Tag: Jamal Adams

Lack of energy, missed opportunities among takeaways from Jets’ loss to Bengals

Jets Wire breaks down the Jets’ Week 13 loss to the Bengals with four takeaways from the action.

The same old Jets are back.

Granted an ideal opportunity to make it four wins in a row against the winless Bengals, New York looked like the team that started the season 1-7 and gave Cincinnatti its first win of the season by a final score of 22-6 thanks to what was essentially a no-show performance.

The Jets can now say goodbye to any hope for a miraculous postseason push. They can also say goodbye to the momentum that seemingly had them trending in the right direction. Before putting this ugly loss in the rearview mirror, let’s take a look back at the action with four takeaways.

Typical Jets

David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Leave it to the Jets to lay an egg against the worst team in football after winning three games in a row.

New York had a prime opportunity to extend its winning streak to four against a winless Bengals squad, but fell flat on its face in Cincinnati. Maybe it was the dreary weather and nearly empty stadium that threw the Jets off. Maybe they simply got caught flat-footed by underestimating the Bengals and assuming they would lie down for them.

Either way, there’s no denying that Sunday’s performance was the latest example of the same old Jets coming out to play.

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Pressuring Andy Dalton among keys to Jets defense vs. Bengals

The Jets’ pass rush needs to continue playing well to keep the Bengals at bay.

Gregg Williams’ defense continues to impress and now they’ll have another chance to show off against the 0-11 Bengals and one of the worst scoring offenses in the league. Cincinnati ranks 31st in points with 14.3 and the Jets should feast on a team that also ranks top-five in giveaways (22) and sacks allowed (40). 

However, the Jets can’t overlook the lowly Bengals. Remember the last time the Jets faced a winless football team? They gave up 26 points and lost an embarrassing game against the Dolphins. The Bengals are objectively worse offensively than the Dolphins, but they’re starting a well-rested veteran quarterback in Andy Dalton and feature a dual-threat running back in Joe Mixon.

Here are four keys to the Jets defense against the Bengals.

(Tim Ireland-AP)

Pressure Andy Dalton

The Bengals offense might see a slight rejuvenation with Andy Dalton back under center, so the Jets should pressure him early in order to take away the passing threat. Despite the Bengals’ winless record, Dalton actually ranks seventh in the NFL with 281.5 passing yards per game and the Bengals have scored 17 or more points in six of his eight starts this season. The Bengals’ line is still a sieve, and the Jets should have no trouble getting to Dalton – especially with the pass rush playing as well as it has the past few weeks.

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Andy Dalton sees some Troy Polamalu in Jets’ Jamal Adams

Andy Dalton will see a version of Troy Polamalu over the weekend.

Andy Dalton’s first start during his second stint in the role this year won’t be an easy one.

Thank New York Jets budding star Jamal Adams.

For the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, Adams reminds him a bit of a guy named Troy Polamalu, as he told the media:

“With Troy, he was so smart and understood exactly what they were doing on defense and how offenses were trying to attack. Jamal is similar. He can start down (toward the line of scrimmage) and run out to the half (of the field he’s covering), and he can do all the different things that Troy did.”

Polamalu, of course, tormented the Bengals from 2003-2014 with the Steelers.

Adams, just 24, is clearly on his way to such heights. Over 11 games this year, he’s put up 63 total tackles, 6.5 sacks and 15 pressures and allowed just 15 completions on 27 targets.

As Dalton tries to go to work without A.J. Green again, he’ll have to hope a struggling offensive line can counter Adams’ creative pressures and otherwise always find him when he drops back to cover.

Like with Polamalu, easier said than done.

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Le’Veon Bell among 5 unsung heroes in Jets’ Week 12 win over Raiders

Le’Veon Bell didn’t fill the stat-sheet but his pass-catching skills were on full display against the Raiders.

The Jets made a statement on Sunday.

They didn’t just beat their first tough opponent in a month, a team with a legitimate shot at the postseason. No, they wallopped the Raiders, 34-3. It was another complete game where every facet of the Jets executed at the highest level. The offense scored on almost half of its drives and the defense held the Raiders to only 68 rushing yards and 209 total yards.

Sam Darnold, Jamal Adams and the usual suspects excelled, but players on the fringes of relevance performed admirably in the win. How did Darnold score three touchdowns? The blocking of the offensive line. How did the defense hold Josh Jacobs to a career-low rushing yard total? Penetration from the defensive line. The Jets hit on all cylinders against the Raiders and the result was magnificent.

