Five Jets to keep an eye on as the Green & White greet the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their final home game of the season at MetLife Stadium on Sunday:
WR Jamison Crowder — Crowder's calf kept him out of Jacksonville and limited Zach Wilson to just seven wideout connections (five of those with Braxton Berrios). So the Jets turned to their ground game and it was enough to carry them to victory. That could be effective again — the Jaguars and Bucs run defenses are both allowing 4.2 yards/carry — but it would be great have more options in the passing game off of play-action, especially with rookie WR Elijah Moore still possibly out with his quad injury and with tight end decimated by injury and COVID. Crowder has missed four games this season, yet still leads the Jets with 50 receptions and tops the wideouts with 531 offensive snaps..
C Dan Feeney — The OL was beset by more adversity, with C Connor McGovern's knee injury vs. the Jaguars sending him to IR. Feeney and his mullet took over and looked right at home. And why wouldn't they? Feeney tied for the NFL lead in offensive plays in 2020, taking every one of the Chargers' snaps that season — all at center. And from 2018-20, he was 15th on the NFL's offensive snaps list for all positions. Dude's been around the block. Another plus: Last week Feeney played all 58 plays, the first 51 at LG, the last 7 at C, in a game in which the Jets averaged 7.6 yards/carry and gave up one Zach sack. Still, keep an eye on No. 67 to make sure he gets all his snaps into Wilson's hands and leads the line against a Bucs front that will may missing top sacker Shaq Barrett and one of their top defenders in Lavonte David.
Safeties Ashtyn Davis and Elijah Riley — The Jets' safety position has been under the gun all season, but HC Robert Saleh, DC Jeff Ulbrich and safeties coach Marquand Manuel along with the players available have held it together. This week, Davis could return from the COVID protocols and Riley, off his concussion of two weeks ago, is practicing full. If one or the other can't go, rookie CB convert Jason Pinnock and Will Parks will step in. The position is key because Tom Brady leads NFL passers in attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns, and Rob Gronkowski, while not the league's most dangerous TE anymore, is still productive with 41 catches, 550 yards and six TDs. If the newly returned John Franklin-Myers can bring pressure on Brady, it will be up to the Jets safeties to take advantage of that and limit the damage that
WR/KR Braxton Berrios — We'll roll with Berrios for a second week as a Jet in the spotlight. He's become a go-to, chain-moving wideout for Wilson, but equally important is his Pro Bowl-caliber returning. His TD runback vs. the Jags helped lift his NFL-leading KO return average to 30.7. Want more? The Bucs can only kick it over Berrios' head but if they direct their KOs to Tevin Coleman, Teco is averaging 28.8 yards/return himself and the Jets are the No. 1 return team in the league. More still? Tampa's coverage team is ranked 30th, just above Jacksonville's 31st, allowing 27.1 yards/return. Along with Brax's punt returning and other factors that we'll note in Saturday's Inside the Numbers, the Jets' plus12.3-yard field-position differential over the Jaguars was their best figure in the last three seasons.
WR Jamison Crowder — Crowder's calf kept him out of Jacksonville and limited Zach Wilson to just seven wideout connections (five of those with Braxton Berrios). So the Jets turned to their ground game and it was enough to carry them to victory. That could be effective again — the Jaguars and Bucs run defenses are both allowing 4.2 yards/carry — but it would be great have more options in the passing game off of play-action, especially with rookie WR Elijah Moore still possibly out with his quad injury and with tight end decimated by injury and COVID. Crowder has missed four games this season, yet still leads the Jets with 50 receptions and tops the wideouts with 531 offensive snaps..
C Dan Feeney — The OL was beset by more adversity, with C Connor McGovern's knee injury vs. the Jaguars sending him to IR. Feeney and his mullet took over and looked right at home. And why wouldn't they? Feeney tied for the NFL lead in offensive plays in 2020, taking every one of the Chargers' snaps that season — all at center. And from 2018-20, he was 15th on the NFL's offensive snaps list for all positions. Dude's been around the block. Another plus: Last week Feeney played all 58 plays, the first 51 at LG, the last 7 at C, in a game in which the Jets averaged 7.6 yards/carry and gave up one Zach sack. Still, keep an eye on No. 67 to make sure he gets all his snaps into Wilson's hands and leads the line against a Bucs front that will may missing top sacker Shaq Barrett and one of their top defenders in Lavonte David.
Safeties Ashtyn Davis and Elijah Riley — The Jets' safety position has been under the gun all season, but HC Robert Saleh, DC Jeff Ulbrich and safeties coach Marquand Manuel along with the players available have held it together. This week, Davis could return from the COVID protocols and Riley, off his concussion of two weeks ago, is practicing full. If one or the other can't go, rookie CB convert Jason Pinnock and Will Parks will step in. The position is key because Tom Brady leads NFL passers in attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns, and Rob Gronkowski, while not the league's most dangerous TE anymore, is still productive with 41 catches, 550 yards and six TDs. If the newly returned John Franklin-Myers can bring pressure on Brady, it will be up to the Jets safeties to take advantage of that and limit the damage that
WR/KR Braxton Berrios — We'll roll with Berrios for a second week as a Jet in the spotlight. He's become a go-to, chain-moving wideout for Wilson, but equally important is his Pro Bowl-caliber returning. His TD runback vs. the Jags helped lift his NFL-leading KO return average to 30.7. Want more? The Bucs can only kick it over Berrios' head but if they direct their KOs to Tevin Coleman, Teco is averaging 28.8 yards/return himself and the Jets are the No. 1 return team in the league. More still? Tampa's coverage team is ranked 30th, just above Jacksonville's 31st, allowing 27.1 yards/return. Along with Brax's punt returning and other factors that we'll note in Saturday's Inside the Numbers, the Jets' plus12.3-yard field-position differential over the Jaguars was their best figure in the last three seasons.
5 to Watch When the Jets Take On the Buccaneers Sunday at MetLife
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