It’s Not About How You Start, but How You Finish!
- conorprogers
- Sep 11, 2018
- 2 min read
The much-anticipated start of Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold featured a pick-six the very first throw of his professional career on Monday night. The disastrous start to the game had the Lions up 7-0 and gave Jets fans flashbacks to a plethora of bad memories with the green and white.
Darnold would respond quickly however, showing his maturity, and commanded the Jets down the field on a 5-play, 32-yard scoring drive (Isaiah Crowell 6-yard rush). “Oh, shoot, can’t get worse than this,” Darnold said as reported by ESPN’s Rich Cimini. Looking back on the interception, he got the worst-case scenario out of the way early and progressed from there on out.
The moment his poise was truly verified was on the 41-yard touchdown pass to Robby Anderson just before the end of the half. A remarkably accurate throw from Darnold gave his receiver the best chance to come down with the 50/50 ball and the Jets a 17-7 lead.
The second half is where the Jets were firing on all cylinders. In a span of 2 minutes and 36 seconds, the Jets exploded with contributions on offense (Quincy Enunwa pass from Sam Darnold for 21-yard TD), defense (Darron Lee 36-yard interception return for a TD), and special teams (Andre Roberts 78-yard punt return TD).
Despite being up 38-17, there was still a lot of football left to be played and Darnold stayed in the game to get as much reps as possible. There is no substitute for experience and every rep counts when you’re adapting to the high speed of the NFL level as a rookie.
The Jets would go on to win the game 48-17. An impressive win for the "underdog" Jets on the road.
Darnold will hit some speed bumps along the way during his 2018 rookie campaign but staying even keel and not getting too high or too low will be the key to his success moving forward. Creating five turnovers (5 interceptions) on defense and a touchdown on special teams (first since the late Joe McKnight in 2012) doesn’t hurt either.
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