Jets Studs & Duds Scorecard: Week 7

Following each Jets game this season, I’ll be participating in the post-game tradition of listing out the studs and duds of the Jets’ previous game — but with a new twist.

Each player listed, whether they were a stud or a dud, is capable of earning up to five points positively or negatively, depending on how good or bad their performance was. In total, the scores of each player listed will add up to match the Jets’ scoring margin from their game that week. This past Monday night, the Jets lost to the Patriots by 33 points, so the combined point total of every player listed below will add up to -33.

At the end of the season, I’m hoping this scorecard system will help us get a good look at which players had the biggest impacts on the team, both positive and negative.

As an added note, no coaches (or general managers) will be involved in these lists.

The studs earn the privileges of having some nice colors attached to their name, while the duds merely get tagged with various levels of badness.

• Studs: Gotham Green (5 points), Platinum (4), Gold (3), Silver (2), Bronze (1)
• Duds: Level 5 (-5 points), Level 4 (-4), etc.

Here are my studs and duds from the Jets’ Week 7 loss.

Studs

Le’Veon Bell - Gold (3 points)

Bell carried the ball 15 times and registered season bests of 70 rushing yards and 4.7 yards per attempt. The offensive line was poor overall, but blocked well on a few select snaps, and Bell took full advantage of those with a couple of his longest gains of the season. Once again, he was consistently breaking tackles to get the most out of each play.

70 rushing yards on 4.7 yards per carry is probably what the Jets were hoping Bell’s season averages would be, not his season highs. Unfortunately, we’re witnessing firsthand how big of an impact a bad offensive line can have on even the best of running backs.

Leonard Williams - Silver (2 points)

Leo had a trio of nice run stuffs. He also forced Tom Brady into an interception and an intentional grounding call with a pair of strong pressures.

Jamal Adams - Bronze (1 point)

I thought Adams made some nice tackles in space early on when the Jets still had somewhat of a realistic chance.

Duds

Jamison Crowder - Level 2

Crowder posted only four catches on five targets for 26 yards. Just like every other receiver, Crowder and Darnold were never on the same page. He was the intended target of the first interception (although pressure and a bad throw were mostly to blame).

Brett Kollman pointed out a couple of key mistakes made by Jets receivers, including this one by Crowder.

Alex Lewis - Level 2

Lewis still seemed to be the least of the Jets’ problems up front, but he did not appear to be playing at the same level he was over his first two games, particularly in the run game.

Also, when the offensive line has as many protection breakdowns as it did against the Patriots, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly who deserves the blame from an outsider’s view. Whenever the line has a game like this one, a little bit of extra blame gets spread around to everybody.

Robby Anderson - Level 2

Anderson was incredibly inefficient, catching one of eight targets for 10 yards. That’s an average of 1.25 yards per target. Since targets were first tracked in 1992, that is the sixth-worst average posted in a single game by a Jet with at least eight targets. It’s the worst mark since Laveranues Coles had a game with 9 yards on eight targets in 2006.

Anderson now has caught 10 of 29 passes for 69 yards and three first downs in five games against Stephon Gilmore (13.8 yards per game, 2.38 yards per target).

Brett Kollman brought up another interesting nugget relating to poor receiver play, this time focused on Anderson.

To be fair to Anderson, he gained about a yard of separation on a deep route against J.C. Jackson late in the game for what could have been a 48-yard touchdown, but Darnold overshot him by about five yards.

Demaryius Thomas - Level 2

Thomas made an early mistake that in hindsight looks like it cost the Jets the game. With under four minutes left in the first quarter, the Jets had just held the Patriots to a field goal after Darnold’s first interception. They had the ball at their own 25 on second & 10 trailing just 10-0.

Darnold rolled out and threw a perfect ball to Thomas on a deep out route, hitting him square in the hands for what should have been a 16-yard first down. Instead, Thomas heard footsteps and dropped the easy catch, cancelling out the potential early momentum.

The Jets could not move the chains on the ensuing play and would punt the ball back to New England. The Pats marched down and went up 17-0, and Darnold never threw a pass as good as that one was for the rest of the game.

Thomas was also the target on two Darnold interceptions. The second was mostly just a bad throw by Darnold, but the first was a clear miscommunication, as Thomas cut inside when Darnold thought he would go upfield into the endzone.

Safe to say Bill Belichick and company walked off the MetLife Stadium field happy with their sixth round pick.

Chuma Edoga - Level 3

Edoga has a lot of potential, especially in the pass game, but right now he is really hurting the Jets in the run game. He has been easily moved by defenders, often forcing Bell to make quick decisions once he touches the ball.

Darryl Roberts - Level 3

Roberts was tagged with allowing five catches on five targets for 61 yards and two first downs.

Brandon Shell - Level 3

Shell seemed to be at the root of many protection issues, and also continued to run block poorly as he has throughout most of his career.

Brian Winters - Level 3

More of the same from Winters, who flashes brightly on a handful of plays and then makes egregious errors on others.

Blake Cashman - Level 4

Cashman has some interesting upside, but he is a liability right now.

His run defense is consistently poor, but he has not made up for it in coverage, which is supposed to be his strong suit. In the first quarter, he yielded two crucial first down conversions to Benjamin Watson, who was playing in the NFL when Cashman was in third grade.

The first was a third & 5 that if stopped would have held the Patriots to a likely field goal attempt on the opening drive. The second was a bold fourth & 7 attempt that would have given the Jets the ball at their own 35 down only 10-0. Instead, both drives culminated in Patriots touchdowns.

Sam Darnold - Level 5

11 for 32, 86 yards, no touchdowns, four interceptions, one lost fumble. 3.6 passer rating and 2.7 yards per attempt, each mark the worst ever by a Jets quarterback to attempt at least 30 passes in a game.

Trumaine Johnson - Level 5

Yikes. Johnson finds new ways to get worse every week. He was toasted in embarrassing fashion by Phillip Dorsett for a 26-yard touchdown. Johnson was burnt even more embarrassingly by Jakobi Meyers for what would have been an 80-yard touchdown, but he took a pass interference penalty to prevent it, giving the Patriots a conversion on third & 10.

Ryan Kalil - Level 5

Kalil really cannot cut it in the NFL anymore. The protection breakdowns are bad enough for a 34-year old two-time All-Pro, but he simply does not have the physical ability to run block at a capable level in this league. The other members of the line have struggled to run block in their own right, but a change at center might make everybody else look a lot better.

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Here is a look at the Week 7 scorecard.

Here is a look at the scorecard throughout the season to date.