New York Jets: 3 Standouts from Week 1 vs. Lions

2. The entire offensive line

The Jets offensive line loot atrocious during the preseason, and there was good reason to doubt how they’d do, because they never played together. However, them not playing together in preseason games also meant that we shouldn’t have had negative expectations for the game against the Lions, but rather, none.

That said, most people put this as a major question mark for the season, and for at least one game they showed what they can do. The top two running backs, Isaiah Crowell and Bilal Powell both averaged over 5.0 yards per carry, and the line opened up for a huge touchdown run by Crowell.

We also saw what a healthy line and a quality center does for the team. In terms of pass blocking, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) gave only one Jets offensive line for the entire 2017 season a pass blocking grade over 70. In the game against the Lions, Brian Winters and Spencer Long — the newly acquired center — were both given grades over 80 (85.0 and 83.0 respectively), Brandon Shell was given a grade of 74.8, and they gave James Carpenter and 69.8.

The offensive line came to play for one night. Now they have to be consistent for the rest of 2018.

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