BGA: Giants v Jets
This analysis is based on watching and re-watching TV footage. As such, it is not always possible to accurately determine everything that was going on. However, every effort has been made to ensure that the information below is as complete and correct as possible.
Coming up after the jump, an analysis of yesterday’s loss to the Giants, including details of Darrelle Revis’ “decent” but wasted performance, the evolution of Sione Pouha and Dustin Keller’s eventful day. Remember, if you want me to look into anything in particular or go into more detail, leave a comment and I’ll include it in BGA Extra, which will follow in a few days.
Oh, and Merry Christmas!
Guh…well, that sucked. So many things went wrong that I don’t know where to start. Let’s just get right to the Playoff Hopes Autopsy Report:
Quarterback
If there’s one excuse I can’t use for how difficult it is to assess Mark Sanchez’s performance on Sunday, it’s that I don’t have a big enough sample size. Sanchez dropped back a staggering 71 times on Sunday, as the Jets ran a remarkable 97 plays, including penalties. Had Sanchez not been intercepted in the last minute, it probably would have gone over 100.
To put that into perspective, the Jets last ran that many plays against the Browns last year. Of course, that game went into the last minute of overtime, so it was 25% longer than usual. The Giants only ran 56 plays.
It’s not surprising therefore that Sanchez had to deal with almost two games-worth of pressure. Having said that, there were almost 50 plays where he dropped back with no pressure, so you’d expect him to have generated much more than 258 passing yards overall and a completion percentage barely over 50%, so I don’t think the fact he was under pressure a lot was an adequate excuse. He was five of 15 for 32 yards with a pick when pressured.
PFF only counted two dropped passes for the Jets, but it depends how strict you want to be. Shonn Greene, Dustin Keller and Santonio Holmes arguably could have had two each. Even if they weren’t straight drops, these were all passes where they could have helped out their QB – and this week there weren’t many examples of great catches that did bail him out. That’s a slightly better excuse.
Another excuse might be that although the protection held up plenty of times, the pressure had a bigger effect in that it meant he was rattled and perhaps dedicating more attention to where he was in the pocket and who was coming, than to actually reading the defense. Also, the fact that pressure was generated without blitzing – although they did blitz 18 times – meant that they could often drop a lot of guys into coverage to make his life harder. It’s also harder to complete passes when the defense knows you are passing.
That’s a point which is affected by the Jets’ near-abandonment of the running game in the second half. They had only passed 18 times until they fell behind for the first time late in the first half – a reasonable number (and they had started off being modestly successful). As the Giants stretched their 10-7 halftime lead into a 20-7 lead, it was understandable that the Jets might look to pass to get back into the game quickly, but once they pulled within 20-14 and had the ball with five minutes to go, surely they should have returned to a more balanced approach that had seen them have some success early on in the game.
It makes you wonder if the coaching staff lacks faith in the running game, or actually in Sanchez himself – insofar as they didn’t want him to lose any rhythm by taking the ball out of his hands, or they feel more confident that he can move the ball downfield if given three or four shots at a first down than they would if he only got one chance on third and four or something. In other words, they believe he can go 5 of 12 for 70 yards on a scoring drive, but don’t want to put him in a one-off do or die situation. In any case, on that drive, they perhaps would have run the ball if they gained positive yardage from the first down screen pass, which saw LaDainian Tomlinson get held up in traffic at the line, so Sanchez couldn’t get the ball to him with three blockers out in front. We shall never know.
So, what of Sanchez’s performance, then? He led one nice scoring drive, although they needed a 4th down penalty to preserve that one and then he led a scrappier drive down to the goal line, which he belated finished off following an exchange of turnovers.
Of the 29 passes that Sanchez failed to complete, five were batted at the line, five were deflected and two were intercepted. That’s 12 passes – more than 20% – where a Giants player got a hand on one of his passes first. Theoretically, any of these could have resulted in turnovers. That’s not good enough.
So, while Sanchez had a few nice throws and some gutsy scrambles, including one for a touchdown – where he had just about the easiest touchdown pass of all time to Matt Mulligan, but, perhaps wisely, decided to put his body (literally) on the line – he had a lot more in the way of bad throws. And that’s before we even get to his decision making in terms of getting rid of the ball.
I could get into how much of the pressure he was under he brought on himself, but he’s been punished enough. Again, literally.
Sanchez did get better this year, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Time has caused the memory of his late game and playoff heroics to remain fresher in the mind than all the bad throws and decisions he made last year. However, is his progress towards what the front office signed him to a $50m contract to be too slow? I’m beginning to think perhaps it is – we know how impatient these guys can be, so maybe we should be expecting the unexpected following the season.
Offensive Line
The offensive line did not play well as a unit or individually. However, Wayne Hunter was the only one to receive a significant negative grade. Despite this, I thought his performance actually exceeded my expectations for him from a technique evaluation standpoint.
The Jets gave him some help, occasionally leaving a back in just in case and chipping his man with a tight end every once in a while, but most of the time he was left to his own devices against Justin Tuck. Although he gave up six pressures, Hunter didn’t allow a sack and only allowed Sanchez to get hit once. Even on the plays where he did surrender a pressure, I have to give him credit for sticking to his assignment and he was usually able to recover well enough to keep Tuck from getting to Sanchez cleanly and allowing him to get the throw away, usually by forcing him upfield or driving him out of the play as Sanchez stepped up to avoid him. He was only what I would call “cleanly beaten” twice, although one of those did lead to Sanchez’s first interception.
Hunter also graded positively in the running game, although his overall grade was hurt by his holding penalty, which seemed unnecessary, because he had Tuck well-blocked, but then tugged his jersey as he was going to ground.
Next week, Hunter will get to face Cameron Wake again. I have literally no idea how this will go. Wake tore Hunter a new one last year, but then Hunter kept him quiet early this season. If he sticks to most of the things he did in this game, then hopefully he’ll be able to limit the damage.
While I do think Hunter’s gone at the end of the season, but I don’t necessarily think his NFL career will be over. Sadly enough, there will always be starting jobs available for players of Hunter’s caliber.
Despite Hunter’s performance, I was far more concerned over the performances of Matt Slauson and D’Brickashaw Ferguson.
Ferguson had a rough day in the running game and, although he received a positive pass blocking grade from PFF, they did credit him with a sack and two hits allowed. It could have been more though. Sanchez’s incompletion that was originally called a fumble would have gone against him had it remained a sack. Also, there were two other sacks by Jean Pierre-Paul on his watch. One went down as a coverage sack and the other was credited to Slauson, but it was Ferguson who initially was beaten and Slauson just tried to make a last ditch save.
Slauson actually had his BEST game of the year as a run blocker, by some margin….and his WORST game in pass protection – again by some margin. PFF had him down for two sacks, one hit and three pressures, including the one above that could easily have gone to Ferguson and the one that ended up being a safety. There were a couple of other plays that also saw him get beaten, but where no pressure was recorded and he was bull rushed into Sanchez at least once too. Very discouraging. And unlike Hunter, Slauson WAS getting beaten cleanly.
Brandon Moore did give up two pressures, but had a positive performance in pass, run and screen blocking. His grade was ruined by his three penalties, although one of these was incorrectly attributed to him when it should have gone to Ferguson.
