EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.

There was one team that looked like a playoff contender Thursday night. It wasn’t the Buffalo Bills.

Buffalo’s pursuit of AFC East kingpin New England was stymied by the New York Jets, who controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides in a 34-21 win that never was close in the second half.

Matt Forte ran for two touchdowns four days after complaining the Jets didn’t run the ball enough, and an overwhelming defense sacked Tyrod Taylor seven times.

“We played to what we do best,” Forte said. “Our offensive line likes to come off the line straight ahead and hit guys in the mouth and wear guys out like that. I think we started to wear them out as the game went on, and you saw some runs pop here and there.”

Buffalo (5-3) came in having scored 64 points in its last two wins, but self-destructed with turnovers and miscues. New York (4-5) snapped a three-game slide in which it held leads in each defeat.

“We’ve got a high ceiling,” defensive tackle Leonard Williams said.

Forte scored on runs of 10 and 5 yards and had 14 carries for 77 yards. Augmenting that was Bilal Powell with a 51-yard burst and 74 yards on nine carries. Quarterback Josh McCown got in on the fun with a 10-yard scramble to open the scoring, and New York rushed for 194 yards overall.

Jordan Jenkins had two of the Jets’ sacks as they never allowed Buffalo’s offense to get on track.

Indeed, mistakes were the Bills’ trademark.

Buffalo made a key error on New York’s second touchdown drive. Cedric Thorn- ton sacked McCown, but grabbed his face mask. The 15-yard penalty, which followed a 20-yard pass to Jermaine Kearse and a 22-yard run by Forte, led to Robby Anderson beating double coverage for a 25-yard TD reception.

Forte’s 10-yard run made it 24-7 and came one play after Powell broke four tackles on his 51-yard jaunt that featured slick moves and plenty of speed.

The Bills hurt themselves further when Nick O’Leary fumbled on a strange play. The tight end caught Taylor’s third-down pass and fell to the ground untouched. He delayed, heard no whistle, and got up. But the ball then was stripped by Marcus Maye and recovered by fellow rookie safety Jamal Adams.

Adding to the miscues, Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for mouthing off to an official — during a timeout, no less — on the ensuing Jets drive.

Taylor also fumbled when sacked for the sixth time, and Forte’s 5-yard TD run followed. And even when the Bills recovered a late onside kick, they were flagged for offside.