Jets ride out of Houston with the W
If you sat though that game, give yourself a pat on the back. It was ugly, but as got the win.
đ˝ Good morning Jets fans. Itâs Monday and we have a victory to talk about, it may not have been the statement win we were looking for, but all wins count the same. Let's get into it.
đ The Jets went into Houston and they walked out with their first road victory of the Robert Saleh era. That is the headline and that's the key point.
I often go back and forward with people on Twitter around whether itâs more important to get wins or get a better draft position. My default is to preach wins, the Jets have had a lot of high draft picks and they havenât won a lot of games, that hasnât worked out for us so far. Why not try something different.
đ What I have to say is that this Houston team is god damn awful. How theyâve won multiple games this year is a mystery. I wonât dwell too much on Houston, but they are one of the worst defenses in the league and they were down their best players in free safety Justin Reid who was a healthy scratch due to disciplinary reasons.
Dominating the Trenches
đ Iâm going to start with some real positives from todayâs game as we will need to get into the negatives at some point.
Weâve often heard how the Jets hope to build and win in the trenches and they did that today. The pass protection wasn't ideal at times but the offensive line constantly opened up holes for the Jets running game. Tevin Coleman led the backs with 16 carries at 4.2 yards per carry. Ty Johnson ran at 7 yards a carry and Austin Walter who was promoted ahead of 2020 draft pick LaâMichael Perine, ran for 38 yards on 9 carries and a touchdown.
The Jets ability to run at will on this defense allowed them to ice the game.
On the defensive side of the ball, it was a 5 sack day for the Jets. Finally the pass rush came alive after laying largely dormant since the outing against Tennessee.
JFM dominated with 2 sacks, 1 INT and countless pressures. Quinnen Williams notched another Sack and the impressive Quincy Williams maintained his impressive 2021 form, making several splashy plays including a sack on Tyrod Taylor that showcased Quincyâs explosion.
The Houston offensive line may need to go back to the drawing board as they were completely over matched from start to finish. Ronald Blair completed the 5 sack day for a Jets unit that will be feeling pretty good about themselves tonight.
Oh Zach
đ I can't defend Zachâs performance today. As much as Iâd like to.
The Jets have possessed the #1 passing offense over recent weeks with three different QBs excelling in the system, we were averaging 436 yards over the last 4 weeks.
Zach returned yesterday and struggled mightily on his way to a stat line of 14/24 for 145 yards, 0 TD and 1 INT. He did have a nice rushing TD on a read option play, but in terms of passing he was off.
He made a couple of nice throws in the second half that were schemed open for him, he made the right read and delivered the ball on time, but those plays were few and far between.
Itâs not time to hit the panic button but we are seeing the same problems we saw earlier in the year.
He holds onto the ball too long, he misses wide open targets on short and intermediate routes and he fails to identify his hot reads. It causes issues with drives stalling and it makes the offensive line look worse than it is.
On one series in the 4th quarter he threw a cross body pass to Moore which was easily broken up, he wildly overthrew his receiver in the flat and then missed a wide open Berrios on a check down.
Early in the game he had a wide open lane to run and instead of just taking the first down, he tried a Patrick Mahomes flip to Ty Johnson, the ball hit the RB in the back and was picked off by the defense. It was a stupid play that cost the Jets 7 points, that can't happen.
The Jets won in spite of Zach, not because of him. Had the Jets had Flacco in, they win this game by a wide margin, that's how bad the Houston defense was.
Zach had a poor game. We need to see a lot more from him over the next few weeks. He wonât get an easier opponent than the Texans though.
Let's
đ Stat Corner đ
A Jets QB has been sacked in 46 straight games, which is the longest active streak in the NFL.
This is the first road win after trailing by double digits since the 2018 victory at Buffalo.
Quincy Williams and brother Quinnen Williams recorded a sack in the same game for the 2nd time this season (Titans).
The last Jets player to record 2 sacks and an INT in the same game was Lance Mehl in 1985 against the Packers. Well done JFM.
