Grading the Jets' Week 5 win over the Cleveland Browns
Jets wide receiver Isaiah Williams runs with the ball during a game against the Cleveland Browns at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Ed Murray
OFFENSE
After starting the game with an impressive touchdown drive, the Jets didn’t score another point until the fourth quarter, and their only other touchdown came on a short-field drive of 23 yards after the Browns messed up their punt. They took four sacks and way too many negative runs. They fumbled four times, losing two. But they did enough to win. Braelon Allen had a career-high 116 rushing yards and that fourth-quarter TD. Garrett Wilson had seven catches for 104 yards and a 32-yard score.
Grade: C
DEFENSE
Allowing one touchdown drive all game is a pretty solid effort. David Bailey’s three sacks were the headliner, but the Jets had eight of them as a team. When 315-pound rookie defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. has as many passes defended as anyone else on the team (two on back-to-back batted throws) it’s a good day up front. Jarvis Brownlee Jr. had one of his most active games as a Jet, blitzing regularly and recording his first career sack. The Browns had just three possessions that lasted more than five snaps. The biggest stop was after the Geno Smith fumble late in the fourth; the Jets forced a three-and-out to set up the punting miscue that led to the winning touchdown.
Grade: B+
SPECIAL TEAMS
If we were comparing the Jets to the Browns, they would get an A-quadrulple-plus just for being functional. They didn’t play much of a role in the two decisive plays by the units – a missed Browns extra point and a high snap that went through the hands of punter Corey Bojorquez in the fourth quarter -- but Trevin Wallace gets the stat for the fumble recovery on the latter. Jason Sanders, who had been shaky earlier this season, connected on a 54-yard field goal that proved important, driving the ball low and long. Isaiah Williams had a 36-yard kickoff return and a 20-yard punt return that brought some sparks to the soggy day in the second half.
Grade: A
COACHING
Aaron Glenn’s defensive play-calling continues to be strong, this time using nickel blitzes with Brownlee to create chaos in the pocket. He also very much has the pulse of the unit; giving them a walk-through rather than a full practice on Wednesday caught him some guff, but it paid off on Sunday. Offensively, the Jets still forget that they have Garrett Wilson on their team for long stretches of play. After targeting him four times on the opening drive, he saw the ball just once more in the first half. They did turn to him for some important first downs in the fourth quarter, though. The penalties (10 for 102 yards) and fumbles need to be fixed.
Grade: B
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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