Here are five unsung heroes from the game.

(Seth Wenig-AP)

CB Bless Austin

The sixth-round rookie once again stepped up to help hold Derek Carr and the Raiders passing offense to only 15 competitions for 127 scoreless yards. Austin finished with five combined tackles and a stellar pass break up on third and 2 that forced the Raiders to kick – and miss – a short field goal midway through the second quarter.

Austin only allowed three receptions for 24 yards on six targets against the Raiders, and his 81.7 Pro Football Focus grade was the highest on the Jets defense in Week 12. It took some time, but Austin is coming into his own as a viable starter for the Jets. There are bigger tests ahead, but Austin’s coverage and tackling skills are hard to ignore.

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Jamal Adams exchanged insults with Derek Carr’s brother on Twitter

Yeah, he went there.

The suddenly streaking New York Jets dominated the Raiders on Sunday, especially on defense. The Jets sacked Derek Carr seven times and forced the Raiders to bench Carr in the second half.

The game also brought us one of the least expected Twitter beefs of the 2019 NFL season: Jamal Adams vs. Derek Carr’s brother, Darren.

It all started with Adams’ postgame tweet. Adams tweeted a photo of his sack on Carr without taking an actual shot at Carr — it was just a photo of the play. Still, Darren jumped into Adams’ mentions and responded, “Saved for later.” The Jets safety took notice to the response, which sent the two on a fiery back-and-forth.

Adams told Darren to frame the photo, so Darren — who coaches football at Bakersfield Christian High School (Calif.) — responded with old photos of Rob Gronkowski catching a touchdown on Adams.

Bad move, Darren.

Adams went personal with his next insult, calling out Darren for living vicariously through his brothers and mocking his role as a high school coach.

When Darren tried to hit back with his own insult about Adams’ lack of “respect” for his opponents, Adams was quick to point out Darren’s than/then grammatical error.

On one hand, it may have been a low blow for Adams to go after a high school coach like that. On the other hand, I can get behind any beef that features trash talk about grammar.

Adams gets the edge for that.

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Gregg Williams working wonders with Jets’ makeshift defense

Gregg Williams has the best defense looking like one of the best in the league after holding the Raiders to three points in Week 12.

What defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has been able to do with this Jets defense recently is nothing short of spectacular. On a team riddled by injury, underperformance, and inexperience, Williams has created a run-stopping machine that’s stymied opponents the past three weeks. 

Yes, those opponents have included two rookie quarterbacks on inept offenses, but Williams is also working with a makeshift defense that includes several rookies and journeymen after losing two starting inside linebackers and two starting cornerbacks.

First, Williams lost Avery Williamson to an ACL tear. Then it was C.J. Mosley to a groin injury. Both were expected to solidify the middle of the defense. Next, promising rookie linebacker Blake Cashman hit injured reserve, followed by cornerback Trumaine Johnson. Various other players have missed time with injury, and before now the Jets are starting players no one had heard of before this season.

That defense, led by Jamal Adams and a bunch of backups, held the Raiders to only three points and 208 total yards on Sunday. In one word, the Jets’ 34-3 win over the Raiders was Williams’ masterpiece.

That performance was the culmination of weeks of momentum for Williams’ defense and the unit finally put together a complete game after giving up big, late scores the past two weeks. The 68 rushing yards the Jets allowed made for the fourth consecutive sub-100-yard game and eighth on the year. The Jets defense looked unbeatable against a Raiders team coming off three consecutive wins.

“We’ve been preparing well week in, week out. I just kind of think things are starting to go our way,” cornerback Brian Poole told SNY. “We’re a young defense going in the right direction.”

Poole himself is playing like one of the best cornerbacks in the league after the Jets signed him to a cheap one-year deal this offseason. His 15-yard pick-six sealed the blowout win, and he’s consistency graded as one of the best cornerbacks in the league. His ascension is just one of the many examples of how Williams is getting the most out of his players.

Players like rookie cornerbacks Bless Austin and Arthur Maulet have also played well above expectations over the past few games and they held Derek Carr to just 127 scoreless passing yards and a 52.6 passer rating in Week 12. Defensive linemen Foley Fatukasi and Kyle Phillips have been revelations after starting the season buried on the depth chart, and journeymen linebackers James Burgess, Neville Hewitt, Brandon Copeland and Tarrell Basham have put in solid performances.

