This is going to be a season-long blog where we take a look at the starting matchups of my opponents and compare them to the starters on the Jets. We will be using the depth charts of our opponents as a reference for their starters. We are also going to take a look at the three biggest threats on the opposing team and identify any possible weaknesses to exploit.
| Quarterbacks | ||
| Zach Wilson (73) | –> | Deshaun Watson (84) |
| Halfbacks | ||
| Breece Hall (76) | –> | Nick Chubb (96) |
| Wide Receivers | ||
| Corey Davis (79) | –> | Amari Cooper (90) |
| Elijah Moore (79) | <– | Will Fuller (79) |
| Garrett Wilson (76) | <– | Donovan Peoples-Jones(75) |
| Tight Ends | ||
| C.J. Uzomah (79) | –> | David Njoku (80) |
| Tyler Conklin (78) | <– | Harrison Bryant (69) |
| Offensive Linemen | ||
| 78 Overall | –> | 82 Overall |
| Defensive Linemen | ||
| John Franklin-Myers (81) | –> | Jadeveon Clowney (82) |
| Carl Lawson (83) | –> | Myles Garrett (99) |
| Quinnen Williams (86) | <– | Taven Bryan (70) |
| Linebackers | ||
| Quincy Williams (72) | <– | Sione Takitaki (70) |
| C.J. Mosley (82) | <– | Anthony Walker Jr (77) |
| Kwon Alexander (75) | –> | Jeremiah Owusu-K. (79) |
| Defensive Backs | ||
| D.J. Reed Jr (80) | –> | Denzel Ward (92) |
| Sauce Gardner (78) | –> | Greg Newsome II (81) |
| Ashtyn Davis (74) | –> | John Johnson III (83) |
| Chris Harris (84) | <– | Anthony Harris (80) |
The Cleveland Browns have one of the best rosters in the league, but having all the talent in the world doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t perform on the field. There’s only one change between weeks 1 and 2 for the New York Jets and that was the addition of cornerback Chris Harris Jr. He was brought in to help mentor the young corners and safeties that the Jets have on their roster. Chris Harris is figured to play most of his snaps in the safety positon.
Players to Watch –
Nick Chubb –
Despite the addition of Deshaun Watson in the offseason, he’s not going to be the heart and soul of the Browns offense. Nick Chubb is expected to be the featured back and his abilities make it very hard not to use him on all three downs. Bruiser is an overwhelming ability in combination with his 98 break tackle. If the Browns are able to get his freight train ability lit up, it’s going to be very tough for the Jets to bring him down for a loss. Chubb had over 100 yards rushing in week 1, so it is expected that the Browns will go with a run first approach against the Jets front seven that is missing one of their best defensive linemen in Carl Lawson who was injured last week against the Baltimore Ravens.
Amari Cooper –
He’s not going to burn you over the top, but Amari Cooper has route technician and outside apprentice as his stock abilities. Cooper has the ability to beat man coverage with ease and if the Jets aren’t able to put a safety over the top to help, we could see Cooper have a field day. Deshaun Watson will lean on Cooper down the stretch if the game goes down to the wire, but the plan of attack for the Browns should be to set up the deep pass with a conventional rushing attack that sets up the play action game.
Myles Garrett –
It’s apparent that the pass rush is ferocious on this Madden, but once you insert a 99 overall defensive end with edge threat, you seldom need to blitz. He was a no factor in his week 1 game against the Panthers, but Zach Wilson is going to have to assess the blocking at the line of scrimmage every down and account for where Garrett is lined up. The Jets are going to look to run away from whatever side that Garrett is on. We should expect to see a good amount of stretches and zone runs to the opposite side of Garrett and quick passes out of the backfield to limit the pass rush.
Game Recap –
Santa Clause came to town for the New York Jets as they utterly destroyed the Cleveland Browns to the tune of 56-3. This couldn’t have been any better for Zach Wilson and company because they only had to play one half of football. The offensive backups relieved the starters shortly after halftime, but Michael Carter had the game of his life. He came in to relieve Bryce Hall and ended up running all over the Browns defense. Carter carried the ball just 9 times but rushed for over 157 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Jets learned from their week 1 game and Zach Wilson was getting the ball out quickly which led to Bryce Hall being the leader in receptions with 6. Zach Wilson completed 84% of his passes and the New York Jets will need him to really dial it up next week when they take on the Cincinnati Bengals.
Chris Harris Jr. had a helluva game in his debut as a Jet. He was asked to cover the middle of the field more often than not and he came away with 2 interceptions and was able to run one of them in for a touchdown. Ashtyn Davis raked in 2 interceptions as well and the Jets defense forced Deshaun Watson to throw 7 total interceptions. In week 1, they allowed the Baltimore Ravens to accrue over 400 yards of total offense, but in week 2, they held the Browns to just 140 yards of total offense.
The Cincinnati Bengals are the third AFC North team on the Jets schedule in three weeks and you have to believe that the Jets are ready to keep the momentum train rolling when Joe Burrow and company come out of the tunnel.
