New York Jets: Team finishes preseason on high note

The New York Jets finished the 2015 preseason with a strong outing against the Philadelphia Eagles as the hype continues to build for this team heading into next week’s regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns. This fourth preseason game was full of a lot of promise for the Jets.

Matt Flynn got his first preseason action and didn’t miss a beat. Leading the offense seamlessly down the field on multiple occasions for drives of: 54 yards, 90 yards and 58 yards respectively. Flynn finished the night: 10 of 14 for 136 yards he had 2 touchdowns and 1 ugly interception. Overall, a very solid performance and it appears Flynn has locked up a spot on the 53-man roster with his debut game.

3-1 on the preseason. #JetUp 10 days until the real thing. #CLEvsNYJ pic.twitter.com/kJstT9hE3j

— New York Jets (@nyjets) September 4, 2015

Going back to the offensive performance for a second here, it wasn’t just the yardage the Jets covered it was how they went about it. The first drive for the Jets was a healthy balanced combination of the run and the pass; finished off by a beautiful toss from Flynn for 18 yards to Chris Owusu. The Jets overall tonight were able to consistently win the time of possession battle. Their 90-yard drive speaks to that which ate up over 7 minutes off of the clock. When Josh Johnson got his chance with the Jets’ offense he was the mastermind behind a 9 minute plus drive on offense.

Sep 3, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles during first half against the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Head Coach Todd Bowles had to be impressed with his teams’ performance tonight and over the course of the entire preseason as they displayed efficient offense, kept the turnover-differential positive for the entire preseason, and the team stayed relatively healthy throughout the preseason. It wasn’t just the offense that impressed last night, the defense really stepped it up as well. In particular Darrin Walls was the player of the game, he ended the day with 2 interceptions in a huge statement game to make his case to make the final-53.

do the #Jets keep 6 or 7 wrs? 3 or 4 rbs? how many corners? will be several tough decisions for Maccagnan and Bowles #Jets — Let’s Talk Jets! (@TalkJetsRadio) May 13, 2015

Though this tweet above is from May, it brings up the next point or next step for the green and white, cut-day. The Jets do have a lot of tough decisions to make at several key positions. I’ve just got to say, this is probably the deepest Jets team I can remember in a long time. I’ve never been so impressed by how the backups have done against other competition. With that being said, let’s do a quick breakdown of the toughest decisions that await the Jets at the end of their preseason:

Wide Receiver

Who are the Jets going to keep? So again the locks to make the roster: Eric Decker, Brandon Marshall, Devin Smith and reports continue to come out that Jeremy Kerley could be a surprise cut or trade before Saturday but I’m not buying any of that. So now you’ve got four guys locked up and maybe the Jets keep six so then we’re looking at guys like Owusu, Walter Powell, and Quincy Enunwa. The Jets have been very high on Enunwa and he has the inside track at possibly unseating Kerley which makes you think it’ll come down to Owusu or Powell. I love both guys: Powell seemed to make more splash plays in this one, but Owusu had a nice touchdown grab and overall a good night.

Cornerback

Another positional group for the Jets that is crazy deep, again we’ll start off with the locks: Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, Buster Skrine then we reach a level where Dee Milliner and Dexter McDougle seem to be closer locks but not guaranteed. Marcus Williams had a nice interception against the Lions earlier in preseason and has been impressive in spurts. McDougle has had a lot of nice pass breakups and he’s a guy who has a lot of potential. Plus Walls just had 2 interceptions in a game where everything was on the line and he’s been a Jets’ holdover for many years and he deserves to be on the final roster too. Again, I wouldn’t want to be the Jets as no matter what they do it’s going to cause some interesting drama over the next several days.

Inside Linebacker

Here’s where things get really interesting, the locks to make the roster are David Harris and Demario Davis, but the Jets have incredible depth at the position. They got several veterans in free agency who’ve really stepped it up: Joe Mays and Jamari Lattimore are battling out for the backup spots and they’ve both been fantastic through preseason. I really wanted Erin Henderson to get his redemption, but injuries have sidelined him and more likely than not will be the reason he doesn’t make the team.

The Jets have a lot of momentum heading into the regular season, finishing the preseason on a three-game winning streak and they’re looking like a changed team from last season. They improved from week to week in every preseason game this year and I can’t say it enough, the arrow is pointing up for this team.

Next: New York Jets: Bold predictions for 2015

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