Nick Mangold had a solid performance, albeit not up to his usual dominant level. He only gave up one pressure, but did have a costly bad snap.
Vladimir Ducasse was mistake free this week, but only saw action on four snaps. In the two games before that it was 21 and then eight.
Running Backs
Shonn Greene carried just 14 times for 58 yards and now has 999 on the season. He made some nice cuts and had a couple of first downs with good second effort, but his hands let him down in the passing game.
LaDainian Tomlinson saw action on 62 snaps and Greene on 36 snaps. Clearly this is because of the pass-heavy gameplan, but is there more to this? Is Greene still hurting? Was it a benching? Tomlinson did catch six passes and gained 65 yards on 11 touches overall.
Joe McKnight saw action on three snaps, but his contribution has been pretty limited since that “break-out game” in Denver. I know he’s been hurt, but even before that he seemed to be making some contribution every week and that hasn’t happened for a while.
John Conner got a pretty good grade from PFF, but I was a bit frustrated with some of his blocks this week. He did make more good ones than bad ones – hence the positive grade – but I felt he missed some that he should have done a better job on. Perhaps the fact that my standards for him are increasing is a good sign.
Congratuations to Josh Baker for his first NFL touchdown. We’ll include him here because he was a FB/H-Back on his only snap this week. I think this kid is a keeper.
None of the backs recorded a broken tackle this week.
Receivers
With Sanchez dropping back over 70 times, some of the receivers must have had monster performances, right? Hardly.
Dustin Keller was really busy though. Eight catches for 77 yards sounds pretty good, but he was targeted 16 times overall! This is one week where you can’t complain that they didn’t try to make him part of the gameplan.
Of those eight misses, there were three that he arguably should have caught, one that he appeared to lose sight of in the sunlight and the one that famously hit him in the face.
When I saw that one hit him as he didn’t even look back for the ball, I thought back to a recent game where someone made the observation that Santonio Holmes caught a touchdown pass where he deliberately didn’t make it look like the ball was on its way until the last moment and this meant that the defender didn’t have as long to react. I wondered if this was a similar situation to that, with Keller making it look like he was not involved in the play and then perhaps bursting into life, leaving behind the lulled-into-a-false-sense-of-security defender. Perhaps Sanchez just delivered it too early?
Having looked back at the play, I don’t think this is the answer, because Keller just grumpily pointed over at Holmes, as if to say “You were supposed to throw it to him.” Looking at the film, Sanchez looked left, didn’t like what he saw, so looked underneath to his second option instead…just like we’ve been wanting to see him do for weeks. It’s bad, bad news if the Jets have become so used to Sanchez never bothering to find his secondary reads that they’ve given up all expectation of ever getting the ball in those situations. Keller was actually only half-open and would have been sandwiched by two guys for a short gain, so maybe it wasn’t that damaging in the overall scheme of things, but there’s an overriding concern in situations like this one.
Was Keller just being lazy, has he tuned out his coaches or given up on the team? It doesn’t look like it, because despite these lapses in focus, he did make some big catches, looked fired up whenever he did and even made some good blocks, although he still had a negative grade. Also with a negative grade for blocking was Mulligan, who has actually been avoiding the big mistakes over the last three weeks, yet has had his three lowest rated games since week six. Go figure.
Plaxico Burress had three catches in the first half and none in the second half. It’s weird how his catches seem to come in bunches. Obviously he did catch one ball in the second half, but his touchdown catch was correctly negated by the officials – although judging by some of the catches Revis and Antonio Cromartie have given up this year, not every officiating crew would have flagged that.
Santonio Holmes had just four catches for 50 yards and the frustration over his lack of production continues. He also had two other catches that he should have held onto. Eight touchdowns each from Holmes and Plaxico Burress is a nice return, but Sanchez himself has six and is closing fast.
Jeremy Kerley looked comfortable and dangerous returning punts. If only he’d stayed healthy all year – although they actually won most of the games where a punt was muffed anyway. He had a couple of first downs, including a clutch 4th down catch, but he got very lucky when his fumble was reversed by replay. They got it right, but it was touch and go, so they could easily have stuck with the call on the field there.
Patrick Turner was in for 14 snaps and was targeted in the endzone on a play that was negated by a penalty.
Defensive Line
Earlier in the year, I suggested that the Jets should leave Sione Pouha in the game in pass rushing situations in order to prevent the Jets from being so susceptible to the run. I reasoned that pass rushing nose tackles are generally double teamed and therefore aren’t expected to get many pressures, so any deficiency in his pass rushing ability compared to the likes of Marcus Dixon is more than made up for by the fact that the other team is dissuaded from running. (I also reasoned that Bart Scott should stay in more often too, because any perceived weakness in his coverage skills would not be a dramatic drop-off compared to a backup defensive back, over whom he would possess much better attributes against the run).
Finally the Jets have started to do this and it is paying dividends. Not only is Pouha in the game and no doubt making teams think twice about running the ball, but he’s also contributing better than his history as a pass rusher would have ever led us to expect. In the last three games, Pouha has had a sack and six pressures, after having had just five pressures and no sacks in the first 12 games. On one play on Sunday, he beat his man, but then there was a back there to pick him up. No bother. He beat the back too, and flushed Manning from the pocket. Pouha is also contributing by getting a surge to collapse the pocket when used in this role.
Of course the concern over this is that Pouha will break down like he did at the end of last year, if they’ve increased his workload. However, they haven’t had to increase his workload that much, due to the fact that Dixon has been freed up to become part of the regular rotation and is flourishing. I was concerned that Pouha would be less dominant against the run and it is true that he was driven off the line by a couple of double teams on Sunday. However, he more than made up for that with a solid performance against the run, in which he was otherwise tough to move and registered three stops to complete an excellent all-round performance. For all the criticisms of this Jets team, the defensive line has been great, especially considering the lack of resources spent on it. However, Pouha is the main reason for that and his impending free agency is starting to loom as the biggest priority to address once the year is over.
Dixon didn’t have an enormous impact this week, but did get one hit on Manning, batted down a pass and got some good penetration in the running game. Mike DeVito started in his place and doesn’t look to be fully recovered from his knee injury yet, as he was handled easily by his blocker on two of the three Giants TD runs. (Although part of me wonders if the Jets let the Giants score on purpose down 20-14 with over two minutes left). DeVito did stuff three runs for short gains though, including two in the early stages, as the Jets held the Giants to six yards rushing in the first half.
Muhammed Wilkerson continues to be up and down, but did recorded another sack and was in on two tackles for losses. He let himself down with two missed tackles, though.
Martin Tevaseu was back in action for eight snaps and got good penetration on one play, but overall was a clear downgrade from Pouha.
Also, I was promised Potty wielding a club for Christmas, so I was upset to see that not come to fruition.
Linebackers
It was a good game by David Harris this week. He continued his recent spate of impact plays with a sack and a spectacular interception, but this week he also did a good job of keeping blockers off him and made some good plays against the run – although he did only make one stop and had one missed tackle.
