3 heroes (and 3 villains) from NY Jets' Week 2 win over Titans

The NY Jets just barely escaped Nashville with a win on Sunday. They are incredibly lucky not to be going into their home opener in just four days with an 0-2 record. But regardless of how they got it done, they got it done.

Now, they will prepare for a matchup with the hated New England Patriots at 1 and 1 — a much more comfortable position to be in after their 24-17 win over the Tennessee Titans.

Like any game, there were pros and there were cons. There were heroes who won the game for the Jets, and there were villains who seemingly did everything they could to lose. We will break down who those heroes and who those villains were in Week 2.

NY Jets heroes

1. The NY Jets' special teams

There wasn't a whole lot of good from the Jets on either side of the ball. Both the offense and defense had their fair share of ugly moments. In fact, the majority of the game was ugly for both of those units.

But the one unit that came to play was the special teams. Between Greg Zuerlein's field goal, his three extra points, and Irv Charles' timely blocked punt in the third quarter, this unit kept the Jets in the game multiple times.

The way it seems to be going, both the offense and defense have been incredibly inconsistent. There are exciting moments and good individual drives, but then horrific moments and disastrous drives. Until all of that gets cleaned up, the Jets will need consistency from the special teams to ensure victories in close games.

Brant Boyer, the Jets' special teams coordinator who has been with the franchise for close to a decade now, can take pride in his unit's performance today. They are going to need a lot more of that for the time being.

2. Breece Hall and Braelon Allen

Breece Hall and Braelon Allen were the stars of the game.

Whether it was in the second quarter when Allen sprinted into the end zone from 12 yards out off a toss from Aaron Rodgers, Hall's touchdown reception in the third quarter off an even more beautiful pass from Rodgers, or Allen's 20-yard touchdown trot that ended up being the game-winner, those two generated the scoring the Jets needed.

Coming into the season, Allen was highly touted as a potential impact player in year one. In the Week 2 win, he showed why. And we already know what Breece Hall is — he just needs to stay on the field.

Based on how the Jets' receiving corps looks early on, the Jets' offense will need that firepower from their young running backs to put points on the board consistently.

3. Aaron Rodgers

This was far from Aaron Rodgers' greatest game ever. He didn't eclipse 200 yards and he didn't exactly walk the Titans up and down the field the way we have seen him do to teams for the past 17 seasons.

But he didn't turn the ball over, he was able to put some points on the board despite a struggling receiver group, and he made a couple of throws that only Aaron Rodgers can make.

His touchdown pass to Hall three minutes into the third quarter was absolutely perfect. His third-down pass to Garrett Wilson for 26 yards on the final scoring drive was placed right in Wilson's bread basket. And then finally, his first-down completion to Mike Williams on 2nd-and-16 on the same drive set up the game-winning touchdown from Allen two plays later.

He wasn't the best version of himself that we've ever seen, but every time he had to make a big play, he made one. This is why you bring him in and put up with the missed minicamp practices, the near-run for vice president, and the suffocating media attention that he attracts wherever he goes.

You bring him in because, despite all of that, he wins you football games.

NY Jets villains

1. The NY Jets WR room

This was not a good day for the Jets' wide receivers. The only one who enjoyed more than two catches and 20 yards was Garrett Wilson. Not one of them put any points on the board. Wilson played solid enough overall, but he was the lone wolf in this department.

Allen Lazard had two nice catches, but they didn't generate many yards. Mike Williams was completely non-existent until he came up big on the game-winning drive. Malachi Corley had just one catch for four yards, and Xavier Gipson registered zero offensive stats. It was an ugly one all around.

The only receiver who really looks competent right now is Wilson — which is a problem. The silver lining is that Lazard did make a couple of catches (anything you get from him at this point is a plus), and Williams' brilliant reception could point to his improving health.

If this trend continues, however, the Jets will need a very healthy dose of Braelon Allen and Breece Hall out of the backfield. Hall finished with seven receptions for 52 yards and a receiving touchdown today. Expect more of that in the passing game for the foreseeable future.

2. Injuries: C.J. Mosley and Jermaine Johnson

This is a villain that no team can combat, especially in this sport. On Sunday, Jets fans were all witnesses to that.

C.J. Mosley went down in the first half due to a non-contact "foot injury" which Jets fans know about all too well. Fans watching might have initially feared the worst. Thankfully, the Jets are referring to it as a toe injury.

Though this isn't good, it is a huge sigh of relief, and everyone was sighing that sigh of relief until the second half when Jermaine Johnson was carted off with a non-contact injury of his own. The Jets believe Johnson suffered a torn Achilles, which will end his season.

The loss of these two stars had an immediate impact on the Jets defense. The unit struggled to stop the run all game and got very limited pressure on Will Levis. You have to think that the injuries to Mosley and Johnson played a huge part in those struggles.

From here, all we can do is wait for the injury report to come out. It will tell us a lot about the Haason Reddick saga and the shape of the Jets' defense for at least the next couple of weeks. As far as this past Sunday's game against Tennessee is concerned, injuries played a big part in hindering the Jets' defensive performance.

3. The NY Jets' Coaching: Nathaniel Hackett and Robert Saleh

Jets fans should thank their lucky stars that their quarterback is Aaron Rodgers and that their running backs are a pair of young studs because it seems that the two-headed monster of Robert Saleh and Nathaniel Hackett did everything in their power to lose against Tennessee on Sunday.

You can look at both sides of the ball. On defense, the vaunted mind of Saleh was largely bailed out by two Will Levis turnovers in the first half. If not for a fumble on the Titans' third drive in the Jets' red zone, followed by a horrible interception the very next play that Levis touched the ball, Tennessee was poised to score one or two more times in the first half.

And on the Titans' final drive, Saleh's defense let them march down the field before fizzling out with an incomplete pass to end the drive. They escaped by the skin of their teeth.

Offensively, everything was largely unimaginative. Though Hackett did occasionally use screens, tosses, quick passes, and misdirection to get his skill talent in space, a large portion of Jets possessions were basic and predictable.

There were too many straight runs up the middle, five-step drops, and simplistic formations/route packages. The offense was at its best when it got creative, and got Wilson, Hall, and Allen the ball with room to run. But for whatever reason, Hackett kept getting away from that.

There was also the abject sloppiness. The flags were a huge issue. The Jets finished the game with seven penalties for 70 yards. They were -25 yards in the penalty battle, which usually results in a loss.

One of the main reasons for the penalties was their inability to get the ball snapped on time. They had to waste multiple timeouts and took multiple delay of game penalties because they were not ready when the play clock struck zero.

Even on the plays where they did get the play off on time, most of them were close calls. It's hard to pinpoint who is the most to blame for this, but Saleh and Hackett are a good place to start.

Overall, both of these guys need to clean it up. If they keep producing this kind of output, the Jets will be bad and they won't have jobs for very long.

Their next big test will be preparing the team for New England on such short notice. Thursday Night Football looms large right now, and all eyes will be on how quickly the teams come out of the gate. It will say a lot about the coaching staff, and the team moving forward.

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