Scouting Report: Jets have overachieved slightly this year, but still face tall order against Patriots

The Jets aren’t going to the postseason. But considering the modest expectations on this roster at the start of the 2017 season — when 0-16 was considered a distinct possibility — where this group is right now heading into the regular season finale (5-10, with seven of those losses by eight points or less) probably represents a minor victory. And considering some of the talent on both sides of the ball, if New York is able to find a serviceable quarterback this offseason and makes the right personnel adjustments, 8-8 in 2018 isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

But that’s down the road. When stacked against this New England team, the 2017 Jets have a tall order when it comes to Sunday’s regular-season finale. Let’s see where they are at this stage of the season.


OFFENSE
Scheme
Offensive coordinator John Morton is in his first season with the Jets, and at this stage of the season, is in control of an offense that is fair at running the ball, but not much else. Overall, the Jets are 24th in total offense (309.1 yards per game), 24th in passing (198.3 yards per game), 17th in rushing (110.8 yards per game) and 22nd in scoring (19.5 points per game).

Quarterbacks
Bryce Petty (54 percent completion rate, 1 TD, 3 INTs, 312 yards in 3 games) has started the last two games for the Jets, and has been all over the map. That’s caused some talk that Christian Hackenberg might ultimately start in the finale — the two apparently split reps on Wednesday. Hackenberg, in his second season, has not played in an NFL game.

Bill Belichick on Petty: “Big guy, has a good arm, has good mechanics. Athletic, kind of like (Josh) McCown: has the ability to get out of the pocket and extend plays, can run for first-down yardage. I wouldn’t really call him a runner, but he can run, but he can stand there in the pocket and throw and make all the throws. I think he’s certainly a good player for them to work with. McCown had a good year, I was very impressed with the way he played all year, but Petty looks similar to McCown in terms of style and ability.”

Receivers
Jermaine Kearse (6-1, 209, 4.58): With the state of the Jets quarterbacking position, the former Seattle pass catcher has done as well as could be expected after arriving in North Jersey in September. 60 catches on 95 targets.
Robby Anderson (6-3, 180, 4.34): Youngster out of Temple is still developing, but has shown flashes of talent throughout the year. Would be interesting with a consistent quarterback. Leads team with 62 catches on 111 targets.
ArDarius Stewart (5-11, 2-4, 4.50): The speed guy. 5 catches on 11 targets. Jets have tried to get the ball in his hands different ways this year — has seven carries for 27 yards, and has worked on reverses and screens. Also worked as a part-time return man.
Austin Seferian-Jenkins (6-5, 262, 4.80): A heralded tight end coming out of college a couple years ago, he’s been underwhelming to this stage of his career. Third or fourth option in the passing game at this point. 50 catches on 74 targets.
Eric Tomlinson (6-6, 261): Mostly a blocking tight end. 6 catches on 9 targets.

Offensive line
LT Kelvin Beachum (6-3, 306): Good pass blocker when right, especially for his size. Light in the running game and can be moved around. Uses huge splits from the LG in pass blocking, so that can be exploited.
LG James Carpenter (6-4, 321): Good run blocker, poor pass blocker.
C Wesley Johnson (6-5, 300): Inconsistent all year, especially with pass blocking.
RG Brian Winters (6-4, 320): Solid, but not spectacular. Can be overwhelmed by larger rushers. Leads offense with eight penalties, including five holding calls.
RT Brandon Shell (6-5, 324): Has technique issues pass blocking, but if the pads are low, can be an excellent, sturdy presence.
Interior backup Dakota Dozier (6-4, 313). Tackle backups Brent Qvale (6-7, 314) and Ben Ijalana (6-4, 337)

Running backs
Bilal Powell (5-10, 204, 4.52): Patriots caught a break first time around when he wasn’t able to go. An explosive runner in the mold of Dion Lewis with good vision and good quickness, he has 165 carries for 726 yards (4.4 ypc) and 5 TDs this year, including 145 rushing yards on 19 carries last week against the Chargers. Also has 22 catches on 31 targets.
Matt Forte (6-1, 218, 4.52): Whether it’s age, a nagging knee injury or the re-emergence of Powell, he’s really struggled over the last month or so — he’s averaged 3.2 yards per carry over the last four games. (He missed practice on Wednesday.) Not the same guy he used to be. Also has 37 catches on 45 targets.
Elijah McGuire (5-9, 212, 4.57): Mostly a depth presence who does some third-down work in relief of Powell and Forte. 14 catches on 20 targets.