None of these players were supposed to start except Poole. Yet, they’ve all played exceptionally well and helped turn the Jets into the best run-stopping team in the league. The Jets have allowed only 78.1 rushing yards per game after Week 12 – the fewest in the league – and less than three yards per rush attempt. Those are incredible numbers for a team that doesn’t have any discernable defensive stars except Adams, who Williams has weaponized into a terrifying pass rusher for the Jets.

The ability to turn role players into competent starters is great, but Williams’ ability to unlock another side of the Jets’ star safety is a testament to his skills as a coach. Adams now has a team-high 6.5 sacks and 12 quarterback hits and has evolved into a multi-dimensional safety that could command a record-setting contract this offseason. 

After this week’s performance, outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins was asked if the win validated the defense’s ability – a defense many left for dead as injuries and blowouts piled up.

“For us, not really,” Jordan Jenkins said. “For the public and some of the fans and some of the naysayers, I would agree with that. But we knew what we had.”

The Jets gave up an average of 27.7 points between Weeks 2 and 9. But during this three-game winning streak, they’ve allowed just 15.7. It took some time, but Williams finally has the Jets defense looking the way he intended when Adam Gase hired him to be the head coach of the defense.

Jets felt ‘disrespected’ by Raiders fans booing them

Jets safety Jamal Adams took notice of Raiders fans ahead of Sunday’s 34-3 win.

Jets safety Jamal Adams took notice of Raiders fans ahead of Sunday’s 34-3 win.

Adams told the media after the game that the Jets felt “disrespected” by Raiders fans booing them in their own building. They decided to go into the locker room to talk about it and it clearly lit a fire under them.

“They came in a little too happy, they thought this was just gonna be an easy game,” Adams told reporters.

You can understand where Raider fans were coming from thinking this game was going to be easy for them. The Raiders came into the game riding a three-game winning streak, while the Jets had a couple of soft wins over two of the NFL’s worst teams.

But you have to give the Jets credit for responding and putting a stomping on the Raiders. The Jets outplayed them in all three phases of the game and proved that those two wins against the Giants and Redskins weren’t a fluke. The Raiders have their flaws, but at the end of the day they are a team that is in the playoff hunt, so this one meant a little more.

If you’re the Jets now, you have keep this wave going. You can’t follow up a solid win over the Raiders with a bad loss to the Bengals next week. It would be typical Jets to play down to the competition and lose. The Jets can’t look over the Bengals like the Raiders did the Jets.

Instant Analysis: Jets beat up Raiders for third win in a row

The Raiders were no match for Gang Green on Sunday.

Wins against Big Blue and Washington were nothing special. Beating a flawed but competitive Oakland team, though? Well, that’s a bit more impressive.

The Jets manhandled the playoff-hopeful Raiders on Sunday, 34-3, at MetLife Stadium. New York, once 1-7, cruised to its third straight win.

Odds are this winning streak is too little, too late for Gang Green, but the organization’s decision-makers and fans should be encouraged by the way the team is clicking. Sam Darnold has looked every bit the part of franchise quarterback lately after a disastrous midseason slump, young players are seizing opportunities created by injuries and the coaching staff — the one everyone wanted to fire a few weeks ago — has made massive strides.

Now, New York will prepare for the lowly Bengals and try to make it four in a row next week.

Game Balls:

  • RB Le’Veon Bell: The Jets running back lived up to his dual-threat reputation, totaling 108 yards on 12 carries and five receptions. The Jets once again used other rushers to spell him in the backfield. They also lined Bell up as a receiver a few times, creating confusion for Oakland’s defense.
  • QB Sam Darnold: All is well with Sam Darnold again. The Jets gunslinger made a handful of highlight-reel plays while going 20-29 with 315 yards and two touchdowns through the air, as well as a score on the ground. He’s 58-89 with 838 yards, seven passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns, and one interception over his last three games.

Quick Thoughts:

  • Despite a bevy of injuries leading up to and during the game, the Jets offensive line delivered another strong performance against Oakland. Darnold was only sacked once and had plenty of time to throw despite some scampering, while Bell found success on the ground for the second week in a row. The makeshift line’s biggest mistake was a holding penalty by Alex Lewis, which negated a big gain from Ty Montgomery.
  • The Jets should line Bell up as a wide receiver more often. Good things tend to happen when he’s thrown the ball, as seen on New York’s first play of the game.

