Setting the Stage
Jets are 0 & 4 and would be considered the worst team in football. If it weren't for lackluster teams like the Cardinals (who are giving them a run for their money).
Young QB Sam Darnold injured his shoulder and early reports point to Joe Flacco as the Jets starter. RB Le’Veon Bell and WR Denzel Mims are eligible to come off IR for Week 5, but are likely to remain inactive for at least a couple of weeks.
Most Recent Jets Game
Jets lost to a mediocre Bronco team, 37 - 28 on a Thursday night.
Melvin Gordon sealed the Denver Broncos' first win of the season with a 43-yard touchdown run with 1:48 remaining, and the defense made just enough plays in the fourth quarter to eke out a "W."
AP described it as " a sloppy, penalty-filled but strangely entertaining game between two of the NFL’s worst teams."
Jets led 7 - 3 at the end of the 1Q...but surrendered 2 TDs (a catch by Jeudy/run by Gordon) to fall behind 17 - 13 at halftime. A TD pass from Rypien to Patrick gave Denver a 24 - 16 lead to start the 4Q, and the two teams exchanged 6 scores (2 FGs apiece by Ficken and McManus) plus an interception "foe TD by Desir and Gordon's 43 yd TD run to ice the contest at 13:12 in the 1Q
Jets were penalized 11 times, including six personal fouls.
INJURIES
Broncos: WR KJ Hamler left with a hamstring injury. TE Noah Fant was carted off with an ankle injury in the third quarter.
Jets: Late in the first quarter, Darnold tried to avoid the rush and was slammed to the ground onto his right shoulder. After one more play, he headed to the sideline and into the locker room. Joe Flacco, took over. Darnold came back early in the second quarter but was promptly sacked again. LT Chuma Edoga (in for Becton) left in the first quarter with a shoulder injury. CB Bless Austin (calf) and WR Lawrence Cager (hamstring) also left with injuries.
First Quarter
03:35 Jets - Darnold 46 yd run (Ficken XP)...Jets 7 - Denver 0
10:15 Denv - FG McManus 40 yds...Jets 7 - Denver 3
Second Quarter
01:51 Denv - Jeudy 48 pass from Rypien ...Denver 10 - Jets 7
08:39 Jets - FG Ficken 26 yds - Denver 10 - Jets 10
13:23 Denv - M Gordon 1 yd run ((McManus XP)....Denver 17 - Jets 10
14:45 Jets - FG Ficken 38 yds...Denver 17 - Jets 13
Third Quarter
03;37 Jets - FG Fickens 32 yds....Denver 17 - Jets 16
10:29 Denver - Patrick 7 yd pass fr Rypien (XP McManus)...Denver 24- Jets 16
Fourth Quarter
00:49 Denver - FG McManus 54 yds...Denver 27- Jets 16
03:16 Jets - FG Ficken 54 yds - Denver 27- Jets 19
04:15 Jets - Desir 35 yd Int return - (XP Failed)...Denver 27 - Jets 25
08:37 Jets - Ficken - 36 yd FG - Jets 28 - Denver 27
11:52 Denver - McManus - 53 yd FG - Denver 30 - Jets 28
13:12 Denver - M Gordon 43 yd run (XP McManus) ...Denver 37 - Jets 28
Jets Offensive Starters
Quarterbacks
QB ...14 Darnold..05 .Flacco...04 Morgan
Running Backs
RB....21 Gore...22 Perine...xx T Johnson
Wide Receivers
WR... 19 Perriman...16 J Smith
WR....82 Crowder..10 .Berrios
WR...15 Hogan..83 .Malone
Tight Ends
TE...89 Herndon...84 Griffin...85 Wesco
Offensive Line
LT....77 Becton...75 Edoga
LG...71 A Lewis...69 McDermott
OC...60 McGovern...68 Andrews
RG...62 Van Roten
RT....76 Fant
Jets Defensive Starters
Defensive Line
DL...95 Q Williams...97 Shepherd...47 Huff
DL ..99 McLendon...94 Fatukasi
DL...96 Anderson..98 .Phillips...91 Franklin-Myers
Linebackers
OLB...48 Jenkins...50 Luvu
ILB...54 Williamson...52 Ogletree
ILB...46 Hewitt...44 Langi
OLB...93 Basham...55 Willis
Defensive Back
CB...35 Desir...34 Poole...40 Guidry
CB...31 Austin...27 Q Wilson
S....30 .McDougald...32 A Davis...37 Christian
S....20 Maye...41 Farley
