Three sets of statistical trends, records, marks and highlights by the Jets following their season-ending 35-8 loss to the Bills at Highmark Stadium on Sunday. Today: Season Wrap Part I — Special Teams
The Returns Are In
There was an outside shot for Isaiah Williams and even his return partner Kene Nwangwu to win a showdown with Buffalo’s Ray Davis for the NFL’s kick-return crown. And it seemed perhaps Williams might be named the NFL’s No. 1 KOR by average with his fourth-quarter 49-yard return combined with Davis, the leader going into the game, being limited to one 22-yard runback.
Alas, the numbers were not to be. But even though Williams didn’t catch Davis’ 30.4 yards/return, he did finish second among the league’s qualifying returners at 29.9, along with a fifth-place finish with a 14.1-yard punt-return average. Nwangwu, as we’ve mentioned, would have won the title with his 33.6 average but didn’t have enough returns to qualify. However, the dynamic duo led a 29.9 team average that enabled the Jets to lead the NFL for only the second time since 1991.
Williams additionally has the fourth-best kickoff-return average and the third-best punt-return average in franchise history and the best PR average in 23 seasons, or since Santana Moss notched a 16.5 average in 2003. (Titans great Dick Christy holds the PR mark with 21.3 in 1961 and Joe McKnight set the KO record with his 31.6 in 2011.)
A-Mac: Hang ‘Em High
First-year man Austin McNamara assembled arguably one of the best punting seasons in franchise history. His gross average was a middle-of-the-pack 45.7 yards, but his suite of net numbers was stunning.
A-Mac’s 43.2-yard net average was sixth in the NFL and busted the franchise record of 41.8 set two seasons ago by Thomas Morstead, his 32 inside-the-20 punts were second in the league, and his hang time, which he prides himself on, was sky-high. Statspass.com unofficially pegged McNamara’s average hangtime at 4.76 seconds, second in the league to the 4.84 of the Chargers’ JK Scott.