What We Saw: Week 1

Deebo Samuel became the King of the Jungle after his performance against the Lions.

Jets @ Panthers

Final Score: Panthers 19, Jets 14

Writer: Justin Herrera (@Semtexmex93 on Twitter)

 

The New York Jets traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina to play the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The narrative of this game was Sam Darnold‘s revenge game. The only key player that was missing from either team was Jamison Crowder, who was placed on the COVID list. The game started as a defensive struggle, with both teams fumbling the football early on. Eventually, Darnold and the Panthers put 19 consecutive points up to close out the half. The second half was similar to the first with a defensive struggle, but this time the Jet strung together two TDs to pull within 5 points of the Panthers. The game result was Carolina Panthers 19, New York Jets 14.

 

New York Jets

 

Quarterback

 

Zach Wilson: 20/37, 258 yards, 2 TD, INT

 

This was the debut of the new kid in the “big apple” Zach Wilson. The rookie started his first drive with a seven-yard toss to Ryan Griffin, but unfortunately, the drive ended with Wilson getting sacked and Michael Carter dropping a screen pass. Wilson looked good scrambling in this one but had trouble making the right decisions early, often throwing into double coverages. A result of this was his only pick of the day, a ball targeted for Griffin that was picked off by Shaq Thompson.

 

 

Wilson had a rough first half to say the least, as the Jets punted four out of six drives with the two non-punts ending in an interception and a turnover on downs.

The second half started a lot like the first half with the Jets’ first two drives ending in punts. The third drive in the second half is where Wilson picked up steam, completing all four passes including 20 and 22 yarders to Corey Davis, the latter being a Touchdown.

 

 

Wilson had a good final drive, hitting Braxton Berrios in stride for a 25-yard competition, and a little later on he hit Denzel Mims for a 40-yard bomb. This set up a second TD to Davis that was for 8 yards.

 

 

The narrative for Wilson was that he was battling his predecessor in Sam Darnold and had to prove that New York made the right decision. While I think the Jets have the better of the two quarterbacks, today belonged to Darnold. Wilson proved he has the potential to be an excellent scrambling QB, but he still needs to sharpen his decision-making and get away from pressure more often.

 

Running Back

 

Tevin Coleman: 9 carries, 24 yards

Ty Johnson: 4 carries, 15 yards | 3 targets, 1 reception, 11 yards

Michael Carter: 4 carries, 6 yards | 2 targets, 1 reception, 14 yards

 

Considering this running game is based on the Shanahan system, I’d say it severely disappointed. Tevin Coleman started the game for the Jets and he was largely ineffective for most of the game, as he got most of his yards off a six and nine-yard gain. Ty Johnson had the best run of the game for 12 yards but was also ineffective. Michael Carter, the young rookie who is the 3rd back on the depth chart, showed us the explosiveness that got him drafted with a 14-yard dump-off pass. This unit was the worst in the game and will need to improve to help benefit Zach Wilson going forward.

On another note, the Jets’ offensive line looked bad today and it was reflected in the six sacks given up and the lack of a run game. Part of that was due to a scary-looking injury to stud tackle Mekhi Becton that resulted in him getting carted off the field due to a knee injury. The initial results appear to be good news, however, and he may have avoided a serious, season-ending injury.

 

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

Corey Davis: 7 targets, 5 receptions, 97 yards, 2 TD

Braxton Berrios: 7 targets, 5 receptions, 51 yards

Denzel Mims: 1 target, 1 reception, 40 yards

Tyler Kroft: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 26 yards

Ryan Griffin: 6 targets, 3 receptions, 22 yards

Elijah Moore: 4 targets, 1 reception, -3 yards

 

Corey Davis is the best receiver the Jets have and it’s not even close. Davis started his game by catching a dig for a first down and turning it into a 35 yard gain. The talented wide receiver showed up later in the game, catching a 20-yard pass that set up a 22 yard wide-open TD to himself again. On the last drive of the game, Davis caught a 12-yard pass and then an eight-yard TD on the very next play. Davis has already shown he was worth his new contract and should be an asset to the young QB as well as fantasy football squads.

