The New York Jets (4-7) defeated the Oakland Raiders 34-3 to extend their winning streak to three games after losing to the winless Miami Dolphins, and starting the season 1-7.
The Raiders were in the AFC wild-card hunt, but after this loss, they sunk to 6-5 and saw their postseason hopes slightly diminish after a shellacking in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
The so-called “worst offense in the NFL” has now generated 34 points in each of the Jets’ last three games during their winning streak. No surprise that the Jets won all three of those games.
In their three prior losses, the Jets scored only 33 combined points, including a humiliating 33-0 shutout against the New England Patriots.
Sam Darnold looks like a different quarterback, and not the shell-shocked rube seeing ghosts against the Patriots. Darnold went 20-for-29 for 315 yards and zero interceptions. He threw two more touchdowns, and rushed for another in the victory.
COOKIN'#OAKvsNYJ | #TakeFlight pic.twitter.com/uTtTvarJWr
— New York Jets (@nyjets) November 24, 2019
“It’s just about making sure everyone is on the same page,” Darnold said. “If we do that, we’re a hard offense to stop.”
Jets Smoke Chucky and Raiders
The Raiders are a popular team across the country, and their fans travel to away games. Numerous Oakland supporters were in attendance at MetLife Stadium, and the boisterous fans booed the Jets during warmups. The incident fired up the Jets, who felt disrespected being booed on their home turf.
The Jets came out fired up, and scored on their first three possessions.
“I’m not going to lie to you, when we came on to the field, we felt disrespected,” said Jets safety Jamal Adams. “We got booed in our own home stadium by the Oakland fans. We came back into this locker room and it was a hell of a talk.”
Things were so bad that head coach Jon Gruden pulled starting quarterback Derek Carr in the third quarter. Chucky waived the white flag, which you almost never see happen from someone wearing silver and black.
“We got our butts kicked,” said Derek Carr. “There’s no other way around that. They got after us from start to finish. Hopefully, it’s an eye opener.”
Sick Run D
The Jets boast the best run defenses in the NFL, allowing only 78.1 yards per game, which is the primary reason their winning streak is now at three games and counting.
Greg Williams’ run D shut down rookie Josh Jacobs, and held the NFL’s fourth-best rusher to only 34 yards. The Raiders could only muster up 68 yards on the ground against the Jets, and a chunk of that came from a Carr scramble.
In Week 10, the Jets shutdown Saquon Barkley and held the Giants star back to just a single yard on 13 attempts. The Jets beat him up so badly, he was spotted limping out of the X-Ray technician’s room at Giants Stadium.
Last week against the Washington Redskins, the Jets held Adrian Peterson to 25 yards on the ground. The Skins mustered up only 54 yards on the ground all game.
On Deck: Winless Bengals and Tanking Dolphins
Adam Gase and the Jets could see their winning streak extended to five games. Gang Green heads to Cincinnati to play the winless Bengals on Sunday. Next week, the Jets host the Miami Dolphins for the long-awaited rematch against the Fish, who embarrassed the Jets in Week 9.
“Obviously, our defense is playing really, really well these past few weeks, and really the whole season,” added Darnold. “I feel like if we just keep this up, we’re going to look up and it’s going to be a good year. But at the same time, we just have to take it one week at a time.”
During Week 15, the Jets face Lamar Jackson and the Ravens in Baltimore. In Week 16, the Pittsburgh Steelers come to town for the penultimate game of the season.
In Week 17, the Jets fly up to Buffalo to end the season against Josh Allen and the Bills. The Jets could play the role of spoiler in that game if the Bills are close to the wild-card bubble.
For more rantings of a jaded New York Jets fan, read the weekly LOLJets Chronicles.
