The Jets scored a signature victory over their AFC East rival Buffalo in Week 9, when a team led by Zach Wilson topped the Bills 20–17.
Sunday’s win brought Gang Green to 6–3 in the season, and pushed them just half a game out of first place in the division.
Robert Saleh’s team had possibly the best performance of the year, with both sides of the team playing at the top of their game.
Now, we’ll see who did well, and who struggled with the second edition of Studs & Duds.
Like each week, this column will only look at performance in the most recent game, identify who stepped up and who struggled – and what fans can expect from the New York roster in the coming weeks.
shred
Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first, and look at this week’s ups and downs.
Denzel Mims
The Mims received a lot of attention this week, as the wide receiver remained on the roster after last week’s trade deadline, despite requests to move earlier in the year.
While he was complaining about the lack of a goal, Mims finally got his chance to engage in offense on Sunday, and didn’t make much use of his chance.
The 25-year-old, who came to the Jets as a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, began his season in Week 7, and Sunday marked the game where he was involved in the most offense.
Mims had 4 goals from Wilson, but only managed to catch one pass, and dropped two more catchable passes.
To be fair, his only catch was a clutch grab on 3 and 5 during the Jets’ game-winning drive into the red zone, but that one reception didn’t make up for the fact that he was a non-factor (and somewhat ) of an obligation) during the rest of the game.
“It tells me that they trust me and that they can count on me if it comes at a critical moment, so it makes me happy,” said Mims of the catch.
Still, if they want to continue to rely on him, they will need more than him.
Quarterback’s ability to contain runs
Josh Allen, who came into the game as MVP-forerunner, did poorly on Sunday. Still, the highlight of his performance was two quick touchdowns.
Alan is mobile, but there’s no way the Jets should allow him to break free with his feet.
The quarterback saw his second rushing touchdown in the middle of the third quarter, when he scrambled for 36 yards and a third and 2 in the endzone. Meanwhile, he was able to take several first downs with quarterback sneaks throughout the game.
The Jets defense got him into the passing game as well as any team could hope for, but he needs to improve his ability to stop.
They’re going up against the Chicago Bears’ Justin Fields in two weeks, one of the fastest running quarterbacks in the NFL, and they’ll have to adjust their game plan accordingly if they really want to be an elite defense. is required.
stud
Okay, now that the bad things are out of the way, let’s move on to the good things.
Zach Wilson
It was the best game of the second-year quarterback’s professional career.
ended up with wilson 18 completes in 25 attempts, with 154 yards and a touchdown pass. He led the team on a 13-play, 86-yard drive to close the game in the fourth quarter.
Most importantly, Wilson took care of the football (with the exception of a strip-sack from Von Miller).
A high completion rate, and no interception is exactly what Saleh’s coach staff are looking for from a young signal caller.
And Wilson also left his mark with his feet. He finished with 24 yards on the ground, but those were a few clutch yards, and pushed back as many drives that he normally would have.
Overall, Wilson played exceptionally well. If he can maintain that level of play, the Jets have a real shot at becoming a threat this season.
sous gardner
Still, Gardner makes it into the “stud” category.
Going up against the best quarterback he had played in his professional career, the rookie continued to excel, and proved why he was more-worthy of his fourth-overall draft position this off-season.
The rookie saw only three goals to his assigned man on a 43 coverage snap as he was at all opposing wide receivers on Sunday, denying Allen his first option.
He allowed just one reception for 42 yards, which came on the first play of the game, but closed out any chances of producing an offensive from there. He also had seven tackles.
Most importantly, Gardner picked up Allen for his second interception of the year on his 22-yard line at Buffalo, and set up the Jets for his go-ahead touchdown on the next drive.
Gardner is running away from the Defensive Rookie of the Year award, and Sunday proved why.
Robert Saleh
The team’s head coach said he regretted a comment he made earlier in the season when the team’s fortunes were looming and said he would “keep receipts” on doubters.
He has no reason to regret, and in fact, he should cash in on those receipts.
The Jets are 6–3 on the season, and are threatening to take first place in the AFC East.
Gang Greene is playing with a sense of swagger that has been absent from MetLife Stadium since the days of Rex Ryan, and a marquee win over (arguably) the best team in the NFL showed the entire league why the Jets don’t have their doormats in the recent past. been in the years.
Every player, on both sides of the ball, looks and talks like they’re totally bought – in the culture that Saleh won from above. There is nothing to ridicule in this.
