NFL: Hey, Darnold! Jets benefit from Stafford disaster

The New York Jets celebrate a dominant 48-17 victory with the Detroit Lions on Sam Darnold’s debut. Although the rookie debut began in the worst possible way, Darnold quickly rehabilitated himself. Instead, it was Matthew Stafford who had a catastrophic evening and threw 5 interceptions.

For Sam Darnold and the Jets, the beginning of the new era could not have gone any worse. The third pick of this year’s drag made a catastrophic decision in his very first play when he tried to throw across the court to Bilal Powell from the right and was intercepted by Quandre Diggs for a pick six. But the rookie, who received great support from the jets defense and special teams and was allowed to start again and again from a good field position, brought 11 of his last 14 passes in the first half time to the man and threw his first touchdown after a brave play call over 41 yards to Robby Anderson.

Despite the best possible start to the game, the Lions were disappointing across the board, with Matthew Stafford’s weak start and a totally overtaxed offensive line. The otherwise so reliable Stafford not only led the Lions to -2 yards in the first quarter, he was vulnerable to jets flashes and also threw two terrible interceptions, although he was lucky that Kenny Golladay released the ball from Trumaine Johnson’s hands in a crazy sequence with a hard tackle.

Stafford found the right answer with great drives before and after the half-time break and the 17:17 equaliser, but after Darnold’s second touchdown he read another jets flash man instead of zone. The jets scored their first defense touchdown after 73 games, and when Andre Roberts scored a punt return touchdown after a three-and-out, putting New York on the scoreboard with 21 points in 2 minutes and 36 seconds, the Lions disaster was perfect.

In the right place at the right time. Darron Lee made the game of his life against the Lions, even if he couldn’t have gotten it easier. The linebacker caught two of Staffords terrible passes after misreading coverage. The Pick Six was particularly important to the jets as Lions had just found an offensive rhythm and scored on two consecutive drives. Lee finished the game next to the two picks with 6 tackles and a pass deflection.

I guess you haven’t seen a Matthew Stafford in this condition since his rookie season. The 30-year-old was completely off his rocker at the Lions Season Opener and made catastrophic mistakes, especially when it came to reading the opponent’s coverage. Stafford picked two jets in the first half and just before the break was lucky that rookie cornerer Parry Nickerson could not place the second foot by a hair in the field with another devastating pass. Stafford’s horror evening continued in the second half when he threw the ball into Darron Lee’s hands twice when he read Man instead of Zone Coverage. Only the fifth (!) and last interception could not be written on the Stafford cap.