Do you know what the biggest story was coming to the Monday Night Football premier matchup between New York Jets and the Detroit Lions? The fact that rookie quarterback Sam Darnold came into Detroit as the youngest quarterback to start a season-opening game in NFL History, at 21 years and 97 days old, breaking the record set by former New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe in 1993. I’ll admit; the media’s attention on Darnold is expected. The third overall pick of the 2018 draft was regarded as the top passer in the draft, and the only one to earn a starting nod for the 2018 season. Many were aching in anticipation of how he was going to do. Will he turnover the ball constantly? Will he get eaten alive by the Lions defense?
Well, not only did Darnold play well against the Lions, he was downright surgical. But he was not the one with a stand out performance in a 48-17 thrashing win for Gang Green in the Lions’ Den. From a rejuvenated, dominating defense, a ground-and-pound running game, to some exceptional special teams play, the Jets had everything go right for them within in every facet of the game.
As for the Lions, a struggling Matthew Stafford that was consistently under pressure, mixed with a non-existent running game and a defense whose picture is probably on the back of a milk carton with the word “MISSING” printed in big black letters, they were mauled in their own habitat, getting to the point where fans started booing and leaving the Ford field by the third quarter. Let’s break it down;
The Lions still lack at running back
During the offseason`, the Lions did all they could to address their issues with the running game. Picking up back-to-back Super Bowl Champion LeGarrette Blount in free agency, along with drafting the SEC Offensive Player of the Year in Kerryon Johnson in the second round of this year’s draft, PLUS retaining both Theo Riddick and Ameer Abdulla were all done in an effort to bring back a running game that hasn’t been seen since Reggie Bush was a 1,000 yard rusher in 2013.
And what do the Lions have to show for it? 15 carries for 39 total rushing yards with six players attempting to rush. Blount, their starting back, recorded negative three total rushing yards on four carries, before coming out with an injury.
Lions caught “2017 Los Angeles Chargers” disease at kicker.
Only five kicking specialists are in the NFL hall of fame; four are placekickers, while the fifth is a punter (shout out to Ray Guy). Is it fair to say that Lions kicker Matt Prater has a chance to be enshrined in Canton like the five kicking specialists that were just mentioned a sentence ago? Maybe. Prater does hold the NFL record for the longest field goal ever at 64-yards, along with an 83.4 field goal conversion percentage, good for 21st place in NFL history books. But after the performance he had against the Jets, consider those chances long gone. Prater was one for three on field goal attempts, missing from 56 and 44 yards out. How far was the only one he made? 21 yards. That’s less than a modern-day extra point attempt (33 yards), of which he made two of.
Last year, the Los Angeles Chargers were 20/30 on total field goal attempts with four different kickers. We’re not saying that the Lions could be facing a similar situation with Prater, but they might want to give a call to Roberto Aguayo.
Golladay; Mini-Megatron?
Last year’s third-round pick Kenny Golladay gave little hints of his playmaking abilities last year for the Lions, recording just 477 yards on 28 catches for three touchdowns. Against the self-named “New Jack City” secondary for the New York Jets, Golladay carved out 114 yards on seven catches. But Gollaway’s best play of the game didn’t come as a wide receiver but as a tackler.
On a slant pass from Stafford intended for Marvin Jones, cornerback Trumaine Johnson jumped the route, picked Stafford’s pass like an apple off a tree, and ran it back for 10 yards before Golladay came in with a blow so hard, it made Johnson fumble, which was then recovered by Golladay! It’s hard not to think somewhere up in the heavens, Sean Taylor is smiling down on the young wideout. Maybe Golladay has a future playing on both sides of the field, similar to how football was played prior to the Super Bowl era (Slingin’ Sammy Baugh, anyone?)
Stafford Struggling in Stride
A confusing title for this segment, right? Let’s break it down like this; for all intents and purposes, Matthew Stafford had a terrible night against the Jets defense. A 58 percent passing completion percentage (try saying that five times fast) for one touchdown and four interceptions is not ideal for a quarterback of Stafford’s caliber. But if you peel back the numbers for a second and actually watch Stafford play, one would think he was Aaron Rodgers from Sunday night’s game against the Chicago Bears.
In the second quarter, Stafford went down an apparent knee injury in his own end zone, but he didn’t let that stop him from playing. Instead, like Rodgers, Stafford battled through it, throwing for 286 yards, rushing for six yards, and completing a 24-yard catch-and-go touchdown pass to Golden Tate to start the second half.
