What We Saw: Week 4

Another wild weekend of football culminated in one of the more memorable games in league history, and we watched all of it.

Ben Brown
What We Saw 3 Years Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
Jaguars @ Bengals
Football Team @ Falcons
Texans @ Bills
Lions @ Bears
Panthers @ Cowboys
Colts @ Dolphins
Browns @ Vikings
Giants @ Saints
Titans @ Jets
Chiefs @ Eagles
Cardinals @ Rams
Seahawks @ 49ers
Ravens @ Broncos
Steelers @ Packers
Buccaneers @ Patriots

Titans @ Jets

Final Score: Jets 27, Titans 24

Writer: Dan Adams (@dadams0323 on Twitter)

 

This was a tough game to watch for the first half, as neither offense could get anything going. The Titans were able to move the ball between the 20s, but penalties and sacks forced them to settle for field goals. The Jets struggled to do much of anything, and it looked like we were heading for a boring game where the superior team grinds out a disappointing win despite their mistakes. But in the second half, Zach Wilson and the Jets’ offense came alive. Wilson had two passes go for over 50 yards, Corey Davis drew a 43-yard penalty, and the Jets used those explosive plays to take a lead late in the fourth quarter. Ryan Tannehill, battling behind an overmatched offensive line and throwing to a depleted group of receivers, led the Titans down the field to tie the game and force overtime. In the extra period, the Jets marched all the way to the 1-yard line before settling for a field goal. The Titans then milked the clock on their way down the field, but when their drive stalled they were forced to settle for a game-tying field goal attempt. The kick missed, giving the Jets their first win of the season 27-24, as well as Wilson and Coach Saleh their first wins in the NFL.

Also of note is that both Quinnen and Quincy Williams recorded sacks for the Jets, becoming the first brother duo to do that in the NFL.

 

 

Tennessee Titans

 

Quarterback

 

Ryan Tannehill: 30/49, 298 yards, TD, 7 Sacks | 3 carries, 9 yards

 

Ryan Tannehill did about all he could today given the lack of help he got from his teammates. His receivers didn’t do a great job of getting open and had a few key drops. His offensive line struggled again, allowing him to be pressured frequently and sacked seven times. Tannehill did well to protect the ball and mitigate the damage when he was under pressure, and the Titans were able to move the ball pretty well.

Tannehill’s best two throws were incompletions to Josh Reynolds. One was a perfectly placed ball into the back of the endzone, it would have been an impressive catch for Reynolds but he got both hands on it. The other was a deep shot down the middle that the defender did just enough to prevent Reynolds from getting a clean look at the ball, and Reynolds appeared to tweak his knee trying to fight for the ball. Otherwise, Tannehill was mostly limited to checkdowns because he didn’t have a ton of time to wait for deeper routes. His touchdown throw was a simple out route at the goal line to an uncovered receiver, but Tannehill deserves credit for driving his team down the field to put them in that position. Overall a solid day for Tannehill all things considered, but his top receivers can’t get healthy soon enough.

 

 

Running Backs

 

Derrick Henry: 33 carries, 157 yards, TD | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 20 yards

Jeremy McNichols: 1 carry, 11 yards | 12 targets, 8 receptions, 74 yards

 

Derrick Henry had a productive game, but it was missing that signature long run we’ve come to expect from him when he gets this kind of volume. Credit to the Jets defense, as the first guy to hit Henry was often able to knock him off balance enough to bring him down. That’s not to say Henry was bad. Henry was awesome, consistently finding whatever hole his offensive line could provide and ripping off runs of eight yards or more, and had one long run that was called back on a holding penalty. He looked good on his two receptions, one a designed screen and one a check down, and it makes you wonder why the Titans didn’t throw him the ball more. His touchdown was a short run where he ran through a defender, after getting his team down to the goal line with one of his longer runs of the day on the prior play.

 

 

Jeremy McNichols was the Titans’ second-best offensive player today. He led the team in targets, and on several occasions caught a dump-off on second- or third-and-long and made someone miss to pick up the first down. He looks like he’ll be a big part of the offense until A.J. Brown and Julio Jones return from injury.

 

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Chester Rodgers: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 63 yards

Josh Reynolds: 9 targets, 6 receptions, 59 yards

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine: 8 targets, 3 receptions, 29 yards

Cameron Batson: 4 targets, 1 reception, 2 yards, TD

Anthony Firkser: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 23 yards

 

A.J. Brown and Julio Jones both missed this week, leaving the Titans extremely thin at receiver. Josh Reynolds appeared to be the top option to start the game before leaving the game with a knee injury. He came back in later, which was a bit surprising given how the injury looked when it happened, and converted several first downs down the stretch. He could have had a monster day had he come down with the aforementioned passes from Tannehill. Chester Rodgers and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine were the other two main receivers. Neither one really stood out for most of the game. Rodgers did draw a key defensive pass interference on the game-tying drive that went for 23 yards. Westbrook-Ikhine didn’t do much on the stat sheet, but he saw a lot of deep targets and is someone worth monitoring if Brown and Jones miss extended time. Anthony Firkser returned from injury to reclaim his role as the starting tight end and almost caught a touchdown on a seam route, but the defender was able to get a hand in at the last minute to break it up.

