ORCHARD PARK, N. Y. — Quarterback Kyle Orton appears ready to lead if the Buffalo Bills are ready to follow.

The Bills played back-to-back games against inferior foes and there was pressure to win both because the schedule gets increasingly difficult in the second half of the season.

By narrowly surviving against Minnesota, and then drumming a truly awful New York Jets team, the Bills head to their bye week with a 5-3 record, right in the middle of the playoff chase.

“Take advantage of it,” said Orton, who is in his 10th NFL season. “I had a lot of opportunities early in my career, then I went through a stretch of six or seven years not sniffing it. So they don’t come around very often.”

If the Bills are going to make a playoff push, Orton is going to be the man to lead them. That is, if he’s given the opportunity.

Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett seemed reluctant to turn Orton loose in the Bills’ 43-23 victory over New York. Yes, the Bills scored 43 points, but Orton dropped back to pass just 21 times and threw only 17, completing 10 for 238 yards and four touchdowns.

If not for six turnovers forced by the defense, it would have been a much lower-scoring day for the Bills. They had three scoring drives of one yard or less, and they failed to record a first down on nine of their 15 possessions.

The Bills made only 12 first downs, thanks to a 3-of-12 struggle on third down.

This was only the second game in team history in which the Bills scored 40 points without gaining at least 300 yards. That’s hard to do. The other time was in 1961 against the New York Titans in the old AFL days.

Hackett stubbornly tried to run the ball against a stout New York front, even though his offensive line has been terrible all year and has failed to generate any push or open holes, and he was without his top two running backs, Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller. The Bills gained just 67 yards on 32 attempts as Anthony Dixon and Bryce Brown failed to get anything going. Their longest run went for seven yards.

Meanwhile, Sammy Watkins caught three passes for 157 yards despite being targeted just six times. It’s clear the best weapons the Bills have on offense are in the passing game, with Orton, Watkins, Chris Hogan, Robert Woods and Scott Chandler.

Hackett was handcuffed last season in his play-calling because he was dealing with three neophytes at quarterback, including first-round rookie EJ Manuel. Now that Manuel has been benched in favor of Orton, Hackett finally has a veteran to work with, but he has been reluctant to open up the offense.

Coach Doug Marrone defended Hackett and said the Bills have to continue to try to run, even when it’s not working.

“You have to do that to keep them off balance,” Marrone said. “If you get into a throwing game with them, (the pass rush) will come from all over the place. You’re going to have to run the ball somewhat.”

Until Marrone alters his old-school approach, the Buffalo offense is going to continue to bang its head against the wall. Scoring 43 points when nearly half of them were literally handed to them isn’t all that impressive.

Orton wasn’t about to complain about play calls after a 20-point victory. “We need to run the ball better, no question about it, especially against a good defense,” he said. “We’d like to run it better and get in more manageable third-down situations.”

NOTES: Linebacker Nigel Bradham led the defense with 11 tackles, but he was also flagged for four penalties and missed three open-field tackles. … Defensive tackle Kyle Williams overcame a back injury to record 1.5 sacks. … Left guard Kraig Urbik earned his first start of the year in place of benched Cyril Richardson.

REPORT CARD VS. JETS

–PASSING OFFENSE: B-minus — The Bills could have toyed with the Jets’ secondary all day, but for some reason chose not to. Kyle Orton completed 10 of 17 passes for 238 yards and four touchdowns. Sammy Watkins caught three for 157 and one score, and he lost a TD when he celebrated too early and was caught from behind. The offensive line continues to struggle and Orton was sacked four times.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: D-plus — The Bills were without Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller yet still tried to establish the ground game with Bryce Brown and Anthony Dixon. It didn’t work. They managed just 67 yards on 32 attempts. Buffalo’s running game has been in a slump since Week 3, and the key issue is that the offensive line isn’t getting enough push. It’s a trend that has now extended for six weeks.

–PASS DEFENSE: A-plus — The Bills chased Geno Smith out of the game within 10 minutes as they picked him off three times. Then for good measure, they intercepted Michael Vick once and forced him to fumble twice, once on a sack and once on a scramble. Stephon Gilmore, Preston Brown, Aaron Williams and Da’Norris Searcy all had interceptions and totaled 71 yards in returns. The turnovers set up 20 Buffalo points. The pass rush was strong again, racking up four sacks, all on Vick.

–RUSH DEFENSE: C — For the second straight week, the Bills gave up a big rushing number, this time a season-high 175 yards. But this wasn’t as damaging as last week when it nearly cost the Bills a victory. A good chunk of the yardage came in garbage time, and 68 came from Vick’s scrambles. Chris Ivory scored the first two rushing TDs of the season against the Bills, but managed just 43 yards.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: B-plus — Dan Carpenter made three field goals yet inexplicably missed an extra point. Coverage teams did a decent job on Percy Harvin and also blew up an ill-conceived trick kickoff return at the 2. Leodis McKelvin had a 24-yard punt return and Colton Schmidt dropped four punts inside the 20, which helped keep the Jets backed up in their own end for the entire third quarter.

–COACHING: C — Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett made some mind-numbing calls that sucked the life out of the offense, and that’s saying something since the Bills scored 43 points– the most they’ve had in a game since 2010. His reliance on a running game that just isn’t working has grown tiresome. For the second week in a row, the Bills were somewhat fortunate to be playing a clearly inferior opponent. But unlike past years, when they would have found ways to lose games like this, they found ways to win.