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New York
Jets
defensive
back
Jamal
Adams
(33)
celebrates
his
interception
with
teammates
during
the
second
half of
an NFL
football
game
against
the
Detroit
Lions in
Detroit,
Monday,
Sept.
10,
2018.
(Photo:
Rick
Osentoski,
AP) |
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Darnold
sharp,
but
Jets’
rout of
Lions a
total
team
effort
By
NOAH
TRISTER
AP
Sports
DETROIT
- Sam
Darnold
showed
he could
recover
from a
careless
mistake
— a
promising
trait
for any
rookie
quarterback.
What
the New
York
Jets
displayed
on
defense
and
special
teams
may have
been
even
more
encouraging
for
Darnold
and his
teammates.
Darnold
threw an
interception
on the
very
first
snap of
his NFL
career —
and it
was run
back for
a
Detroit
touchdown
— but
New
York’s
quarterback
shouldn’t
sweat
that too
much
after
the Jets
stormed
back and
routed
the
Lions
48-17 on
Monday
night.
Darnold
threw
for 198
yards
and two
touchdowns,
and the
Jets
also
scored
on
defense
and
special
teams.
“We’re
going to
play
better
every
game,
that’s
our
goal,”
wide
receiver
Quincy
Enunwa
said.
“Obviously
you
can’t
always
make it
happen,
that’s
going to
be what
we’re
striving
for. All
three
phases
being
successful,
scoring
on all
three
phases.
When you
can do
that,
you can
be a
pretty
good
team.”
Darnold
earned
the
starting
job
after
the Jets
drafted
him
third
overall
in this
year’s
draft.
His
performance
alone
was
cause
for
excitement
Monday,
but on
this
night,
New York
seemed
to have
a pretty
solid
cast
around
him as
well.
The Jets
intercepted
Matthew
Stafford
four
times in
a dismal
debut
for new
Lions
coach
Matt
Patricia.
“Give
the Jets
credit.
They
obviously
are the
ones
that
played
well
tonight,”
Patricia
said.
“We have
to do
better,
I have
to coach
better
and we
have to
play
better.”
New
York
scored
31
unanswered
points
in the
final
9:36 of
the
third
quarter
after
the
Lions
had tied
it at
17.
Darron
Lee
returned
an
interception
for a
touchdown,
and
Andre
Roberts
scored
on a
78-yard
punt
return
67
seconds
later.
What
we
learned
from New
York’s
resounding
win:
REBOUND
Darnold’s
start to
this
game was
pretty
much the
worst-case
scenario.
On the
first
play
from
scrimmage,
his
ill-advised
throw
sailed
toward
the left
sideline
and was
picked
off by
Quandre
Diggs,
who
returned
it 37
yards
for a
7-0
lead.
That was
Darnold’s
only
major
error,
however.
He not
only
showed
he could
play
well in
prime
time on
the
road, he
also
showed
he could
handle
adversity.
The
21-year-old
Darnold
was the
youngest
quarterback
to start
a season
opener
since
the 1970
AFL-NFL
merger.
He was
also the
first
quarterback
to win
his
first
start by
31 or
more
points
since
Tom
Brady in
2001,
per ESPN
Stats &
Info.
STUCK IN
NEUTRAL
The
Lions
were
unimpressive
in the
preseason,
but it’s
always
tough to
tell how
much
that
really
matters.
This
opener
confirmed
this
team has
issues.
It was
the most
lopsided
loss for
Detroit
in an
opener
since a
45-0
shellacking
at
Washington
in 1991.
(Of
course,
the
Lions
ended up
making
the NFC
title
game
that
season).
Detroit
had
scored
at least
25
points
in seven
straight
season
openers,
an NFL
record.
That
streak
is now
over.
Perhaps
most
distressing,
the Jets
said
they had
a read
on
Stafford’s
signals.
“We
were
calling
out
their
plays as
he was
getting
up to
the
line,”
Lee
said.
NO
BALANCE
Detroit
did a
lot to
try to
shore up
the
running
game
this
offseason,
drafting
Kerryon
Johnson
and
adding
LeGarrette
Blount.
It was
enough
of an
overhaul
that
Ameer
Abdullah
was
inactive
for the
opener.
The
Lions
ended up
with 39
yards on
15
carries.
Blount
ran four
times
for
minus-3
yards.
Not a
good
sign.
“I
know it
sounds
crazy,
but
we’re a
lot
better
football
team
than we
showed,”
tackle
Taylor
Decker
said. “I
think we
all know
that and
we’re
all
secure
and
comfortable
with
that.
We’ll
get
better
moving
forward.”
X-FACTOR?
Maybe it
was just
poor
coverage
by
Detroit,
but
Roberts
also had
a
43-yard
punt
return
in the
first
quarter
in
addition
to his
touchdown.
EXPECTATIONS
One
victory
doesn’t
make the
Jets a
Super
Bowl
team,
but the
lopsided
nature
of this
one is
hard to
ignore,
and now
New York
has
winnable
games
the next
two
weeks
against
Miami
and at
Cleveland.
Detroit
is at
San
Francisco
next
weekend.
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