NY Jets Helmet Stickers: Week 9

It feels good to be back in the win column. The Jets ended their 3 game skid against the Bills on Thursday Night Football and for the first time in a few weeks, gave me a lot to think about when determining who gets the credit. There are a lot of players who played well, but I only get 3 stars to give:

Bronze Star: LB Darron Lee (8 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack)

I've been as hard on Lee as anyone, but this was another good performance for Lee. He benefitted a lot from great DL play and the edge setting skills of Jordan Jenkins, but Lee was almost always in the right place at the right time against the Bills. I saw him spy a few times against Taylor and stop several Bills backs, helping to stymie the league's top rushing attack. Lee also added a nice sack while spying Taylor, finding the right gap once the DL forced Taylor into position. Lee's play has improved steadily this season and I'm starting to believe that he may yet make a decent linebacker for the Jets.

Silver Star: DL Muhammad Wilkerson (3 tackles, 1 PD, 1 sack)

Is the big man back? After being written off for dead by most analysts, and even yours truly, Wilkerson has come out of nowhere to dominate in three straight games. Wilkerson consistently blew up the line against Vlad Ducasse, recording his second sack of the season against the elusive Tyrod Taylor. His play will give the Jets front office a lot to think about this offseason because these types of games justify his price tag. The problem is that a year and a half of replacement level play is tough to get past. Nevertheless, if Wilkerson can keep up this level of play, he's the most valuable player on the defense.

Gold: LB Jordan Jenkins (2 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble)

I have to say, I didn't see this game coming for JJ. Even if you ignored his two gamewrecking sacks, including one that forced a fumble and put the Jets clear in the driver's seat, Jenkins' ability to set the edge absolutely ruined any chance the Bills had at getting their top flight run game going. I lost count of how many outside runs were forced inside into the waiting arms of Lee or Davis by Jenkins. He was simply everywhere in this game and had a profound effect on the game. I've never thought that highly of Jenkins beyond being a reasonably good edge setter, but he really exploded in this game. Pairing him with an elite edge rusher on the opposite side would make this defense hard to move against.

So there you go. After nine weeks, the point totals are as follows:

Kony Ealy 6 points (3 silver)

Marcus Maye 6 points (2 gold)

Jamal Adams 5 points (1 gold, 1 silver)

Jermaine Kearse 5 points (1 gold, 2 bronze)

Muhammad Wilkerson 5 points (2 silver, 1 bronze)

Robby Anderson 3 points (1 gold)

Jordan Jenkins 3 points (1 gold)

Brandon Shell 3 points (1 gold)

Bilal Powell 3 points (1 gold)

Austin Sefarian-Jenkins 3 points (1 gold)

Morris Claiborne 2 points (1 silver)

Chandler Catanzaro 1 point (1 bronze)

Terrence Brooks 1 point (1 bronze)

Leonard Williams 1 point (1 bronze)

Buster Skrine 1 point (1 bronze)

Matt Forte 1 point (1 bronze)

Darron Lee 1 point (1 bronze)