After taking the bye week to lick their wounds and hopefully address the ineptitude of the offense, Cleveland travels to the Meadowlands to take on the Jets.
While the Jets certainly have weapons in the offensive game, they don’t install fear in defenses the way Buffalo or Philadelphia does. Coming into week 8, New York has a pass/run split of 54.8/45.2, favoring running the ball slightly more than most teams in the league. The main feature of this run game is workhorse back Breece Hall. Last week against Cincinnati, Hall had his best game of the season so far. He ran for 133 yards with a pair of touchdowns against a shoddy Bengals defense. While Hall had his way against Cincinnati’s league-worse run defense, it’s doubtful he’ll have similar success against a Cleveland defense that has given up only threw rushing touchdowns all year.
Normally, the main threat offensively for the Jets is WR Garrett Wilson. However, Wilson has been out due to suffered hyperextended knee during a week 6 matchup against Denver. At the moment he’s questionable, if he’s playing he won’t be at 100%. On the chance he unable to play, the depth behind him doesn’t instill confidence. Without Wilson, the presumed starters are Allen Lazard, Arian Smith, and Tyler Johnson. The trio has combined for 279 receiving yards and only two touchdowns. Head Coach Aaron Glenn hasn’t yet committed to playing time for recently acquired WRs Adonai Mitchell and John Metchie III.
New York’s defense has overgone serious personnel changes as of recently. At this year’s trade deadline, the Jets dealt Pro-Bowlers CB Sauce Gardner and DT Quinnen Williams in separate blockbuster trades. While this might benefit them long-term, trading away their two best defenders severely hampers New York.
The Jets’ run defense was bad before the Williams trade, and now they project to be even worse. They rank towards the bottom half of the league in terms of yards per rush allowed and rushing yards per game allowed. Anchoring the middle of the D-line is former Browns DT Jowon Briggs. Briggs seems to be a rare bright spot in a dismal season for New York. Currently he’s ranked second on his team in sacks and fourth in total QB pressures. He also has a PFF grade of 73.7, sixteenth highest among interior defensive lineman. While they still have quality players on the D-line such as Briggs, Will McDonald IV, and Jermaine Johnson, the loss of Williams could mean a big day ahead for Browns rookie RB Quinshon Judkins.
Strengths:
- B.Hall And J.Fields Both Formidable In Run Game
- Offense Coming Off Season-Highs In Yards And Points
- One Of The Least Turnover Prone QBs In J.Fields
Weaknesses:
- Young, Inexperienced O-Line Struggles To Keep QB Upright
- Worst LB Corp In League
- Entire Defense Has Yet To Force Interception
Key Matchup:
- Cleveland Front Seven Vs. Breece Hall
The Jets are a bad team, but they’re not 1-7 bad. In all honesty, there’s plenty of similarities between New York and Cleveland in terms of how their seasons are playing out. Neither team is good right now, neither is projected to be good in the immediate future, and both have given sizable contracts to FA quarterbacks who vastly underperformed (D.Watson, J.Fields). With the sudden upheaval of the Jets’ defense combined with their porous offensive line and star receiver more than likely not playing, I like Cleveland’s chances in this one. If the offense can show some life and the defense can contain Breece Hall, Cleveland should walk away with their second road win of the season.
Score Prediction:
- CLE- 17
- NYJ- 13
The post Week 10 Opponent Scouting Report: New York Jets appeared first on Cleveland Sports Talk .