Downfield game was not there for Sam Darnold
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Darnold’s average pass completion traveled only 3.5 yards in the air, tied for fourth-worst among quarterbacks in Week 1.
Prior to his 39 air yards over eight completions on the Jets’ garbage time drive, Darnold averaged just 2.7 air yards per completion, which would have been the league’s worst mark of the week.
The Jets can help Darnold out with more separation from their outside wide receivers (Breshad Perriman and Chris Hogan) downfield, but this stat was largely Darnold’s own doing as he missed far too many open throws beyond the first down marker.