New York Jets off-the-stat-sheet roundup: vs. Buffalo Bills (part 1)

Michael Nania highlights the most crucial moments that went overlooked by the stat-sheet during the New York Jets' Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Many of the occurrences on a football field that most directly contribute to the outcome of a play do not get recognized in the box score, and are often not even visible on the television screen. With this series, those overlooked moments are going to get the recognition they deserve. I will be looking back through each of the Jets' 16 games in 2019 and pointing out some of the most crucial off-the-stat-sheet plays in each. We start off with the first half of the Jets' season-opening loss to the Buffalo Bills. 2ND & 2 AT BUF 33 (Q1, 14:26) Defenders are poorly represented by general box scores largely due to the insignificance of the "total tackles" stat. Oftentimes, defenders get credit for a tackle on a play in which they were responsible for allowing the offense to succeed, especially those in the secondary. Take Trumaine Johnson, for example. He collected eight tackles in Week 1, his best total as a Jet. Too many will look at that number and interpret it as proof that Johnson excelled, whereas the opposite is true. Johnson was eaten alive by Buffalo, allowing seven catches on eight targets for 110 yards while tossing in a 15-yard facemask penalty. The only reason he collected eight tackles is because the ball was constantly being thrown in his direction. Johnson lines up too far outside against John Brown on this play and is easily toasted on a drag route to the inside, lacking the speed to cover the ground he afforded at the snap. Despite pressing the line, he does not attempt to jam the route. It's an easy 13-yard first down pickup for Brown, and Johnson adds a tackle to his stat line after getting smoked. 1ST & 10 AT NYJ 26 (Q1, 12:17) Many fans and media members scoffed at the notion of Leonard Williams providing "hidden value" during his Jets tenure, claiming it to be an excuse for his lack of sack production, but it was a very real thing. Williams constantly made an impact with plays like the one below. He bulls Quinton Spain into the pocket and forces Josh Allen to scramble and throw the ball away. Henry Anderson steals the box score credit for a quarterback hit, even though it was Williams who created the pressure. Williams did struggle for the Jets in 2019, playing below his usual standards as he ranked 45th out of 82 qualified interior defensive linemen in pass-rush productivity from Weeks 1-8. Over his first four seasons, however, Williams made plays like the one above at an elite rate. He ranked sixth among interior defensive linemen in pressures in 2018 (53), 11th in 2017 (46), and sixth in 2016 (55). This is not a pro-Leo campaign, but I think it should be noted that he was a much better player for the Jets than many fans seemed to realize. 2ND & 5 AT NYJ 43 (Q1, 11:33) Ryan Kalil (center) and Brian Winters (right guard) do a poor job of picking up this interior pressure from Buffalo, as the two down linemen to the offense's right each rush the next gap over to the inside. Sam Darnold is forced into a hasty and unbalanced throw, which is located a bit too far in front of Jamison Crowder and falls incomplete. A great jerk route by Crowder (seen on the left side) is wasted. Crowder did get two hands on the ball, but he needed to dive in order to do it. A throw-and-catch that should have been easy was made difficult by the offensive line. 2ND & 12 AT NYJ 30 (Q1, 02:22) Fumbles are another misleading stat. Quarterbacks often get tagged with credit for a fumble even if it is not entirely their fault, such as bad snaps, botched exchanges, and, as is the case on this play, lateral passes. Ty Montgomery swings out of the backfield and Darnold puts touch on the ball to get it over the edge defender and lead Montgomery downfield. Montgomery does not do the best job of tracking the ball as he slows up and then tries to grab it with one hand, failing to do so. The ball is live since the pass was thrown backwards, but it luckily tumbles out of bounds. Darnold got tagged with a fumble on that play due to Montgomery's inability to haul the ball in. Kelvin Beachum also deserves blame for allowing his man to get in the passing lane and disrupt the throw, forcing Darnold to place it slightly further ahead of Montgomery than he probably would have preferred. Beachum needed to be more aggressive in pushing his man upfield. 3RD & 11 AT NYJ 29 (Q2, 12:42) Crowder is a master at option routes in the middle of the field, squaring up defenders and pivoting either inside or outside depending on where the open area is. Watch him work Bills slot corner Taron Johnson here to pick up 12 yards on 3rd & 11. He attacks Johnson's inside leverage aggressively and then shows off his short-area quickness as he stops on a dime and works back outside. Credit where it's due to the offensive line for giving Crowder time to execute that route. Shell did an excellent job on the right side, and Beachum did enough on the left. Ryan Kalil is barreled into the pocket by Lorenzo Alexander, but Winters comes through with a clutch play as he blasts the airborne Alexander out of the passing lane. Darnold makes a great throw while drifting back from the pressure. 3RD & 6 AT BUF 44 (Q2, 11:03) Le'Veon Bell is one of the best there is when it comes to pass-blocking out of the backfield. Watch the display of pure strength as he holds up against a blitzing Matt Milano, who comes in with a full head of steam. Thanks largely in part to Bell's excellent block, Darnold gets a whopping 3.5 seconds from snap-to-release, and he uses the ample time to find Crowder for a first. Even though Buffalo only rushed three, pressure still should have gotten in quickly. The call was designed around getting that outside linebacker home, whether he came in unblocked or drew a one-on-one against a running back. The Bills got what they wanted. Bell just dominated the rep, buying his quarterback what equates to an eon of throwing time in the NFL. A running back can change the game in more ways than simply running the football. 1ST & 10 AT BUF 36 (Q2, 10:26) Brandon Shell (right tackle) and Ryan Griffin (right end) do a poor job of handling a stunt, leading to pressure on Darnold that may have taken some power off of his deep shot to Robby Anderson, which drops in a bit shorter than would have been ideal. Anderson still could have caught it, but with better protection, Darnold likely throws a deeper ball that Anderson easily runs through and grabs without competition. 4TH & 8 AT BUF 27 (Q2, 00:30) Thomas Hennessy is one of the best long snappers in the league, but even the great ones make mistakes now and then. On this 45-yard field goal attempt by Kaare Vedvik at the end of the first half, Hennessy's snap is a bit low. Lachlan Edwards takes just a beat too long to collect the ball and set it up for Vedvik, and the result is an ugly miss. Vedvik is not off the hook - look how awkward his form is, he has no torque or follow-through - but the operation did him no favors. On the closer look, you can see that Edwards actually makes a good catch on the low snap, but from that point he is a bit slow to complete the process of the hold. Still, as painful as it is to admit, more blame goes to Hennessy here. A rare blemish on his resume.