New York Jets: Top 3 takeaways from Week 6 victory over Dallas Cowboys

The New York Jets won their first game of the season in a thrilling 24-22 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Here are our top three takeaways from the team’s Week 6 victory.

The New York Jets ended their losing streak in dramatic fashion with a late-game stand in Week 6 reminding all of their fans that football can, in fact, be exciting at times.

The Jets were able to hang on to a fourth-quarter lead defeating the Dallas Cowboys 24-22 as the team put together their most complete and impressive showing of the season.

With the return of quarterback Sam Darnold, the offense not only looked competent but managed to put together some very impressive drives — especially in the first half. The offensive line played its best game yet while the coaching staff called a phenomenal game.

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There’s new life, new energy, and new optimism surrounding a franchise that was in desperate need of all three. This team is still just 1-4, but with Darnold back under center facing a light upcoming schedule who knows where the Jets could finish.

But for now, it’s important to take it one week at a time.

Let’s take a look at the three top takeaways from Sunday’s exciting victory over the Cowboys.

Next: 3. Defensive line shows out

3. Defensive line shows out

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has done an incredible job this year getting the most out of some of the more inexperienced players on his defense. And that has been no more evident than in the play of some of the Jets’ young defensive linemen.

Not much was expected of players like Folorunso Fatukasi and Kyle Phillips going into 2019. In fact, both were on the roster bubble and the latter was considered one of the biggest longshots to make the team coming out of training camp.

But the duo continues to impress with each passing week and in this game they weren’t alone.

Despite facing an abundance of criticism and trade rumors, Leonard Williams stepped up and put together the best game of his season. The same could be said for first-round rookie Quinnen Williams who was all over the field finishing with six tackles on the day.

Williams’ six tackles were second on the team among defensive lineman as Phillips finished with a whopping seven.

The Jets defensive line stymied Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense as the fourth-year signal-caller was pressured early and was never able to find a rhythm in the passing game.

Dallas was certainly impacted by the absences of both Tyron Smith and La’el Collins and the Jets managed to take advantage and capitalize.

Even with Williams unlikely to be on the team past this year, the Jets appear to have a very capable collection of young defensive linemen in Fatukasi, Phillips, and of course, Quinnen Williams.

Next: 2. Coaching staff shines

2. Coaching staff shines

Perhaps nobody has been the recipient of more criticism this season than Jets head coach Adam Gase. After four downright horrendous games with an abysmal offense, Gase managed to silence many of his doubters with a strong showing in Week 6.

The return of Darnold and a much-improved showing from the offensive line allowed Gase to take the handcuffs off of the offense and institute a complete gameplan for the first time this season.

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The result was a 338-yard passing day from Darnold, 24 points created by the offense, and three offensive touchdowns. While those may seem like typical, run-of-the-mill numbers, those figures would have been unheard of over the past few weeks.

Credit must go to Gase for opening up the playbook, remaining aggressive down the stretch, and allowing Darnold to lead the Jets to victory.

The aforementioned Gregg Williams also deserves plenty of praise for calling a beautiful game on the defensive side of the ball. Williams brought the pressure early on and limited Prescott and the Cowboys passing game.

And with the game on the line facing a possible game-tying two-point conversion attempt, Williams sent the house allowing an unblocked Jamal Adams to burst into the backfield and force the incompletion.

The Cowboys weren’t just outplayed in this one, they were outcoached. And Gase and Williams deserve a ton of credit for this win.

Next: 1. The Sam Darnold effect is real

1. The Sam Darnold effect is real

Despite the complete turnaround from a coaching perspective and despite the offensive line’s impressive showing, there was no greater reason for this Jets victory than the play of their franchise quarterback, Sam Darnold.

Darnold finished the evening going 23-of-32 in the air while passing for 338 yards and two touchdowns. It was the third 300-yard passing day of his career and the first time he had finished a game averaging over 10 yards per attempt.

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That 92-yard bomb to Robby Anderson in the second quarter certainly helped matters.

Darnold reignited an offensive unit that had been lifeless, dull, and anemic over the past three weeks. His presence alone was enough to breathe life into a franchise that had little reason for hope prior to this game.

That’s the Sam Darnold effect.

Perhaps many underestimated just how much that effect would play into the outcome of this game — but he showed that it’s real and it has an immense impact when all is set and done.

This is the Darnold we saw towards the end of last season. This is the Darnold that everyone hoped we would see in his second NFL season.

And this is the Darnold that has finally been unleashed upon the NFL world.

With their franchise savior back under center, who knows where this team could end up. It’s still early in the season, but the Jets may just have some life in them courtesy of Sam Darnold.