Three sets of statistical trends, records, mileposts and highlights following the Jets' 35-12 loss at Kansas City on Sunday:
Start Me Up
The Jets have shown very good traits in some areas that can be building blocks to victories. One of them is scoring on opening drives. And we're taking the view that while, yes, sevens are better than threes, threes are also better than zeroes.
That said, the Jets have found success on their last 5 opening drives, scoring 2 touchdowns and 3 field goals. Four of the 5 scores gave the Jets early leads, the fifth answered Miami's opening touchdown with a TD of their own.
The Jets' "average opening drive" in these games is a healthy 8.6 offensive plays for 64 yards and lasting 4:35. And the 5-game opening-drive scoring streak is the Green & White's longest since 2020, when they opened 8 consecutive games with scores (3 TDs, 5 FGs).
None of this guarantees an imminent eruption of Jets offense following an opening-drive score. As HC Aaron Glenn said Monday, "You have to be able to put two halves together. That's something that we really have to work on." Yet for a team that went multi-game stretches without an opening-drive TD from 2021-25, the good starts have been a welcome development.
Rip It Out
A high NFL ranking that the Jets have maintained this season involves the extrication of the pigskin from the grasp of the opposition, a.k.a. forced fumbles. Rookie edge David Bailey's 2 strip sacks of Patrick Mahomes were noteworthy all by themselves but were also part of the larger picture.
This season, the Jets have forced 13 fumbles (11 on defense, 2 on special teams). which is the most in the NFL through all Week 9 games. Their 9 recoveries of opponents' fumbles also leads the league and is helping keep them in the top 10 in the league in turnover margin, actually tied for 10th at plus-3.
Bailey has 5 forces for the season, 1 off John Abraham's 6 FFs in 2001 and again in '05, the most by a Jet since the early Nineties. The Jets rookie says it's no secret and no accident that the Jets' rip-and-recover efforts are thriving.
"It's something that's constantly preached throughout the meetings, pre-practice and pregame," he said. "It's something that we work on a lot."
The Streak Goes On
Malachi Moore kept his special teams tackle streak rolling with a third-quarter second-effort takedown of Nikko Remigio after his long punt return for KC. Moore, as the Jets' upback, ran some 40 yards upfield, then some 50 yards back, working his way through traffic all the way to finally plant Remigio, with diving help from Qwan'tez Stiggers, at the Jets 3. Because the entire play wasn't wiped out by the Chiefs' hold on Stiggers, Moore's tackle stands and his streak lives.
The tackle extended Moore's stretch of games with at least one special teams tackle to every game this season, nine in all, the longest streak by a Jet since ST tackles were rigorously recorded beginning in the early Nineties. And he has equaled Chris Hayes' 9-game ST tackle streak over two seasons in 2007-08. That means Moore will be going for a perfect 10 in a row against the Bills at home Sunday.