Alongside him, Bart Scott had an eventful game and constantly seemed to be around the football. Oddly, he only blitzed three times, the fewest since the Pats game in week five where he was only in on seven pass plays. He was in on several stops for short yardage, but his best play saw him burst into the backfield to blow a play up, which Calvin Pace finished off with the tackle for a loss. He was also involved in a key play at the goal line where he was covering Travis Beckum and jammed him hard before the pass was thrown, knocking him off balance and causing him to drop the ball at the one yard line. He did have one missed tackle. It was interesting to see him contributing on special teams, where he had a good tackle on punt coverage.
Pace came off the edge to make two tackles for a loss, including the one mentioned above, to highlight a solid performance. He did get caught on the inside for a couple of big runs off the edge, though. He also just one pressure as a pass rusher.
Jamaal Westerman did a similarly solid job coming off the edge to blow up four runs. He had one QB hit, but was called for roughing the passer. His only other mistake saw him blocked out on Bradshaw’s last touchdown, which may or may not have been by design. It’s encouraging to see him playing the run better. It seems the competition with Garrett McIntyre has had a positive effect.
Aaron Maybin again did a good job of pressuring Manning, getting to him twice and nearly getting there one other time in just 15 pass rush attempts. However, his enthusiasm got the better of him late in the game and he was called for a costly late hit.
Josh Mauga was in on nine plays, unsuccessfully rushing the passer on five of them.
Defensive Backs
So Darrelle Revis is a “decent” cornerback is he? While the Giants may have laid temporary claim to the King of New York crown, there’s no question who the best player is after Sunday. Sorry, Jason Pierre-Paul. Revis broke up six passes and there wasn’t a hint of a penalty on any of them, just great technique again and again. One even ended up being intercepted. He did give up two catches, but one of these was for 11 yards on 3rd and 16, so he just gave the receiver a cushion and tackled him immediately to force a punt. The other catch was a 20-yarder, thrown high and to the inside down the seam with Hakeem Nicks high-pointing the ball for a leaping grab. Credit where credit’s due on that one, that’s impossible to cover, even for Revis. Even though they lost, this performance really was something special by Revis.
As always, Antonio Cromartie was a mixed bag. He looked comfortable and confident in coverage early and ultimately gave up just four yards on five targets with a pass defensed. Unfortunately, he gave up a lot more than that with two horrendous missed tackles, one of which led to the momentum-changing 99-yarder by Victor Cruz. Cromartie also did some damage with some poor kickoff return decisions, although he wasn’t helped by his blockers on the second one.
Kyle Wilson had a nice pass breakup on Cruz early on, but it all went downhill from there. Two bad missed tackles, including one on Cruz’s 99-yarder were just the start of his problems. Cruz burned him deep for another 36 yards later on and then beat him again but Manning’s throw to the endzone sailed on him.
Brodney Pool got off to a good start, breaking up a pass and getting an early pressure off the edge. However, he then gave up a catch to Cruz in the red zone and then missed the tackle, leading to a 29-yard gain. Later on, Ahmad Bradshaw ran over him in the secondary for another touchdown and he had to get tested for concussion.
It was a non-eventful day for Eric Smith, other than having the unfortunate task of trying to chase down Cruz on his touchdown. I don’t think he took a bad angle, just that he was never going to catch him. I haven’t seen the coaches film yet to see whether he was slow to react to the initial missed tackle, but from the point where you could see them both on screen, it never looked like Smith had a shot at catching him or even slowing him down.
Donald Strickland and Isaiah Trufant both saw time at slot corner, but neither was thrown at.
I thought it was interesting that Tracy Wilson went to free safety for three plays while Pool was getting assessed for a concussion, although it’s worth remembering that Marquice Cole is injured. Wilson added a good special teams tackle.
Special Teams
Once again, both kickers are underwhelming. TJ Conley had one awful shank and a few others didn’t seem to be well-hit. Nick Folk missed a field goal that could have been big. What if the Jets were down three with the ball and five minutes to go instead of six?
Ellis Lankster, who had two fumble recoveries last week, had an interesting day and continues to do a great job of getting down the field. He had two chances to down punts inside the five and did it perfectly on one, but botched the other. He also had a penalty.
Speaking of penalties, Nick Bellore had two on special teams and is now 2nd in the league for special teams penalties. However, he also had three tackles and is 2nd in the league for that too.
It’s a minor nit, but I didn’t like the “onside punt” after the Giants got a safety to go 22-14 up with just over two minutes left. I’d have kicked away there, tried to force a three and out and then got the ball back with about a minute or so left. It just felt like a failed onside kick there ends the game (because they can kick a chip shot field goal after running the clock down) and even a successful one leaves you needing 75 yards. Anyone agree/disagree?
Conclusions
Like I said above. That sucked.
The Jets are actually mathematically alive, needing three teams to lose their games (none of which are easy) and could still scrape into the playoffs with a win over Miami. Some people are saying “who cares?” because they don’t think the Jets can beat Miami, but I still maintain that they CAN beat anyone. If you don’t think there’s any way they could have won last night’s game, you wouldn’t be – justifiably in most cases – complaining about all the things they did wrong. They just DON’T beat everyone they should…and after spending the best part of 300 hours watching, analyzing and writing about this team’s games over the last five months, I’m still not sure I’m any closer to determining what are the main reasons why that is.
So, they CAN beat Miami but, if the last month is anything to go by, they WON’T and then the doom-mongers’ propechy will be fulfilled and everything negative that anyone ever said about the team will be proven true. Except that this is nonsense, because even though the overall outcome was a negative one, that doesn’t mean that every criticism levied at this team was fair*. Some were, some weren’t – and evaluating which is which is what we at BGA continue to strive to determine, in order to try and figure out what the front office SHOULD do this offseason…and then trying to figure out the reasons behind them doing what they ACTUALLY do.
* If a hypochondriac dies, does that mean he was right about EVERY illness he ever thought he had?
And if, by some festive miracle, the Jets should find themselves in the playoffs, I’ll be excited for the postseason. The Jets have backdoored their way into the playoffs in the past and anything can happen once you get there. Of course, they’ll have to fix a lot of things to make “anything” happen, but we’ll worry about that if it happens.
If not, it’s going to be a heck of an offseason…
Remember, if there’s anything else you’d like me to comment upon or go into more detail about, let me have your suggestions in the comments and I’ll respond in BGA Extra later in the week.
108 Responses to BGA: Giants v Jets
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tbemont says:
Absolutely agree with you. I see WR as the BIGGEST weakness on the team. They never get open. (Maybe second biggest weakness following Hunter.)
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Tom in Raleigh says:
Bigger than Safety and OLB?
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Andy says:
Think before you speak.
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Not just Holmes – Buress too runs route as called and then calls it quits, even when Sanchez is running for his life looking for a receiver.
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I do wonder how much of it is the plays that Schitty is designing/calling, or the players’ inability to “buy in” to his system. Holmes has always been known as a great route-runner, and with Burress’ size, he should be “open high” even when he’s covered. And Keller is a very athletic TE. Given all that, you have to wonder, how can they not be open? Teams like NO, GB, NE seem to have someone open on every play. Of course, that also depends on the QB seeing it….