Special Teams
P.......07 Mann
K.....09 Ficken
LS...42 Hennesy
PR....xx Berrios
KR....xx A Davis
Statistics
Stat..............................Jets....Opponents........Cards........Opponents
1st Downs......................65...................90.....................100..............89
Offensive Yds...............1112................1475.................1481............1448
Rushing Yards...............394..................516....................578............498
Rush Yds Per Play........4.1....................4.2.....................4.9............4.5
Passing Yds................820....................775....................903...........950
Pass Yds Per Play......5.8.....................7.7.......................6.4............7.7
Interceptions.................4....................4.........................5.................1
Sacks...........................6.....................12.........................11..............7
TDs...............................6.....................15........................12..............10
Turnover Ratio.............+1................................................-3
Time of Possession.....26:10...........33:49....................26:48........31:11
Panther Player Stats
Passing
Murray 99 for 144 919 yds 68.8% Comp....6.4 YPA 7 TDs...3.5% Ints...87.7 Rating
Darnold 82 of 138 for 792 yds 59.4.% Comp 3TDs, 4 Intss
Rushing
Murray 32 for 26...8.3 YPC...4 TD
Drake 67 for 254...3.8 YPC...1 TD
Gore 55 for 174...3.2 YPC...0 TD
Receiving
Hopkins 39for 397 1TD
Fitzgerald 14 for 88 0 TD
Crowder 14 for 219 1 TD
Hogan 11 for 98 0 TD
Herndon 11 for 74 0 TD
Tackles -
Baker 28
Campbell 32
Hicks 33
Banjo 19
Hewitt 29
McDougald 28
Maye 28
Poole 24
Cardinals Offense Depth Chart
Quarterbacks
01 Murray, 15 Streveler, 07 Hundley
Running Back
41 Drake, 29 Edmonds, xx Ward 26 Benjamin
Wide Receivers
WR - 11 Fitzgerald...17 Isabella
WR - 13 Kirk....19 KS Johnson
WR - 10 Hopkins 16 Sherfield
Tight Ends
TE - 82 Arnold 81 Daniels 80 J Thomas
Offensive Line
LT- ...74 Humphries...79 Jones....66 Miles
LG - 67 Pugh 73 Garcia
OC- 52 Cole 65 Galliard
RG- 64 Sweezy. Murray
RT - 68 Beechum 71 J Murray
Defensive Interior Line
DT 94 Z Allen 95 Fotu
NT - 98 Peters, 92 Lawrence
DT - 97 Phillips 92 Blackson
Linebackers
OLB - 55 C Jones 49 Fitts 45 Gardeck
ILB - ..59 Campbell 48 Simmons 47 Z Turner
ILB - 58 Hicks 51 Vallejo
OLB - 42 Kennard 43 Reddick
Defensive Backs
CB - 21 P Peterson...27 K Peterson
CB - 20 Kirkpatrick 33 Murphy Jr
S - 38 Banjo...28 C Washington
S - 32 Baker...35 D Thompson . 40 Tillman*
Matchup: Jets Passing Attack vs. Cardinal Pass Defense
Jets are expected to start Joe Flacco in place of the injured Sam Darnold. Although Flacco is considered less-active but morre experienced than Darnold. Buzz out of Jets Hq is that Flacco is expected to operate the current Jets offense (rather than installing a more Flacco-friendly play package.
Despite returning from injury, Mims is not expected to be re-activated for at least a week (but this is the MFL and "one never knows"). Perriman, Crowder, Hogan are the current Jet starters. The latter two along with TE's Herndon, Griffin and Wesco aren't exactly household words (but neither are the Cardinal TE's). The OL (also somewhat like the Cardinnals) is banged up. Their best lineman (Becton is not expected to suit up). Startinmg RB (Bell) , like Mims, should be re-activated from injury but probably won't be good-to-go for one or more contests.
This matchup has the eerie resemblance to Cards vs. Panthers with Cardinal defenders matched up against a bunch of Jet unknowns (and we all know how that worked out).
