NY Jets’ first-win game ball can only go to one place

New York’s offensive line was sublime. Three starters allowed zero pressures across 40 pass-blocking snaps: left tackle Olu Fashanu, right guard Joe Tippmann, and right tackle Armand Membou. In addition to the trio of shutouts, left guard John Simpson and center Josh Myers yielded just one pressure apiece.

What makes the production especially impressive is that the Jets did not exactly scheme up ways to minimize pressure, such as loading up on screens and quick passes. Fields averaged 2.92 seconds to throw, which is well above the league average. The Jets’ offensive line was flat-out dominant, giving Fields all day to stand in the pocket and scan the field.

In the run game, New York’s offensive front was just as impactful. Of the Jets’ 254 rushing yards, 112 were gained before contact, per Pro Football Focus. Across 36 non-kneeldown attempts, that’s an average of 3.1 yards before contact per carry, more than double the NFL average.

Essentially, the Jets’ run blocking was so good that the Jets would have averaged more than three yards per carry if they were playing two-hand touch. Couple that with the fantastic rushing performances from Breece Hall and Isaiah Davis, who combined to average 5.4 yards after contact per carry, and you get the Jets’ 254-yard explosion.

You don’t get that many rushing yards without the offensive line moving the line of scrimmage and the runners adding extra yards on top of what’s blocked for them.

What does it mean moving forward?

It should be noted that New York’s dominance came against an incredibly weak Bengals defensive line.

Cincinnati has racked up just 29 quarterback hits this season; they hit the quarterback on 10.3% of opposing pass plays, the second-lowest rate in the NFL. Eight of those hits came from Trey Hendrickson, who played hurt in this game before exiting early. After Hendrickson, the Bengals’ team leader in quarterback hits is Joseph Ossai, who is tied for 93rd in the league with four.

On top of their silent pass rush, the Bengals’ run defense is a joke. They are allowing a league-worst 151.9 rushing yards per game.

The ineptitude of Cincinnati’s defensive line slightly dampens New York’s performance. However, this was still the Bengals’ worst defensive performance of the season in terms of total EPA (-22.7), so the Jets made them look even more atrocious than their typical standards. The Jets’ 254 rushing yards were 60 more than any other team has gained against Cincinnati this season.

While it’s a stretch to say that the Jets expected their offensive line to look quite this good on a consistent basis, Sunday served as a reminder of the lofty potential that New York’s offensive line was believed to have before the season. This group was projected to have a top-five ceiling.

The first eight weeks of 2025 have been a rocky ride for the unit—partially due to their own faults and partially due to the quarterbacks making their jobs harder—but in Week 8, the Jets got a reminder of how much talent they have in the offensive trenches.

Rookie right tackle Armand Membou continues to be a revelation. Joe Tippmann is settling in nicely at right guard after being thrust into the role due to Alijah Vera-Tucker’s late injury. Josh Myers has been better than expected as a placeholder at center.

John Simpson has been erratic at left guard, but he consistently brings a tenacious edge to the unit.

The biggest X-factor is second-year left tackle Olu Fashanu. Facing high expectations going into Year 2 after a promising rookie year, Fashanu has not taken the second-year leap that many hoped for. He allowed a plethora of pressures over his first seven games (particularly through the first five).

However, it is important to realize that Fashanu has still made only 13 starts at left tackle after not moving to the position until late in his rookie year (and missing time due to injury). He was also a relatively young draft pick; he’s 22 years old midway through his second year.

Fashanu’s shutout performance in Cincinnati is a reminder of how good he can be as a blindside protector. Moving forward, Fashanu must figure out how to stockpile these performances, especially against higher-quality competition.

We are starting to see some progress. Through Week 5, Fashanu had yielded 18 pressures on 206 pass-blocking snaps (8.7% pressure rate). Over his last three games, he improved to four pressures on 115 pass-blocking snaps (3.5% pressure rate). Fashanu has allowed two or fewer pressures in three straight games after coughing up at least three pressures in four of his first five games.

The Jets’ offensive line will probably not have another game as outstanding as they did in Week 8, but their road-grading masterclass in Cincinnati provided a reminder that New York has one of the highest-ceiling offensive fronts in football. We have seen flashes of it through the bye week, most notably in Weeks 1 and 8, but those high highs were bridged together by a string of inconsistency, ultimately penciling them in as a middle-of-the-pack offensive line through eight weeks.

But when everything is clicking, few offensive lines are capable of dominating to the same degree as New York’s. Say what you want about the Bengals’ defense, but Cincinnati has faced offenses like Detroit, Green Bay, and Denver this year, yet none of them steamrolled the line of scrimmage quite like the Jets did.

The 2025 Jets were built to win behind their offensive line. In Cincinnati, the unit showed why it is one of the few around the NFL that was entrusted to be the anchor of their team going into the season.

While the unit has been far from a liability, it hasn’t performed to its peak potential frequently enough for the Jets to consistently win games with their holes at quarterback, wide receiver, and on defense. When the unit does perform to its peak potential, though, the Jets can be a winning team despite all of those holes, as Sunday showed.

Over the next nine weeks, the Jets want to see their offensive line dominate games on a more consistent basis. If they can pull it off, not only will the Jets win more games in 2025, but they will head into 2026 with an excellent situation for a young quarterback to walk into.