Darnold dazzles in debut as Jets maul Lions
DETROIT — Sam Darnold rolled right and made a rookie move, lobbing a football across the field that was picked off and returned for a touchdown. It might’ve been his only mistake all night. Darnold made a stellar debut after throwing a pick-six on his first NFL snap, and the New York Jets intercepted five passes and also scored on special teams in a 48-17 rout over the Detroit Lions on Monday night.
The 21-year-old Darnold became the youngest quarterback to start a season opener since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, and looked his age on the first play.
“Licking my chops a little bit too much, I think, on that play,” he said. “I was pretty nervous. After that, I put it behind me.”
Quandre Diggs intercepted his ill-advised pass and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown 20 seconds into the game.
The former USC star, drafted No. 3 overall, shook off the nerves and finished 16-of-21 for 198 yards and two touchdowns .
“He didn’t flinch,” Jets coach Todd Bowles said. “He didn’t even blink.”
Darnold helped the Jets set a franchise record for points on the road, surpassing the 47 they scored in 1967 against the Boston Patriots.
Darnold also outplayed 30-year-old Matthew Stafford, who threw four interceptions — one shy of his career high — and left the game briefly in the third quarter after being hit from the front and back by the swarming, hard-hitting Jets.
“We wanted to make sure we came out and made a statement in this game,” New York linebacker Darron Lee said.
Stafford was 27-of-46 for 286 yards and a TD pass to Golden Tate early in the third quarter to tie it at 17-17. He was mercifully taken out midway through the fourth and replaced by Matt Cassel with Detroit down by 31 points.
“Story of the game’s turnovers,” Stafford said. “We had too many of them, I had too many of them.”
The Jets dominated in all phases. They scored 31 straight in the third quarter to pull away, sending Detroit’s fans for the exits. It was the highest-scoring third quarter in team history and trailed only the 34-point second quarter the Brett Favre-led team scored in 2008 against Arizona.
New York scored on the ground and through the air, on defence and on a punt return by former Lion Andre Roberts.
The Jets had played an NFL-record 73 games, dating to 2013, without a defensive TD before Lee returned one of his two interceptions 36 yards for a score in the third.