Jets Beat Browns in Mid-off | The Cutting Edge W/JackKnife

Typical Jets-Browns game

Two of the NFL's most pitiful franchises duking it out as the rain came down inside the air conditioner that sucks your soul known as MetLife Stadium. However, one team was on the up and up as the Cleveland Browns were 3-1 entering Sunday with a lead in the AFC North. Well, thankfully, this time it was the New York Jets playing spoiler for once as Gang Green snapped their three-game losing streak with an ugly 17-12 victory. 

It was ugly in every sense of the word as the Jets barely eked out a win after a late fumble by Geno Smith gave the Browns control with a 12-10 lead . Cleveland would not take advantage as the Jets defense stood tall, and on the punt attempt, the Browns remembered they were the Browns as the snap went high and through Corey Boroquez's hands to set the Jets up deep into Browns territory on a drive that would end with what would be Braelon Allen's go-ahead game-winning touchdown.

This was an ugly win and of course there's reason to complain.  How come the Jets are inefficient in the red zone?  They went 0-for-2.  How come Gang Green can't protect the ball?  The Jets fumbled the ball four times, losing possession twice.  Once in the red zone because Quincy Williams (who forced three fumbles on the game) was on a revenge tour against his former team, and the aforementioned late fumble where Carson Schwesinger rushed Geno Smith's blind side untouched.  How do the Jets keep stalling around midfield with under two minutes left in the first half?  Fifth game in-a-row they failed to score in that scenario.  How did the Jets manage to get penalized more than the most penalized team in the league?  However, that last question deserves a huge asterisk for a few reasons. 

One, a certain star in the making on Gang Green's defense (who I am not naming yet because I will give him his flowers later) was getting held all game and the referees decided, "yeah, holding is okay as long as the Browns do it."  Second, the Browns can do fair catch interference on the Jets, but not the other way around as seen here.  Um, why?  Next, there was this questionable unnecessary roughness call on Minkah Fitzpatrick that Browns fans are calling dirty, many of them still upset about when Fitzpatrick was a Steelers and injured Nick Chubb, but I'll defer to their coach's statement on this hit and that it was a quick bang-bang play.  That and it was a terrible throw by Deshaun Watson that put KC Concepcion in an awkward position as Fitzpatrick leaned in with the shoulder.  Last, but not least, the league that bends over backwards to protect quarterbacks over the most miniscule infractions, yet this was not called a roughing the passer after a clear helmet-to-helmet from Jared Verse on Smith.  The Fitzpatrick hit on Concepcion was called a penalty, but this wasn't?!  Head Coach Aaron Glenn was clearly ticked at the referees.  There was also a phantom pass interference penalty on Brandon Stephens (can't find video of it) that even Logan Ryan of the CBS broadcast thought was a bad call.  Absolutely abismal officiating, which is the standard in the NFL. 

So maybe I may be being too tough on the Jets when taking those into consideration, along with the fact that the Browns were in first place coming in to this game, and the weather was crappy.  The Jets still managed to get the W at the end of the day.  So, let's look at the positives.  

Bailey bursts through

Remember I said I was going to give a certain unnamed defensive star in the making his flowers?  That star is linebacker David Bailey.  Fans have been waiting for his breakout game and he had it on Sunday.  Bailey finished the game with seven tackles, three sacks, three tackles for losses, and four hits on Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson.  With this performance, Bailey became the first Jets rookie with three sacks in a game since Hugh Douglas in 1995. 

The Jets defense had eight sacks total on the day. Gang Green held Watson to just 155 yards, completing 15 of 33 pass attempts. The Jets held Cleveland under 200 total yards, only allowing 198 on the day.  It was a great job by the defense, but obviously Bailey stood out amongst them all. 

Bailey not only passed the eye test, he passed the analytics text.  According to Next Gen Stats, Bailey created nine pressures, which are tied for the most by a rookie in a game since Verse in week seven of the 2024 season.  Bailey currently leads every rookie in the NFL with 26 pressures and nine quick pressures.  Now let's see if he can keep this up on a consistent basis.  

Wilson shines in the rain

It was certainly an ugly day in East Rutherford, New Jersey as the entire Northeast got the remains of Hurricane Isaias this Sunday.  Passing the ball was going to be difficult for Smith.  However, only one Jet receiver was targeted more than four times this game and that was Garrett Wilson.  

Wilson opened the scoring on the game with a 32-yard catch-and-run touchdown which included him spinning Ronnie Hickman out of his shoes (figuratively) before taking it to the end zone.  Wilson was targeted 11 times for seven catches and 104 yards, averaging 14.9 yards a catch.  The player with the second most targets was running back Braelon Allen with four, while tight end Mason Taylor had the second most receptions with just three.  

The weather was terrible for passing.  Smith completed 17 of 30 passing attempts for 182 yards, and the one touchdown pass.  Not only that, Adonai Mitchell was out again.  As much as I would like to nitpick the play calling (particularly Kenyon Sadiq not getting many touches [well, he did fumble]), the elements were clearly an issue for both teams.  Still, this is their job, they are supposed to weather these storms.  That being said, Wilson did not let the rain slow him down and he had the type of performance he was drafted for.  

Allen steps up

On a day like this where the rain is a factor, running was going to be very important for both teams if they wanted to succeed.  The Jets have had their own issues running the ball the past couple weeks and were entering this game, especially with Breece Hall missing his second consecutive game.  Well thankfully, Braelon Allen was up to the challenge.  

Already touched before that Allen got what would be the game winning 22-yard touchdown run, but that doesn't paint the whole picture.  Allen on the day finished with 116 rush yards on 24 carries, averaging 4.8 yards per touch.  It goes without saying that if the Jets want to get back in the hunt for a playoff spot, they need the running game to be better than it has been the past few weeks.  Perhaps this performance from Allen will begin to set things right, and when Hall comes back, hopefully it makes it trend even further upward.  

Hate watch update

The Dallas Cowboys went into Thursday night against the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers and pooped their pants on national television to fall to 2-3.  That's good considering the Green Bay Packers absolutely slaughtered the Chicago Bears, who are definitely grieving as an organization (RIP Iron Mike Ditka [AKA Juice Box]).  So as it stands right now, with the Packers 3-2, it's currently the Cowboys pick that the Jets hold.  The Indianapolis Colts fell to 2-3 after losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers.  As much as I would love to see Aaron Rodgers eat dirt, it was better for the Jets today for him to beat Indy.  

Next week

The Jets head to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts where they will be taking on the defending AFC Champions (and losers of last years Super Bowl), the New England Patriots.  Drake "the Schedule" Maye has bounced back after a rough start to the season.  We've seen this story before.  Jets get a little bit of hope before getting spanked by the franchise we helped make relevant due to our own incompetence (though the Bills and Dolphins have plenty of blame as well).  Does it have to be that way though?  

I wrote last week that this team was "useless" because they manage to suck all the happiness out of me when they lose, which is often.  That being said, the Jets have an opportunity to be .500 after next week's game against their hated rival and hold a tiebreaker over them.  This is the first division matchup for Gang Green this season and a win would mean they would hold 2nd in the AFC East as they would be 1-0 in the division (Patriots would be 1-1).  I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the outcome of this game will indicate whether or not the Jets will be playing meaningful football later this season.  Obviously some guys like Omar Cooper Jr. among others getting healthy before next week's matchup would be a big help.  So Jets, I said you were "useless," please prove me wrong, I beg of you.  

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