DEFENSE
Scheme
Head coach Todd Bowles is the leader of the defense, a 3-4 base unit, but coordinator Kacy Rodgers executes the plays/schemes. It’s been a disappointing year for many aspects of the Jets defense, but the strength of this group is in the secondary, where they have some good young defensive backs who are still coming into their own. Overall, New York is 24th in the league in total defense (allowing an average of 353.7 yards per game), 23rd against the pass (237.7), 19th against the run (116) and 23rd in average points allowed (23.7). They’re tied for 17th in the league with 20 takeaways.

Defensive line
LE Leonard Williams (6-5, 302): A long, disruptive defender who can be tough to block, he can line up at multiple spots along the defensive front. “He’s good at everything,” Belichick said of Williams. “He’s a problem.”
NT Steve McClendon (6-4, 310): Space eater whose strength is mostly against the run.
RE Muhammad Wilkerson (6-4, 315): When he gets cranked up, can be a handful to contain. Only problem is he’s been a massive disappointment this year, having been benched at one point by Bowles.

Linebackers
OLB/End Josh Martin (6-3, 245): Took over for Kony Early at the edge spot. Smart guy — he went to Columbia — who isn’t overwhelming when it comes to pressure, but does a decent job setting the edge.
ILB Darron Lee (6-1, 232, 4.47): Struggles with play-action, but can be a playmaker at the second level for New York with three sacks, three passes defensed and a pair of forced fumbles.
ILB Demario Davis (6-2, 250, 4.61): Good in sideline-to-sideline pursuit. Leads team — and has career-highs — in sacks (five) and tackles (89) this season.
OLB Jordan Jenkins (6-3, 259, 4.80): In his second year, he’s shown positively at times, but can be limited because of a lack of speed. 3 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries.

Secondary
FS Marcus Maye (6-0, 212, 4.50): Good rookie year for the Florida product — he has excellent ball skills, and has shown nice discipline as a rookie defensive back. Tied for team lead in interceptions with two.
SS Jamal Adams (6-0, 214, 4.44): The sixth overall pick out of LSU, he was handed the job of being the primary defender on Rob Gronkowski in the first game between these two teams. Gronkowski had two TDs and 83 receiving yards in that one. To that end, struggled at times against elite tight ends this year, but has a lot of scrap and the coaches like his compete level.
LCB Morris Claiborne (5-11, 185, 4.45): He’s been in the league a few years, and while he still has that good recovery speed, he can still get caught looking for that home-run play.
RCB Buster Skrine (5-9. 185, 4.44): Versatile veteran has always been solid but fairly unspectacular. Can be overly grabby — he leads team with 10 penalties, including 3 each for holding and pass interference.
CB Darryl Roberts (5-11, 187, 4.38): Patriots seventh-round pick in 2015 competes well, but can be exposed if asked to do anything other than work as a third corner.

SPECIAL TEAMS
Punter Lachlan Edwards is one of the best in the league with a 46.6 average and a 40.5 net. He hasn’t had a punt blocked all year, and is tied for third-best in the league with 31 punts landing inside the 20. He hasn’t had a punt blocked all year. … Kicker Chandler Catanzaro is 23-for-27 for 85 percent on field goals, with all four misses coming form between 40 and 49, where he’s 11-for-15. A perfect 29-for-29 on extra points. … Rookie PR/KR JoJo Natson has taken over the bulk of the return duties for the Jets, and us averaging 2.4 yards per punt return and 21.6 yards per kick return. The Jets have no returns for touchdowns this season.

SCOUT’S TAKE
To cap things off, we asked an NFC scout who has broken down film on both teams for his thoughts on this game on both sides
Patriots: “You want to be in it to win it, but I’d also be aware of getting a nice lead through three quarters and sitting the starters for part of the fourth. The bottom line? You don’t want to give them a two-week break, because you’ll have wild-card weekend off too. You want them to play and attack the game plan. You don’t want to go into the playoffs with anything less than that mindset. Let’s go (expletive) play. You get to the fourth quarter with that lead. They need to do a few things between now and the postseason, and while you want to win, there are things you want to get accomplished. Harrison will get some reps, to make sure he’s up to speed and has his game legs under him a little bit. And there are some guys at the back end of the roster who need to get some time. You never know what’s going to happen in the playoffs. This is the kind of game where you can get some reps for the 51st, 52nd and 53rd guys on your roster, so if they need to play in the postseason, they’ll be a little more ready.”
Jets: “I know Todd (Bowles), and I know he believes he’s coaching for his job this week. I think Todd has done enough to keep his job, but how his team looks in this one could go a long way in the offseason. He’s coaching to win. He’s coaching to make a statement. If you’re the Jets, the guys who you need to watch on Sunday and can build around going forward is that secondary. Good group that is mostly on the young side that has a chance to grow and play together.”