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DanLebo says:
Don’t get me wrong. I would love to get into the tournament and even would feel good about a 1st round matchup @ HOU. But… My (our) ultimate goal is a SB win and that just won’t happen with Schotty as OC. Do we have personnel, issues to deal with? Yep. But so does every team. IMO, too many issues this year to win a 2nd round playoff game. So get rid of the OC and upgrade some areas and have coaches who can properly coach what they have!
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The fact that every pass play seems to be designed to go 4 – 8 yards has something to do with it. When you average 4.4 yards per attempt, there’s not much trajectory on any of those balls. How can they drop back 74 times and seemingly not throw any passes down the field? Talk about predictable !
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Johnnyjetson says:
Bent could you tell me the total number of passes by sanchez that have been batted down this season by the dlineman and how it compares to other qbs in the league that are of similar height to sanchez?
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Bemt pouha is a fa at the end of the year, what kind of money and years do you think he would get on the open market?
Has any of our wrs gone over 100 yards receiving in any one game this season?
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Sorry bent
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Revis Christ says:
Too soon, bro. Too soon.
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Longshot says:
Bent, in BGA Extra, you should address the following. All the players, coaches, staff, play calling, strategy, trash talking and everything else rolls up to one person, Rex Ryan, who is ultimately RESPONSIBLE and ACCOUNTABLE for the season’s performance.
Ryan, in my opinion, has good coaching capability but has never fulfilled his potential and probably never will. Keep in mind, it all rolls up to him and right now there are 2 major problems with Rex.
1) The blend of Rex the coach and Rex the personality is toxic. Ryan needs to decide if he wants to become a complete NFL coach OR live a life of being a media darling, making headlines, being a Bill Belichik wannabe, seeking glory, worrying about his place in the NFL history books and the Hollywood lights. Some players and coaches can do both but not Rex. When Belichik wins a game, he tears the team apart looking for weaknesses. Rex looks for the makeup, lights and cameras.
2) The 2nd is even worse. In my opinion, the game of NFL football could POSSIBLY pass Rex bye. The game is evolving and Rex has contributed to some of that evolution, but in other respects he is standing still. The passing game is still growing; TEs are evolving from pretty acrobats to bulldozers like Gronkowski; NFL tackling is on the decline; players are rotinely hired and fired; the wildcat has come and gone; there are new D and O formations; rapid fire on field substitutions; and a dozen other trends some of which I am probably not aware of. Yes, Rex knows them all BUT is really doing anything substantive about them. Here is a coach who during the preseason said this was the best Jet team yet and they were SB bound, WITHOUT EVEN A CLUE that he was sitting on top of a .500 club. NOT A CLUE!
One more time. Rex has good coaching capabilities, but those capabilities will wither away if Rex doesn’t make the effort to make himself a better, tough minded coach and grow along with the game. Ryan needs to do some serious reflecting. He has all the potential for being great and all the potential of becoming a dinosaur.
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They have a GM and front office that hired Rex to run the show.
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True — but you are implying that there is no in-season oversight of the HC, and that is not true.
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My MAIN implication is whether Rex will step up and make it as a true, complete, tough minded, ahead-of-the-curve NFL coach. He may go on and win this year’s SB, but I have real doubts. No matter what happens this year, if Rex is unwilling to make brutal improvements within the team and within himself, I’ll stick with all my original comments.
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Buyaha says:
Yeah, they did. And then they handicapped him by not allowing to pick his man for offense. Now who would be blamed? To held head coach responsible for a complete team, he needs a complete control of the team.
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No team has all perfect players. Each has weaknesses including 12 & 13 game winners. Can an average performing CEO go around crying to the Board of Directors and the stockholders because he has an executive on his team isn’t the best or should the CEO realize it and make adjustments?
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Yeah, he had no clue, cuz you can read his mind. Your statement is absurd, should he come out and say: “Well, we put together .500 team, now let’s see what we can do with it.”?
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No, what he should really do is keep prognosticating about winning the SB during preseason. If there ever was a wrong end of the telescope, that has to be it.
However, you of course miss the main point. It’s about the evolution of Rex.
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If Rex knew he had a .500 team as you suggest why didn’t he make necessary adjustments during the year? Instead he stood on the sidelines watching the likes of guys such as Smith all year long. There were NFL coaches this year who practically hired homeless players in order to get things done or at least shaken up. W#aiting til the off season to make changes is an ancient concept.
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I understand that a coach and a teams’ players will not express their thoughts and feelings to the public. However Ryan and much of the Jets organization is in denial.
We have watched every play of every game and certain things are very clear. Primarily the Jets are undisciplined, erratic, and too dependent on in-game direction for the sideline coaches – direction which has seemed garbled.
Sancez was getting mobbed before Mangold went down. The secondary was not up to the task before Leonard went down. The heralded wide receivers were only up to their reputation in the red zone.
Ryan and the other coaches MUST look at the situation with clear eyes. This is NOT a superbowl team. As Parcels said: You are your record. This is a mediocre team and will remain so until coaching and management sets a superbowl standard of performance and demands that of each team member. No excuses.
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thanks bent,will I ever see a SB with Sanchez and a good defense.merry christmas.Im glad I don’t live in NY Giants fans must be talking allot of junk.and they also looked terrible themselves Shottie play calling got them the win.30 completions for 258 is almost ridiculous .I guess Sanchez is not a full QB.But Alex Smith is worse and they are 12-3 the 49ers I give up whatever…
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DONT YOU STOP BEING POSITIVE, POSITIVEJET2011!!!
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Bent — Thanks, as usual exce;;ent job. Looked like Sanchez missed a wide-open McKnight up the sideline for what looked like a gimme TD. It needed the type of throw that Aaron Rogers can make in his sleep.
Minor point of information…did it look like the Jets allowed the last score to prevent the Giants from running down/out the clock? It looked that way to me.
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Jets-Fan-4-Life says:
I read Jacobs had some kind of confrontation with Rex after the game. From what I read I find Jacobs to be a jackass.
I can see from the blogs, NFL comments, Yahoo comments, that the rest of the world like Jacobs need to learn some respect. As a fan of sports its one thing to knock the Jets, or even Ryan for his attitude, his mouth, his character, or the way he sells his team to the media. Its wrong to attack his family, his handicap, his appearance (weight), or to even threaten to physically harm someone who is not even in the same physical condition as Jacobs is.
There is no reason any professional player or common person to get this personal or violent. It just shows what kind of low class people we have all become. I’m sure if Ryan were to have called Jacobs an ugly camel faced Negr0 or Ni***r then the media and the world would have been calling for Rex to be fired. I’m sure Jacobs wont even get a stern talking too and that’s a shame.
I would hope given that this is a “FAMILY” sport that breeds idols and hero’s for children to look up too; that Roger Goodell would protect the integrity of the NFL from this type of hatred and suspend Jacobs for a game as well as hit him with a huge fine.
For those who back this kind of garbage (which is “NOT” just part of an emotional game) there is something wrong with you as children have access to this material through technology.
Bent is there some way that we can notify the NFL of our disapproval?
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I think that there is a reasonable chance that Jacobs will be fined.
He seems like a total jerk to me…just last week he was praising Rex as a way of implicitly knocking Coughlin(IMO).
