After spending a week in Richmond VA in a joint practice with the Washington Redskins, the Jets played their second preseason game against the same Redskins team and one of the major things to take away from this game is that they have to fix the offensive line. The Jets allowed 4 sacks against the redskins defense and couldn’t run the ball at all, only rushing for 64 yards total with a 2.9 yards per carry. The other side wasn’t that great either as they only brought down the quarterback twice, the Jets defense looks improved so far except the front seven. There was a time where the offense and defensive line were the strongest positions on the team but they failed to build on it and that’s where we are now. The bright side of it though is they didn’t allow a single touchdown and the red zone defense stepped up big. Although there was a lot of things to be afraid of going into this season like the dumb penalties and the offensive/defensive line, there were some bright spots to feel good about.
Rookie quarterback Sam Darnold got his first start with the starters on Thursday and overall he did a good job with some signs showing him that he is a rookie. He played 10 series and finished the day going 8 for 11 with 62 yards and an interception (his first professional int). The interception came in the red zone, which the first thing to know is never turn the ball over in the red zone. It was a 4th and 1, Todd Bowles and Jeremy Bates put the ball in Darnolds hands and wanted to see what he could do. Although he turned the ball over, if you watched the tape the play call wasn’t the right one. Lawrence Thomas was the first read in the flat and was covered, Anderson wasn’t open in the next level, and Kearse was covered as well. The pocket was collapsing and Darnold had to make a decision, it just turned out to be the wrong one.
Teddy Bridgewater had the strongest performance in my opinion, going 10/15 for 127 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He did subtle smart veteran things like the touchdown to Charone Peake that allowed him to get open by freezing the defender. Bridgewater looked like he didn’t miss a beat after out of the league for almost 2 years, He had great command in the huddle, functional mobility (although he almost over did it with the scramble) and he was accurate.
The quarterback battle has been interesting to say the least and even though Bowles said the McCown is the starter, I would look at Bridgewater to be the starter especially since the offensive line is struggling.