Braxton Berrios was an unlikely recipient of a good amount of targets in this game thanks to Jamison Crowder being out due to COVID protocols and Elijah Moore just being overall ineffective. Berrios had his best work during the Jets’ final drive where he caught a 15-yard pass and a 25-yard post route that helped set up the second TD for the Jets. Tyler Kroft was an asset today, putting together two 10-yard catches during a drive that unfortunately turned into a turnover of downs. The biggest play of the game was a 40-yard catch by Denzel Mims, who didn’t show up any other time than this one play.

 

Carolina Panthers

 

Quarterback

 

Sam Darnold: 24/35, 279 yards, TD | 5 carries, -1 yard, TD

 

 

Sam Darnold came into this game with revenge on his mind, playing the team that drafted him and gave him some of the blame for their terrible 2020 season. Darnold made Christian McCaffrey his main target early, dumping it off to him for an 18 yard gain on his first drive. The former first-round pick wasn’t the best early on, going three and out on his first two drives before fumbling the ball on a hand-off that didn’t make it to CMC.

 

https://twitter.com/quickclipscfb1/status/1437113125291978756?s=20

 

Darnold’s first TD was to a familiar face, Robby Anderson, who ran a post route and made an uncontested 57-yard catch. Following up his first TD as a Panther, Darnold went back to work peppering CMC with a 14-yard pass and a 22 yarder. This led to Darnold scoring on a five-yard run. Darnold’s first-half stats were 234 yards and 2 TD (1 rushing, 1 passing), while the second half was mediocre, to say the least as he only had 45 yards in the last two quarters. Overall, Darnold proved to be better with his new team, but only time will tell how much better off he will be this season.

 

Running Back

 

Christian McCaffrey: 21 carries, 98 yards | 9 targets, 9 receptions, 89 yards

Chuba Hubbard: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 4 yards

 

 

Christian McCaffrey proved to be exactly what the doctor ordered when it came to being a safety net for Darnold. One year removed from missing 13 games due to various injuries, CMC looked as good as ever. He showed great vision, agility, and burst all while being the toughest guy on the field to tackle. McCaffrey was very consistent in the run game, averaging 4.6 yards a carry, with his biggest runs being 15 and nine yards. CMC had his most impressive plays on the receiving end today. All the scoring drives were set up by CMC in some way shape or form, McCaffrey caught back-to-back passes of 11 and 15 yards to set up a field goal. Two drives later he caught passes of 14 and 22 yards, which helped set up a Darnold rushing TD. CMC as usual was instrumental to the Panthers scoring and looks back to normal, which will be great for Sam Darnold‘s season.

 

Wide Receiver/Tight End

 

DJ Moore: 8 targets, 6 receptions, 80 yards

Robby Anderson: 3 targets, 1 reception, 57 yards, TD

Terrace Marshall Jr: 6 targets, 3 receptions, 26 yards

Ian Thomas: 2 targets, 1 reception, 17 yards

Dan Arnold: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 6 yards

 

 

DJ Moore was all over the field today, and if he continues to be this versatile then we could be in for a great offensive season from the Panthers. Moore showed his talent by taking an end-around and pushing it for 14 yards at one point and he also caught short passes for 12 and 13 yards. The best pass was a dime from Darnold to Moore on a 26-yard corner route, showing off the receiver’s speed. Moore looks in mid-season form and should put up some big numbers this year if he stays healthy.

Robby Anderson showed off his speed in this one, taking a 57-yard post route to the house. This was all we really saw of Anderson, but it was enough to know he’ll have a big impact role on this team. Terrace Marshall Jr made his presence known in the slot, catching passes of 7, 8, and 11 yards on slants routes. The LSU product just barely had a pass broken up downfield by an opposing defender. Marshall looks like he’ll have a locked-in role going forward and could be a good best ball play for fantasy football. Ian Thomas caught a 17-yard pass but also missed out on an easy TD because he has “hands of stone”.

 

Justin Herrera (@Semtexmex93 on Twitter)

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