After each game, we’ll be highlighting three defensive and three offensive players and looking in detail at their performance. We’ll wrap up today with the offense:
Isaiah on the Prize
When Braelon Allen got hurt, it was a good opportunity for Isaiah Davis to make more of an impact. Davis has generally produced well whenever he has received touches. However, Allen’s absence still hasn’t translated to much work.
Davis got four touches on Sunday; Two five-yard carries and catches of 10 and 12 yards. However, he didn’t touch the ball at all after halftime, as the Jets only handed the ball off twice (not including the botched gadget play).
When you look at how simple the plays are where the Jets had success in the passing game, it really makes you wonder how Justin Fields has found it so difficult to complete any passes over the past few weeks.
On this one, Davis runs a simple angle route, also known as a “V”, and Fields sits in and gets it to him on time and between two defenders. Davis falls forward to get the first down.
This play saw him motion down to the slot and, after a chip on the edge, he’s wide open in the flat for 14. This is a specific play where Fields has been hesitant in previous games and has missed passes or limited yards after the catch as a result.
One area of concern could be Davis’ pass blocking. As the third down back, he needs to handle these responsibilities and had done well for the first five weeks with two pressures allowed in 20 pass block attempts. He’s given up a sack and two pressures in his last seven pass protection snaps, though, including one pressure on Sunday.
For the season as a whole, Davis is still producing, with 44 yards on 10 rushes and 73 yards on nine catches. He’s arguably earned a chance to see if more touches will lead to diminishing returns or not.
Of course, the much-discussed possible trade of Breece Hall will completely change the outlook for Davis, especially with Allen not likely to be back until mid-December, if at all.
Eye of the Tyler
Tyler Johnson’s performance on Sunday was notable because he had catches of 20 and 35-yards in the second half of a team-leading 3-for-60 performance. These were the first two plays of 15 yards of more for the Jets since the third quarter of the Dallas game.
This one was a bit of a broken play as Tyrod Taylor span away from a pass rusher after Mason Taylor got beaten. Arian Smith’s go-route worked really well as a decoy here because the cornerback and safety both went with him and Johnson smartly found his way to the open area.
Johnson’s other catch was similar as Taylor avoided pressure with Davis failing to pick up the cornerback blitz. On this occasion, a better throw would have given Johnson another 5-10 yards at least, with the chance to juke a defender in the open field for a much bigger play. As it was, Johnson did a good job of knowing where he was on the field to make a clean catch and get both feet inbounds.
Both of these were easy passes really, once Taylor had escaped the pocket. Fields just hasn’t been escaping the pocket regularly since the opener for whatever reason, otherwise he’d have had some similar chances to get himself going.
Johnson has done a solid job with the few opportunities he’s had, have proven himself capable of producing in the past. He has definitely outproduced Josh Reynolds so far with 123 yards on 10 targets, compared to 101 on 21 targets for Reynolds.
Lazard to Kill
Allen Lazard is another player who has produced in the past but isn’t bringing much to the table in a supporting role. He doesn’t have a 10-yard catch all year, as he has six catches for 40 yards in nine targets.
Lazard did at least have two short catches on Sunday, one of which was his only first down of the season other than his touchdown catch a few weeks ago.
He should also have had a 38-yard touchdown when the Jets ran the gadget play, but Taylor’s pass was woefully underthrown and Lazard failed to make a contested catch at the five-yard line.
Lazard, who was also called for an illegal shift that negated a red zone third down conversion from Fields to Reynolds to kill perhaps the best momentum the Jets had all day, continues to look eminently replaceable and it seems certain the Jets would be happy to trade him for nothing just to get out of paying the rest of his salary.
Sadly, it seems just as certain that nobody will be interested, so he’s probably going to continue to have a minor role.
Previously: Three on D: Williams, Thomas, Oliver