Key Matchups - Perriman vs. P Peterson...Jets OL vs. C Jones, Kennard. Herndon vs. Campbell. (Expect Cards to attempt to "hide" their thin group of safeties).
Matchup: Jets Rushing Attack vs. Cardinal Run Defense
Bell shoud be eligble to come off the injured list, but may be held out of action "until he's ready" according to Gates. Backup RBs include (old Cardinal nemises) Gore and Perine.
Cards are thin at safety...Status of Budda Baker (thumb surgery) remains iffy
Key Matchups
Gore vs. Hicks. Jets OL vs. Cards Front 7.
Matchup: Cardinal Passing Attack vs. Jets Pass Defense
Kyler Murray remains in that "Goldilocks" zone (where when he's good, he's All World and when he's not, he's Near-Horrid. A more accurate assessment might be that, as a young QB, Murray is predictably "unpredictable" - at the very least, other teams may have figured out and he'll have to make re-adjustments to their re-ajustments
Hopkins has been pretty much good as advertised, but the expected Murray-to-Fitzgerald mainliner just hasn't happened 4 weeks into the season. can be trusted, butis more steady than explosive. Surprise of the season may turn out to be the Cards's TE (Arnold).
Card OL has, at best, been injury-plagued and up and down. They'll have to neutralize a Jets pass rush featuring DT Quincy Williams. Their CB (Desi) had a pick-six TD last week
Key Matchups:
q Williams vs. Humphries....Hopkins vs. Desir...Fitz vs. Austin....Arnold vs. McDougald.....
Matchup: Cardinal Running Attack vs. Jets Run Defense
Drake seems to be suffering from "David Johnson Disease" (i.e. he does good, the Cards roll the dice on Kenyan's expected production...and then he "disappears").
Look for the Jets to attempt to neutralize the Cardinal running game and "make Murray beat them."
Key Matchups
Drake vs. Q Williams....Jets Front 7 vs. Card OL.
Special Teams
Panther Special Teams
K .04Slye
P .....03 Charlton
LS 44 Jansen
KR 32 A Davis
PR 10 Berrios
Cardinals Special Teams
P - ...02 Lee
K- ....05 Gonzalez
H - ...02 Lee
LS - 46 Brewer
KR -29 Edmonds
PR - 17 Isabella
Matchup Jets Special Teams vs. Cardinal Special Teams
I'd give a slight edge to Lee and Gonzalez over Slye and Charlton
Although Edmonds and Isabella haven't done anything spectacular yet, they both seem on the verge of ighting things up. Jets returners Davis and Berrios have potential, but we prefer Isabella and Edmonds.
Key Matchups
See above
Grading the Jets: F's everywhere except for special teams
Based on Piece by By Al Iannazzone of Newsday
OFFENSE - GRADE: F
Sam Darnold had a highlight 46-yard touchdown run on the first series of the game that gave the Jets their first lead of the season. Not much to talk about after that. They moved the ball and got in the red zone four times, but they settled for field goals each time. ... The offensive line didn’t protect Darnold at all. He was sacked six times by a defense that doesn’t have Von Miller...By the way, has anyone seen Chris Herndon?
DEFENSE - GRADE: F
The Jets have been undisciplined and prone to giving up big plays. Gregg Williams' defense was called for six personal fouls, and it cost them the game. ...In all, the defense committed eight penalties for 93 yards. They never sacked Rypien despite a beat-up Broncos offensive line. ...They also let Rypien pick them apart - The Denver QB focused on cornerback Pierre Desir, who gave up two touchdowns, including a 48-yard score by rookie Jerry Jeudy... Broncos had four plays of 31 yards or more.
SPECIAL TEAMS - GRADE: B+
Sam Ficken for MVP. The Jets kicker made all five of his field-goal tries and gave the Jets the lead late in the game.
COACHING - GRADE: F
Once again, this all falls on Adam Gase and G Williams. The defense has been so undisciplined to the point that it’s embarrassing. Gase’s offense also is embarrassing - The play-calling continues to be too conservative and predictable.
Last Word
Two ways to view this contest - (1) Jets look uncannilly like the Panthers and could embarrass the Cardinals the way Carolins did - or (2) Cards learned from their mistakes vs. the Panthers and will keep their pedal to the medal in the Big Apple Sunday. |
