Mehta: Sam Darnold sure looks like the savior...

Mehta: Sam Darnold sure looks like the savior in first game action as a Jet, showing off patience, poise and command
I will not overreact, I will not overreact, I will not overreact, I will not –

HOLY SMOKES! SAM DARNOLD IS RIDICULOUS.

The rookie quarterback flashed his prodigious talent in the Jets’ 17-0 preseason-opening shutout over the Falcons Friday night, leaving perpetually tortured diehards wondering if this was real or just a dream.

Darnold was far from perfect, but he exhibited some of the traits that had the Jets privately giddy about the kid’s public unveiling.

“I was pumped to be out there,” the rookie said.

Darnold was the sketch of cool in his first NFL game, showing poise and command to state an early case that he should indeed be the starting quarterback for Week 1 of the regular season next month. He went 9 for 11 for 74 yards, 1 TD, a 125.0 passer rating in two drives in the first half before playing with third-stringers on five drives after intermission.

Darnold, who wore a glove on his left hand after getting spiked on his five-yard scramble in the first half, finished 13 for 18 for 96 yards, 1 TD and a 103.0 passer rating.

He displayed the gifts that have so many folks on One Jets Drive convinced that they have finally found the answer to their most maddening problem.

In his first two drives, we saw the skills that could make Darnold a difference maker for a long time. He exhibited tremendous patience in the pocket, elusiveness in the face of pressure, accuracy throwing on the run, scrambling prowess and sage decision making.

“He does that in practice all the time,” Todd Bowles said. “I can’t say it impressed me, because we saw it every day. Just him handling game situations…. There are things that he can get better at too. But it is a good start.”

The last great young quarterback to have impeccable full-field awareness was Andrew Luck. Darnold isn't Luck, but he has an incredible ability to scan sideline to sideline and process information so fast.

He also played without hesitation.

“I can’t play with any hesitation,” Darnold said. “I just got to go to the right receiver… Everyone’s going to throw interceptions. That’s going to happen. But you just want to limit them. That just goes to trusting yourself and trusting your teammates.”

It was almost too good to be true for a star-crossed outfit searching for a franchise quarterback for a half century. Darnold obviously has plenty of work left to do – he faced a vanilla Atlanta defense — but my goodness, what an impressive debut. The rookie entered the game midway through the second quarter to cheers from the MetLife Stadium crowd.
“It was pretty cool to be able to get that response from the crowd,” Darnold said. “Jets fans are one of a kind. They’re awesome.”

It didn’t take long for Darnold to flash his pocket presence and elusiveness. He converted a third and 7 with an eight-yard completion to tight end Neal Sterling and scrambled for five yards on his first drive. Although the drive stalled, Darnold’s functional mobility was evident. He wasn’t flustered in the face of pressure, always keeping his eyes downfield.

The kid got cookin’ on a two-minute drive before halftime. Darnold completed six consecutive passes at one stretch. His 18-yard completion to tight end Clive Walford was a thing of beauty.

Darnold, playing behind a backup offensive line, kept his eyes downfield in the face of pressure, scanned the field and eschewed a clear running lane up the middle before finding an open Walford to get the Jets into the red zone. It was a play that 99 percent of rookie quarterbacks simply can’t make.

“This kind of goes to how much I’ve grown as a quarterback in terms of my patience in the pocket and being able to find guys,” Darnold said. “And just feel. Have some awareness in terms of when the pocket is closing and when I need to run and when I have time to get rid of it just like that throw I had to Clive.”

One play later, Darnold’s perfect pass that should have been a 3-yard touchdown sailed through Charles Johnson’s hands. One play after that, Darnold’s touchdown strike to Johnson was wiped out on a questionable offensive pass interference penalty.

The third time was a charm on third and goal.

Darnold sensed pressure, stepped up in the pocket and fired a bullet on the run to Johnson for a 14-yard touchdown to give the Jets a 17-0 lead with less than a minute left before halftime.

Real talk: Darnold threw three touchdowns on that drive, but only got credited with one.

“I’m excited about what’s in store for him,” Teddy Bridgewater said.

The Jets mirrored their quarterback blueprint from a year ago when Josh McCown played the first drive of the preseason opener before taking a backseat to Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty. McCown made a cameo Friday night (three-and-out on the opening drive) before Bridgewater took over.

Bridgewater was sharp in his first real playing time since suffering a grievous non-contact knee injury in practice with the Vikings 711 days ago that temporarily derailed a promising career. He has been the portrait of perseverance, belief and hard work for the past two years, positioning himself to make a comeback that once seemed improbable.

“Tonight, I was ready,” Bridgewater said. “I wasn’t nervous. I was actually anxious to get hit… because I wanted to get hit. It was a great day… It felt good getting hit again…. For me, it was the final step of the process. Got hit. Got right back up. (It) served as a reminder that the game is still the same.”

Bridgewater led the Jets to a pair of 10-play scoring drives on his only two series. He went 7 for 8 for 85 yards, a touchdown and 150.5 passer rating. He looked comfortable in the pocket and showed no visible signs of being slowed by his surgically repaired knee. Bridgewater found Isaiah Crowell for a 16-yard catch and run for a touchdown to give the Jets a 7-0 lead with 4 ½ minutes left in the first quarter. He had 23- and 21-yard completions to Johnson and Neal Sterling on the next drive capped by Taylor Bertolet’s 45-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

There’s a wide range of possibilities for Bridgewater. My understanding is that the Jets would be amenable to trading Bridgewater before the start of the regular season if Darnold earns the trust of team decision makers.

If Darnold needs more seasoning – and Bridgewater lights it up in the preseason – then Gang Green won’t hesitate to start Bridgewater in the season opener against the Lions, according to sources.

“We’ll see how the preseason goes,” Bowles said about his looming quarterback decision. “I’m not going to jump to any conclusions after one game. I’ll take my notes and watch practice and compare with the coaches and we’ll come up with a decision. But it’s a tough decision. We have three good players. And we’re happy to have them.”

Bridgewater sure looked like an NFL starter in his Jets debut.

So did the rookie.

 

The TD called back for an OPI was a horrendous call.

 

Imagine? You would think he would have been over the top in his praise of the kid. You know like Parcells would have done. Or any other HC

Bowles handled the questions about Darnold perfectly. He wasnt over the top discussing Darnold or the team for that matter. 17-0 and a complete game on both sides of the ball, one hell of a start but hes going to keep it even keeled

 

Looks happy to me, LOL.

 

Or not screaming throw it away as Sanchez or Geno danced around looking for someone to take the ball and ultimately losing 5 or more