Disclaimer: All analysis was taken from the TV coverage, so at times it may have been hard to identify players or what was happening, because I was limited by their footage. However, I have tried to be as accurate as possible and apologize for any inaccuracies or omissions (which I am happy to correct).

After the jump, I try and answer some of your earlier questions. If you have any more, please leave them in the comments and I’ll respond tonight.

Why did Pouha get pancaked on the TD run – poor technique or just overpowered?

I’ve watched it several times and can’t figure out how that happened. Levitre just tackled him to the floor and fell on top of him. It may even have been a hold.

What was the deal with Kerry Rhodes?

I rewatched the play where he seemed to back away from tackling the runner and later claimed to be “setting him up” for Revis to attempt a strip from behind and, as dubious as it sounds, I guess it’s possible that this was what he was doing. He took an extremely conservative angle to the ball and effectively shut off any danger of Lynch going all the way, but then compounded the issue with a weak shoulder bump, although he did spin off and get back into position to help finish off the tackle. The end result? Lynch got down to the 15, whereas Rhodes could have taken a shot at him on about the 28. Maybe that was what Rhodes was doing, but next time, just hit him, Kerry! Of course, we know he wouldn’t deliberately back out of a tackle, because “other teams are watching”.

As for the rest of his game, as noted by Bassett earlier in the week, he was back in his usual role by the second quarter, mostly in downfield coverage. Hardly any throws were made in his area, which is a positive thing because it shows he had his guy/area covered (unless the Bills were deliberately keeping him away from the ball in the hope that he might do something reckless in a desperate attempt to make a play that wasn’t there.) The two throws that were made in his general direction were a pass over the middle that Owens dropped, with Rhodes delivering a decent hit and a pass to the sideline, which Owens caught for a 15 yard gain as Revis passed him off to Rhodes in the zone, perhaps a little too early. Kerry had no chance of getting to the sideline from where he was at that point, but he did shove Owens out for his only tackle.

He was hardly ever in the box and when he was there weren’t many opportunities for any of the safeties to make tackles with the front seven playing so well. His highlight was a play where he came on a run blitz, which forced the runner back inside where Bart Scott stuffed him for a loss. The lowlight? Some people have suggested that he “quit” on Lynch’s TD run. It’s impossible to tell, but I didn’t see it that way. He blitzed off right tackle and Lynch started up the middle and bounced it left to the endzone. Rhodes’ path was blocked by an offensive lineman, so it looked like he tried to find a way to stop the run up the middle, only to find that path blocked too and by then Lynch had gone. He didn’t appear to quit on the play as much as he just tried to change direction and lost momentum, taking him out of it.

Overall, a quiet day for Rhodes, but other than the failed bait-and-strip, he didn’t do anything to hurt his team and they didn’t appear to be any “plays to be made” that he left on the field this time. Eric Smith had a quiet day too, but did have a good hit on the quarterback on a 4th quarter blitz.

What about the offensive gameplan?

Without going into detail, the gameplan in the first half was solid and the conservative gameplan with the lead in the second half was how this team was expected to try to win games all season, so I can’t have too many complaints, especially with the disruption caused by Sanchez’ injury and how well the defense was playing. Most of the “special” plays they tried (2 end arounds, 2 full back dives) had positive success, but they failed a couple of times when trying to get Woodhead involved (although Sanchez found other receivers for first downs a few times with Woodhead covered). Also, running a bootleg with Clemens on 3rd down was worth a try, and kept the clock moving, but had a low probability of success and the short screen to Cotchery would have had to be perfectly executed to have any chance of working. He’s called worse games though, certainly.

What about Lito?

Yes, Lito was great, a different player that we have seen since September. The most impressive thing is that they hardly threw over to his side, so he must have been covering well. He did get beaten early for a long catch by Lee Evans, but recovered really well to make the tackle immediately. From then on, he was extremely solid, making a good open field tackle after a short catch and twice breaking on the ball to break up passes, one to the outside that could have been a pick six and another over the middle which almost deflected to Revis. He looks healthy, which is good, but if he continues to play this much and the Jets are still in contention, he will probably exceed the 40% snaps threshold that could cost the Jets a pick (by my rough calculations, two more “full” games should do it). Still, if he plays this well, it might be worth it.

Did Gholston play on defense at all?

I’m pretty certain he did not. [Insert your own snarky comment about whether he has played at all this season here]. Interestingly, though, several other young guys that we hoped would get a chance to play down the stretch did see increased playing time, including Cole, Slauson, Woodhead and Westerman. It will be interesting to see if Gholston gets a shot once his injury is better. Right now, he is not a threat to make the 45% snap count that will earn him about $4m if he manages it in one of his first four seasons. (Note: this has been included in his “guaranteed money”, even though it is far from guaranteed).

How about the linebackers?

I didn’t analyze them in depth this week, but Scott and Harris combined for 18 tackles and were both excellent. Again, Scott was lined up on the weakside on running downs, but the strongside on passing downs. They and the outside backers all contributed to the pass rush, as analyzed yesterday.