Three Things Learned from the Jets in Week 14
It was a gut-wrenching win, but one that showed that there is no quit in the New York Jets, who beat the Miami Dolphins 22-21 in Week 14.
With the win, the Jets bounced back from last week’s lackluster loss at the then winless Cincinnati Bengals and improved their record to 5-8. Their also showed some guts in coming back after their offense went cold in the second half.
Three Things We Learned from the Jets in Week 14
That Darnold Quarterback – A Sam Darnold interception with 7:36 left in the third quarter was set to be the narrative from Sunday’s game, a bad throw that was simply ill-advised. Instead, Darnold re-wrote that storyline and orchestrated two scoring drives late in the game to wrestle the lead away from the Dolphins.
The final drive went seven plays and 49 yards in 1:33 to set-up a 44-yard field from kicker Sam Ficken.
In that drive, where he also took a bad sack, Darnold showed the growth and development that will define this season for the Jets. That Darnold has shown progress as well as significant growth in recent weeks makes the ups and many downs of this year worthwhile for the Jets.
And on Sunday, twice coming back late in the game to take the lead showed that Darnold has the pieces coming together to solidify the quarterback position for the Jets.
Powell Power – With Le’Veon Bell missing the game due to an illness, the bell cow duties for the Jets fell to Bilal Powell.
Underused this season and under-appreciated the entirety of his career with the Jets, Powell had a solid game. Despite a bad drop in the first quarter, Powell was consistent in his running with 19 carries for 74 yards.
In addition, he had two receptions for 14 yards.
Powell showed that his consistent running style – his longest run of the game was just 11 yards – as well as patience to wait for holes to develop make him an asset in the ground game. That is no knock on Bell, who has churned out tough yardage this year but Powell is clearly not being utilized enough in this offense.
Fitz-tragic – The return of Ryan Fitzpatrick to MetLife Stadium – he was once the quarterback of the Jets – didn’t go as well as Fitzmagic would have hoped. The loss was difficult as was his first half interception.
And while he finished with a respectable afternoon, 245 passing yards and another 45 yards rushing, Fitzpatrick didn’t have a passing touchdown after throwing three touchdowns in the Week 9 win over the Jets. And there was that interception that led to Jets points.
The Jets did a good job in bringing pressure on the now Miami quarterback, collapsing the pocket and hitting Fitzpatrick 12 times.
