ORCHARD PARK, N. Y. — After obvious problems in the passing game in recent weeks, quarterback Kyle Orton had a crisp outing in the Buffalo Bills’ 38-3 rout of the New York Jets on Monday night.

Orton improved to 4-3 as a starter for Buffalo by completing 24 of 32 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns. He completed passes to eight different receivers, most prominently second-year wide receiver Robert Woods.

“Yeah, I thought we played pretty well on offense minus maybe a couple of three-and-outs because of a couple of penalties or lack of execution,” said Orton, who was not sharp in damaging losses to Kansas City and Miami, two defeats that seriously crippled Buffalo’s chances of making the playoffs.

“But overall I thought we played well, played with a great mentality, and that was really coach Marrone’s message to the offense, just go out there and take it and trust in each other, trust in the system. I think we probably did a better job at that than any time throughout the year so far.”

Woods’ performance was vital to the success of the passing game. He entered the NFL as a second-round pick in 2013, billed as the most NFL-ready receiver in that draft, but while Woods has played fairly well, he has rarely been a difference-maker. Until Monday. He set career highs for catches (9) and yards (118) with eight of the receptions converting first downs, and one resulting in a touchdown.

With the Jets rolling their coverage to stud rookie Sammy Watkins most of the game, Woods needed to step up and be Orton’s go-to receiver, and he did.

“I mean, we go into every game trying to have answers for a lot of attention to Sammy,” Orton said. “They started off the game obviously favoring the coverage towards him, so Robert made some great catches. When a guy gets in a flow like that, you like to keep on feeding him. Nathaniel (Hackett) called a great game; he called an aggressive game.”

Woods now has 45 catches for 479 yards and three touchdowns after the first 100-yard game of his career. By comparison, Watkins has 48 catches for 684 yards and five TDs. They can be a highly productive duo if Woods builds on this game.

“They did a good job,” Marrone said of the Jets’ ability to take Watkins away. “If you look at it, they kept rolling everything to Sammy, so it was difficult for us to get him the football.

“When they do that, you’re going to need the other guys to step up because they’re going to be in one-on-one coverage. I thought Robert really stepped up and played extremely well, and if he doesn’t then we’re in trouble. That’s just the way it is.”

Another similar effort will be needed Sunday against a strong Cleveland defense. The Browns will probably assign top cornerback Joe Haden to Watkins, so Woods will need to get involved early.

But it will take more than that to beat the Browns. The Bills ran well against the Jets and that opened up play-action, and the much-maligned line was stout against a strong New York front seven.

“Obviously, I think Robert had a great game, but we got the running game going and just kind of dominated the line of scrimmage,” Orton said. “So all in all I thought it was a good performance.”

REPORT CARD VS. JETS

–PASSING OFFENSE: A — The Bills have been struggling to move the ball through the air, but everything was working against the Jets’ weak secondary. Kyle Orton was sharp in completing 24 of 32 for 230 yards and two touchdowns, and Robert Woods proved to be his go-to receiver as he set career highs for receptions (9) and yards (118). Woods took advantage of the Jets paying close attention to Sammy Watkins, who managed only three catches for 35 yards amid constant double-teaming. The offensive line played pretty well given the Jets strength up front as Orton was sacked only once.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: B-minus – The Bills finished with 116 yards, and most important, they ran the ball pretty well in the red zone. Anthony Dixon led the way with 54 yards, 30 coming on a touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Fred Jackson ground out 32 yards and scored on a 5-yard run. The line did a pretty good job of creating space, and the success of the run game helped open up the Bills’ play-action passing game that was very effective.

–PASS DEFENSE: A-plus – This was a complete mismatch. The Bills’ pass rush overwhelmed the Jets’ offensive line and had seven sacks for 39 yards in losses. They now have a league-high 46 sacks this year, with Mario Williams and Jerry Hughes each chipping in two. Duke Williams had a pick that set up a touchdown, and the secondary limited Percy Harvin to one catch for 2 yards.

–RUSH DEFENSE: B — The Jets ran for a season-high 175 yards in the first meeting, though 69 of that came on Michael Vick scrambles. In this game, New York had only 92 yards because it fell behind early and was forced to abandon the ground game. None of the yardage had any bearing on the outcome as the Bills limited the Jets to 218 total yards.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: A — It wasn’t a good start as the punt coverage team gave up a 41-yard return to Jeremy Kerley that set up the only Jets score of the night, but it ended well. The kickoff coverage team limited Percy Harvin to a lame 16.6 average on five returns, all of which started deep in the end zone. Anthony Dixon had a blocked punt that Manny Lawson recovered for a touchdown. As for the return game, there was none, a trend for the Bills. Fred Jackson was sent deep to merely fair catch punts.

–COACHING: B — Doug Marrone had some situational gaffes. The play call on a fourth-and-1 run in the first half was ill-advised and failed, and the clock management at the end of the first half was puzzling because, ala Mike Smith of Atlanta, Marrone called a couple needless timeouts that left the Jets time to get points, though in the end they didn’t. However, the offensive and defensive plans were ultimately highly successful, and Marrone and the staff deserve major props for having the Bills ready to play after a difficult, displaced week.