Jets’ standout tackles shine in biggest test of the season

Myles Garrett has long been considered one of the NFL’s most dominant edge rushers. The Cleveland Browns’ defensive line, anchored by Garrett, has earned a reputation as one of the league’s most feared units.

But what the New York Jets’ young tackle duo did to that group — and to Garrett in particular — was nothing short of impressive.

Gang Green ran through Cleveland’s vaunted defensive front for 127 rushing yards in Sunday afternoon’s 27-20 win at MetLife Stadium. It ranks as the second-most rushing yards allowed this season by a Cleveland defense that ranks 10th-best against the run (97.9 yards per game).

While much of the attention went to running back Breece Hall’s explosive performance, it was the offensive line that paved the way.

Standing out most among that group? The Jets’ young tackle duo.

Jets offensive line impresses

The tandem of left tackle Olu Fashanu and right tackle Armand Membou paved the way to victory for New York.

While Fashanu did surrender one sack to Garrett in the third quarter, the young tackles kept Cleveland’s star edge rusher quiet for the most part.

No one was more pleased than head coach Aaron Glenn.

“I was really excited about that because when you look at what Cleveland was doing, they ran a ton of Cover 0 — no middle-field safety, everybody in the box,” Glenn said. “You give credit to the O-line for really getting knock-back and allowing Breece (Hall) not to be touched for three yards.”

Hall’s heroics will dominate the headlines, but Fashanu and Membou deserve just as much shine. When put into context, their performance was nothing short of outstanding.

Heading into Week 10, Garrett was coming off a five-sack game, one of the most dominant single-game efforts of the season. Against the Jets, he finished with just one sack and two pressures.

It helps that New York only dropped back to pass 16 times, but Garrett still had a season-low 58.2 pass-rush grade, per PFF. This indicates that the Jets’ young tackles typically held him in check whenever he did get the chance to rush.

Fashanu and Membou combined to allow just one sack and two total pressures on 17 pass-blocking reps apiece. It isn’t the largest sample, but against a Browns defense with the third-highest sack rate in the NFL (10.3%), it’s still an impressive performance.

There were several reasons the Jets won their second straight game Sunday: the special teams unit scored twice, the defense piled up six sacks, and Hall continued to shine.

But none of that happens without New York’s ability to contain Garrett.

Running game sets the tone

The Jets were quick to praise Hall after the win, and rightfully so. He remains the centerpiece of the offense and earned his “workhorse” label from Glenn post-game.

Still, the offensive line deserves just as much credit for setting the tone early and keeping Cleveland off balance.

“It was a combination between the O-line making their blocks in certain situations and then Breece being Superman and making some of those plays,” Glenn said. “I was excited about that and happy about the way they did that.”

In the midst of a rebuild, the Jets’ young, talented offensive line is their foundation — and Sunday’s performance showed that foundation is strong.

A rebuild can accelerate quickly with a dominant line leading the offense. New York’s season hasn’t been easy, but its offensive line is quietly becoming the engine of the franchise’s future, just as the organization intended.