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I am no fan of Jacobs or what happened after game but I put the blame at Rex’s feet. He is far too vocal and has brought this upon himself. Tom Coughlin distinguished himself in not talking. Rex has at this point made himself the class clown jack ass with no outside help.
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Shee says:
Regarding your comment:
“after spending the best part of 300 hours watching, analyzing and writing about this team’s games over the last five months, I’m still not sure I’m any closer to determining what are the main reasons why that is.”
To me it seems pretty clear. No team is perfect. If you would do a BGA on any NFL team you would find many negatives. But great quarterback play hides or makes up for many deficiencies. This kid just cannot play the position. We’ve waited 3 years and he’s still not making the right reads and still overthrowing receivers by 10 yards. He is not capable of playing this position. We can’t ruin another year. Yes, I know the team went to 2 AFC Title games with him and he played pretty well. But, let’s be honest. They won a lot of games the past 3 years in spite of Sanchez. Rex is great and the Jet D has been good for the most part every year. We need a QB.
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On sports center yesterday a good point was made. He was off on his touch on every pass. Constantly putting too much or too little on the ball. The batted down passes are on him. In his 3rd year if he hasnt learned to throw the ball over the rushing d lineman, imho he never will.
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If you had a QB that in his third season threw say 11 TD’s to 15 INT’s, with a completion pct dropping from year 2 to year 3, a career rating of about 72 and only 67.5 in his 3rd season. He gets benched after multiple awful performances. Would you say this sounds like a guy that can’t play QB?
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MEL31602 says:
On the Keller play when the ball hit him in head it sounds to me like he didn’t expect to get ball bc he wasn’t open and pointed to Holmes as if to say Sanchez should have thrown to Santonio
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Reprocity says:
If you’re running a route and not looking for the ball, that’s bad, but if you’re running a route and don’t even want the ball, that’s worse. I bet Sanchez was glad he hit him in the head. Keller has the heart of John Abraham.
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The TE job is to be looking for the ball. He is always a potential receiver. This was a HORRID game for DK.
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For the Rex haters Woody has made a bundle with Rex he has not only done a good job as a coach but has also market this team to were 2 years in a row they have been on prime time 5 times each year,Me being an ex business man that is a great job by Rex Money wise.The Jets games draw allot of attention and even though this year they fell of a little they still have a great shot to go to the playoffs.Rex ain’t going no where.Plus a coach who goes to back to back AFC games with Mark Sanchez who is looking like a mediocre QB has t get more respect from Fans The offense is the one who should hold they head down No coach would of done what Rex does,he puts himself up to ridicule and the offense cant back him up They are QBs on the bench would of put up a much better game than Sanchez who to me wilted and instead of standing in their like a true QB he punked out.sorry but I have protected Sanchez more than anybody,but after the post making him look like a little boy to Manning and he slings it 60 times and does not win tells me he is a weak minded.and he needs to toughen up mentally.I still like Sanchez to get better but please That Giants defense did not look that scary.The guy has 3 years plus playoffs experience so enough with the excuses.
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sean says:
Look up numbers most qbs who throw more than 50 times in a game don’t win…. there was no reason ti throw 59 times in this game.
You all expect Sanchez to be Peyton, brady, brees in his third year… you all expect him to not make mistakes… watch nfl games qbs, no matter how good they are still make bad reads, bad throws, and dumb plays
Brady most attempts in a game this year was
49 in a loss to giants.Brees most attempts was 49 in loss to pack
Rodgers was 46 in win over giants… and this was a qb nobody could ever see being a starter in his third year.In no world should Sanchez be throwing 59 times in any game. It is absurd.
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Meant that starter in year 3 comment to go under brees
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At this point, i cant say I wouldnt want Peyton next year.(pipe dream) I know we cant measure sanchez untill hes in a new scheme with a new OC. the best schotty can bring out of this offense and qb is mediocrity. Its been that way for the past six years with multiple Qbs….
But schotty aside, I cant defend some throws that Sanchez has missed. The mcknight pass??? holy $***. That pass SHOULD BE COMPLETED.
Any down field throw is way off target. I know Ive stressed that we need a more vertical passing game but Sanchez hasn’t shown any consistency with his accuracy on deep balls. Whenever he tosses it down field I almost immediately pray for a flag b/c a reception has become nothing short of a miracle.I don’t know if the Jets’ window of opportunity is big enough for Sanchez to learn the ropes under a new oc/scheme, or to just bring in a stud like Peyton. We are built to win NOW.
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juunit says:
I’ll preempt the actual answer by saying too many.
I found it funny then, when the announcers were talking about how they kept calling the same running play up the A gap. Ironically, that was successful, which was what drew their attention.
But, how many times did Keller run that five yard hook route on the right side of the formation? Defenses just sit on those short routes, but the Jets always keep throwing them. Somebody… is at fault for this.
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Joey The Jet says:
Sanchez’s poor play, as well as his overall up-and-down performance this season, now has the Jets seriously considering whether or not they have their franchise quarterback on their roster.
A league source told ProFootballTalk.com on Sunday that the Jets are beginning to realize that Sanchez, whom the team drafted with its first-round pick in 2009, might not be their guy.
i copied and pasted this,if its true,wow,wow,as much as i criticized sancheese this year,i still believe the kid should get another shot with a different OC,i know he played terrible at times this year and seem to regress,but the man calling the plays is no genius here,if the jets part way with sancheese and keep schittenheimer round,im no longer a Jet fan.
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I think passes being batted down was part of the giant gameplan, since the league knows very well that the jets love the short passing game.
For too many times this year the other team just seemed more prepared and better coached than the jets.
Eli completed 9 passes. But half of them went for 20+,
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33% comp rate for that elite qb… more like the floor of what Sanchez will be in year 7…
If the giants can win a superbowl with eli, im positive the jets can win one with Sanchez, they are eerily eerily similiar
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Bent,
Do you have any stats on how many games were won when qbs threw over 50 passes?
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JetsImpact414 says:
It’s almost as if schotty is setting Sanchez up to fail. Can you dive any more into that?
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It seems as if Mark Sanchez is the only guy fired up on the offense sometimes. Do you feel that Santonio Holmes was only playing hard last year because it was a contract year and now that he has his money he doesn’t care as much?
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It seems like Sanchez is very overwhellemd when playing now. He’s trying to do so many things at one time, that it’s starting to get to him. Maybe if he just calms down and doesn’t think as much while he’s out there he’ll be more successful; Your thoughts?
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Do you think L.T. comes back next year?
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It seems as if the defense is getting very aggrevatied at the offense’s lack of production. Do you think that there is a rift between the coaching staff right now and that this may be the reason for the lack of production and excution?
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Forgot to mention great post this week very informative keep up the good work!
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Lafflin says:
JETS – Just Exit Town Schotty!
I have a trivia question, what has been the one thing common to all of our ineffective offenses for the past six years? He just was never able to get it done no matter what personel he was given. I hope to see him in Miami. I do believe that Sanchez could have been sucessful with better coaching.
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Hey, Bent.
Could you watch that Cro missed tackle on cruz? I never watched it over again, but in real time, it seemed to me that he went for the ball, maybe in attempt to srip it or something. Could you confirm or dispel that?
