Joe Tippmann’s emotional Nick Mangold tribute turned into a career game

The New York Jets’ 39–38 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday was as emotional as it was improbable. On the same day the team learned of Nick Mangold’s passing, the Jets' offensive line — a unit Mangold once anchored — delivered one of the most dominant performances in recent memory.

The Jets piled up more than 500 yards of offense and nearly 250 on the ground, controlling the trenches in a way that felt like a tribute to the late franchise legend.

No one embodied that spirit more than Joe Tippmann. The third-year center-turned-down-guard put together arguably the best performance of his career, earning the highest Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade of any lineman in the NFL this week.

Tippmann and the rest of the offensive line helped lead the Jets to their first win of the season, and after the game, he made clear that his performance carried a deeper meaning.

"The whole pregame, I had [Nick Mangold] in my prayers … praying for him, praying for his family, and keeping in the back of my mind that I wanted to go out there and win this for him. Just the way he welcomed me when I got drafted, being a center, like, he was [there] with open arms. Anything I need, the whole time. To lose a great man like that, my heart goes out to his family."

Joe Tippmann

Joe Tippmann helped lead the Jets to victory in Week 8 while honoring Nick Mangold

Tippmann’s 88.3 PFF pass-blocking grade wasn’t just the best among all NFL offensive linemen in Week 8 — it also marked a new career high for the third-year lineman. He allowed zero pressures on 37 pass-block snaps, joining two other Jets starters in achieving that remarkable feat on Sunday.

It was a complete and utter domination by the Jets' offensive line, as the team allowed just three total pressures and zero QB hits. All five starting offensive linemen received PFF pass-block grades north of 69.0.

That marked the first time that the Jets had allowed three or fewer pressures in a game, zero QB hits, and had all of their starting linemen finish with PFF pass-block grades of 69.0 or higher since Week 4 of the 2010 season.

Tippmann's career day could not have come at a more fitting time. As the former Wisconsin standout said, Mangold helped welcome him into the league when he was first drafted by the Jets a few years back.

Tippmann started most of the past two seasons at center — the same position Mangold anchored for a decade — before shifting to right guard this year following Alijah Vera-Tucker’s season-ending injury.

On a day when the Jets honored one of the greatest linemen in franchise history, Tippmann carried that legacy forward. His performance was both a career milestone and a fitting tribute to the standard Nick Mangold set in Florham Park. His legacy will live on.