Despite being banged up in the secondary, the Jets defense smothered the Raiders on Sunday. Oakland managed to put up just 158 total yards on the day as rookie quarterback Derek Carr and the rest of the offense were held in check. Although the stat sheet does not look terrible for Carr (20-32 151 yards 2 touchdowns), he was ineffective for the majority of the game. Still he was able to make it a one score game in the fourth quarter before an onside kick failed, leaving the score 19-14 in favor of the Jets.
In Case You Missed It: Jets Vs. Raiders - Week 1 Preview
Although he was only sacked twice, Carr seldom had clean looks or time to go through his progressions. Raiders running backs did not fare any better as MJD and McFadden managed just 26 yards combined in this one. The lack of success on the ground left the Jets defense able to concentrate on stopping the pass, which they did despite having a skeleton crew manning the secondary.
The Jets offense was what many people knew that it would be, a unit that has a lot of potential but must get
Chris Ivory's 71 yard touchdown run would turn out to be the difference in this one.on the same page. The running game carried the day as the tandem of Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory ran for a combined 170 yards on 23 carries. Chris Ivory added an exclamation point in the form of a 71 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
The passing game was moderately effective as Geno Smith completed 23 of 28 passes, although he also threw an interception and fumbled twice. Eric Decker had a solid first game for the Jets as he hauled in 5 passes for 74 yards. At tight end, the Jets are clearly still relying on Jeff Cumberland over rookie Jace Amaro as Cumberland hauled in 4 passes for 50 yards to Amaro's 2 passes and 7 yards. The lone touchdown pass by Geno Smith was a shovel pass to Chris Johnson.
Clearly Gang Green is glad to come away from week 1 with a win, but they will need to continue improving if they hope to compete with the higher echelon teams. This was a game that saw too many penalties and too many mental mistakes, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. Whereas many people, myself included, had expected the secondary to leave the Jets defense as their weakness it was the offense that almost could not close it out on Sunday.
Coach Rex Ryan was clearly not amused by the miscues by the Jets. He said:
"This game should’ve been a rat kill, it wasn’t. It was close because of the penalties."
Next week the Jets head into Lambeau field to face what should be an angry Green Bay Packers team. The Packers are coming of a thrashing at the hands of the Seahawks and will be desperate to even up their record at the expense of the Jets. It was clear this week that the Jets have what it takes to compete at a high level, but will they be able to limit their mistakes?
