BUFFALO – The Jets misplaced to the Payments right here on Sunday, 20-12, in an injury-filled recreation on a moist, sloppy day. Listed here are some ideas and observations from the sport:
1. My greatest takeaway from this recreation is that the Jets are a crew that's studying the best way to win and the Payments are a crew that is aware of the best way to win. This isn't a shot on the Jets. It's simply the fact of the place they're of their improvement as a younger crew. Robert Saleh has completed a terrific job this season instilling confidence on this crew and a perception they will play with anyone. The Jets have demonstrated that a number of occasions this 12 months, most notably in opposition to these very Payments final month at MetLife Stadium.
However the Jets have to play practically flawless soccer to beat a crew just like the Payments. They will’t flip the ball over (two on Sunday) they usually need to pressure turnovers (none on Sunday) and the offensive line wants to carry up method higher than they did Sunday (eight QB hits).
It seems like these Jets at the moment are the place the Payments had been in 2019. These Payments had been studying to win and located a option to make the playoffs however they weren't Tremendous Bowl contenders like these Payments. That was nonetheless just a few years away.
The Jets have made an enormous leap this season. They're not a doormat. They've been in each recreation this season and there they had been once more Sunday with the ball of their arms and an opportunity to tie up the sport with lower than a minute left.
In Saleh’s first season, he would discuss how most NFL video games come all the way down to a collection within the fourth quarter together with your crew both having to attain or make a cease. It seemed like a fairy story in 2021 because the Jets absorbed blowout losses. However this 12 months’s model of the Jets has made the fourth quarter attention-grabbing practically each week. On Sunday, they got here up brief however you possibly can really feel the hole closing between the Payments and the Jets and it'll shut additional when the Jets go from a crew studying the best way to win to 1 that is aware of the best way to win.
2. Mike White is pulling off one thing outstanding. His credibility is rising in losses. In the event you return to when Saleh introduced that White was changing Zach Wilson, you figured White had no less than three video games as a “tryout” for the job. These video games would have been the Bears, Vikings, and Payments. If I instructed you he was solely going to go 1-2 in these video games, you may need thought Wilson could be warming as much as face the Lions. However White’s maintain on the job has solely strengthened within the losses. He has proven guts and poise which have additional gained over teammates who had been already followers of White. On Sunday, he saved getting up after getting drilled over and over.
When Matt Milano hit White within the third quarter, it appeared like he was cut up in half as his physique jackknifed. The hit despatched him to the locker room for X-Rays and also you figured his day was completed. However then he got here jogging out of the tunnel together with his helmet on to return to the sport. Each time he acquired hit within the fourth quarter, you can see the ache on his face as CBS cameras zoomed in. White went to the hospital to be checked out instantly after the sport and his teammates couldn't say sufficient good issues about him.
White just isn't going again to the bench anytime quickly. Even with the Jets dropping, his grip on the beginning job has gotten tighter.
3. Whereas we’re on the subject of quarterbacks, it's time for the Jets to make Wilson the No. 2 quarterback behind White. Joe Flacco’s temporary look Sunday underscored that.
Look, I do not know what Wilson’s psychological state is like proper now or how a lot progress he’s making on the basic points the Jets needed him to work on, however this feels foolish having him inactive.
Wilson nonetheless has a ton of capacity and coming in off the bench is likely to be simply the form of bounce begin he wants. He has paid his penance for his errors in New England with a three-game flip in avenue garments. It’s sufficient. Saleh ought to transfer Wilson up the depth chart this week.
4. It's all the time a enjoyable train to select the wins and losses when the schedule comes out within the spring however there are such a lot of components we don’t know then. An enormous one within the NFL is while you catch a crew. Are they scorching? Are they scuffling?
Effectively, the Jets are about to get some unhealthy timing. The Lions, a crew that appeared like a straightforward win on the schedule, have gained 5 of their final six video games and are enjoying actually good soccer. They beat the Vikings on Sunday, the identical Vikings the Jets misplaced to final week. Detroit has a powerful offensive line and Jared Goff is enjoying possibly the most effective soccer of his profession. Previous buddy Aaron Glenn has the protection enjoying higher, too.
After the Lions come the Jaguars, who beat the Titans on Sunday and all of the sudden don’t seem like a gimme both. The Jets’ playoff hopes could rely upon how they deal with some groups which can be getting scorching.
Revealing stat
The Jets ran 73 performs and the Payments solely had 54. It's the second straight week the Jets ran many extra performs than their opponent and misplaced. It tells you the Jets are usually not ending off drives.
Shocking snap depend
Garrett Wilson performed 72 snaps or 97 %, lacking simply two snaps. It's uncommon for a large receiver to play that many snaps however it exhibits how robust the Jets’ perception within the rookie has gotten.
Recreation ball
Sauce Gardner and D.J. Reed had one other excellent recreation and Stefon Diggs was quiet for a lot of the day. Diggs had three catches for 37 yards and 32 of them got here on a play the place Diggs was not coated by a cornerback. The Payments had only a few explosive performs within the recreation and that could be a tribute to Gardner and Reed.
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