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Neal says:
Great post Bent. Some NFL network analyst (I think Lombardi) said he talked to a couple of former GMs about what it would take to snag Manning from the Colts. The unnamed GMs said it require atleast 2 2nd round picks and up to a 1st and a 2nd. This seems extremely low for on of the best QBs of all time who is only 35.
What is your estimation of Manning”s trade value, assuming they draft Luck?
Also, what do you think of Kellen Moore could he compete with Sanchez next year?
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orjetsfan says:
Sanchez seems to be stepping up in the pocket more the last few games. With this, if its true is he getting more passes tipped at the line?
In this game he did not stare down his first read as much. The guy has good mobility as a quarterback. What would be the best way to use his strengths? Moving pocket, roll outs, screens. What else am I missing? I really don’t really care who is to blame, I just want to play to our teams strengths.
Go Jets!
Go Ducks! -
Sorry for focusing on next year but the the season’s hopeless. 3 questions:
Are there any decent FA QBs that could compete with Sanchez next year?
And PFT said the Jets are reconsidering whether Sanchez is the long term answer, any truth to this? It doesn’t seem like something the FO would say.
Finally, who are some potential OCs, with the big assumption of Schotty getting fired?
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One more question lol, sorry.
How does a Quarterback who was touted for his accuracy coming out of college become so woefully inaccurate in the NFL? Some “experts” said Sanchez’s accuracy was better than Stafford’s and that he had a legitimate claim to the #1 pick, what happened?
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Im glad we had we had the Jets after the loss that we had against Washington, he said. I knew that they were gonna fold, no matter what, to be honest with you, the way they been playing. And who am I to talk about the way theyve been playing? We havent played great. But I knew that they were gonna be the ones to crack because as far as them as an offense, I dont think they have what it took to beat us.
this is what jacobs told the media after the game,this further shows that even the oppositions thinks that our offense suck big time,if Schottnheimer isnt gone after this year,the jets will never make the playoffs again. -
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if that doesnt piss the team off,then nothing will
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Gregory Rasputin says:
Coach Ryan is in a quiet crisis of self identity all year. He speaks about ground & pound… and then tries to play in the pass-happy style of the rest.
Beloved Coach… what is it to be?
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The identity crisis is a lot worse than that. See my comments above.
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kane says:
Same old Jets fans always looking for that quick fix that kills the team in the long run. Peyton Manning would put the Jets in cap hell and why wouldManning want to come here with no OLine and no receivers to catch the ball? Fix the problems the Jets have with better talent and they will win games for a long time instead of these quick fixes that do nothing but create headlines for the media.
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Because we have a coach who adores headlines.
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Jolly Green Mangold says:
Bent,
If you can find a way to analyze it, how often are sanchez’s poor performances/interceptions a product of being put in a bad situation overall by schotty? I realize he has his fair share of self-inflicted wounds, but there are many cases which are undeniably set up to fail.. i.e. the 20th 4 yard slant of the day, 71 dropbacks just yesterday, etc.
Thanks for you analysis throughout the season, its wonderful to see how much criticism and praise is truly warranted!
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Clean Sanchez says:
Sanchez had good numbers at the half. What I want to know is why they went down so much in the third and fourth quarters. I guess the all-but-abandonment of the running game was a factor. Also maybe the pressure increased? I remember one play where he was literally looking over his shoulder.
I have a somewhat-related general question. It seems like the receivers are not aware the ball is gonna come their way WAY too often. Am I just being neurotic or is this actually a phenomenon for the Jets? And if it is, what is the cause?
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Oh I forgot -
FIRE SCHOTTY
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Bob Vopat says:
Bent,I think your evaluation of the Jets is filled with a pie in the sky attitude. We have many good players but do lack several key parts. Is Sanchez any good. I don’t think he progressed to any degree but I feel the offensive line played poorly it may not be fair to evalute him.Both Rt. Guards Hunter & Ducasse clearly can’t pass protect. Dump Ducasse and Hunter only decent against a mediocre pass rusher. Get rid of Plaxico ( lazy ) & Holmes ( not a team player for sure) but the 2 bigget needs we have are a Pass Rushing End and a fast powerful Safety. We have poor team speed and maybe a new offensive cordinator might help Sanchez but I doubt it. Sanchez just can’t throw deep with any consistency and team will always play up tight and take their chances. Rex I feel is a good coach and we have to stop changing them every few years but I would like him to tone down his rhetoric as it will wear you down.Season tichet holder from 1966 to 2008 so I still have the same old Jets syndrome.
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I wouldn’t mind if they got rid of Holmes. At a certain point, personality trumps performance for me. He’s really close to that point.
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Holmes’s
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Bent, without citing any kind of stats, i want you’re honest opinion on brian schottenheimer. do you think he is a competent oc?
i think i finally figured him out after watching what happened vs the giants. what kind of coaches typically get head coaching gigs? defensive gurus and offensive coordinators of high flying, pass happy offenses, right? i cannot think of a single example of an OC becoming a head coach because of a great running game. can you? schotty wants a head coaching gig and wants to get himself some attention. that’s the only way i can justify why we insisted on trying so hard to throw on the giants like that.
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jmac the man says:
Can BGAE take a look at the awful “The QB’s motion was stopped in the end zone and therefore it’s a safety” call?
My read is that Sanchez is arguably out of the pocket and that a reciever (Turner?) is about 5 yards away from Slauson when he makes the catch.
Illegal touching would have put the ball about 5 yards back (half the distance), making it 1st and 15 with the clock stopped around 2:37 with the ball on the 5 and two timeouts. That’s winnable. What happened?
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Nep Oznat says:
Bent,
I know that in BGA you try to evaluate players and plays not strategy but this is one time you MUST address the offensive game plan. Merely judging how the game played out and individual performances does not do justice to the quest of a true evaluation of this game in particular.
Knowing Sanchez’ limitations, knowing he is best at play action when the run game is going well how in the world can they have him drop back for a pass SEVENTY ONE TIMES??? What does it say about the game plan and the Offensive Coordinator that designs the game plan and calls this game? The cop-out by Rex after the game implying that they were forced into making it a pass fest because they got behind does NOT hold water.
I know you have been a huge supporter of Schottenheimer but this is incompetent, insane and/or criminal and I’d like to see if you are ready admit it.
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Bent, I have two questions for Extra.
I would like to know how many times (if any) Sanchez audibled out of what was presumably a run play. Could the high pass number have been somewhat due to us changing the play due to a disguised defense?
Also, how many times was Brian Schottenheimer looking stupid on the sidelines? During the game I found myself wondering if he is retarded. Perhaps your in depth analysis can clarify this.
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Chris r says:
Why is it that most jets fans hate shotty but yet he is respected enough around the league to be considered for head coah? I personally don’t think it’s shotty fault however our offense has never been that good that he deserves a promotion.
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Chris, I always find myself wondering that same thing. I usually assume that his agent leaks that he is being considered for jobs to the media.
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I think a lot of it is that the rest of the league assumes that Ryan does something relating to the offensive coaching. Surely a member of the great Schottenheimer Clan could not be the issue.
