2017 Jets Offensive Line Touchdown Assists: Part 1

Previously in the offseason, I put together a series doling out blame for every single sack allowed by the Jets in 2017. Today, the script will be flipped as I begin an inverse series. I am going to go through each of the Jets’ 32 offensive touchdowns in 2017 and hand out assists for offensive linemen (and skill position blockers) who quietly did their part in helping to make each one happen.

The series will contain four parts, each with a pack of 8 Jet touchdowns. Plus, a mashup featuring Spencer Long’s contributions to Redskins touchdowns in 2017. Let’s get things started by looking at the Jets’ first 8 touchdowns of the 2017 season!

JETS @ BILLS, WEEK 1: 4TH & 1 AT BUF 1(02:06)

(2:06) J.McCown up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.

The Jets’ lone touchdown in Orchard Park was a one-yard sneak from Josh McCown after a 9-yard swing to ArDarius Stewart that was initially called a touchdown was overturned.

Powell is the lone RB in the single back set, with two tight ends set back on each side of the formation. Two WRs are outside. McCown’s initial attempt will be to go between the A gaps right over the back of Wesley Johnson.

Wesley Johnson and Brian Winters execute a double team on the left 1-technique defensive tackle to take him out of the play. Brandon Shell does a good job getting up field and eliminating the outside linebacker. Ultimately, the space created by those three gave McCown juuuuust enough room to wiggle through on the right side. Kyle Williams (#95) beat Kelvin Beachum and bore down on McCown from behind, while Shaq Lawson (#90) plowed ArDarius Stewart and nearly impeded McCown’s way.

Credit to Johnson, Winters, and Shell for winning their matchups here and giving McCown enough room to squeak through. Don’t discount Josh here, though. His improvisation made this happen.

Assists: Johnson (1), Winters (1), Shell (1)

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JETS @ RAIDERS, WEEK 2: 3RD & 2 AT OAK 34(09:15)

(9:15) (Shotgun) J.McCown pass deep right to J.Kearse for 34 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

McCown is going to hit Jermaine Kearse on a go route deep down the right sideline for his first of a league-high 10 deep right touchdowns on the season.

Brandon Shell is going to get beat off the snap by a great first step from Khalil Mack (#52) off the edge, but Shell makes a great recovery to use his length and push Mack outside the pocket and prevent him from forcing McCown to adjust his throw.

The only other lineman I’ll give an assist to is Kelvin Beachum, who held his own on the opposite edge. James Carpenter was pushed into McCown’s lap on the tail end of his throwing motion. Brian Winters allowed penetration and might have allowed a pressure if the play went on any longer; good help from Johnson late but it didn’t affect the outcome of the play much. Great pocket presence from McCown.

Assists: Shell (2), Beachum (1)

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JETS @ RAIDERS, WEEK 2: 3RD & 10 AT OAK 11(08:47)

(8:47) (Shotgun) J.McCown pass short middle to J.Kearse for 11 yards, TOUCHDOWN. OAK-K.Joseph was injured during the play. His return is Probable.

McCown hits Kearse on an in route into the end zone. The Raiders blitz, rushing six.

This blitz hits home. Two unblocked blitzers run free towards McCown off the edge, while Khalil Mack (#52) smokes Brandon Shell. McCown makes an outstanding throw under pressure (and both blitzers completely whiff their attempts on McCown) to hit Kearse for the score. This is a bad play as a whole from the line, but I will give credit to Beachum and James Carpenter for holding their own to keep McCown’s throwing lane clean. A loss by either one of those might have forced McCown to eat the ball.

And, once again, a great play from McCown.

Assists: Beachum (2), Carpenter (1)

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DOLPHINS @ JETS, WEEK 3: 2ND & 8 AT NYJ 31(01:51)

(1:51) (Shotgun) J.McCown pass deep right to R.Anderson for 69 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

The Dolphins bring a simple four-man rush from their defensive line. McCown is going to hit Robby Anderson deep down the right sideline for the score.

Shell gets bull rushed into McCown by Cameron Wake (#91), forcing him to slightly adjust his throw. If you read the sack series, you would know that Wake absolutely had his way with Shell in both Jets-Dolphins games.

The rest of the line does well. Dakota Dozier holds down Ndamukong Suh (#93), Johnson holds up, and Carpenter and Beachum execute a double team to give McCown enough comfort to execute another deep bomb.

Assists: Beachum (3), Carpenter (2), Johnson (2), Dozier (1)

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DOLPHINS @ JETS, WEEK 3: 1ST & 1 AT MIA 1(09:52)

(9:52) B.Qvale and L.Thomas reported in as eligible. B.Powell left end for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN. The Replay Official reviewed the runner broke the plane ruling, and the play was Upheld. The ruling on the field was confirmed.

The Jets load up with two tight ends, an extra offensive lineman in Brent Qvale, and a fullback in Lawrence Thomas. Powell will take the outside handoff to the left side in for the score. Thomas pulls and leads Powell, while the entire line slides left to set up the outside zone run.

