New York Jets: The Unsung Blockers

When we talk about blocking, we are usually only discussing the offensive line. These are the main blockers on the team. Their only job is to block. They are not the only players asked to block, though.

The Jets had a productive offensive day at the office Sunday against the Browns. On a number of their most successful plays, somebody other than an offensive lineman threw a key block that contributed to the success of the play. These are their stories.

Bilal Powell

On the Jets' first drive, Ryan Fitzpatrick hit a 22 yard pass to Eric Decker on a third and three. Powell ranged to pick up a linebacker blitz in the B gap.

On Brandon Marshall's 17 yard catch in the second half where he also drew pass interference on Joe Haden, Powell also had a nice blitz pickup.

Kellen Davis

On this Chris Ivory 11 yard run, Kellen Davis sealed the edge and helped Ivory take it to the corner. I'm not sure I would say this was a particularly strong performance for Davis, but he did the job here.

Jeff Cumberland

Believe it or not, Cumberland actually threw a key block on both of Chris Ivory's touchdowns.

Here's the first.

The second was not exactly a thing of beauty. It seems like he recognized things late. He didn't lock onto his man, but it was effective.

Is this a sign of a new, effective blocking Cumberland? I would guess not. You can only read so much into a few plays. The second one was not pretty and perhaps forced Ivory to bounce outside instead of hit the hole in the middle a better Cumberland block would have created. In this case, it was enough so Cumberland gets some credit.

Quincy Enunwa

We have talked a bit about how Enunwa has taken on an H tight end role. He might be the biggest beneficiary of Jace Amaro's injury in terms of playing time. While we think of the H position in today's game as an athletic mismatch running routes, it was originally conceived as more of a blocking position Enunwa had a couple of nice, athletic plays as a pass blocker. He got out to help protect Ryan Fitzpatrick from what would have been a free runner on a completion on the touchdown drive near the end of the first half.

This one might not count because it was an incompletion. It was the pass where Bilal Powell got behind the defense in the end zone, but Ryan Fitzpatrick failed to elevate the ball enough. Enunwa threw another nice block in pass protection. The Jets had a real shot at a touchdown because of the job Enunwa did as Fitzpatrick was able to step up in the pocket.

Sometimes a good day at the office is the result of everybody chipping in.