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I’ll believe that all these teams want Schotty as their head coach when SOMEONE ACTUALLY HIRES HIM!
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Just a rough game to watch. I cant understand the gameplan at all. I can even live with all the passing but you cant throw everything under 10 yards. Washington last week had more longer than shorter passes. The Jets have become an exclusive 7 yard down the middle pass team. One of the plays to Keller was so badly telegraphed by Sanchez (it was one of the triple coverage breakups)it was crazy. Keller lined up to the left of Brick and from the presnap onward the helmet never left Keller. Not even for a second. I wonder just how bad the QB coaching is here.
Re: Pouha- The Jets may not be worried about breaking him down if they intend to let him walk. I wrote something about him a few weeks back and figure its a pretty low cost deal to retain him, but you never know what they are thinking. If they believe in Ellis that may be their guy.
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Bent i have a question for you…..where is brendan?? Can someone put out a apb for him…the guy has disappeared.
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He probably went somewhere for the holiday. I’m sure he has family to distract him from this blog during Christmas time.
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Bent: What is Sanchez’s accuracy this season when attempting passes over 15 yds? I’m wondering if all the screens are because he is not hitting any long passes in practice & Schotty has no choice. The Mcknight play really needs to get completed for example.
I’m also thinking Sanchez should study film on Drew Brees. He’s a master of finding passing lanes between the tackles, despite his size. I believe Sanchez has perennially led the league in batted balls?
It is Sanchez’s long distance accuracy that really concerns me & lends me to believe the NFL.com story that the Jets are troubled by Mark. Many of us said when we drafted him, can he play in the cold & wind of the northeast? You really need a cannon arm to be successful here. Mark may be better suited for warm weather or a dome.
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Ben Nevis says:
Bent—-
Two (long) questions:
________________________________First. I find myself torn as a Jets fan in a way that has never happened before. On the one hand, I would love to see the Jets make the playoffs this year (no matter how unlikely that now seems) by beating Miami while all three of the other teams (the Titans, the Bengals, and either the Broncos or the Raiders) lose, but, on the other hand, I’m also wondering if it wouldn’t be better if we didn’t make the playoffs this year (I still want us to beat the Fins, though, even if one of the other three teams wins), as this might force the FO and Rex to confront the major issues that have been ignored now for quite some time (as you of all people know, Bent, I’ve been saying since before the preseason began that we needed a solid O lineman to replace Hunter, and I’ve been saying for the past two years that we needed a solid cover Safety)–what is your take on this: do you think Rex and the FO need to see us NOT make the playoffs in order to actually fix what’s broken on this team, or do you hope against hope for a playoff berth no matter what?
____________________________Second. Bent, you write: “[The Jets] just DON’T beat everyone they should…and after spending the best part of 300 hours watching, analyzing and writing about this team’s games over the last five months, I’m still not sure I’m any closer to determining what are the main reasons why that is.” Wouldn’t you agree that the main holes on this team are:
1. the O line (which, as you know, I’ve been saying since before the preseason began)—we need a solid O lineman to replace Hunter (who, at best, should be a back-up for us), and we also need another solid starter/back-up in case someone like Moore goes down (it seems he’s been playing injured all season).
2. Safety (which, as you know, I’ve been saying for past two years)—we need a solid cover Safety, as opposing Os have been carving us up with their TEs this entire season and last season (the only reason the Giants didn’t do this is that their TEs are injured). Pool can cover, but he’s nowhere near elite or even consistent.
3. Pass Rusher, or do you think Maybin is good enough (in that he’s still developing), so that this is not such a glaring need?
4. OC (as everyone and his mother has been saying on these threads for years now)—we need a top-tier OC who can change a game-plan in the middle of a game to react to what the opposing D is showing us, and who can be creative and surprising (surprising opposing Ds) and strategically brilliant. Instead of an OC who is predictable and inconsistent. Instead of an OC who, even when his rushing attack was working, would have his QB drop back to pass some 70 times in one game.
5. WR (as I said before the preseason began, there was no way to know how long it would take for Burress to get back into the speed of the game, get his game-legs back, and half way through the season, Plax said something like this himself, that he was just STARTING to feel as though he was getting his game-speed/game-legs back)—we need another WR to play alongside Bluntonio, who can be a large, legitimate target in the endzone (as Plax has been, at times, this season), and who can ALSO run tight, precise routes, shake CBs, and stretch the field (which Plax has not been able to do with any consistency this season).
______________________________Anyway, great work all season long, Bent—thanks!
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A third (somewhat shorter) question, Bent:
_____________________________Third. Can you please give us a list of all the Jets players who will be FAs at the end of this season? And of that list, who do you think should be a top priority for us to re-sign? (I’m thinking the top priority would be Sione, unless there’s also some other major player who’s contract is now up.) And who on that list do you think the FO actually will re-sign? Who do you think the FO will let walk?
________________________________Thanks again, Bent!
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Bent—
After I posted my first question to you (above) at 12:49pm Monday (about feeling conflicted as a Jets fan with respect to whether to root for the Jets to make the playoffs this year, or hope that they don’t so that the FO will be forced to confront the holes in this team), Gang Green Nation ran this post by Vegas Jet Fan at 2:49pm the same day:
____________________
Now the conflict that I’m fighting… As a fan I always want to see my team do well, or at least have a chance to stay in the hunt, but after the last two games I have found myself in a spot of indifference. I almost find myself thinking “we don’t deserve to make it”, or “I hope we don’t make the playoffs that way the front office will take needed action”.
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One last thing, Bent—
Here’s an addendum to my First question (above):
________________________________After wrestling with this question over the past day or so, here’s what I’d like to see:
1. The Giants lose to the Cowboys, and miss the playoffs.
2. The Broncos lose on Sunday, the Raiders win, and Denver misses the playoffs (I can’t stand Tebowmania).
3. The Jets beat the Fins, the Titans and Bengals lose, and the Jets make the playoffs.
4. The Jets beat the Texans in the first round.
5. The Jets beat the Pats in the AFC Championship Game.
6. Of course I’d love to see the Jets beat the Packers in the SB, but I’d be more than happy if #1 through #5 were to happen.
7. Then in the off-season, the FO gets us a solid O lineman or two, a solid cover Safety, a monster Pass Rusher, a solid tall WR who can stretch the field, and a brilliant new OC who can out-strategize opposing Ds, adjust his strategy mid-game, and won’t have his QB drop back some 70 times in the same game.
___________________________________
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Sanchez just hasn’t looked very comfortable, or poised, to me the whole year. When he has had bad games, or bad stretches within games, he seems tight, rushing throws when he doesn’t have to, throwing off balance, etc. Many people attribute all of that to pressure from inferior OL play this year, but can the switch from Woody to Hunter really explain that? And are there not other QBs in the league under at least more pressure consistently, perfuming better?
Also, were those early throws to Plaxico not open again after the first quarter, or did they just go away from it for no discernible reason?
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I doubt anyone tracks and has stats on this, but how is Rex with challenges? From me watching games all year, he seems to challenge more calls than anyone (except Reid, maybe), but he rarely loses one. Do you see this, and if you don’t know for sure, do you get that impression? Also, is it that he is actually really good at challenging things, or does he just challenge things that are easy to challenge successfully, when another coach wouldn’t bother? The only other thing I can think of is that the refs tend to call more bad calls against the Jets, but I’m really hoping that isn’t the case.
