What Made Darren Waller's Record-Setting Performance Possible Against Jets?
Don't let the Raiders' game-winning score and the Jets' epic collapse on Sunday distract you from Darren Waller's record-setting performance.
Las Vegas' tight end set a new career-high with 200 yards on 13 catches in the 31-28 win over New York. He was targeted 17 times, hauling in two touchdowns.
It wasn't just a memorable day for Waller, it was historic. The former sixth-rounder became just the fourth tight end in NFL history with 200 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions in a single game.
"He’s just a really good player," Gase said in a Zoom call with reporters following the heartbreaking loss. "It’s hard for us to match up with him. We were trying to find ways to get multiple guys on him through some of the zones, but they were finding him. That’s his guy, that’s [quarterback Derek] Carr’s guy to begin with. It was really tough to take him completely away."
For the winless Jets, Waller isn't the first receiver to dominate New York's young secondary. In fact, an opposing receiver or tight end has had 100-plus receiving yards in each of the Jets' last six games.
That includes New England's Jakobi Meyers racking up 169 yards in Week 9, as well as Los Angeles' Keenan Allen going for 145 two weeks later.
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Waller was all over the field on Sunday. Rookie defensive backs Bryce Hall and Ashtyn Davis as well as linebackers Harvey Langi and Neville Hewitt did their best to contain him in coverage throughout the game, but it didn't matter who Waller was lined up against. Nor did it matter which part of the field Waller and Carr were working with.
Seemingly every single time Las Vegas needed a boost on offense, whether it was first down in the first half or a clutch third down in crunch time, Carr would connect with his tight end.
Henry Ruggs III may have been on the receiving end of Las Vegas' dramatic go-ahead score to clinch the victory, but the Raiders don't have a chance for that play if it wasn't for Waller's 15-yard snag over the middle on the very first play of their 30-second drive.
"He got a lot of targets, I mean we knew he was a great player," safety Marcus Maye said on Sunday. "Great tight end. For the most part we knew that he was going to get the ball a lot. I feel like we did a pretty decent job other than that one touchdown he got. He's a great player so he's going to give his."
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The score Maye was referring to came at the very end of the first half. Waller caught a pass in the flat and immediately broke free from Hall toward the far sideline. After a juke to get past Maye moments later, Waller scampered into the end zone for a 38-yard touchdown.
New York's defensive backs have struggled mightily in containingg opposing aerial attacks this season. While it's been invaluable experience for rookies and young members of this defensive unit to get in-game reps, it's also left New York susceptible to massive performances like Waller's week after week. Only the Seattle Seahawks (the Jets' opponent in Week 14) allow more passing yards per game than New York.
If there's any way to prevent opponents from putting up Waller-like numbers over the remaining four games of the season, it starts with putting pressure on the quarterback. New York had two sacks on Sunday, but relying on the youngsters in the secondary to hold down a team's top weapon while their quarterback stands comfortably in the pocket is a recipe for disaster.
"We just got to get to the quarterback faster and help everybody out," veteran linebacker Jordan Jenkins said on Sunday.
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