New York Jets Offensive Report Card: Week 1 vs. Buffalo Bills

The New York Jets lost a heartbreaking Week 1 matchup to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Let’s take a look back and grade the performance of each of the offensive units.

Devastation is what New York Jets fans are feeling after blowing a 16-0 lead against their division rivals, the Buffalo Bills, in a game in which they absolutely should have won.

The Jets offense had a hard time finding the end zone early on. In fact, the Jets only reached the red zone once in their 11 offensive drives on Sunday.

The Jets offense was dreadful to watch as they could not get anything going for most of the game. If it wasn’t for the defense playing well for most of the afternoon, this game would’ve gotten out of hand early on.

After an offseason of hype and optimism, the offense did not play to their true potential so here is a breakdown on how the offense did in the team’s Week 1 matchup with Buffalo and how they can improve ahead of next week.

Next: Quarterback

Quarterback

Grade: C

The quarterback play from Sam Darnold was not what we wanted to see. In Darnold’s defense, the offensive line did not give him time to throw on a lot of plays but there were some plays that got away from him.

One play that stood out, in particular, came late in the fourth quarter where Darnold had a chance to lead the team down the field for a game-winning touchdown and he underthrew Robby Anderson on a deep pass.

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The two things you can say about Darnold’s play was that he avoided turning the ball over and threw a touchdown pass to running back Le’Veon Bell once they got down to the red zone. However, he did miss a lot of wide-open receivers and seemed rattled in the pocket.

Darnold’s longest completed pass was to Jamison Crowder on a 19-yard completion as Darnold ended the day completing 28-of-41 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown.

After the game, Darnold told the New York Post’s Steve Serby, “whenever you get the opportunity to go out there and try to get a two-minute drive at home, it’s something special, it’s always special to do that, just didn’t come out on top this time.”

Next: Running Backs

Running Backs

Grade: B

The running backs get a ‘B’ this week because of one man, Le’Veon Bell. Bell looked like he never took a year off from football and if you look at his stats from Sunday’s game, they don’t immediately jump out at you.

But given the way the rest of the Jets offense played, he was the guy who carried most of the workload. Bell had 17 carries for only 60 yards, averaging 3.5 yards per carry, and contributed in the passing game by catching the only offensive touchdown in the game.

After the game, the new Jets running back had the following to say to the New York Post’s Greg Joyce.

“It felt like normal, I still had fun playing the game today. Even though the outcome wasn’t what I wanted it to be — obviously I’m a competitive guy, so I’m not happy at the fact we lost the game — but I’m just happy I went out there and was able to compete again.”

What was disappointing was that we did not see enough of Ty Montgomery, not even as a wide receiver. Montgomery only had two carries and was nonexistent in the passing game. Hopefully, we get to see more of Montgomery with Bell in this Jets offense next week.

Next: Wide Receivers

Wide Receivers

Grade: C

Aside from Jamison Crowder, the Jets wide receivers were nonexistent for most of the game. Obviously, it’s not easy for receivers to get open when their quarterback has no time to throw, but the receivers were still a big disappointment on Sunday.

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Let’s start with Robby Anderson who finished with only three catches for 23 yards. For the most part, Anderson was shut down by Buffalo cornerback Tre’Davious White and could not get open for most of the game.

Quincy Enunwa also had a poor performance only catching one pass for negative four yards — not an ideal stat line.

It seemed like the only receiver that could get open up the middle was Crowder who the Jets acquired via free agency in the offseason. Crowder ended the day with 14 catches for 99 yards and had some crucial catches on third down early on.

The former Washington Redskins receiver had the following to say when he spoke to the New York Post’s Zach Braziller about how he always tries to get open on crucial third-down plays.

“My mentality, just individually, is when it’s third down, I try to be as much of a valued option and be available as [much] as I possibly can. Today, [Darnold] was able to find me a few times. I just want to be one of those guys that can move the sticks, so that’s just my mentality.”

Next week, the Jets wide receivers have a big test against a very solid Cleveland Browns secondary that features second-year stand out, Denzel Ward and veteran Terrance Mitchell alongside veteran safeties Damarious Randall and Morgan Burnett.

Next: Offensive Line

Offensive line

Grade: D

The offensive line gets the lowest grade because it was obvious they flat out stunk up the joint on Sunday. The Jets were outmatched by the Bills defense who was the second-ranked unit in the NFL last year. The offensive line could not give the protection Darnold needed to succeed.

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Newly acquired Ryan Kalil looked rusty in his first game since coming out of retirement as he had a tough time blocking Ed Oliver and Star Lotulelei up the middle.

On top of that, the outside pressure was getting to Darnold as tackles Kelvin Beachum and Brandon Shell did not show up to play and let their quarterback get hammered by this Bills defense.

After the game on Sunday newly acquired guard Kelechi Osemele talked to Greg Joyce of the New York Post about how the Jets offensive line needs to communicate better.

“I feel like the communication could have been a little bit better to start the game. We have a guy that just got here and just learned the system, a lot of changes going into game week, trying to get ready, a lot of protections in. They did a good job on their side of the ball scheming us. So over time, we’re going to get better at communicating and directing guys to where we’re going.”

It’s simple, the Jets offense did not execute when needed and next Monday night against the Cleveland Browns in a Week 2 showdown, the Jets already seem like they are in desperation mode.

If they fall to the Browns and move to 0-2 on the season, Jets fans will already have a cause for concern.