 

New York Jets

 

Quarterback

 

Zach Wilson: 21/34, 297 yards, 2 TD, INT, Sack | 3 carries, -2 yards

 

Zach Wilson started this game like the rest of his games this season; struggling. He misfired on a couple of throws and threw an awful interception.

 

 

The Jets really struggled to get anything going, and it looked like this would be a long day for Wilson. But in the second half, he started showcasing why he was such a highly-touted prospect. He looked his best moving outside the pocket where he was able to use his mobility and arm strength to make some pretty incredible throws. This throw to Keelan Cole was a pretty ridiculous throw to make while escaping pressure, and Wilson made it look easy.

 

 

Once he had something to build on Wilson’s confidence seemed to grow, and he looked more decisive. Perhaps his most impressive play from a developmental standpoint was one where he recovered a bad snap, remained calm, and then delivered a strike down the field to Jamison Crowder.

 

 

That poise in a tough situation with his team trailing in the fourth quarter has to be encouraging to Jets fans everywhere. The best throw of the day for Wilson came with the game tied in the fourth quarter. Rolling to his right, Wilson motioned for Corey Davis to go deep before Wilson reset his feet and deliver a dime to Davis for a 53-yard touchdown pass.

 

 

Clearly, there were a lot of positives for Wilson in this game, but there were a few moments where he still needs some work. He missed Davis on what should have been an easy throw to pick up a first down and essentially ice the game. He made a poor decision on third and goal from the 1-yard line in overtime by holding onto the ball instead of throwing it away, costing his team some crucial yards. He also hesitated a little on his touchdown pass to Crowder, and while he overcame it by just powering the ball past the defender his hesitancy caused him to throw into a tighter window than necessary.

 

 

Overall a really encouraging game from Wilson,  even with a few hiccups. He made some huge throws at critical points in the game and definitely earned his first NFL win.

 

Running Backs

 

Michael Carter: 13 carries, 38 yards, TD | 3 targets, 1 reception, -4 yards

Tevin Coleman: 4 carries, 14 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 17 yards

Ty Johnson: 3 carries, 1 yard | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards

 

The Jets’ rushing attack was not good today. Rookie Michael Carter appears to have distanced himself a bit from the other two backs, playing as many snaps as Tevin Coleman and Ty Johnson combined. Carter also scored the only touchdown, getting pushed across the goal line by an offensive lineman after running into a defender. Carter did a good job to keep his legs moving, but a lot of credit should go to his lineman for driving him into the end zone.

 

 

Coleman had some nice runs on the Jets’ field goal drive in overtime, including a catch and run where he came up just short of the end zone for what would have been the game-winner. Johnson got a red-zone carry but was unable to do much with it, and otherwise wasn’t much of a factor today.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Corey Davis: 7 targets, 4 receptions, 111 yards, TD

Keelan Cole: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 92 yards

Jamison Crowder: 9 targets, 7 receptions, 61 yards, TD

Braxton Berrios: 1 target, 1 reception, 0 yards | 2 carries, 15 yards

Ryan Griffin: 4 targets, 1 reception, 8 yards

 

Jamison Crowder returned from injury and immediately stepped into a huge role for the offense. It was clear that Wilson was looking for him on key downs, and Crowder proved to be a reliable target. He caught a short touchdown and was the primary read on most of the red zone passes for the Jets today. Corey Davis had a few nice catches, none nicer than the long touchdown shown above, but he also had a disappointing drop in traffic that you expect a receiver of his pedigree to catch. Davis also drew a 43-yard defensive pass interference and looked like a mismatch whenever he saw one-on-one coverage on deep routes. Keelan Cole just missed out on a long touchdown when he had to fully extend to bring in a deep pass for Wilson, and also added a key reception in overtime for 29 yards. Elijah Moore missed today’s game with a concussion.

 

 — Dan Adams (@dadams0323 on Twitter).

Series Navigation
Introduction
Jaguars @ Bengals
Football Team @ Falcons
Texans @ Bills
Lions @ Bears
Panthers @ Cowboys
Colts @ Dolphins
Browns @ Vikings
Giants @ Saints
Titans @ Jets
Chiefs @ Eagles
Cardinals @ Rams
Seahawks @ 49ers
Ravens @ Broncos
Steelers @ Packers
Buccaneers @ Patriots

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