The bright lights of New Jersey welcomed Anthony Richardson back under center in a must-win situation for this franchise. They get the narrow victory 28-27 as they keep their playoff hopes alive. The Steichen/Richardson duo we all hoped to see, finally showed what they were capable of.
Anthony Richardson Redemption Game
After being dragged through the mud for nearly the whole season (but mostly for the past two weeks), Richardson quiets the short-term critics. He was far from perfect as he did have a costly turnover that led to a Jets touchdown. You could tell from the start of the first series, this was a different Anthony Richardson from past weeks. He did not look rusty at all, in fact, he looked as confident as ever.
Of course, the highlights were his two 70-yard touchdown drives in the 4th quarter, but he never got flustered on the 3rd and long situations all game. He delivered in the key moments of the game. He also kept excelling on the ground where he got two rushing touchdowns. His accuracy was improved, his decision-making was improved, and his game management was improved. Without question, this was the best game of his career and something you build on from here.
Defense Held Together
A tale of two halves for this defense. The first half was magnificent as they forced consecutive three-and-outs for this Jets offense. They did allow the end of the half touchdown drive but before that, it was arguably the best half of defense from this unit. The second half saw them crack a bit especially in the secondary, but they never fully broke and prevented this game from getting out of hand.
The defense kept the skill position players from taking over the game by limiting Aaron Rodgers, Breece Hall, and the duo of Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams. The Jets were unproductive on 3rd down by going 4/13 and only 253 total yards. They really kept Rodgers from completing the deep ball with constant pressure and terrific coverage. We saw some Cover-2 from the defense and Jaylon Jones had a terrific game spending most of his time on Garrett Wilson.
Steichen Adapts
Not only did Anthony Richardson have his game of the season but Shane Steichen may have as well. We all know the amount of criticism that Richardson took these past two weeks, but Steichen was not immune to it either. He went from the fan base wanting him to lose his job to now wondering if they can go on a run and get them to 10 wins and a potential playoff spot.
For the first time this season, you could argue that you saw the following. Steichen forced the game script to Richardson’s skill set versus forcing his skill set into their game script. If the reports are accurate, then Richardson was not taking the position as seriously as he should have. Which in turn made him constantly unprepared and underwhelming in his performance. Steichen put him on the bench to send him a message. The early returns are working.
Now, this is a Jets team that is going nowhere but this should give Richardson some confidence going forward. Week 12 matchup this week against Detroit will be their most difficult yet. However, the schedule lightens up in December. The growth of both pivotal franchise centerpieces has the chance to start to put something special together if this can continue.
More from The Blue Stable:
