Three sets of statistical trends, records, marks and highlights by the Jets following their 48-20 loss to the Jaguars at Jacksonville's EverBank Stadium on Sunday:
The "Other" Isaiah Heard From
Isaiah Williams isn't the only I-man to be contributing to the Jets offense. Isaiah Davis enjoyed a couple of career bests in J-Ville. His last carry of 9 on the day was his 24-yard right-end dash for the pylon, the longest scoring run of his two Jets seasons. The run gave him 58 rush yards for the game, making him the Jets' leading rusher for the first time in his 31 games in green and white.
And Davis led the Jets' 130-yard ground game against the Jags' rushing defense, still ranked No. 1 in the NFL but now allowing 86.3 yards/game instead of the 82.9 they had been giving up before playing the Jets.
Davis is in fast company in Jets history. These averages can change quickly, but at the moment his career 5.84 yards/carry is second-best among all Jets players behind only Brad Smith's 7.83 yards/carry (50+ carries). And Davis' career 6.42 yards/offensive touch is fourth among all Jets backs, trailing Bruce Harper (7.13), Jerald Sowell (6.88) and Cliff McClain (6.48) (75+ touches).
That's Just How Malachi Rolls
Fans may have forgotten, but the Jets did have 3 interceptions this year. All came in the preseason, and the last one was by 4th-round rookie Malachi Moore against the Eagles, after which HC Aaron Glenn stated: "He's going to be a damn good player in this league."
Moore moved into the starting S slot for Tony Adams and stayed when Andre Cisco went on IR. Over his last 9 starts, he has logged 587 defensive snaps, missing only two plays, and is tied with CB Brandon Stephens for the Jets' scrimmage-snaps lead from Game 6 on.
MM flashed his potential again in J-Ville, leading the defense in tackles for the second time in 3 games with 9 stops. And while he didn't grab the Jets' first INT of the regular season, he did snare their 3rd takeaway when he plucked WR Dyami Brown's end-around fumble caused by Stephens' helmet hit out of the air and returned it 25 yards to the Jags 16 in the fourth quarter.
All to be expected from a deep-middle dude who logged 214 tackles and 9 takeaways in his 5 seasons as a member of the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The 35 Doesn't Look So Bad Now
The still-new dynamic kickoff rules aren't working the way the NFL might have envisioned against this year's Jets. With Isaiah Williams morphing into one of the league's most dangerous dual returners and teaming up on kickoffs with Kene Nwangwu, he of the 5 career KOR scores, opponents have decided rather than to kick to either player and risk a return to midfield or beyond, they will take the "penalty" of having a touchback placed at the Jets 35.
It began with the Falcons, who put 4 kickoffs in the end zone and paid for the fifth KO that they didn't when Williams returned it 83 yards. Last week the Dolphins opted for 2 touchbacks. And the Jaguars had clearly read the memo: Cam Little, the new biggest leg in the NFL, had no trouble following the game plan as he bombed all 9 of his kickoffs deep into the EZ to prevent any damaging returns.
Nine kickoff touchbacks are the most by a Jets opponent in a game since at least 1991 and probably all-time. The only kickers and teams to get close to that were Brandon McManus and Denver at MetLife Stadium in 2020 and Brandon Aubrey and the Cowboys at Dallas in '23 with 8 TBs each, before the "dynamic" rules arrived in '24.
