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A few different things to get into following the New York Jets’ 31-19 loss to New Orleans in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome . . .
I think the New York Jets missed defensive lineman Mo Wilkerson today.
I agree with Todd Bowles’ decision to leave him home after he was late. My comment is purely football related.
The Jets’ run defense had been dominant the previous five games, shutting down the likes of LeSean McCoy and Kareem Hunt, but today, their run defense wasn’t nearly as good.
Wilkerson was playing good run defense, and when he wasn’t making the tackle, he was protecting the linebackers by taking up blocks allowing the linebackers to flow freely to the football, especially Darron Lee.
Lee had his worst game of the last six games, and this was the only game during that stretch where Wilkerson didn’t play.
You do the math.
The Jets missed Mo.
Once again, I agree with Todd’s decision to sit him – this take is strictly a football-based comment.
And to counter some of the fools who think Mo wasn’t playing well.
Wilkerson wasn’t very good the Jets’ first six games, dealing with a shoulder injury and broken toe. Starting in Week Seven, he was much healthier, and has played a lot better.
The problem is lot of the people who criticize Mo’s play don’t understand the job of a 3-4 end. They judge Wilkerson by sacks. Not a lot of 3-4 ends are big sack guys. They do a lot of dirty work that allow others to make plays. Don’t listen to these people. They don’t understand football . . .
What we saw from Bryce Petty today is a decent backup quarterback.
He’s not an NFL starter.
Did some good things today, but not enough.
On the pick by Craig Robinson, he stared down the target, tight end Neal Sterling, and this allowed cornerback Ken Crawley to jump the route, and tip the ball and the linebacker picked it off.
Another example of telegraphing was the fact that defensive end Cam Jordan tipped four passes. Jordan, who is really smart, saw where Petty’s eyes were focused and this allowed him to jump and tip passes.
Petty works really hard and has a lot of moxie, and could make a good backup, but doesn’t the pocket presence or field vision of starter, yet. His only touchdown today was a dump pass to a wide open Eli McGuire in the right flat for a two-yard TD . . .
While he was picked as coverage linebacker, Lee isn’t very good in coverage. The depth of his drops is often far from ideal.
Late in the third quarter, tight end Josh Hill hauled in a 22-yard reception. Lee’s depth on his play was terrible, and Hill caught this pass behind him.
On one second quarter series, he got beat by running back Alvin Kamara for a 29-yard gain, and then a few plays later by Kamara on a 10-yard touchdown.
Lee is very good as a box player, but not a good coverage linebacker at this point.
December 17, 2017
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