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Checking up on Jets’ statistical rankings post-Week 12

November 26, 2019

Michael Nania

The Jets obliterated the Raiders for their third consecutive win, pulling off their biggest blowout at MetLife Stadium since Week 17 of 2010.

How did the victory affect their rankings across the league in various statistics? Let’s dive in.

PASSING OFFENSE:

Passing yards per game: 188.5 (31^st)

Passing touchdowns: 13 (T-25^th)

Interceptions thrown: 13 (T-27^th)

Passing first downs: 108 (29^th)

Yards per pass attempt: 6.8 (22^nd)

Yards per completion: 10.7 (24^th)

Sack rate allowed: 10.9% (31^st)

Net yards per pass play (includes sack yardage): 3.2 (26^th)

Touchdown rate: 3.8% (21^st)

Interception rate: 3.8% (31^st)

Passing first down rate: 28.8% (26^th)

Passer rating: 80.2 (27^th)

20+ yard plays: 31 (25^th)

Pass offense EPA (expected points added): -50.5 (32^nd)

Notes: The Jets remain in the lower half of every major passing statistic, but this is a major improvement on where they were prior to Sam Darnold’s return to health in Week 6. Over their first four games, the Jets were ranked last by a wide margin in nearly every passing category, playing in the same league where the tanking Miami Dolphins averaged 6.5 points over their first four games.

Darnold has had the Jets putting up respectable passing production over the past seven games, in which he has led them to a 4-3 record. Since Week 6, the Jets are sixth in 20-plus yard passing plays (22), seventh in touchdown passes (10), 18^thin passing first down rate (32.5%), and 20^th in passing yards per game (215.7). He has ranked top-10 for the week in total QBR in four of those seven games, including each of his last three.

RUSHING OFFENSE:

Rushing yards per game: 73.5 (30^th)

Rushing touchdowns: 6 (T-23^rd)

Rushing first downs: 39 (32^nd)

10+ yard plays: 18 (30^th)

Yards per rush attempt: 3.2 (31^st)

Rushing first down rate: 16.0% (32^nd)

Rush offense EPA: -35.1 (28^th)

Notes: Similar to the passing game, these rankings are also a substantial improvement over where the Jets were to start the season. They were that bad offensively without a healthy Darnold.

Le’Veon Bell has averaged 1.2 yards before contact this season, worst among the 32 running backs with over 100 rush attempts. The offensive line has run blocked a little bit better over the past two games, but they remain a substantially below average unit. The Jets only averaged 3.2 yards per rush against Washington and Oakland, in two games that were supposedly improved performances by the front five.

Time is running out for Bell to record his first 100-yard rushing game as a Jet, but he has some favorable matchups left on the schedule. Four of the Jets’ next five opponents rank in the bottom-five of both rush defense EPA and yards per rush attempt allowed, with Pittsburgh being the only exception.

OVERALL OFFENSE:

Total yards per game: 262.1 (31^st)

Yards per play: 4.5 (30^th)

Points per drive: 1.21 (31^st)

Third down conversion rate: 26.8% (31^st)

Percentage of drives resulting in a score: 21.2% (32^nd)

Percentage of drives resulting in a turnover: 12.9% (19^th)

Red zone touchdown rate: 60.9% (12^th)

Red zone trips: 23 (31^st)

Total offense EPA: -84.3 (31^st)

Notes: The Jets dug themselves into a deep hole with their performance over the first four weeks of the season. Even elite-level offensive performance may not have been able to pull them into the upper echelon by this point. Their historically brutal performance against the Patriots sabotaged the season-long numbers even further.

But fear not, things have improved mightily in recent weeks. The Jets have scored a touchdown on 33.3 percent of their drives over the past three games, third-best in football behind the Titans (37.1%) and Ravens (61.5% – absolutely unreal). They also own the second-lowest turnover rate over that span (3.0%), with just one giveaway over 33 drives.