Stafford did go down at a second time, requiring back up Matt Cassel to step in for one series (more on that in a bit), but after that, Stafford came right back out and did what he could to get the Lions defense going. Ultimately, it was all for naught.
Sam Darnold comes as advertised
Ok, let’s first get this out of the way;
Sam Darnold’s first career pass went to Lions cornerback Quandre Diggs for a pick-six. It was a designed roll-out to the right meant to trick the secondary so that Darnold could have enough space and time to float a cross-body pass over to Bilal Powell, who was running a wheel route. Give credit to Diggs where it’s due; he made a phenomenal read on the rookie quarterback’s body language and followed Darnold’s eyes for the easy pickings. At that point, Jets fans across the nation collectively sighed and said “same ol’ Jets,” either out loud or in their heads.
How did Darnold respond?
On his third drive of the game, Darnold led a five-play, 32-yard scoring drive that ended with a six-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Crowell.
Later in the quarter, Darnold stood confidently in the pocket, waiting for his wideout Robby Anderson to run past two defenders to sling a 41-yard bomb for Darnold’s first career touchdown pass.
While the passing yardage is a bit pedestrian (198 yards through the air), a 78 percent completion percentage is just absolutely elite. Darnold was throwing well on the run from both sides, hitting with deadly precision from just about anywhere on the field.
And this was against a secondary that had a premier corner on the Lions’ roster in Darius Slay. Of course, it also helped to have an effective running game for Darnold to fall back on, especially when the could make plays like this;
AFC East beware (except the Patriots, let’s be realistic here).
The Return of Enunwa
The return of wideout Quincy Enunwa was one that was quietly anticipated by Jets fans. After posting career highs in receiving yards (857), receptions (58) and touchdowns (4) in 2016, Enunwa suffered a neck injury in 2017 training camp that resulted in bulging discs in his neck, requiring season-ending surgery. After a year off the field, Enunwa made his comeback to the game, and he did not disappoint.
Funny, where have we seen this before? Hmmm…
Oh, yeah. The Jets are getting a tight end in the body of a wide receiver with Enunwa. Big in stature with a knack for taking defenders head-on as a ball carrier makes him a valuable asset for the Jets, and a great security blanket for Darnold.
That Return Game though
During the 2018 Preseason, there were some major concerns about Gang Green’s special teams unit. The last time the Jets took a punt to the house was in 2012, and in terms of punt coverage, well…
During that game, rookie running back Trent Cannon fumbled on a kickoff return and muffed two punts. This meant that the punt-return job was solely in the grasp of return man veteran Andre Roberts.
It’s crazy to think that Roberts was close to losing the starting job to a rookie running back that didn’t even know how to catch a punt correctly, let alone run one back for a 79-yard score. This wasn’t the only major return by Roberts for the night, as he averaged 21.8 punt return yards per attempt, but it was the only one that ended with a touchdown. Not everything can be a big play, you know. Speaking of big plays…
“New Jack City” has arrived!
There were so many impressive moments and players in this game, it is hard to just pick one out from the rest. So let’s choose more than one;
– Undrafted rookie linebacker Frankie Luvu was just brought in from the practice squad to fill in for Josh Martin, who was inactive today with a concussion. Aside from a well-timed pass deflection, Luvu had only three tackles on the day, so why put him on here? Just to show that hard work and determination can get you anywhere in life, even in playing linebacker at the pro level. Learn well from this, kids!
– Big things were expected out of third-year linebacker Darron Lee for the 2018 season. Despite having a less than stellar Preseason, Todd Bowles emphasized that Lee would have a major leadership role for the Jets defense, alongside free-agent acquisition Avery Williamson. Did Lee prove Bowles right? See for yourself;
Still not convinced? How about this;
Along with seven tackles and three pass deflections, it’s fair to say that Darron Lee has arrived.
– There was not a single member of the Jets secondary that didn’t do their jobs well Monday night. Safety Doug Middleton did a phenomenal job filling in for an injured Marcus Maye, racking up 7 tackles and a crucial pass deflection against Golden Tate. Morris Claiborne made a spectacular jump ball interception between Stafford and Jones on a vertical route.
Trumaine Johnson recorded his first interception as a Jet after jumping a slant route intended for Jones (see earlier section above for that play). And finally, Jamal Adams, last year’s first-round pick that didn’t record a single interception last year, picked off Matt Cassel off a deflected pass for his first career interception.
The Diverse Review 