New York Jets: How Josh McCown will change the offense on Sunday

On the night before the game between the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills, we take a look at how Josh McCown makes the offense look a little different.

The New York Jets have a game coming up with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. As we all know by now, that is far from the biggest storyline. That would be the situation under center.

Josh McCown is temporarily turning in his earpiece for a helmet as he will be starting for the injured Sam Darnold. According to the team, Darnold may dress as the number two. We are going to leave my opinions on the situation if he dresses as the backup to a later date.

He hasn’t taken a regular season snap this season, but we know McCown has experience with the team, starting until he was hurt in 2017. He hasn’t played under the offense of Jeremy Bates but he certainly has worked with him and knows what the coach likes, thinks, …etc.

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Whatever we think about how the situation was handled, this is where we are.

With that, things will look different for the Jets offense. I don’t mean the amount of points they will score either, although it’s funny if you are thinking it.

The offense will be used a bit different. Josh McCown obviously is a very different quarterback than Sam Darnold.

Let’s look at the differences a bit.

The most obvious difference is the accuracy. Darnold is a rookie that has thrown 14 interceptions over his first nine games.

That is by no means a judgement, it is simply a statement of fact. It is what it is.

Josh McCown, in contrast, completed 67% of his passes and only threw nine interceptions in 13 games.

McCown is a veteran so as we all know, he has a better grasp on taking care of the football. One would hope so with all of his years of experience.

Next. Expert interview to preview the Bills. dark

The other major difference has to do with how aggressive the Jets offense may or may not be. Let’s look at the numbers.

Believe it or not, Josh McCown had a higher average yards per attempt last season than Darnold does so far. McCown was at 7.37 while Darnold has posted a 6.69.

But if we look at the numbers via Pro Football Focus, they tell the story of a much less aggressive offense under McCown.

During his 13 starts, McCown only attempted 45 passes of 20 yards or more. In nine starts, Darnold has already attempted 40. Bates clearly allows Darnold to take more chances than John Morton allowed McCown to take.

The game will look a lot different on Sunday afternoon. Let’s see if it makes a difference on the scoreboard.

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