Three sets of statistical trends, records, marks and highlights by the Jets following their 29-6 loss to the Saints in the Caesars Superdome on Sunday:
Under Pressure
The Jets' 3 sacks of New Orleans' Tyler Shough didn't keep pace with the Saints' 8 sacks of Brady Cook, but the Jets did have their most sacks in their last 6 games, and each individual sacker extended some season or personal bests.
Will McDonald IV was quiet until the fourth quarter, when on one drive he sacked Shough on the first play (for zero yards, but still a sack), forced a holding penalty on third tackle Torricelli Simpkins to wipe out a TD pass on the eighth play, and drove LT Kelvin Banks into Shough to force an incompletion on the ninth play. McDonald thus upped his team-leading totals to 8.0 sacks, 19 QB hits and 8 opponents' penalties caused.
The other two sackers: DL Jowon Briggs at 313 pounds continues to show he's not just a run-stopper as he recorded a QB hit for the sixth consecutive game and increased his career-high totals this season to 4.0 sacks and 10 QB pressures. MLB Jamien Sherwood, not asked to rush as much, nevertheless blitzed his way to a 10-yard sack of Shough, giving him a career-tying 2.0 sacks and extending his career-best QB hits to 5.
The Returners Heard From
The Saints tried to follow the Jaguars' plan for keeping kickoff returners Isaiah Williams and Kene Nwangwu at bay. They put all 8 of their kickoffs into the end zone and 6 went for touchbacks.
But the Jets' uber-returners took matters into their own hands in the fourth quarter. Williams returned a kick from 3 yards deep in his end zone for 42 yards. That increased his season average to 30.2 yards/return, second among qualifying returners and at the moment No. 4 on the Jets' franchise list topped by Joe McKnight's 31.6 average in 2011.
Nwangwu then answered on the last KO of the day by going from 2 yards into the end zone for 34 yards. His 14 returns aren't enough to qualify for the leaders list, but if we lower the Q-bar from 20 return to 10, Nwangwu leads the league with his 35.0 average.
And in the team rankings, unsurprisingly, the Jets' 30.1 yards/return is No. 1 in the NFL.
Check out the top photos from the Jets' Week 16 game against the Saints.
Can't Get Enough Nick
Every week K Nick Folk makes some kicks that continue to amaze us kicker watchers. He supplied all the Jets' points at Nawlins with 29- and 36-yard field goals and remained No. 1 in the NFL in multiple categories since 2023.
From FGs of 20-to-29 yards, Folk's accuracy is 100% at 19-of-19, tied with many kickers for best in the league. Similarly, from 30-39, he's also at 100% and 19-of-19 and tied for No. 1. From 40-49, he's at 95.5% (21-of-22), alone at No. 1. At 50-plus, his 90.0% (18-of-20) is also tops in the league. Overall, as we've noted, his 96.3% for almost 3 full seasons still solidly holds the top spot among all qualifying kickers in that span.
None of which is shocking when considering that with Sunday's successes, Folk is 98-of-98 from under 40 yards — the longest streak by any NFL kicker in the last 40 years, according to Stats Perform.
