Put the panic on hold, New York. The Jets came out to play on Sunday after dropping their last three games in classic fashion. With the Denver Broncos visiting town, the Jets were able to fend off recent criticisms and win 34-16.
Record Breaking Day for New York
While things started out slow for Gang Green, including an early fumble/turnover by Bilal Powell, the Jets were quickly able to turn things around. Sam Darnold got the offense rolling with a few quick completions to move the chains, reading the Denver defense before taking any risks.
That mindset quickly shifted when Isaiah Crowell broke out for a 77 yard run to the house in the second quarter. The Jets had tied the game up and had Denver exactly where they wanted them.
New York knew it could rely on the run game to eventually open up the play action. And we really saw it when Crowell broke off for the big run, but even more so later on.
Powell and Crowell nearly split carries once again, and after coming up short last week against Jacksonville, they had quite the field day back at MetLife.
Powell went for a smooth 99 yards and 20 touches, while Crowell set a new Jet record with 219 yards on 15 carries. Before Crowell, Thomas Jones held the Jets record with the most rushing yards in a game at 210. Behind him was Curtis Martin with 203.
It’s safe to say the Crowell has put himself in some pretty good historic company.
Crowell on #Jets rushing record:
“It means a lot to me. I’ve got to give all the credit to my O-line. I can’t really take the credit. Really, it was all them. I mean, the holes were open. Anybody could’ve run through them. It just happened to be me. They really set the record”— Dennis Waszak Jr. (@DWAZ73) October 7, 2018
Another record was set by Jets’ S Marcus Maye at the very end of the contest. Case Keenum was looking for the endzone on a last second pass when Maye picked it off and returned it 103 yards, the longest INT return in New York Jet history.
The only problem, Maye was taken down at the 1-yard line with 0:00 left on the clock…
Longest INT return in #Jets history…
…but 1 yard short of paydirt 😱
Full #DENvsNYJ highlights → https://t.co/wUQ2nG6qUw pic.twitter.com/WMSi99bQcO
— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 7, 2018
Darnold Tossin’ Dimes
The run game wasn’t the only highlight of the Jets monstrous win. The rookie Darnold came out looking sharp, connecting on multiple passes in tight coverage to nearly all of his receivers.
This included two dimes to speedster Robby Anderson, who had been fairly quiet up until Sunday. The first came shortly after Crowell’s big run, where Darnold found Anderson deep for a 76 yard pass resulting in a touchdown. The second came later in the quarter where Anderson was greatly covered by Bradley Roby, but came away with a big 35-yard catch in the endzone.
Beautiful ball. Beautiful catch.
Double-digit lead. #DENvsNYJ pic.twitter.com/rWuvnwjFGc
— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 7, 2018
Darnold continued making these on-point throws from there after. He found Jermaine Kearse tightly covered near the sideline to put the Jets in good position in the second quarter. He later squeezed in a 20-yard pass to Terrelle Pryor, resulting in a touchdown.
The stats don’t tell the whole story about Darnold’s day to say the least. A quick look will tell you he was under 50% in his attempts (10/22) and had an interception with only 198 yards. However, the interception was a tipped pass that luckily fell into the hands of Derek Wolfe, and with the run game being so efficient, Darnold’s attempts were limited.
Overall it was an outstanding day for the rook.
Defense/Special Teams Continues to Dominate Despite Missing Pieces
Some were skeptical as to how the Jets defense would perform on Sunday. Without DC Kacy Rodgers, who was reportedly out with a serious health issue, and star CB Trumaine Johnson, it was with every right that skepticism surrounding the defense was alive and well.
However, fans and players alike were able to put that behind them early on.
The Jets’ pass rush was able to get to Case Keenum a whopping four times, including twice when the Broncos were in capable scoring position. They also completely shut down Denver’s run game, which was ranked 3rd in the league coming into Sunday. Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman were held to 92 total yards respectively, which really put a damper on the Broncos’ offense which has struggled mightily in the passing game coming into Sunday’s tilt.
That’s where the Broncos rebounded, however. Despite Emmanuel Sanders having a late garabge-time TD (which put him over 100 yards), the Jets certainly felt the pressure without their No.1 CB on the field. Keenum finished the day with 377 passing yards.
Buster Skrine had quite a few mix-ups, getting beat out of the slot by a number of Denver receivers. Morris Claiborne was able to hold up his end of the stick by racking up four pass deflections in coverage, but the secondary struggled elsewhere, with Darryl Roberts, Parry Nickerson and Skrine all having below average games to say the least.
New York’s special teams played well on the other hand. A late 51-yard return by Andre Roberts set the Jets up for an eventual score…
Can't bring @AndreRoberts down. #DENvsNYJ pic.twitter.com/eFnWBWVeba
— New York Jets (@nyjets) October 7, 2018
What’s Next?
The Jets will look to continue their domination next week against the Indianapolis Colts, who currently sit with a 1-4 record. The Jets will also celebrate their 50-year anniversary of Super Bowl III (when they shockingly beat the Baltimore Colts) next week by acknowledging some of their former players.
The Colts will bring an interesting test to Gang Green at MetLife Stadium. Though the rank towards the bottom of the league in total offense and defense, we’ve seen them compete through the first five weeks. They put up a good battle against the reigning AFC Champion Patriots last week on Thursday Night Football.
– 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
ICYMI: FPC Jets managing editor Kyle Hirshkind claimed in bold fashion that the Jets would bounce back big against the Broncos on the latest episode of the No Penalty Podcast. His highly criticized “Hot Take of the Week” also included the Jets, and it sure did pay off:
