The Jets finally looked like a complete team in their Week 11 win. Yes, it was against the anemic Redskins with a rookie quarterback and bad secondary, but the Jets still executed brilliantly amid a lost season.
The offense looked unstoppable behind Sam Darnold’s career-high four passing touchdowns and Jamal Adams fueled a dominant defense that held the Redskins to three points before two garbage-time touchdowns late in the game.
It was a total team effort by the Jets to grab their third victory of the season. Though they won’t take the glory, here are five unsung heroes from the Week 11 win.
RB Bilal Powell
The Jets finally rushed for more than 100 yards in a game thanks to the play of Bilal Powell. The veteran rusher tallied 42 yards on only seven rushes with a healthy six yards per attempt. He spelled Le’Veon Bell on 16 snaps but provided a crucial spark to the offense early in the game.
Early in the second quarter, Powell rushed for 37 yards combined on three consecutive plays to push the Jets into the red zone. Sam Darnold hit Robby Anderson six plays later to put the Jets up 13-0.
Adam Gase mentioned his desire to lessen Bell’s workload to keep him fresh and keep defenses guessing. Powell – and Ty Montgomery – should be more involved down the stretch and can help make the Jets offense much more dynamic.
CB Bless Austin
The sixth-round rookie had another nice game for the Jets. He allowed five catches for 45 yards on eight targets against Washington, per Next Gen Stats/ That included a great pass breakup on third-and-long.
Austin is playing well despite his youth, inexperience and draft slot. The Jets will continue to give him starter snaps as long as he plays at this level, and he could become a nice draft steal for the future of Gregg Williams’ defense.
DL Nathan Shepherd
Shepherd seems like he’s figuring things out after another great game. The second-year defensive lineman tallied his second career sack, and it was an important one. Shepherd notched it on third down with the Redskins sitting at the Jets’ 11-yard-line following an interception by Darnold earlier in the quarter. The sack forced the Redskins to kick a field goal instead of potentially drawing within one score of the Jets’ lead.
He only played 18 snaps, but Shepherd chipped in with three combined tackles, including a couple of solid run-stuffing tackles for no gain. He’s now strung together back-to-back solid performances and could have finally turned the corner in his development.
WR Demaryius Thomas
Jamison Crowder, Robby Anderson, Ryan Griffin and Daniel Brown were the recipients of Darnold’s touchdowns, but Thomas provided some key receptions on those scoring drives.
Two of his four receptions went for first downs and another set the Jets up with third-and-short. He caught four of his five targets for 44 yards and looks a lot more comfortable working with Darnold and Gase again.
LB Neville Hewitt
Jamal Adams leads the Jets in every defensive statistical except interceptions. That honor belongs to Neville Hewitt, who grabbed his second interception of the season. Hewitt picked off Dwayne Haskins early in the fourth quarter to set the Jets up for another touchdown, which pushed the lead to 34-3.
Hewitt returned after missing four games with a neck injury and played well. He finished tied for third on the team with five combined tackles and his only blemish was in coverage on a pass to wideout Terry McLaurin that didn’t end up counting.
