By the Numbers: NY Jets
One of the longest tenured franchises in the NFL, the New York Jets began their 64th season with a 22-16 overtime win over Buffalo on Monday night. It is just the 422nd win in 966 total games in team history. Here is a look at the Jets by the numbers before Sunday’s game against Dallas.
3 – After a pair of blowout wins for Green Bay in Super Bowl’s I and II, Super Bowl III, a 17-6 win for the AFL’s New York Jets over the NFL’s Baltimore Colts, would begin to change the course of professional football forever. Despite an MVP winning performance from Joe Namath, it was the legs of running back Matt Snell that led the Jets to the victory. Snell touched the ball 34 times for 161 yards and the lone Jets touchdown. The win, combined with the Kansas City Chiefs win over Minnesota in Super Bowl IV, proved the AFL’s point and the merger of the two leagues into one league soon after. The NFL emerged with two conferences for the start of the 1970 season. It is the Jets only appearance in the NFL’s ultimate game.
5.84 – You want to know how good a team’s defense is, just look at their points allowed per 100 yards. The Jets at 5.84 last season was sixth best in the NFL, behind only the league’s elite units – San Francisco (4.46), Buffalo (4.5), Philadelphia (5.2), Kansas City (5.25) and Dallas (5.67). The Jets defense had the Defensive Rookie of the Year last season in Sauce Gardner. It is the fifth time in team history that they have drafted the DROY – Erik McMillan, 1988; Hugh Douglas, 1995; Johnathan Vilma, 2004; and Sheldon Richardson, 2013. Adding Gardner to defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, linebacker C.J. Mosley, defensive ends John Franklin-Myers and Carl Lawson and opposite corner D.J. Reed, and it’s no wonder the Jets have one of the top defenses in the league. Buffalo found out on Monday night.
20 – If you want to see the future of the New York Jets defense, you need to look no further than reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Sauce Gardner. The No. 4 overall pick last year almost hit blackjack with the amount of passes he was able knock away from potential receivers in his first year in the NFL. It was the most in the league by any player, and two more than Jalen Ramsey, who finished the year with 18 and right behind Gardner, and six better than Trevon Diggs recorded to lead the Cowboys.
27.5 – Quinnen Williams career sack numbers in his 5 seasons in the NFL with the Jets. He has cracked the team’s top 20 and is currently 19th, just 1/2 sack behind Dennis Byrd for 18th. It is a mountainous climb to go to grab the top spot away from Mark Gastineau, who finished his 10-year career in New York with 107.5 sacks. Other legendary names ahead of him are Jeff Lageman (15th, 34.5), Calvin Pace (8th, 46.0), John Abraham (6th, 53.5), Shaun Ellis (3rd, 72.5) and 2023 Hall of Fame inductee Joe Klecko (2nd), 78.0). Williams anchors one of the best defensive lines in the NFL. 12 sacks last season, good enough for 11th in the NFL.
355 – New York Jets quarterback Zack Wilson has had his struggles. So much so, that the team went out and signed Aaron Rodgers to be the No. 1 guy this season. But all that changed four plays into the season opener and Wilson was thrust back into the spotlight. Wilson has thrown for 300 or more yards just twice in his career, with his best day – 355 yards on 20 of 41 passing – came in a 22-17 loss to New England in Week 8 of last season. Wilson also threw for two touchdowns, but ultimately shot down his team’s chances for the win with three interceptions.
27,057 – Joe Namath threw for a lot of yards in his 12 seasons with the New York Jets. Just over 27,000 of them, which is still No 1 in team history, and Namath hasn’t taken a snap for the Jets since 1976. Despite 46 seasons and 67 quarterbacks, since Namath was the guy, he still leads the way in several of the team’s quarterback stats – including passing yards, touchdowns (170), Interceptions (215), Fourth quarter comebacks (15), passing attempts (3,655) and games won by a starting quarterback (60). Behind Namath in the team’s top 5 career passing yardage are Ken O’Brien (24,386), Richard Todd (18,241), Chad Pennington (13,738) and Vinny Testaverde (12,497).