Three sets of statistical trends, records, marks and highlights by the Jets following their 27-20 triumph over Cleveland at MetLife Stadium on Sunday:
Fortress of Four-titude
As noted during and after the win, edge Will McDonald IV joined elite company in franchise history with his 4 sacks of Browns rookie QB Dillon Gabriel. It was the seventh time a Jet achieved 4.0 sacks in a game, and McDonald is the fifth different Jet to do it, and included are those who got their 4 QB takedowns before sacks became official in 1982.
McDonald also is the first to show such four-titude in a home game since Mark Gastineau's 4 sacks against the Baltimore Colts 42 years ago, in 1983. Gastineau is the team sack king, reaching a quartet of sacks in 4 different games: against the Houston Oilers and at the Giants in 1981, vs. Baltimore in '83, and at Indianapolis in '84.
The others in this Green Gang of Four: Verlon Biggs, at the Houston Oilers, 1969; Mark Lomas, at Buffalo, 1970; and the most recent Jet before Sunday to go fourth: John Abraham with 4 Sunday night sacks at New Orleans in 2001.
Making Each Yard Count
The Jets had some strange offensive statistics in this win. Their 169 net total yards and 42 net passing yards were each the third-fewest in a victory in franchise history. Justin Fields' single passing first down was tied for the fewest in a game in team annals and it was the first time in more than a half century (at New England in 1973) that the Jets had one passing first down in a win.
But that first down was an explosive play, Fields threw the blitz-beating screen to Breece Hall, who took the ball 42 yards crowned by his headfirst dive across the goal line to open the Jets' lead to 27-17 with 14:12 to play. Hall accounted for a whopping 84% of the Jets' total yards (125 of 149), and along with his 22- and 30-yard runs, he reached 3 scrimmage plays of 20-plus yards in a game for the third time in his NFL career.
The last Jets running back not named Breece to peel off 3-plus 20s in a game: Isaiah Crowell who had rushes of 36, 54 and 77 yards, the last for a touchdown vs. Denver at MetLife in the centerpiece of his one season as a Jet in 2018.
Returning One More Time
The offensive yardage spelled a W and not an L in large part because of the hidden yardage supplied by Kene Nwangwu (143 kickoff-return yards) and Isaiah Williams (126 punt-return yards). Nwangwu's forceful, sharp-cutting 99-yard KO-return touchdown followed by Williams' weaving, dashing 74-yard PR TD on the next special teams touch marked the first time the Jets had returned a kickoff and a punt for scores in the same game. It also was the first time the Green & White had one punt returner and one kickoff returner each with 100-plus yards in the same game.
The dynamic duo established one more distinction. Their TDs came 36 game-clock seconds apart, placing them at No. 10 on the franchise's "Fastest 2 Touchdowns" list. Further, Nwangwu and Williams provided the quickest 2 TDs in any Jets first quarter. The previous mark: 58 seconds for an early Curtis Martin run and a Richie Anderson reception from Vinny Testaverde in the 42-36 win at Buffalo in 2001.
