Victory Monday: Clutch

Edition #234

Good morning!

What a fine morning it is…again! For the second time in three weeks, we’re talking victories, and considering the noise around the team over the last week, that’s a little bit surreal.

I was down in London yesterday taking in the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints (I have no idea how that last-second kick doesn’t go through) but managed to watch the game as live when I got back. You may have noticed I was a little quieter on Twitter than usual, and I somehow managed to avoid the result until the very end.

I’m going to keep today’s newsletter relatively short as I’m having to write this early on Monday morning before work due to the late finish of watching the game on delay.

First, let’s get into a few bits and pieces that I heard following the game.

We’re going to be waiting anxiously for some more test results today with tackle Max Mitchell getting carted off the field yesterday. I’m not sure what’s happening with the offensive tackles this year, but I can’t remember ever seeing worse injury luck for one position group. Mitchell was seen in the locker room after the game with crutches and a knee brace, usually not a good sign.

This is the first time the Jets have been .500 through four games since 2017, that year we went 3-2 and we’ll be hoping to achieve that next weekend when we face the Miami Dolphins at home. Hopefully, that’s where the similarities end as we lost 3 straight games in 2017 after going 3-2 and finished the season 5-11.

The Jets have now overcome two 10+ point deficits in the same season for the first time since 2000. Ideally, you don’t want to fall into 10+ point deficits, but if you do, it’s always good to know that you can come back from those struggles to finish the game strong.

Former Jets safety Jim Leonhard will get an opportunity to coach Wisconsin as he was named the interim head coach following the firing of Paul Chryst. Leonhard was with the Jets from 2009-2011 and went to two AFC Championship games as a member of Rex Ryan’s defense.

Zach

On a day of many imperfections by the Jets’ #1 quarterback, it took a perfect drive to seal victory for Gang Green and send them back to New York with a 2-2 record.

Over the course of 60 minutes Zach completed just 51.4% of his passes, he had two passes picked off and there could have been more. But over the course of around 3 minutes with the game on the line, Wilson became the Quarterback the Jets need him to be if this project rebuild is going to work.

Down three, Wilson completed 100% of his passes (5-5) for 57 yards, a drive that was capped by a Breece Hall rushing touchdown, and while he fumbled the football the official replay showed the ball broke the goal-line.

One trait of every great quarterback is their ability to put together game-winning drives and that 4th quarter drive was about as good as it gets. Working behind a patchwork line, Zach worked his progressions quickly, showed a good understanding of the coverages he was being presented and delivered the right pass at the right time into the right window. You can’t ask for much more than that.

Offensive Line

While we’re on the offensive line, I think we absolutely have to give them credit where it is due. When most people say they have a patchwork line, they tend to mean a couple of regular starters missing. The Jets had their RG playing LT, a new RG making his season debut, and a 6th-string tackle playing RT, there is makeshift and then there is that.

According to TruMedia, the Jet’s offensive line allowed 22 pressures, 4 QB hits, and 1 sack. That’s obviously not a great stat line and Zach’s mobility really prevented further damage, but that’s better than I expected and in some big moments the line really held up. Nate Herbig threw a big block to spring Breece Hall for a good gain, McDermott was credited with allowing 0 pressures and I’ve run out of superlatives to describe the work of AVT who is now playing his 3rd different position for the Jets in 20 NFL games.

There will be a couple of throws that Zach would like back and there were a few opportunities left on the field, but considering it’s his first real game action since last season, the Jets and their fanbase can be encouraged by what we saw. Going forward he’ll need to make quicker decisions and improve on some accuracy, especially when throwing to the flat (similar issue to last year), but for now, we got what we needed…we even got a receiving touchdown which was unexpected. Although Wilson later quipped that he has the best hands on the team, so maybe we’ll see some more of that.

Defense

It wasn’t just the offense that turned up this week but the Jets defense, a defense that has been constantly questioned throughout this week, and rightfully so. The Jet’s defensive line dominated up front and it was led by Quinnen Williams who recorded 6 tackles, 1 sack, 2 QB hits, and 1 tackle for a loss. Carl Lawson registered another sack and so did rookie Jermaine Johnson. The Johnson sack in particular was all him, that was pure talent, leverage, technique, and effort. The more he plays the better he’ll get.

The Jets secondary held Trubisky/Pickett to just 204 yards through the air with four interceptions, five if you count the Whitehead interception that got brought back due to a flag on Lawson for his hit on Trubisky. LaMarcus Joyner had his best game for the Jets registering two interceptions and 4 pass defenses…one of which was picked off by Whitehead. It was a much-needed bounce-back performance by both safeties who have been the target for criticism this season so far, both have struggled to start the year but both put together good performances yesterday.

I’m looking forward to seeing the coverage stats for both Reed and Sauce as both gave very little ground through the air. Gardner registered another pass defense which led to Michael Carter II’s interception, and although the Steelers put 20 points on the board, none of them came through the air. If the Jets can continue to get productive play out of the safeties, this secondary has a lot of potential. It’s important to not overreact to a single performance, but all the signs were encouraging.

Another player we really need to highlight is Bryce Huff, we’ve been calling for him to be active all season and he finally got his opportunity yesterday and I think it’s safe to say he’ll be active next week too. In just 9 snaps he generated 3 pressures…we need him to be active and we need him to be on the field more. I still want to see the Jets kick JFM inside to open up more opportunities on the edge for Johnson and Huff.

Receivers

At one point in the first half, I thought Elijah Moore was set for his breakout performance. Going into the half he had 3 catches for 53 yards, but he didn’t catch another pass or get targeted again over the final 30 minutes. Zack Rosenblatt of the Athletic had a great little tidbit on Moore: “Elijah Moore has run 189 routes through four games, the most in the NFL. He's only been targeted 25 times”. That’s a target on 13.2% of all routes run, a very low number for a player as talented as Moore. I do have faith that once Wilson is up to speed his connection with Moore will continue developing, but for now Moore is going to have to be patient.

One player who did come up big was Corey Davis, another player who is often unfairly critiqued (in my opinion). As Coach Saleh mentioned after the game, he often does a lot of the grunt work, he gets out and blocks, he clears out safeties to open up lanes for Wilson and Moore, and then when he’s asked to catch the ball…he often has to do it in traffic over the middle. I know he doesn’t put up WR1 numbers but the Jets are a better team with him on the field. On that final game-winning drive Davis had two catches of 15 and 17 yards, the Jets don’t win without Davis yesterday.

He finished with 5 catches on 7 targets for 74 yards and a touchdown, and he put some serious moves on the corners to get open. Once the all-22 comes out we’ll be able to enjoy that in its full glory.

In total 8 different players caught passes yesterday, including the quarterback himself, if ever there was a game that showed the need for the entire roster to contribute it was yesterday. Breece Hall said it best after the game when he said that if everyone does their part then we’re going to win some football games.

Again, yesterday wasn’t perfect. We still ran up the gut far too much, we have offensive line issues to try and resolve and there were far too many back-breaking penalties that could have tipped the game in Pittsburgh’s favor. But for today, it’s time to celebrate everything that went right…tomorrow we’ll start to focus on the areas to improve.