A Look Back at New York Jets Season Opening Win

Chris Ivory (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

The Jets are 1-0 after they defeated the Browns 31-10 Sunday afternoon. This was a good win for the Jets because there are a lot of teams like the Browns on the Jets’ schedule. Games in which they have to win to stay competitive in the division. To see the Jets come out and win decidedly was a good sign. Other than that, here are some thoughts and observations on the game.

1. Ryan Fitzpatrick – Ryan Fitzpatrick was really the only question mark on the starting roster. He threw for 179 yards and was 15/24 on passing attempts. He also had a rating of 95.7. The only blemish was the one interception he threw in the red zone, but Brandon Marshall stripped it right back so no harm was done. But to see Fitzpatrick be a game manager and limit turnovers was a really good sign.
2. Brandon Marshall – Brandon Marshall had six receptions for 62 yards but he had a lot of big catches. One of them being a touchdown. He extended some drives because he is a really good go-to receiver. Look for Fitzpatrick and Marshall to be a good tag team this season.
3. Chris Ivory – The Jets are going to have to rely on Chris Ivory this season to help Fitzpatrick in the passing game. And Ivory came to play. He rushed for 91 yards on 20 carries and had two touchdowns.
4. Defense – The only bad play by the defense was the touchdown by Travis Benjamin. And that only happened because Antonio Cromarti completely blew his coverage. Other than that one play, the defense was solid. They did get off to a somewhat shaky start to the game when the Browns drove down the field. Luckily Josh McCown fumbled at the goal line. But the defense got better as the game went on and pretty much shut down Johnny Manziel.
5. Injuries – The injury to Lorenzo Mauldin was scary. He was down on the field for a while without moving. And they had to cart him off the field in a stretcher. Luckily it was only a concussion and not anything worse. The injury to Antonio Cromarti was also scary. Those non-contact injuries usually end up in torn ACLs or MCLs. It was announced today that it was just a sprained knee so he’ll only miss a few weeks.

The Jets have a tough matchup next week as the play the Colts in Indianapolis, on Monday Night Football. The Jets have never faired too well on Monday Night Football, and on top of that, the Colts will be hungry for a win after being embarrassed by the Bills in Week 1. But at the end of the day, it was a good win for the Jets so maybe that will carry over to Week 2.