Let Mike White cook. That’s what Jets nation has called for following the backup quarterback’s stunning performance Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
The QB stepped in for Zach Wilson and set the football world on fire with a 34-31 upset win over the Cincinnati Bengals. White finished the game 37-of-45 (82.2 completion %) for 405 yards passing, with three touchdowns and two interceptions and a passer rating of 108.
He did a good job making pre-snap reads and was able to execute with decisive throws. And he rarely looked confused. He consistently took what the defense gave him — his time to throw averaged 2.49 seconds, according to Next Gen Stats.
The Bengals played a plethora of zone coverage against White and took advantage of it, which limited White to short passes. He was 24-of-28 on passes that ranged from zero to nine yards. He also collected 263 passing yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a passer rating of 114 in that range.
“When you see zone and two high zone specifically, they try not to let anything behind them,” White said on Monday. “So you got to get into those zones quickly before they’re expanding so you can get the ball in [the receivers] hands. And they can get up the field quick and that’s when those five yard completions turned into seven, eight.”
White’s ball placement got his weapons in space which is why they had 280 yards after catches.
This started early.
Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur changed his tendency to ease his quarterback into the game. Through Wilson’s first six starts, the Jets ran the ball 16 times on first down and threw it only six times in first quarters, per Next Gen Stats. It was extremely predictable.
So LaFleur threw caution to the wind and did a better job of establishing White’s good rhythm from the jump. White went 7-of-7 for 65 yards on the first drive. And that aggressiveness caught the Bengals off guard, since the Jets had a pattern of being more run-reliant in the first quarter this season.
“Mike came to me on Saturday and called me and said he was going to let it rip to start the game,” White said postgame. “He thought that with a backup getting his first start, they would be tight and not let us run the ball, so I think that was awesome.”
Once White was comfortable, it was curtains for the Bengals defense. White compared his performance to a three-point shooter trying to get into a rhythm by taking layups.
“As a quarterback, you’re seeing the ball completed and you’re moving the chains. Whether it’s five yards, six yards, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a 20-yard throw to start the game,” White said. “It helps get the offense in a rhythm, it helps the guys kind of calm down and things of that nature. So, I think that’s what I personally like to do is just get it out and get the guys going, get [Jamison] Crowder a feel for the game, get [Denzel] Mims, get Keelan [Cole], get Michael Carter, Ty [Johnson], get them in the game and get them a feel for it so the first time they catch it isn’t in the second quarter on a third down.”
But there’s more.
In six games, Wilson had 25 total passes in the first quarter. On Sunday, White had 14 against the Bengals. White went 12-of-14 for 99 yards with two interceptions, both of which bounced off his intended targets.
The Jets also threw the ball on first down 23 times. White completed 18 of those throws for 172 yards. The most Wilson has thrown on first down in a game was 14 times, against the Broncos and Titans.
The Jets passing attack has a tall order ahead of them: keeping the momentum going on a short week into their Week 9 game against the Indianapolis Colts (3-5), whose defense has allowed just 22 points per game, 14th best in the NFL.
Fortunately for White, opposing offenses have had success against the Colts defense in the short passing game — they have allowed quarterbacks to throw for 902 yards (seventh most in NFL) with nine touchdowns.
So White might just be cooking again on Thursday.
