The New York Jets made it three wins in a row, as they steamrolled past the Oakland Raiders, 34-3. Adam Gase's team totally outclassed Oakland, making them look like they did not belong on the same field. The Jets reached the 400 yard mark of total offense for the second week in a row, while the defense limited Oakland to only 208 yards and 10 first downs. QB Sam Darnold had yet another impressive performance, completing 20 of 29, 315 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. He also ran for a score in the second quarter.
Unlike the previous two wins that came against some of the worst teams in the league, today's domination was against a legitimate playoff contender, who was expected to bring various problems for the young Jets team. The Gang Green's league leading run defense was expected to be tested against 9th best run offense in the NFL. Well, they passed the test with flying colors, limiting the Raiders to only 68 yards on the ground.
Oakland's quarterback Derek Carr had the Jets' number in the last two meetings between the teams, throwing seven touchdown passes and no interceptions. Today he was limited to only 127 passing yards, no touchdowns and a pick six that sealed the deal for the Gang Green in the 3rd quarter. Gregg Williams' unit also held the Raiders to 33% conversion rate on third downs.
Darnold, however, was the true star of this contest. He played a pretty much mistake free game. His only mishap was when he held onto the ball for way too long and got sacked for a big loss. But the questionable roughing the passer penalty on that play gifted the Jets a first down anyway. Other than that, Darnold looked like a very mature signal caller who demonstrated much improved pocket awareness and poise to avoid the rush. Gotta give credit to the offensive line here as well. Despite losing yet another player, this unit was giving Darnold plenty of time to throw on pretty much every passing down and gave up just one sack.
It was also good to see players like LB James Burgess (led the team with 9 total tackles and a pass defense) and CB Arthur Maulet (3 tackles for loss) step up and deliver on defense. WR Braxton Berrios impressed as well. First, it was his 26-yard punt return in the second quarter. Then, as the 3rd quarter began, Berrios caught a pass from Darnold and took it all the way to the Raiders' one yard line for 69 yards. On the ensuing play Darnold connected with his favorite target, TE Ryan Griffin, extending the lead to 20-3.
S Jamal Adams had 7 tackles (5 solo) and shared a sack with LB Brandon Copeland. Adams now has 6.5 sacks this season and needs 1.5 sacks to tie the league record for defensive backs.
The only disappointment on defense was rookie DT Quinnen Williams. He barely saw any action till garbage time late in the fourth quarter and finished with an assist on one tackle. He was replaced by DT Nathan Shepherd for the most part of the game.
Next Sunday the Jets will have a chance to extend their winning streak to four in a row, as they take on the winless Cincinnati Bengals (0-11). The Jets are favored by 3.5 points in the early betting lines.