Three sets of statistical trends, records, marks and highlights by the Jets following their 27-14 loss at New England last Thursday night:
Quite an Opening Act
The night's first drive in Foxboro, while ultimately diminishing in importance as the game went on, was impressive. The Jets' 8:02 drive time to their 7-0 lead was their second-longest opening drive on the road in the last 14 seasons (they had an 8:19 FG drive at Buffalo in 2016) and was the longest at New England since 1986 (10:11 TD march).
Also, the Jets were 4 of 4 in converting third downs in the first quarter, all conversions coming on their opening series. That was the first time the Jets had 4 or more first-quarter third-down situations and converted all of them since 2014, when they went 5 of 5 at Green Bay. And returning to Cincinnati and the 2009 "Win And We're In" game, the Jets converted all 7 third downs in the first 15 minutes en route to their 37-0 playoff-clinching home win.
One issue: As Justin Fields said after the Cleveland win, the plan is always "start fast, finish strong." Their two wins featured strong finishes, New England was a fast start. Both in the same game will be another mark of growth.
Rushing Right Along
The rushing attack continues to be a focal point of the offense and the team. Coming off their 140-yard game vs. the Patriots, the Jets through 11 weeks of the season are ranked fifth in the NFL with 141.6 yards/game and third in the league with 5.02 yards/carry.
The Jets haven't been ranked fifth in yards/game this late in a season since 2014, when Chris Ivory and Chris Johnson powered the attack that was fifth after Weeks 11-13 and second for three more weeks before finishing third the final two weeks.
The per-tote figure will be hard to maintain over the final seven games this season but if they do, they will easily top the best figure in franchise history, the 4.75 yards/carry for the 2008 team guided by Thomas Jones and with Leon Washington in a strong supporting backfield role.
Sturdy Front Wall
Something the Jets have been working on for a while is a durable offensive line. This year's line is followed by an asterisk due to Alijah Vera-Tucker's season-ending injury the week before the opener. But with Joe Tippmann moving to RG and Josh Myers stepping in at C in between LT Olu Fashanu, LG John Simpson and RT Armand Membou, the Jets have found that OL stability.
All five have started all of the Green & White's first 10 games, the first time that's happened since 2012, when the quintet of C Nick Mangold — honored posthumously at halftime of the win over the Browns — surrounded by LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson, LG Matt Slauson, RG Brandon Moore and RT Austin Howard, started all 16 games together.
This season's fivesome, in fact, have played 3,092 of the combined OL's 3,105 snaps, a 99.6% participation rate. Their combined effort has led the way for the Jets' No. 5-ranked rushing offense (3rd with 5.02 yards/carry). The pass protection still needs to improve, although after giving up 31 sacks the first 7 games, the blockers have yielded 5 sacks in the past 3 games, the pass pro appears to be making progress.