  • The Jets’ first touchdown of the game, Darnold’s second rushing score of the season, was set up nicely by a pretty awful roughing the passer call. Nothing egregious here, but the Jets were given a gift by the refs nonetheless.
  • Bless Austin can ball. The bar was low, be he’s been the Jets‘ best outside corner this season. He hits hard whenever he comes in for a tackle; he had five and a pass breakup on Sunday. Mike Maccagnan may have actually gotten a late-round pick right.
  • One day after signing an extension, Ryan Griffin caught another touchdown pass from Darnold. He now has five on the season. Not bad for a guy who was supposed to be a fill-in for Chris Herndon. With Griffin and Herndon, as well as Trevon Wesco, the Jets look to have their tight end depth chart set for next year.
  • Week 12 was another impressive one for the Jets defense. The Raiders are not worldbeaters, but they’re better than Washington, and Gang Green held it’s own against improved competition despite a decimated lineup. The Jets even forced Derek Carr to the bench. Give props to Gregg Williams for that. The defensive coordinator has done an excellent job developing previous no-names like Austin, Arthur Maulet, Tarrell Basham, Kyle Phillips and more. It would be understandable if this injured Jets defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed, but the unit is holding its own under Williams.
  • Also deserving of credit is Adam Gase. The Jets head coach has drawn plenty of criticism in his first year on the job, but Gase’s offense has soared in recent weeks. A lot of that has to do with his improved game-planning and play-calling, which was on full display in Week 12.
  • Record Watch: Jamal Adams added a half-sack on Sunday. He now has 6.5 this season. The most ever by a defensive back in a single season is eight.

Jets vs. Raiders: Possible history for Jamal Adams, test for New York’s cornerback duo among pregame storylines

Jets Wire breaks down New York’s Week 12 matchup with the Raiders with four pregame storylines to keep an eye on.

Don’t look now, but the Jets have a chance to make it three wins in a row when the Oakland Raiders come to town on Sunday afternoon.

Oakland has been one of the AFC’s resurgent teams so far this season, sitting at 6-4 and positioned well to challenge for a Wild Card spot. However, the Raiders have not been good away from home in 2019, giving New York a legitimate chance to climb to 4-7 after a disastrous start to the season.

What should Jets fans be keeping an eye on before kickoff? Let’s take a look at some intriguing pregame storylines.

Possible Presidential History

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

The man who calls himself the President will have a chance to make history when he takes the field against the Raiders on Sunday.

Jamal Adams is only two sacks away from tying Adrian Wilson’s NFL record for sacks in a single season by a defensive back (eight). Three sacks against Oakland would give him sole possession of the record.

Adams has been on fire lately, but given how solid the Raiders’ offensive line has been in 2019, it’s hard to see Week 12 being the week Adams makes history. Either way, he’s getting close to etching his name into the NFL record books only three years into his career.

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Raiders poor road numbers among things to know in Jets’ Week 12 matchup

The Jets will face a red-hot Raiders team that doesn’t perform well outside of Oakland.

There’s a sense of optimism in the air as the Jets look for their fourth win of the season and third in as many weeks when they return home to take on the Raiders in Week 12.

New York returns home to play a Raiders team that is atrocious away from Oakland, and the implications of this game could affect the AFC playoff picture – just not for the Jets.

The Jets want to win now to prove to their fanbase they have the capability to compete in the future, but it won’t be easy against a team that’s been on a hot streak of its own. The Raiders have won their last three games behind a run-heavy approach and a defense that’s sacked the quarterback 10 times in the past two weeks to improve to 6-4.

Oakland will be the Jets’ biggest test since the Patriots in Week 7 despite the fact they lost games to both the Jaguars and the Dolphins before back-to-back wins over the Giants and Redskins. However, the Raiders have been atrocious away from home this season, which gives the Jets a legitimate chance to emerge victoriously on Sunday.

With that being said, here are four things to know about the Jets’ Week 12 game.

Raiders’ road woes

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

When the Raiders play away from Oakland, they’ve been one of the worst teams in the league so far this season.

Oakland is 1-3 in road games this season and has allowed an average of 32.8 points in those games compared to the 24.6 they allow at home. 

The Raiders’ defense has been particularly bad on the away from home, ranking near the bottom of the league in sack percentage (2.8%), yards per pass play (8.2), passer rating (118.5) and passing touchdown percentage (8.6). This bodes well for the Jets’ offense if they don’t turn the ball over and find the right spots to hit on Sunday.

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