New York Jets Prove Week 1 Wasn't a Fluke in Win over Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck had no choice but to peel himself up off the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium. Four turnovers had already ruined his night, perhaps one of the worst of his career, but Luck didn't make those mistakes all on his own; the Jets defense had forced the issue on the team's way to a 20-7 win, its second of the season.

The team's dominant Week 1 win could have been written off as a fluke. After all, the Jets forced five turnovers and the Cleveland Browns were onto their backup quarterback by the end of the first quarter.

But as we learn every year, the story of a team will change from Week 1 to Week 17, as new layers of context are added. And when the Jets peeled back the top layer of their season, the second layer looked very similar. 

Make no mistake; the Jets left a lot of points on the field. Once again, the Jets defense forced five total turnovers on the Colts offense. Only this time, they were able to score just seven points off those turnovers.

Once again, the passing game was efficient enough to get the job done. Only this time, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick didn't have the benefit of a dominant running game. 

The most important thing: Once again, the Jets won. Only this time, it was a team that has been colored as an AFC contender that was on the other side of the ball.

Consider these facts:

• Through two games, the Jets' defensive passer rating is 62.9, which will be third-best in the NFL.
• The Jets have given up 17 points on defense, No. 1 in the NFL through two games.
• In the Andrew Luck era, the Colts have never been held to seven points at home.
• The Colts only made it into Jets territory once in the first half and four times over the course of the whole game.
• The Colts didn't score until the fourth quarter, and the Jets went a span of 80 minutes and 22 seconds of game clock between points given up on defense (field goal with 3:29 remaining in the second quarter in Week 1; touchdown at 10:07 remaining in the fourth quarter in Week 2).

Things are already off to a good start for the Jets.

This season is just two games old, but over the past four seasons, the Jets won just seven of 24 games after a win. The Jets didn't pound the Colts on the scoreboard quite the same way they did to the Browns, but they did enough to win. And they did not come out flat, as Rex Ryan's teams did so often after emotional wins (and still do, as seen in the Buffalo Bills' 40-32 loss to the New England Patriots that was astronomically worse than the final score indicates).

Some of the Jets' dominance was well-executed. On Luck's first interception, a well-timed blitz by cornerback Buster Skrine resulted in a hurried pass down the middle that was picked off by safety Calvin Pryor—a result of the pass rush working in harmony with the coverage.

The same happened on Darrelle Revis' interception of Luck, except this time, the Jets only rushed three defenders, and DeMario Davis was the linebacker who hurried the throw. Davis hurried the third pick, as well, which was intercepted by safety Marcus Gilchrist.

Some of the improvement is—pardon the pun—luck. It's just a matter of some of the balls bouncing the Jets' way for a change.

Last year, the Jets defense was a unit with almost no strengths. The run defense was stout, but the pass rush lacked bite and the coverage unit was down to its last legs. This year, the Jets defense looks like it has no real weaknesses. Todd Bowles is just as adept at cooking up a pass rush as his predecessor, and the secondary has been reloaded with veterans and talented young players. 

There are some similarities in the schemes, to be sure, but the differences could not be more striking.

Of course, it wasn't all about the defense.

The Jets offense looked out of sync at times on Monday, and it's humbling to be held to "just" 101 rushing yards against a Colts defense that's been exposed dramatically in run defense (147 yards allowed vs. Buffalo Bills). But once again, Ryan Fitzpatrick was serviceable with 22 completions on 34 pass attempts, 244 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. 

With the defense playing at this level, serviceable is all the Jets need.

That statement is on one condition: The Jets don't shoot themselves in the foot. Thus far, they haven't. They incurred just four penalties in Week 1 and eight in Week 2. Penalties have been a coaching emphasis since the preseason, and it appears the hard work is paying off. The Jets ranked ninth out of 22 non-playoff teams in penalties last year, according to NFLPenalties.com.

The Bowles Jets are much more disciplined and much more talented than the Ryan Jets, especially over the past few years. Now, it's up to the coaches to keep that talent working smoothly for the next 14 games of the regular season.

Unless otherwise noted, stats gathered via Pro-Football-Reference.com.