Jets victoy over Browns Assures Trevor Lawrence is a Jaguar

 JETS 23 - BROWNS 16

The Jets are really good -- at messing up the bigger picture.  The Jets won again, Sunday, 23-16 against the Cleveland Browns, and in so doing all but assured that Trevor Lawrence will be the number 1 pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars did their part in losing to the Chicago Bears 41-17. 

For a better part of the first half, the Jets picked up right where they left off last week in Los Angeles against the Rams. They dominated the line of scrimmage defensively against the Cleveland Browns, as quarterback Baker Mayfield spent time either on his back or hurrying his throws to avoid the Jets heavy pass rush. 

Of course things were complicated for the Browns, who came into the game short-handed due to a number of players missing the game due to COVID-19, including receiver Jarvis Landry. Mayfield just couldn't do much without a full compliment of receivers and a patched up offensive line. Give the Jets credit, they took full advantage. 

With Cleveland leading 3-0 late in the first quarter, the Jets actually got creative offensively when Sam Darnold pitched the ball to Jamison Crowder on the reverse. Crowder quickly heaved the ball down field to wide open Braxton Berrios, who glided into the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown to make it 7-3. 

On Cleveland's ensuing possession, Mayfield was strip-sacked by Frankie Luvu. Folo Fatukasi recovered the loose ball at the Browns' 32, giving New York prime real estate. The Jets wasted little time. Four plays later, Darnold hit Chris Herndon from 11-yards out for the score to make it 13-3 Gang Green. 

Come the third quarter, the Jets continued to pressure the Browns. Darnold hit Crowder for 25-yards to the Browns 34 on a key third and four. Three plays later, Darnold delivered a nice touch pass to an open Crowder down the sideline for the touchdown to make it 20-3 Jets. 

Of course, after that score, the Jets went into a shell offensively. They had one field goal blocked, and the Jets would be turned around on three consecutive drives. All of that gave Cleveland ample time to try to mount a comeback. 

The Browns cut the Jets lead to 20-16 when Kareem Hunt plowed in from four yards out, but the missed extra point gave the Jets some glimmer of hope. 

For the rest of the afternoon, the Jets defense delivered in key spots, helped out of course by horrible miscues by the Browns. An illegal block pushed the Browns into a second and 20 that they never recovered from. Later, Mayfield was strip-sacked again as the Jets fell on the ball at the Browns' 17-yard line. 

After New York cashed in on the turnover with a field goal to make it 23-16, it appeared that Mayfield finally had the Browns rolling when he managed to drive his team to the Jets' 25-yard line. Unfortunately for Mayfield a series of dreary incompletions was followed by a fumble by Mayfield himself that iced it for the Jets. 

With the victory, the Jets (2-13) are locked into the number two overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Jets fans dreaming about Trevor Lawrence can now forget it. Will the Jets draft Justin Fields? Zach Wilson? Or stick with Darnold? That is now the story of the off-season to come in addition to the future of Adam Gase.