New York Jets: 3 Big takeaways from win vs. Broncos in Week 5

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EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – OCTOBER 07: Sam Darnold #14 of the New York Jets reacts against the Denver Broncos during the first half in the game at MetLife Stadium on October 07, 2018 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

1. Sam Darnold shows some confidence

During the last few weeks, Jeremy Bates has gotten some heat from the fans and the media. Many were questioning his play calling, saying it reminded them of the offensive coordinator they let go after last season, John Morton. Maybe it wasn’t the play calling after all.

Many things can contribute to not throwing the ball deep. Some of the contributors for the Jets were, a bad offensive line and receivers not getting open, but there may have been another culprit that didn’t rear its ugly head in this game — a rookie quarterback who didn’t want to take risks.

Well, the offensive line was better, and receivers were getting open against the Broncos. So, Sam Darnold took more risks. They paid off twice, and he got burned by drops on others. However, Sam Darnold proved an old baseball adage from Yogi Berra true in football: “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” (Just replace the word baseball with football.)

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Darnold completed less than 50 percent of his passes in this game, but that’s because he took low percentage shots downfield that didn’t pay off. However, this game was a breakout game for him, because for NFL quarterbacks the game is mostly from the neck up rather than just physical tools. It’s just one game, but he may have cleared the mental hurdle required to go from average to above average.

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