In a game that no team looked like they wanted to win, it was the Jets that ultimately pulled it out with a 16-10 win over the Steelers.
Winning ugly is better than losing, but the Jets’ offense is becoming a real concern. After driving down the field on the first drive of the game, New York’s offense went ice cold. Luckily, the Jets’ defense shut out the Steelers offense in the second half that carried them to a victory.
Let’s take a look at some takeaways from the Jets’ sixth win of the season.
Defense responded well after beatdown in Baltimore
The Jets defense was torched by Lamar Jackson and company last week in Baltimore, but bounced back quite nicely this week.
Devlin Hodges and Mason Rudolph are no Jackson, but New York’s defense did everything right on Sunday. They got to the quarterback with four sacks and forced two takeaways after only forcing one in their last three games. The Jets also got off the field well on third down, only allowing the Steelers to convert three times.
Gregg Williams continues to show why he is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. This defense has been decimated by injuries all year long and are still able to give opposing offenses trouble.
Offense didn’t show up
Adam Gase was brought in as the head man to elevate this offense, but it seems to be taking steps backward.
The Jets looked great on the first drive of the game, going 75 yards down the field for a touchdown. After that, it got ugly.
The offense had 10 more drives for the rest of the game in which seven of them resulted in punts, one in a turnover and two field goals. Meanwhile, third down was a disaster once again as the Jets were 4-14. Sam Darnold didn’t do much as he was 16-26 for 183 yards and a touchdown. Le’Veon Bell was quiet with 72 yards on 25 carries.
This offense is banking on the defense bailing them out and failing to put their foot down on opposing teams. While it worked on Sunday against the Steelers, it can’t be the blueprint for success going forward.
Sam Ficken was spectacular
Kicking has been a problem for the Jets this season, but for at least one day they didn’t have worry about it.
Sam Ficken was a perfect 3-3 on field-goal attempts, including a career-long 54-yard kick. He also hit his lone extra-point attempt. Ficken was responsible for 10 of the Jets’ 16 points, which is not what you typically want, but he was the main reason the Jets won.
Say what you want about Ficken, but over his last five games, he has kicked well. He is 10-12 on field-goal attempts in his last five games, including a game-winner against the Dolphins.
An accomplishment to be 6-9 given all the injuries
The fact that the Jets have won six games this season given the state of the roster is a miracle.
The Jets have lost so many players on both sides of the ball, but have still been able to win games. They’ve basically pulled guys off the streets to fill in for them. While it’s not where the Jets expected to be this season, just imagine if they were healthy. Six wins are actually the most wins the Jets have had since 2015.
This season could’ve been a lot different hadn’t the Jets not suffered the injuries they did. Injuries aren’t an excuse to be bad, but in this case, the Jets should be proud of what they’ve had to overcome.
