The Jets defeated the Cleveland Browns in Week 10 action. To celebrate the victory, we can give out some game balls.
Breece Hall: This game was up in the air in the second half. Both quarterbacks were badly
struggling. It felt to me like some non-quarterback would take the game over and carry his team to victory. T
hat non-quarterback was Hall. Late in the third quarter, the Jets didn’t just make Hall the focal point of the offense. He became the entire offense. Excluding kneel downs, he got the ball approximately three-quarters of the time on the Jets’ final three offensive possessions.
The drives resulted in a go ahead touchdown (produced on a 42 yard catch and run by Hall), an insurance field goal, and a series that allowed the Jets to run out the clock (aided by Cleveland) penalties.
Hall’s performance was more impressive than the numbers suggested. Twice in the fourth quarter he was tagged with a nine yard loss rushing that wasn’t his fault. The Browns also eventually realized they had to key on him, making it much more difficult to produce.
Hall remained a Jet through the trade deadline. If he continues producing the way he has the last two games, Jets fans will want him in green and white for a long time.
Will McDonald: I wrote an article just before the trade deadline that aged about as poorly as anything I’ve ever written. I suggested it was unlikely that the Jets would trade players like Sauce Garnder and Quinnen Williams. Uh…um…oops.
In the article I also suggested trading McDonald whose production had been down this season. I wondered whether he was capable of producing.
In fairness to me, McDonald’s play through the first eight games was a tad alarming. He also needs to follow up his excellent game against Cleveland with consistent play the rest of the season.
Still, that was one of the best pass rushing performances I’ve ever seen. McDonald was a one man wrecking crew getting after the quarterback. He had 4 of the Jets’ 6 sacks and 5 of their 7 QB hits.
With the Browns’ quarterback struggles, pretty much any negative play was a drive-ender, and McDonald ended a lot of drives.
Kene Nwangwu: Nwangwu has become one of the ultimate “When he’s healthy, he’s dangerous,” players. Due to various injuries, he’s only suited up in 6 games for the Jets since he was elevated to the active roster last December. His average kickoff return in those games has been a ridiculous 43.8 yards. (For reference, the league leader is usually a hair above 30 yards per return.) Despite his limited action, Nwangwu might be heading for Pro Bowl or even All Pro consideration after producing a touchdown in this Week 10 win.
Isaiah Williams: I’ll be honest. I wrote Williams off after his Week 4 disaster in Miami where he fumbled away a kickoff and fair caught a punt on the 3 yard line. To be fair, the Jets did too. They cut him after that game. Well maybe they didn’t write him off completely. They re-signed him to the practice squad. Since then, he has worked his way back into the lineup. After a quality game as an emergency wide receiver in Cincinnati, Williams made his presence felt with a punt return touchdown, giving the Jets a pair of special teams scores.
