DETROIT — Even Todd Bowles had to smile at this one.
The stoic Jets coach had to be downright giddy after his team’s 48-17 thumping of the Lions to open the season Monday night. Or as giddy as Bowles gets.
By the end of the night, Jets fans had taken over the seats behind the team bench and serenaded the players with chants of “J-E-T-S” and “Saaamm Darnold.”
Nearly everything went right for the Jets.
Rookie Sam Darnold bounced back after a pick-six to open the game to show everyone the Jets might have finally found their franchise quarterback. He was poised, efficient and made enough throws to make believers out of even the biggest Jets skeptics. He threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns on 16-of-21 passing.
The defense barely let the Lions breathe in Matt Patricia’s head coaching debut. The Jets intercepted Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford four times, backup Matt Cassel once and swarmed the Lions running backs every time they touched the ball.
The Jets even got defensive and special teams touchdowns, something that happens about as often as a Bowles belly laugh. Darron Lee brought back a Stafford interception 36 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. It was the Jets’ first defensive touchdown since 2013. A few minutes later, Andre Roberts returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown, the first punt return for a score since 2012.
The Jets blew the game open with a 31-point third quarter. They only led 17-10 at halftime.
The Lions actually tied the game 17-17 on the first drive of the third quarter. It was the Lions’ best drive of the night, a four-play, 75-yard march through the Jets defense that ended with a Golden Tate 24-yard touchdown.
But the Jets answered in resounding fashion. First, Darnold moved the Jets 75 yards down the field on six plays, ending the drive with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Quincy Enunwa, who had a strong return after missing all of last season due to a neck injury suffered in practice. Enunwa took a short pass and fought his way into the end zone for the 24-17 lead.
That was followed by Lee’s pick-six, the first the Jets have had since Antonio Allen picked off Tom Brady and scored on Oct. 20, 2013. That put the Jets up 31-17 and the rout was on. It was the first of two interceptions by Lee.
Roberts then tiptoed down the sideline for a 78-yard score, erasing the memory of the Jets’ shaky special teams in the preseason. It was their first punt return for a touchdown since Jeremy Kerley brought one back against the Bills on Sept. 9, 2012.
Running back Isaiah Crowell put the punctuation mark on the win with a 62-yard touchdown, cutting right through Patricia’s defense to make the score 48-17. It was the first time the Jets had scored 40 points or more since the opener in 2012 against the Bills.
But the game could not have gotten off to a worse start for Darnold. On his first play from scrimmage, he threw an interception that Quandre Diggs returned 37 yards for a touchdown. Darnold made the mistake of throwing back across the field on the play, which was designed for him to roll right. When no one was open, he held onto the ball, then felt pressure from Ricky Jean Francois. He tried to hit Bilal Powell running into space to his left, but Diggs was waiting and pounced on the pass. The pick-six gave the Lions a 7-0 lead and had Ford Field rocking.
Darnold shook off the poor start, though, and showed the poise that the Jets have fallen in love with since drafting him. He hit tight end Neal Sterling with a 12-yard pass on third down on the next series and pushed the ball into Lions’ territory. A sack from Ezekiel Ansah on third down ended the drive.
After the Jets stopped the Lions’ offense, Roberts returned Sam Martin’s punt 43 yards to the Lions’ 32, giving Darnold great field position. He took advantage of it, moving the Jets to the end zone in five plays. The key play was a third-and-7 throw that Darnold kept alive by scrambling and finding Enunwa, who made a twisting catch that needed to be reviewed. On the next play Isaiah Crowell scored a 6-yard touchdown, his first as a Jet, to tie the game 7-7.
While Darnold and the offense were finding their groove, the Jets defense was dominating. The Lions had minus-2 yards total offense in the first quarter. Their only first down came from a Jets penalty. Morris Claiborne and Trumaine Johnson both intercepted Stafford in the first half.
Darnold immediately calmed down after his gaffe on the first play of the game. He threw his first touchdown pass with 1:51 left in the first quarter. On third-and-2 from the Lions’ 41, offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates finally gave Darnold a shot to throw the deep ball and it worked. Darnold thew a pretty pass down the left sideline and Anderson made a nice grab in the end zone for the 41-yard score and a 17-7 lead.
The Jets’ defense made one more stop just before halftime, holding the Lions to a field goal that kept the Jets’ lead at 17-10 at the break.
Then they piled it on in the second half.
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