JETS 34 - BRONCOS 16
Where was this offense the past three weeks?
The New York Jets came to life for the first time since Week 1,
smacking around the Denver Broncos 34-16 at MetLife Stadium, effectively ending
a three-game losing streak and cooling down the hot seat for Head Coach Todd
Bowles for at least one week.
It was impressive.
While quarterback Sam Darnold was only 10-of-22 on the day, the Jets
took the training wheels off and let their rookie quarterback air it out, and
what a beautiful performance it was. Darnold connected for three touchdown on
the afternoon, including two long touchdown strikes to receiver Robby Anderson.
For four weeks, Anderson had been virtually invisible in the Jets
offense, but Sunday Darnold was finally able to find his big time target. While
it may have helped matters that the Broncos shifted a lot of their coverage
over to Quincy Enunwa, who was held without a catch, Denver’s leaky secondary
had no answer for the Darnold-Anderson combo.
The first touchdown came when safety Justin Simmons bit on the pump
fake by Darnold, leaving Anderson alone with corner Bradley Roby. Anderson was
able to get inside on Roby, and gain about 10 yards of distance between him,
catching the ball underneath and dashing home for a 76-yard touchdown.
The score gave the Jets a 14-7 lead, and a feeling of confidence
started to emanate from the Jets sideline. The feeling of dread that Jets fans
felt the past three weeks was quickly disappearing.
And that feeling was no mirage.
After a Denver field goal, cut the New York lead to 14-10, Darnold
engineered an 8-play 75 yard drive, capped off by a 35-yard touchdown pass to
Anderson to blow the game wide open at 21-10.
Defensively the Jets pinned their ears back and went after Denver
quarterback Case Keenum, who inspite of throwing for 377 yards was under duress
all day. Leonard Williams sacked Keenum twice, and the Jets neutralized the
Denver running attack, making it impossible for the Broncos as the game wore
on.
Speaking of running attack, the Jets absolutely gashed the Denver
Broncos on the ground. The combination of Isaiah Crowell and Bilal Powell
produced the second most productive running day by a Jets team since 1972. The
Jets gashed Denver for 323 yards on the ground, including 219 yards by Crowell.
His 77-yard touchdown opened up the scoring for New York early in the first
quarter, as Crowell proved to be an unstoppable force that Denver couldn’t
tackle. It was a Marshawn Lynch-esq effort by the former Cleveland Brown.
The Jets final score of the day came on a beautiful back-shoulder
fade by Darnold to receiver Terrell Pryor in the corner of the end zone to push
the Jets lead to 34-10 with 5:10 to go in the game.
What we learned? 1) Sam Darnold has the goods. By taking the
training wheels off, Darnold displayed the kind of poise and touch that fans
expected when the Jets selected him third overall in April’s draft. The Jets and
offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates have to keep this high-flying style going.
2) We learned that the Jets offensive line can have a good day. The
unit has been much maligned this season, but on Sunday they dominated the line
of scrimmage against what is typically a solid front seven of the Broncos. 323
yards on the ground? Yeah, I’d say Crowell and Powell need to buy those guys
some stakes.
3) We learned that Marcus Maye needs to run more gassers in
practice. Maye picked off a Case Keenum pass in the end zone and brought it
back 103 yards to the opposite endzone, but was tackled just short of the goal
line at the end of the game. Com’on man!
4) Todd Bowles seat cooled down. Bowles has taken a lot of heat the
past three weeks for the way the Jets have lost games in the month of
September. Sunday’s 34-16 win won’t get ride of all of Bowels’ detractors, but
at the very least he cooled down the hot seat … at least for one week.
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