavor of Old Hells Kitchen and they will have all your favorite sports on their 17 large-screen TVs. They do Taco Tuesday, Wings Wednesday, Happy Hour Monday to Friday from 11 AM to 8 PM, and on the weekends a Bottomless Brunch from 10 AM to 4 PM. If you’re not into Guinness, you’re nuts, but they have over 20 draft beers on tap. I look forward to grabbing another pint of Guinness at Mercuty West Bar.
Basement Chinatown (@basementchinatown) 5/23 ‘23
Service & Staff: A+
Guinness: 5.0 (Standard Bottle)
Guinness Challenge: N/A (No Logo)
Song On In The Background: Stars Aligned by Majid Jordan and Drake
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Debbie is the bartender. The Coca-Cola door entrance might be the coolest entrance I’ve ever seen. “Let the good times roll” sign hanging up. Bar’s bar. All drinks are made from scratch and are fresh. The beer pong table is all setup. Smoke and Mirror drink is Instagramable. The Shanghai mule is also recommended. Downstairs very clean modern basement.
The Basement Bar in Chinatown is a carnival-themed speakeasy. I love their Coca-Cola door entrance featured below. They have beer pong and popcorn always ready, as well as darts, dice, or card games. #Basement is inspired by Hong Kong game bars, our subterranean bar has dim lighting, minimalist chic tables, and plenty of games. Cool spot, I look forward to grabbing another drink at Basement in Chinatown again soon!
Song On In The Background: Beautiful by Snoop Dogg and Pharrell
Notes if you can’t read my sloppy scribble: Randy is the bartender. He was born and raised in the Lower East Side and is a Yankee fan. His favorite players were Don Mattingly and Dave Righetti. The wings with Thai sauce are his favorite. He also recommends the Lychee Diva as well. They are planning to open a 2nd floor for karaoke upstairs. Their crowd is people from all over, the neighborhood, students, and people grabbing drinks after work. Thai spot. The name comes from the owner’s name. After 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, they have a live DJ. They always show sports on all their TVs whenever there are games on.