Jets Studs & Duds Scorecard: Week 15

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 Thursday, the Jets lost to the Ravens by 21 points, so the combined point total of every player listed below will add up to -21.

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 15 loss.

Studs

Jamison Crowder - Gold (3 points)

Crowder pulled in six of 11 targets for 90 yards and two scores, breaking free of a three-game slump in which he averaged 18.3 yards per game. Crowder did drop one of the easiest touchdown opportunities he will ever see, but he rebounded on the next play for an incredible contested grab off of a tremendous throw from Sam Darnold.

Robby Anderson - Silver (2 points)

Anderson grabbed four of six targets for 66 yards, adding in a strong catch on a two-point conversion. He had a good number of quality routes against Baltimore’s elite secondary where he did not see the ball come his way, usually due to Darnold being forced out of the pocket because of pressure.

Sam Darnold - Silver (2 points)

Darnold’s statline doesn’t jump off the page. He finished 18 of 32 for 218 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, averaging 6.8 yards per attempt and posting an 85.2 passer rating.

After going back and watched through each of Darnold’s plays, I came away much more impressed with his performance than it looked live. The unsuccessful plays were rarely his fault and often due to pressure or the lack of an open target to find (unlike the Miami game a week prior, when Darnold frequently misfired on open throws and failed to see open checkdown opportunities).

Darnold was pressured on 50 percent of his dropbacks, the highest rate in Week 15.

When Darnold was playing well, he was playing really well. Darnold’s best throws in this game were some of the best he has made in his career. Overall, his consistency was average, but his high points were extremely high, while his low points were generally minor mistakes.

None of the prior six quarterbacks to visit Baltimore this season had thrown more than one touchdown pass, and that group includes Tom Brady, Deshaun Watson, and Jimmy Garoppolo. Only one of the prior seven quarterbacks under 23 years old to visit Baltimore since 2000 had thrown more than one touchdown pass, and that was Ben Roethlisberger.

Blessuan Austin - Bronze (1 point)

Baltimore picked on a bunch of Jets defenders through the air, but Austin was not one of them. He allowed just one catch for 8 yards over 27 snaps in coverage. Since Week 10, Austin has allowed the fifth-fewest yards per cover snap (0.72) among qualified corners, trailing Stephon Gilmore (0.57), Byron Jones (0.47), Richard Sherman (0.45), and Shaquill Griffin (0.40).

Tarell Basham, B.J. Bello - Bronze (1 point)

Basham destroyed Baltimore long snapper Morgan Cox to block a Sam Koch punt, which was recovered for a touchdown by B.J. Bello.

Braxton Berrios, Ty Montgomery, Vyncint Smith - Bronze (1 point)

The Jets returned six kickoffs beyond the 25-yard line, the most by one team in a single game this season. Montgomery and Smith were responsible for three of those apiece.

Berrios enjoyed a good day in the punt return game, averaging 16.0 yards across three returns with pickups of 21, 19 and 8 yards. Berrios leads qualifiers in punt return average with a mark of 11.1, despite his long return going for just 26 yards. It is a testament to his consistency, as 12 of Berrios’ 19 returns have gone for 10 yards or more.

Duds

James Burgess - Level 2

Burgess allowed three catches on four targets for 41 yards and two first downs, and also struggled to contain Baltimore’s run game up the middle.

Sam Ficken - Level 2

Ficken missed an extra point and had a field goal blocked, which seemed to be due more to low trajectory than any sort of penetration.

Ficken is 30th out of 33 qualifiers in field goal percentage (70.0%) and 24th out of 26 qualifiers in extra point percentage (87.5%)

Marcus Maye - Level 2

Maye was victimized in coverage on back-to-back plays, first allowing a Mark Andrews first down and then a Seth Roberts touchdown.

Kelvin Beachum, Jonotthan Harrison - Level 3

There was not an individual lineman that had an especially atrocious game, but all five players contributed to an abysmal effort, as Darnold was the most pressured quarterback of the week and the run game mustered up a lowly EPA (estimated points added) of -8.4.

Nate Hairston - Level 3

Hairston was tagged with four catches on four targets for 66 yards and three first downs, one of those a touchdown to Marquise Brown.

Trevon Wesco - Level 3

Wesco, drafted for his blocking abilities, allowed a sack on Darnold that led to a fumble, as he was dominated by Tyus Bowser. It was the first forced fumble of Bowser’s career, who is 128th in the league in pressures.

Tom Compton, Alex Lewis, Brandon Shell - Level 4

Compton is simply abysmal, especially in pass protection, where he routinely is moved into the quarterback’s lap. The numbers back that up, as Compton ranks 80th out of 84 guards in pass blocking efficiency. Lewis has flashes, but struggles mightily to recognize stunts, frequently allowing edge rushers to loop inside for easy pressures.

Shell creates no push in the run game and is often penetrated too deep into the pocket for Darnold to escape in that direction.

The Jets need five new starters up front. Finding all five in one offseason may be too much to ask, but the goal should be to have at least three new starters in 2020, and the entire group overhauled by 2021.

Neville Hewitt - Level 4

Hewitt allowed two touchdown receptions, one to Andrews and one to Miles Boykin.

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Here is a look at the scorecard for Week 15.

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