Three on O: Adams, Davis, Vera-Tucker

After each game, we'll be highlighting three defensive and three offensive players and looking in detail at their performance. We'll wrap up today with the offense:

Dominantae Adams

Davante Adams was coming off his best game as a Jet but blew that out of the water on Sunday with his amazing 198-yard and two touchdown performance.

You never would have predicted this at half time though. He was targeted twice with one being a deep ball just out of his reach and the other being a clean drop. At that stage, you'd have been forgiven for thinking that signing Adams was a waste of time.

The adjustment was immediate, as Adams ran a crossing route and Aaron Rodgers faked the handoff and hit him in stride so he could turn it upfield for a first down on the first snap of the second half. He also caught a pop pass later on that drive, which ended with a field goal.

Adams was even more involved on the next drive. The big play was a 43-yard catch-and-run down inside the 10 as Rodgers again hit him in stride on a slant route. Adams then looked to have scored a touchdown on this play where he turned a potential seven-yard loss into a positive gain after lining up in the backfield and catching a swing pass.

After the booth overturned the touchdown, Adams scored anyway on the next snap, snagging his 100th career touchdown catch as he top-tapped near the sideline while bringing in a fade route.

For much of the second half, his only other catch was a three-yard gain on a quick out, but he exploded with big plays down the stretch including a 71-yard touchdown on a bomb and a 41-yard catch and run as he leaked out into the flat to set up the game-winning score.

His best highlight, however, was this spectacular catch, which - as you can see - was something that Rodgers cooked up at the line and signalled to Adams it was coming.

Adams also had a two-point conversion on a timing pattern to the outside, which - if such plays counted - would have taken him to 200 yards on the day, all of which was in the second half.

Once again, there's a slight concern that Garrett Wilson wasn't involved much while Adams was making hay. Wilson had two catches for 41 yards and a touchdown in the first half but just one catch after halftime. However, he did also draw two more first downs via penalty.

For the next Jets regime to want to run this group back next year, they'll need to see the Jets continue to use both Adams and Wilson efficiently in these last three games, none of which are as easy as this one was, on paper at least.

Isaiah on Fire

Isaiah Davis was back to being the number three back on Sunday, but he wasn't entirely out of the rotation and ended up as the main backup when Braelon Allen was shaken up. Davis ended up playing 25 snaps.

All five of his carries went for positive yardage as he averaged 4.8 per carry. His biggest gain came on an end around with Allen actually making the key block.

Although Davis only caught one pass for two yards, his contributions in the passing game went further than that and showed some encouraging signs.

Davis also drew a pass interference penalty for a first down and had this nice 17-yard catch negated by a hold (although it seemed like Davis himself was held).

On both those plays, Davis was covered, but Rodgers extended the play and Davis found an open area with Rodgers on the same page with him. Rodgers will no doubt appreciate him doing that and campaign for him to get more playing time.

Also worth mentioning is that Davis has been an underrated contributor on special teams. He's averaged over 25 yards per kickoff return, had some decent blocks and racked up five tackles in kick coverage - none bigger than on Sunday when he tripped Devin Duvernay in space at the 35 when it looked like he might break a long one.

He'll deservedly be in the mix down the stretch and when next season gets underway.

The dawn of a new Vera

Alijah Vera-Tucker made his 12th start of the year and once again put together a very consistent performance. He's probably been the Jets' most reliable player this year on either side of the ball.

The pass protection as a group was really good with Jacksonville only managing one sack and two other quarterback hits, pretty much all of which was down to coverage rather than someone getting beaten. There were also several plays where the protection held up as a play was extended. Rodgers did escape the pocket a few times, though, to be fair.

As is usually the case, Vera-Tucker himself played a big role - often as the spare man or picking up/passing off a stunting lineman. He didn't allow any clean pressure with the only two pressures attributed to him being plays where the play was extended and his man chased Rodgers as he scrambled.

Although he hasn't been practicing much due to his ankle issue, Vera-Tucker is moving well and playing with good aggression. He helps control the defensive tackle here, enabling Tippmann to take him down, then peeling off to pancake the linebacker.

Here's another play where he leads the way on a pulling block and stays on his man to drive him back.

He also drove his man well off the line on Breece Hall's game-winning touchdown run, although it's entirely possible the Jaguars weren't planning to contest that play anyway.

Vera-Tucker will play out the 2025 season on his fifth year option unless the Jets opt to extend him before then. Whether they can likely depends on how they feel about his durability and starting the last three games to end the season on 15 games started would go a long way towards proving that.

Having missed two starts with a high ankle sprain, Vera-Tucker has proven that he has the toughness to return ahead of schedule from such an injury and to play at a high level as he rehabs the injury, despite an interrupted practice schedule.

Prior to last year's Achilles tear, Vera-Tucker was on a path towards potentially earning a top-end-of-the-market deal. The season he's put together in 2024 is re-establishing his value as within that ballpark.

Previously: Three on D: Stiggers, Sheffield, Surratt