Two Things the Jets Did Well According to Football Outsiders

Football Outsiders named one thing each NFL team did on offense and defense in 2016. Here is what they had for the Jets.

Offense: Running back screens

It took a lot of time and effort, but we were finally able to find something the Jets' offense did well last year. They threw more screen passes to running backs than any other team in the NFL, averaging 7.0 yards per play with 31.6 percent DVOA.

Defense: Short passes

The Jets ranked fifth in defensive DVOA against passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage.

Given the receiving talent the Jets had out of the backfield, it isn’t a great surprise something involving pass catching backs would come out near the top. Even with how frequently they involved their backfield in the passing game, it was striking how little they utilized Matt Forte, one of the greatest pass catching backs of his generation. Forte had a career low 30 catches last year. If you had one of the best receiving backs in the league who was aging, wouldn’t it make sense to use him as a receiver rather than give him a monster workload running the ball?

As for defense, how about stopping the run? Even with the way the defensive line underachieved, the Jets only allowed 3.7 yards per run attempt, fourth best in the NFL.