And because this is less scientific than the questions Bent normally answers, I’m hoping that some of the other commenters could give their impression as well.
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Bent — not sure if this is trackable — wondering if there has ever been an NFL game when a QB dropped back 70ish times and had his longest completion go for only 15 yards.
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Pen Keto says:
Or, put another way: has there ever been an Offensive Coordinator down by 1 score who was fool enough to dial up 70′ish PASS attempts if he had a game-manager type QB and when their running game was working?
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Gary now in VA says:
Bent,
Much is being said about the offensive line woes this season and I am in agreement that Hunter is by far our weakest link.
However, what I would like broached is what in the world is going on with our left tackle Ferguson? Didn’t we just reward him with a huge contract based on his steadily improving play?
From where I sit, this year he seems to have taken a noticeable step backwards, often times (much to my dismay) being physically manhandled by opponents in one on one situations. Since he doesn’t appear to be nicked or banged up (as has been the case with Mangold, Slausen, or Moore), and age certainly shouldn’t be a factor, what gives?
In your opinion, has the signing of a long term contract affected the quality of his play?
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What was Eric Smith’s assignment on the 99 yard Cruz touchdown. If he’s single high he should’ve been able to stop Cruz. Sure looked like a horrible angle to me, especially if you’re a “safety”.
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levi says:
Bent I know this question is difficult to answer but maybe with you rewatching as much as you do you can pick something up. Did you see anything that would make Shotty think they should pass that much? I just cant get my mind around throwing the ball that much and basically playing to the strength of the Giants pass rush.
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Geoff says:
i watched some footage on christmas day of johnny unitas directing one of the best drives ive ever seen. hes not the only one to do that kind of thing obviously but the thing is unitas called every one of those plays himself. im just thinking if sanchez was allowed to call his own plays he’d get a rythm going and run plays he likes. maybe hes not ready yet (aka Manning) but my point is i dont see a damn thing wrong with the concept and ultimately the whole idea of a game called on the sidelines seems like more of a make work project for coaches and some of them make it extremely complex. its not rocket science. i dunno … sanchez is best under center, running around, some play action. hes a garcia. hes absolutely NOT a Manning or Brady pocket edition.
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Mike says:
Great work as usual Bent. I was wondering if you could look at Sanchez throwing the long ball over his three years. I feel like the long throw was actually a strength of Sanchez early on in his career (first ever completion was a 40ish yard pass to clowney in preseason). I wanted to know if this was just feeling or backed by stats. I feel like he has really regressed in this area this year because he used to throw an accurate deep pass.
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joeyboy79 says:
Thats because he had more time behind a more stable line back then.
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Thanks for this. I commend you for being able to look back through the tape… just thinking about it makes me feel sick.
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Green B*stard says:
What was going on on the 4th & 1 that got called for PI. I remember it like some hideous nightmare. Had the team quit, was there any plan, have I repressed something?
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Jets8421 says:
Bent- excellent work all season. I’m not a regular poster, but a regular reader of the site. I have a couple of concerns that I’m hoping you can shed some light on.
1) My concern with Schotty isn’t as much about the play calling or the game plans, but the overall design of the offense and schotty’s inflexibility as an OC. One of the links this morning on this site was to an article which expressed how Schotty doesn’t tailor his offense to the QB, but forces the QB to fit into his offense. Now I don’t know of this is trackable (probably not) but is there anyway to get an idea if there are even enough plays in the offensive packages that play to Sanchez’s strengths? If the plays aren’t even in the offense, that is extremely concerning. I feel that Sanchez is most comfortable off of play action and while on the move. It looks like there aren’t even half rolls of the pocket where you can get Sanchez to roll to his left away from Hunter giving him a little more time. Also, this will help with reading defenses as the field will be cut in half. Maybe something like this can help jump start him either for the end of this year or the beginning of next year. Thoughts?
2) In regards to the FO, I have a concern that is being somewhat over looked in my opinon. I remember hearing somewhere that Tanny stated he had a first round grade on Vlad Ducasse. Now most personnel people at the time saw him as a mid round project from what I remember. Was Tanny just saying that as Rexian ploy to build Vlad’s confidence or do you think he was serious? If he was serious this combined with some of his other draft picks and signings really worries me. The Bilal Powell pick blows my mind b/c you already have the same back in Shonn Greene. That pick could’ve been used on an athletic player that night have seen the field this year. Also, the trading of draft picks has hurt them also. Do you have that much confidence in Tanny to right the ship this offseason?
Thanks a lot Bent, and sorry for the long winded questions.
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Happy Holidays and thank you as always for a great and thorough and enlightening read. Based on the number of plays Tomlinson was on the field for, compared to half the number of plays Greene was on the field, my first inference was due to the large number of passing plays, Schotty wanted LT in for pass blocking. Although I haven’t read this anywhere, I have begun to wonder whether Greene could have injured himself and was not as available in the second half as we all would expect. I’m just trying to make some sense on why they stopped running with Greene, he was doing a great job. Lets all have a happy new years and beat the Fins.
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I guess my angel story turned out to be a fluke sorry bent I will let you do the BGA for now on
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john says:
Well, this week just reinforced my belief that Schotty doesn’t have a good feel for playcalling, he is fine at gameplanning and setting up a complicated playbook but his calls during the course of a game are quite curious and often times kill any momentum the offense has. That end around to the short side of the field was an atrocious call that really stood out as it killed a promising looking drive.
Bent, one thing I’ve been missing the last few weeks is your report on ex-Jets this season….Braylon was just dumped by the 49′ers so we know how that went but what about the rest of them?
Thanks for all your effort on this website, truly the best place to go for all things JETS! -
Bent – Saw the replay of the Smith touchdown – no need to answer my question. His angle wasn’t great and he basically just got smoked down the sideline.
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Xavion says:
Am I wrong or does Plax almost everytime Drop to the ground after a catch. Its annoying watching him catch a slant then drop too the ground without being toubched. Does this annoy you too?
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Here’s a random question. Have you taken note of the Jets record in games played at 1:00 on Sunday vs games played at other times under Rex? I believe this year alone they are 2-7 when not playing 1t 1:00 on Sunday and 6-0 when they do.
Obviously primetime games will usually be against tougher opponents which may partially account for the poor record, but it seems the Jets come out flat and play poorly in a much higher percentage of these games.
Does this fall on coaching?
I’m concerned about Santonio Holmes. I saw him jogging out a few routes. I also saw him standing completely still on a play that Sanchez extended with his feet, over to Holmes’ side of the field – he wasn’t even trying to get open at all. He jogged out of bounds a couple of times at the end of a catch to avoid contact.
Basically, my sense is that Holmes isn’t really trying very hard. He’s joking around on the sidelines during losses. He looks disengaged. When he does make a play he’s showboating, including the moronic penalty last week.
He’s supposed to be a team captain. I’m very disappointed in him, I’m sorry we resigned him.
Do you see all this or am I just dogging the guy?