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NEW YORK – Yes, it really happened.
Sam Darnold shone in his NFL debut – after a disastrous first throw of course – and the New York Jets dominated the offensive, defensive and special teams for an impressive win against Detroit 48-17 on Monday night.
And like that, hopes were raised just one week after the start of the season. Well, everywhere outside the Jets facilities, that is to say.
"Our expectations were like before the game," coach Todd Bowles said Tuesday. "So, that does not change anything. We had high expectations to start. This game does not change anything for us. It was only a match. We have 15 more to do. We will try to win them in different ways. Obviously, each week will not be the same, but our expectations have not changed. "
Just days before the start of the match, Bowles said he was not there to recover a check or an 8-8, which would represent a clear improvement over the 5-11. years. He said he was here to try to lead this franchise to a Super Bowl.
Of course, this seems to be a stretch right now, but his players could be with him on this game plan.
They saw what they could accomplish when everything clicked and what they could be as they could get closer to what was happening in Detroit.
"I know what we can do and it was not our best game," receiver Quincy Enunwa said after the win. "So, I think that to move forward, we will correct the corrections and we will play better every game, that's our goal."
The next match is the opening match against Miami, the rival of the AFC East, and a chance to open the season 2-0 for the first time since the first year of Bowles as a Coach in 2015.
New York will have a short week after that with a Thursday night game in Cleveland. Three games in 11 games – with some social media and sports radio fans already thinking about the Jets that opened 3-0 in Rex Ryan's first season as a coach in 2009.
"Culture has changed !!" Safety Jamal Adams tweeted shortly after the win. "I already told you that the Jets are different this year. It's only the beginning! "
Adams, who intercepted his career for the first time, and linebacker Darron Lee, who got his first two passes, said they knew what the Lions did in almost every game while New York finished with five interceptions of Matthew Stafford.
Bowles said on Tuesday that it was just a product of preparation.
"No, we did not know any audible signals," said the coach. "We did not know any parts. I think these guys did a good job following the tasks that the coaches taught them. And they anticipated some things. They have some formations and they were in the right position and the right position to do this type of games. "
In any case, it certainly worked.
That helped Darnold rebound after a brutal start in which the first pitch of his NFL career was intercepted and rendered for a touchdown by Quandre Diggs.
Rather than being jostled, the youngest quarterback started the first game of the season at the Super Bowl played with the balance of a veteran.
Darnold, 21, was 16th on 21 for 198 yards and touchdowns for Robby Anderson and Enunwa.
"I thought he played well after the first game," Bowles said. "He does good things. We had some problems with the headset, so we had to call the timeout a few times, but it was not his fault. We only had problems with the helmets where they did not work where he could hear the play, but I thought he was doing well.
Coaches and players praised Darnold's maturity and intelligence since the day he started coaching with them in May after being the # 3 pick in the repechage.
These attributes were exhibited in front of an audience during prime time on Monday nights.
"He's the same guy every day," said Bowles of Darnold. "I think it's important at the shift to make sure you're the same guy. You know what you're getting out of the guy and you trust that guy when you're the same guy every day, and that's really the most awesome thing.
Bowles has played and coached in the NFL over the last 30 years and has met many young players at this time.
The coach feels something simply different about Darnold because of his constant concentration.
"It's great to see," Bowles said. "It's rare nowadays. It was a bit more common at the time (when Bowles was playing) for whatever reason, but it's a bit rarer than I was and it's exciting to see because it has an old soul. He is young but understands the game very well. He works in the right way.
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