From Last Word on Pro Football, By John Jackson
The New York Jets defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-31 on Thursday Night Football. The Jets looked good after losing a one-point game on Sunday at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Jets showed a few things during prime time as the rest of the football world watched. The following are the Jets week two takeaways.
New York Jets Week Two Takeaways
The Wide Receiver Duo is Now a Trio
The Jets wide receiver duo of Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker is alive and well. Marshall had an early scare as his knee looked to be injured after a facemask. What looked like a serious injury was apparently nothing as he came back on the field and performed even better.
Both players did not play like their usual selves last week. Decker did have a touchdown, but only 37 yards. Marshall didn’t have a touchdown and only had 32 yards. This week they combined for 227 yards and one touchdown. Both receivers had over 100 yards on the night.
Quincy Enunwa, who had a terrific game last week, picked up where he left off. He had 92 yards on the night. Enunwa now has 146 yards and one touchdown on the season as the third receiver. He is almost halfway to the 315 yards he had last season in 12 games. His one touchdown is already more than what he had all of last year as well. It’s still too early to say for certain, but after decent play last season in limited time, it looks like Enunwa has taken the next step in his career and turned this wide receiver duo into a trio.
The Secondary Suffered
The secondary performed poorly in this game. Tyrod Taylor was able to throw for 297 yards and three touchdowns on 18 completions. The biggest play came off an 84-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to Marquise Goodwin under coverage from Darrelle Revis. This is a week after Revis got torched by A.J. Green. This is putting a lot of doubt around Revis on whether he can play like his dominant self. Just like it’s still too early to tell if Enunwa will be a dominant wide receiver, it’s still too early to tell if Revis is no longer a dominant cornerback. However, while Enunwa’s stock is rising, Revis’ is currently dropping. On the bright side, he did almost have a pick on another long attempt by Taylor.
Taylor was also able to throw downfield for a 71-yard touchdown pass to former Jet Greg Salas. The touchdown was the first of his career. Throughout the whole game the secondary had trouble with the long ball.
Matt Forte Continues to be the Jets MVP
The Jets running game in preseason proved one thing: the Jets rushing success relies solely upon Matt Forte. The top five Jets running backs (not including Forte) combined for 180 yards and one touchdown throughout all four preseason games. That was only preseason, but it shows the Jets lack true depth. Forte in two regular season games has rushed for 196 yards and three touchdowns. He has also added 68 yards on seven receptions.
That is not a knock on Bilal Powell who is a good number two running back. The point is however, few running backs could replace what Matt Forte has contributed so far this season.
The Jets Had No Sacks
It is hard to imagine before this game started that the Jets would finish it with no sacks. Last week they sacked Andy Dalton seven times. That was more times than he has been sacked in his entire career.
Even though the Jets defense had no sacks, it doesn’t appear too alarming. The Bills offensive line, led by Richie Incognito, performed extremely well. The Bills couldn’t get much of a running game going as LeSean McCoy had 59 yards and the Bills quarterbacks combined for an additional 27 yards. The defensive line had a decent game without racking up the flashy sack stats.