PASSING DEFENSE:

Passing yards per game: 243.0 (19^th)

Passing touchdowns: 18 (T-18^th)

Interceptions: 7 (T-21^st)

Passing first downs: 130 (T-14^th)

Yards per pass attempt: 7.0 (9^th)

Yards per completion: 11.0 (12^th)

Sack rate: 6.0% (25^th)

Net yards per pass play: 6.1 (14^th)

Touchdown rate: 4.4% (15^th)

Interception rate: 1.7% (26^th)

Passing first down rate: 30.9% (8^th)

Passer rating: 91.2 (18^th)

20+ yard plays: 38 (T-19^th)

Pass defense EPA: -61.4 (19^th)

Notes: It is remarkable that the Jets have fielded a respectable pass defense given the injuries they have dealt with and the lack of talent on the edge and at cornerback.

Brian Poole has had an elite season, while Arthur Maulet and Blessuan Austin have burst onto the scene with surprise emergences. Over the past three weeks, here are the cornerbacks who have allowed the fewest yards per coverage snap (minimum 70 cover snaps):

1. Brian Poole (0.28)

2. Shaquill Griffin (0.30)

3. Richard Sherman (0.38)

4. T.J. Carrie (0.44)

5. Blessuan Austin (0.46)

6. Byron Jones (0.48)

7. Arthur Maulet (0.55)

On the season, Poole ranks third among qualified cornerbacks in fewest yards per cover snap with a mark of 0.61, trailing only Richard Sherman and Casey Hayward.

Austin and Maulet have combined to allow 17/29 passing for 114 yards and five first downs (zero touchdowns) in their direction over the past three weeks – incredibly stout marks of 3.9 yards per target and a 17.2 percent first down rate. If even just one of these two can close out the second half having maintained this level of production, it would be a massive boon for the Jets going into 2020, potentially crossing out a would-be need. Both of them keeping it going would be delicious gravy.

RUSHING DEFENSE:

Rushing yards per game: 78.1 (1^st)

Rushing touchdowns: 10 (T-17^th)

Rushing first downs: 47 (T-2^nd)

10+ yard plays: 22 (T-2^nd)

Yards per rush attempt: 3.0 (1^st)

Rushing first down rate: 17.1% (2^nd)

Rush defense EPA: 64.6 (1^st)

Notes: Keeping up with their usual tradition, the Jets have put together a dominant run defense while struggling with nearly everything else.

The Jets have gotten this done without C.J. Mosley or Avery Williamson, two of the best run-stopping inside linebackers in football.

Their replacements inside have struggled, yet the Jets have still been dominant against the run. Among linebackers with at least 300 snaps, James Burgess and Neville Hewitt rank first and fourth, respectively, in missed tackle frequency against the run. Burgess has missed one for every 3.8 tackles made, while Hewitt owns a mark of 4.1. Blake Cashman did not miss as many tackles because he was often washed out of the play before he could get in position to make one.

Everybody else has chipped in to make this run defense arguably the league’s best. Folorunso Fatukasi and Nathan Shepherd have taken huge second-year leaps. Henry Anderson and Steve McLendon have been excellent. The run support from the back end has been extremely frequent. Jamal Adams has expectedly been a run-stopping force, while Austin and Maulet have both been actively involved against the run as well.

OVERALL DEFENSE:

Total yards per game: 321.1 (8^th)

Yards per play: 4.9 (4^th)

Points per drive: 1.81 (11^th)

Third down conversion rate: 43.2% (25^th)

Percentage of drives resulting in a score: 32.6% (8^th)

Percentage of drives resulting in a turnover: 9.6% (26^th)

Red zone touchdown rate: 64.5% (29^th)

Red zone trips: 31 (6^th)

Total defense EPA: 8.3 (6^th)

Notes: Gregg Williams deserves an immense amount of credit. The Jets defense has battled countless injuries and played with the worst average starting field position in football (starting at their own 32.2 yard line on average), yet here they stand as one of the league’s better defenses.

To boot, Williams is now overseeing the immense growth of numerous young players who could be part of the solution going forward. Nathan Shepherd, Foley Fatukasi, and Arthur Maulet have all progressed considerably this season (particularly over the past few weeks). Blessuan Austin has recovered from two ACL tears to make a profound impact in his first three NFL games after getting no preseason action and little practice time.

Gregg Williams for MVP?

Follow Michael Nania on Twitter: @Michael_Nania

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