Ivory and Marshall Lead Jets Past Redskins

Chris Ivory (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

The Jets advance to 4-1 on the season after their 34-20 defeat of the Washington Redskins. In the early going, this game had all the looks of a brutal Jet loss.

A lot of teams, especially the Jets, do not fair too well in their first game after a bye week. And that seemed to be all too true in the first half after a fumble by Eric Decker on the first offensive play for the Jets, followed by a Brandon Marshall fumble, and a Ryan Fitzpatrick interception.

The Jets went into the locker room at halftime trailing the Redskins 13-10, and all of the Redskins points came off of turnovers. But after a rusty first half, the Jets were able to take control in the second half and ultimately take the 34-20 victory. Taking a deeper look into the game, here’s what the Jets did well to win.

1. Chris Ivory – Chris Ivory had himself another nice game as he rushed for 146 yards on 20 carries. There were stretches in the game when Ivory would reach the secondary on every run. He looked dangerous at times. And I don’t care how good Fitzpatrick is, the Jets are a run first team. They need Ivory to keep playing well if they want to continue their success.
2. Run Defense – The Redskins were not going to beat the Jets by Kirk Cousins throwing for 400+ yards because it just wasn’t realistic. The Redskins had to run the ball and the Jets knew that. As a result, the Redskins rushed for a grand total of 34 yards. So since the run game wasn’t working, they had to pass. And Kirk Cousins dropped back to pass over 40 times on Sunday, which is not a recipe for success for Washington. And Sheldon Richardson had a seeming less transition into the defensive line. He showed little to no rust as he had 0.5 sacks and also rushed many passes by cousins.
3. Brandon Marshall – Brandon Marshall had another big game as had 111 receiving yards on seven receptions to go along with a touchdown catch. Marshall has been a huge addition this Jets offense. He along with Eric Decker have made Fitzpatrick look halfway decent through the first five games of the season. Marshall has proven to be a legitimate number one receiver this year. Ha has been an absolute game changer for the Jets this year.
4. Penalties – Two weeks ago when the Jets played the Dolphins, the Jets committed 14 penalties for 163 yards. This week, they only committed one penalty for five yards. Clearly a huge improvement in that regard.

So as the Jets are starting to roll through their schedule, they have exceeded a lot of people’s expectations. Even though they have an easy schedule, the Jets are still beating the teams that they are supposed to beat. And if it wasn’t for Chris Ivory and Eric Decker being injured for the Eagles game, there is every chance in the world that the Jets 5-0 right now. But I don’t think that anyone is complaining with a 4-1 record.

Next week will be a really good measuring stick for the Jets as they head up to New England. The Patriots are one of five 5-0 teams in the NFL but they are arguably the best of the five. It will be interesting to see how this Jets team matches up with the best in the NFL.