The New York Jets head into Week 3 of the 2018 NFL season with their second primetime matchup coming against the Cleveland Browns. The Jets, coming off a disappointing loss to the Miami Dolphins only five days prior, will look to bounce back against a Cleveland team who has showcased themselves as a competitor.
While the Browns are favored to win the Thursday Night matchup (their first time being favored at home since 2015), the Jets have a few reasons to be hopeful:
1.) Recent History Presents a Trend
The Jets and Browns have met during each of the last three regular seasons, making this their fourth straight year with a head-to-head matchup. The results of those games have swayed in one direction, however, with the Jets going 3-0 against Cleveland.
This is good news for the team as a whole as head coach Todd Bowles remains undefeated against his AFC rival. Despite a few close calls in those matchups, the Jets have been able to bury theories that Cleveland could end several historically bad streaks against them.
Looking beyond those three games, the Jets have actually secured a win in their last five matchups against Cleveland, three of which were road games.
While the Browns have certainly improved from years past (despite still being winless), the Jets most definitely have the edge in terms of the history books. However, you could say this could be the same for each of the 30 other NFL teams as the Browns have only won a single game in the past 2 seasons.
– Get after Tyrod
– Protect the 🏈
– National stage encore📺 THU | 8:20PM | NFLN
Breaking down #NYJvsCLE ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/wuuYROGT1o
— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 19, 2018
2.) Jets’ Pass Rush a Near Guarantee to Succeed
Cleveland’s offensive line has been one of their few issues so far this season. Through two games, they have allowed 10 sacks. For a team that’s defense that has been quite successful getting to the passer so far this year, the Jets’ pass rush could be in for a field day.
In Week 1, New York was able to get to Matthew Stafford early and often and force him into some bad throws, more often then not resulting in turnovers. In Week 2 they then sacked Ryan Tannehill four times against a solid offensive line. With Cleveland’s blatant hole their, the Jets should be able to pressure Tyrod Taylor quite a bit.
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In the past and even through the first two weeks, we’ve seen Tyrod Taylor’s mobility out of the pocket and the ability to make throws on the run. While he may be more accustomed to that playstyle then some of the other quarterbacks the Jets have faced, New York has proven that they can disrupt passes out of the pocket, forcing quarterbacks to scratch their heads.
The man called "Goose" by his teammates is starting to show up on the stat sheet more.@HenryAnderson91 and Co. are making strides toward the QB → https://t.co/xoLH5VLgyJ pic.twitter.com/WjKl7mx71M
— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 19, 2018
3.) Offensive Flexibility Poises Threat for Cleveland
Despite the Jets failing to really get their offense moving last week, it’s hard to overlook the talent they have there. With featured wide receivers in Quincy Enunwa, Robby Anderson, Jermaine Kearse and Terrelle Pryor, Sam Darnold will always have opportunities to throw the ball.
Add into the mix some role players in rookie TE Chris Herndon and RB Bilal Powell, and you can begin to wonder how Cleveland will be able to handle the abundance of receivers who have proven they can make space.
This all being under the assumption that the Jets can look past their poor offensive showing last week where dropped passes, penalties and turnovers played a big part in their disappointing loss.
If we know one thing however, it’s that Sam Darnold prides himself on putting poor showings behind him. He looked more than comfortable after last week’s loss, and remains poised to bounce back.
– Kyle Hirshkind is the Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage Jets and covers the New York Jets. Like and follow on Follow @kylehirshkind Follow @FPC_Jets