I see three primary contributors to making this run happen. Brent Qvale, the extra tackle to the left, does a good job sealing the outside defensive end out of the play. Lawrence Thomas executes his lead block well as he puts the safety on the ground right before he can get to Powell. On the edge, Neal Sterling gets just enough of the linebacker off the snap to keep him from beating Powell to the spot.

Assists: Sterling (1), Thomas (1), Qvale (1)

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JAGUARS @ JETS, WEEK 4: 1ST & 10 AT NYJ 25(08:02)

(8:02) L.Thomas reported in as eligible. B.Powell right tackle for 75 yards, TOUCHDOWN. The Replay Official reviewed the runner was not down by contact ruling, and the play was Upheld. The ruling on the field stands.

There was a ton going on in the way of blocking concepts on this play, so I did my best to illustrate it. The Jets put out two tight ends to the right side in Eric Tomlinson and Austin Seferian-Jenkins, while Lawrence Thomas lined up at fullback. Ultimately, Powell runs between the blocks of Tomlinson and Thomas to the left, through the C-gap. While the image below shows Powell’s lane between Qvale and Thomas, Tomlinson eventually ended up in the area marked for Powell.

Good luck finding a run play with more going on! Tons to discuss here. Brent Qvale does a nice job allowing Malik Jackson (#97) to take himself away from the play. Eric Tomlinson does a tremendous job sealing Calais Campbell (#93) to create the lane Powell eventually runs through. Thomas executes an efficient route into his block as he seals Myles Jack (#44) while Seferian-Jenkins hits the second level in solid position to take Paul Posluszny (#51) out of the play. The blocking here is strong and has big gain or touchdown written all over it; the only culprit is Johnson, who overruns his block and allows Telvin Smith (#50) to make a play on Powell.

Luckily, Smith miraculously fails to contact Powell, allowing him to outhustle 11 defenders to the end zone. Great hustle from Powell, and an added assist to Kelvin Beachum here for getting far downfield and and keeping Jalen Ramsey (#20) from ending Powell’s run short of the end zone.

Assists: Beachum (4), Thomas (2), Seferian-Jenkins (1), Qvale (2), Tomlinson (1)

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JAGUARS @ JETS, WEEK 4: 1ST & 10 AT NYJ 31(10:13)

(10:13) E.McGuire left guard for 69 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

The Jets set up Elijah McGuire’s first career touchdown with an inside zone to the left. Austin Seferian-Jenkins lines up to the right. Beachum, Johnson, Qvale, and Seferian-Jenkins take the defenders across from them while Carpenter and Winters hit the second level. McGuire eventually runs between Winters and Qvale.

This is a tremendous read by McGuire, feeling the flow of the play and cutting back into the perfect lane. Johnson drives the 1-technique away from the play off the snap, while Qvale gets enough push on Calais Campbell (#97) to drive him into the backfield. Winters slips on his second level block but gets just enough of Myles Jack (#44) to allow McGuire room to cut outside. It’s ugly from Winters, but Jack makes the tackle if Winters doesn’t make that play. Seferian-Jenkins dominates the safety, Tashaun Gipson, (#39) to eliminate his chances of making a play.

I’d give most credit to McGuire on this play for making two great reads and a sharp cut at the second level followed by sufficient breakaway speed, but credit to the line here for executing the zone block to make it happen.

Assists: Johnson (3), Seferian-Jenkins (2), Qvale (3), Winters (2)

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JETS @ BROWNS, WEEK 5: 1ST & 2 AT CLV 2(04:21)

(4:21) J.McCown pass short right to A.Seferian-Jenkins for 2 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

Josh McCown hits Austin Seferian-Jenkins on a corner route into the right back corner of the end zone for the touchdown on a quick release.

McCown began setting up to throw as soon as he touched the football, and released it about one second after the snap. There was almost no chance he could be touched on this throw. However, I’ll credit Brandon Shell. Watch the defensive tackle highlighted below, #65 Larry Ogunjobi:

Ogunjobi finds a crease right between Brian Winters and Brandon Shell, and has a potential shot to affect McCown’s throw. However, Shell reacts quickly and puts Ogunjobi on the floor to prevent him from getting to the quarterback. Shell gets the lone assist here for that save.

Assists: Shell (3)

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There you have it, the first eight Jets touchdowns of 2017 and the blockers most responsible for making them happen! Three more articles are to come, each with eight more Jet scores to break down.

Here is how the assist totals are looking through one quarter of the touchdown total. In parentheses, each player’s assist total is broken down into passing touchdown assists followed by rushing touchdown assists.

Kelvin Beachum - 4 (3 pass - 1 rush)

Brandon Shell - 3 (2-1)

Wesley Johnson - 3 (1-2)

Brent Qvale - 3 (0-3)

James Carpenter - 2 (2-0)

Austin Seferian-Jenkins - 2 (0-2)

Brian Winters - 2 (0-2)

Lawrence Thomas - 2 (0-2)

Eric Tomlinson - 1 (0-1)

Neal Sterling - 1 (0-1)

Dakota Dozier - 1 (1-0)

What are your thoughts on the contributions of the offensive line to the Jets’ first touchdowns of 2017?