Jets Go For Two in a Row Against Lowly Redskins

At this point in the season, this game is for nothing more than draft positioning, or bragging rights, depending on how you look at it. The Redskins sit at 1-8 and have turned to rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins for the remainder of the season. The Jets come in to this one at 2-7 and may have reached an all-time low by losing to the winless Dolphins two weeks ago. Right on the heels of backing from ownership, Adam Gase CANNOT afford to lose this game.

Opening Drive Success

With Christopher Johnson solidifying Gase’s role into next year, let’s talk offense first.

The last three games have all started with the Jets scoring a touchdown on their opening drive. On those drives Sam Darnold is 20/22 Passing with 220 Yards and two touchdowns. Here is how he finished those three games:

• 12/23 Passing, 167 Yards, one touchdown against the Giants
• 21/31 Passing, 191 Yards, one Interception against the Dolphins
• 14/23 Passing, 130 Yards, one touchdown, three Interceptions against the Jaguars

Outside of those opening drives, Darnold is statistically one of the worst quarterbacks in football over the last three weeks. The point is, the game plan needs to stay the same! Short quick passes are the best way to get a young gun in a rhythm. It also opens up the run game, which has not been great either.

Jets Ground Game

LeVeon Bell is a patient runner who waits for holes to open up. The only problem is, this Jets offensive line cannot keep those holes open long enough for him to get through them. LeVeon is too good to keep struggling the way he is and I expect a big game from him this week. Gase would be remiss to not make sure Le’Veon gets at least 25 touches in this game.

The Jets are second last in the league in rush yards per game. That is completely unacceptable, especially when you paid Bell $52 million to come in and fix it! They are also second last in the league in yards per carry and it’s hard to blame Le’Veon, or even the offensive line right now. Play calling needs to get better, and they need to find ways to get the ball moving on the ground. The good news is, Washington is in the bottom five in the league in rush yards allowed per game. The Jets should have no issues taking advantage of that!

As bad as the offense has been, the defense, for the most part, has been equally as bad.

Jets Secondary Woes

All season long, the Jets have been one of the worst teams in the league defending the pass. They are giving up an average 260 yards per game through the air after nine games. The Jets are giving up almost two passing touchdowns per game, good for 24^th in the league. Even with an All-Pro safety in Jamal Adams, this secondary needs some serious work.

It will be interesting to see how Dwayne Haskins and the Redskins operate against this poor secondary. Haskins will be making only his second NFL start and Greg Williams should have some kind of game-plan to make him struggle.

Greg Williams, to put it nicely, has not done a great job this season. The Jets are 26^th in the league in sacks with only 19 through nine games. They have only 12 takeaways through nine games, and four of those came in the first game of the season. I know that C.J. Mosley has been out, but this has been as disastrous of a season for Williams as it has been for Gase.

Greg Williams needs to make sure the Jets are pressuring Haskins at all costs. Whether or not he is blitzing or they are getting to him with four guys, they need to get to Haskins. If Haskins has time to throw, Terry McLaurin is going to have a field day with this secondary. Daryl Roberts and Nate Hairston just aren’t going to get it done.

Williams has caught almost no heat this year and it is insane to me! This secondary, with or without Adams, is not good and Williams should shoulder most of that blame!

Shutting Down the Run

One thing the Jets have done well on defense is stop the run. The Jets have only allowed one opposing runningback to eclipse 100 yards in a game this year. That runningback was the 100 Million Dollar man himself, Ezekiel Elliot. Outside of that, nobody has hit the 80 yard mark rushing against this team.

The Jets are allowing a league best 3.0 yards per carry and they are second in the NFL allowing only 82 yards per game on the ground. This is a huge turnaround after being in the bottom 10 of both of those categories for the last two years.

It will be especially important this week because Washington’s talented runningback, Derrius Guice, will be on the field for the first time since week one. Guice has been one of the unluckiest players in recent memory in terms of injuries. He tore his ACL during the preseason of his rookie year and missed the whole season. He then suffered another knee injury in week one of this season, his first professional game. We all know he is talented, and the Jets need to keep him in check this week.

Prediction

LeVeon will go over 100 yards rushing for the first time this season, and Sam Darnold will play a clean game. Greg Williams finally gets it together and the defense will play its best game of the season. Haskins will be under pressure and the Jets will force a couple of turnovers in a relatively easy win.

Jets 27 – Redskins 13

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