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The Jets head to the bye week with a 3-7 record after a humiliating 41-10 loss to the Bills. Let's review three of the best and worst performances from Sunday's game.
Winners
RB Elijah McGuire
While it's difficult to find any positives from such a disappointing offensive performance, the Jets at least received some good contributions from McGuire, who accounted for five of their 12 first downs. McGuire's nine touches netted 57 yards and he had another 18-yard run called back due to a penalty. The Jets went to McGuire for conversions on one third down and two fourth downs.
It's perhaps a good sign that McGuire was able to produce even when nothing else was going to plan. Hopefully the Jets can find a way to get him more touches after the bye week.
LB Avery Williamson
Although the Jets allowed over 200 yards on the ground, Williamson had a productive game, as he was tied with Darron Lee with a team-leading 11 tackles. Six of those tackles came on plays that went for three yards or fewer, including one in the backfield.
One turning point came with the Jets still only down by seven points as Williamson stopped the receiver short of the end zone and jarred the ball loose. Unfortunately, the loose ball rolled right to a Bills player in the end zone and the Jets were suddenly down by two touchdowns.
A solid defender against the run, Williamson has had some issues in coverage this season, although he didn't give up anything against the pass this week. In a week when many Jets defenders had poor performances, Williamson at least played hard for 60 minutes.
S Jamal Adams
Even when the Jets were trailing heavily in this game, Adams was flying around, making plays and trying to fire up his teammates with his infectious energy, but it was all in vain. One such sequence saw Adams make an athletic pass breakup on first down and then burst into the backfield to stuff a run on second down, only for Morris Claiborne to give up a demoralizing long play on third-and-20.
Adams also contributed a half-sack, a quarterback hit and a good open-field tackle on a third-down run to force a punt. He ended up with four tackles.
However bad things get, Adams isn't the kind of player who is going to stop playing hard. Hopefully this has a positive effect on some of this team's other young players.
Losers
QB Josh McCown
In his first start since last December, McCown was disappointingly erratic. He went just 17-for-34 with two interceptions, as he had five passes batted down at the line of scrimmage. Most of his 134 yards came in garbage time, as he averaged just four yards per attempt. Moreover, the majority of those yards came after the catch as the Jets ran an uninspiring horizontal passing offense.
It's uncertain whether these struggles are attributable to rust or a vindication for anyone who has been critical of Jeremy Bates' play-calling or the lack of offensive weapons. Either way, it adds some interesting context to Sam Darnold's recent struggles.
CB Trumaine Johnson
As he was making his eagerly-awaited return to the lineup, the Jets expected Johnson to give their defense a boost. However, he was burned for a big gain by a player who was only just activated from the Bills' practice squad on the first snap of the game, a play that set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
Johnson gave up three other catches, all on third down, although he managed to stop the receiver a yard short of the marker on one of them. He was also unsuccessfully targeted twice and ended up with two tackles.
The Jets will hope Johnson plays better once he shakes off the rust and gets his conditioning back following a month out with a quad injury.
CB Buster Skrine
Skrine also had a rough afternoon in coverage, as Zay Jones beat him for a red-zone touchdown over the middle and a 33-yard gain on a throw over the top. He also appeared to blow the coverage on a play in which the Bills ultimately recovered the fumble in the end zone, as he picked up a receiver who was already covered, leaving Jones wide open near the goal line.
Skrine surrendered a few other first downs in coverage and also had a couple of bad missed tackles, including one in which he seemed to throw a shoulder at the receiver rather than attempting to wrap him up.
