QuickFix: Saucy Nuggets from the Jets' win over the Dolphins
We're going to continue today's analysis with some things you might not have noticed from yesterday's win over Miami:
Maye Strong Arms Hold You
One of the most interesting aspect of this game was that the Jets moved Marcus Maye into Jamal Adams' strong safety role and reverted to putting Darryl Roberts in as the deep safety.
However, this also came with a scheme change as the Jets also played plenty of cover-two zone.
As a result Maye's role wasn't really the same as Adams because he didn't contribute as a pass rusher and two of his four tackles came down the field. However, he did make some Adams-like contributions when he stuffed two runs, including one that went for a loss.
The tackle for loss came as he was up near the line of scrimmage but his other run stuff was a nice play that saw him come up from deep.
Maye also seemed to be extra vocal on the field, replacing some of Adams' contributions there too.
Nate falls
This cover-two heavy approach backfired to some extent as Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to pick apart the Jets' zone coverages for some easy first downs and also was able to rack up 65 yards by taking off as a runner.
Fitzpatrick mostly took advantage of Kyron Brown's inexperience in his first defensive reps at this level and Nate Hairston, who was regarded as a player who struggles in zone defense when the Jets first got him. For example, this play was far too easy and set up what could have been the winning score.
At least Hairston was able to contribute a nice interception, but it was tough for him to make his return to the line-up on a day when they were going to play a scheme that didn't really suit him.
The line of best fit
On paper this might have been the Jets' best offensive line performance of the season. They had no penalties, paved the way for Bilal Powell to rush for 74 yards - a team-high for the season - and only allowed one sack.
That sack wasn't even on the offensive line as Sam Darnold held the ball for far too long and tight end Daniel Brown's man eventually got to him.
Aside from that they only gave up two other quarterback hits. One was again not attributable to the offensive line as Darnold was flushed from the pocket by an unblocked rusher from the slot and chased to the outside by Sam Eguavoen who hit him as he threw over Braxton Berrios' head.
The other one was the only one attributable to the offensive line all day. This saw the Dolphins run a T/E stunt. Right guard Tom Compton stayed with the tackle instead of trying to pass him off, forcing Brandon Shell to give up inside leverage as the end stunted inside while Jonotthan Harrison was late coming over to give help.
Shell will probably be credited with this but he didn't get much help from his guard and center on the play. Either way, it's pretty impressive that this was the only hit attributable to the offensive line all day.
Running it back
That the Jets had success in the running game without really changing up their running scheme was interesting. Powell and Ty Montgomery were obviously fresh, which helped. Also, they did at least mix in some outside runs this week.
Montgomery looked good on those outside runs but tried to do to much on this 2nd-and-short run. The Jets ultimately got stuffed on fourth down and came up empty, so this was a bad missed opportunity to fall forwards and move the chains.
It's also notable that Powell rushed 10 times for 48 yards in the first half but gained just 26 on nine carries in the second half.
Le'Veon Bell will presumably be back next week. Obviously they are facing a much stronger defense, but it will be interesting to see if their approach is any different once he's back.
Much more analysis to come later today and over the next few days. Please let us know who you'd like to see us feature in more detail in 3-on-D and 3-on-O.