According to Next Gen Stats, Tyrod Taylors pass to Brandin Cooks only had a 21% completion probability.
2 of the Jets 4 INT (league low) have been by defensive lineman. Shaq Lawson and JFM.
Before the game yesterday, the Jets had the youngest defense in the NFL. 62.1% of snaps have come from players aged 25 or under.
The Jets failed to tie the franchise streak for consecutive 250+ yard passing displays. The last team to do that was the 2015 Ryan Fitzpatrick led team.
According to Next Gen Stats, the Jets ran for 105 yards and 2 TDs against a loaded box. That is domination by the offensive line.
Quick Hits đ¨
Keelan Cole bailed Wilson out on a key 4th down conversion. Wilson threw a wobbly ball behind the veteran receiver, but the former Jacksonville man reached behind to convert it.
Elijah Moore looked good, but with the poor QB play he wasnât quite as explosive as he has been. He finished with 4 catches for 46 yards and one rush for 7 yards which came on a key 4th down conversion.
Bryce Hall was beaten early on a touchdown to Cooks, but he bounced back with a big second half. He had a good TFL and several plays in coverage. Your young guys are going to get beat from time to time, how they respond is key. Bryce reaponded well.
Kicker Matt Ammendola missed another FG today and it was obvious that coach Saleh lost confidence in his rookie kicker. If Ammendola is still the kicker next week, Iâd be amazed.
Houston for some reason forgot they had Brandin Cooks in the 2nd half. Lucky for the Jets as the veteran looked dangerous to start the game.
Taylor only had 2 designed rushes and he clocked 30 yards. With the offensive line struggling, I'm not sure why they didnât design more runs for Taylor. It was a really poorly coached game by Houston.
I was talking to Andres from the UK Jets Podcast after the game and he said that 29 teams beat us if we played the way we did today. I thought that was generous.
đ¨ď¸ Who Said What đŹ
Elijah Moore on staying positive:
"I feel like I got to be the example. With me being young and everything I feel like people don't expect me to be like this. I want to set the example for everybody"
John Franklin-Myers on his INT:
"I was just like, f---, I'm gonna just go get it. So I ran it, got it. I tried to score, I really did!"
Austin Walter on his first career TD:
"My mom said yesterday, she can feel that I was going to score today. Mother's intuition, mother always knows best"
Robert Saleh on JFM after his two sacks and INT:
"He's worth his weight in gold, JFM is"
Zach Wilson on tweaking his knee in the 4th quarter:
More from Zach Wilson on his knee
"I knew that in practice that it's not fully stable and that's going to happen sometimes. There wasn't any risk of re-injuring itâ
Stars of the game
đđđ John Franklin-Myers
JFM grew up in Texas and he put on a show for his family and friends in attendance.
He finished with 3 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 INT. He was constantly in the backfield and harrasing Taylor.
Thereâs been a lot of talk around JFM disappearing after signing his contract extension, which has largely been fair.
The Houston offensive line, missing their starting LT in Tunsill was there for the taking and JFM handles his business.
đđ Quincy Williams
Quincy is all over the field. He plays the game at 100mph and with a smile on his face.
Williams ended as the Jets top tackler for the 2nd week in a row. 8 tackles Nx one sack is a good day at the office.
Heâs starting to harness his speed in coverage as well as blitzing the passer, he burst through the gap to take Taylor down.
Quincy was a waiver wire pickup from the Jags and he is without doubt one of Joe Douglas's beat moves of the season.
đ Austin Walter
Elevated from the practice squad, Walter strolled in and put up his first career TD of the season.
4.2 yards per carry on your debut isnât top bad at all.
Walter was an undrafted prospect out of Rice in 2019 and has bounced around between the 49ers, Giants, the XFLâs Dallas Renegades, back to the 49ers and then finally to the Jets.
While his promotion likely spells the end of LaâMical Perines chance of ever breaking into the Jets lineup, its not to. Not be happy for him.
