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They Jets have done this a lot this year . . .
. . . and it makes a lot of sense conceptually for a young signal-caller.
They are running a lot of plays where slot receiver Jamison Crowder, who leads the Jets in receiving with 48 catches, runs crossing routes, and after quick wins over corners with his amazing short-area quick, he puts himself front and center in Darnold’s vision wheelhouse.
A few examples of this:
In the first quarter, on the Jets’ first TD drive, the Jets had a 2nd-and-11, and Crowder ran a cross, Darnold spotted him right in front of him, and hit him for a gain of 10.
In the first quarter, on the Jets second TD drive, Darnold was under pressure, and Crowder flashed right in front of him on a cross in the middle of the field, and this resulted in a 23-yard TD. Crowder did a great job of cutting back inside after his catch, making linebacker Alex Ogletree and safety Antoine Bethea miss in the open field, taking this short reception into the end zone. He had excellent RAC work on this play.
Late third quarter, on another pass where Crowder flashed right in front of Darnold’s sight-line, the QB rolled right, and hit Crowder for a 25-yard gain.
With Darnold still a work-in-progress at reading defenses, this concept makes a lot of sense, to let a guy like Crowder, who is a great route-runner, with great cutting ability, running routes where he cuts away from the defender and puts himself right in Darnold’s wheelhouse.
The Jets offensive coaches deserve credit for dialing up these kind of plays for the young signal-caller . . .
Not to rain on their parade, but the Jets six sacks against the Giants need to be put in perspective. In other words, it’s not time to say the Jets pass rush “turned the corner” in the Giants’ game.
The Giants entered this game with two offensive linemen out due to injuries, right tackle Mike Remmers (back) and center Jon Halapio (hamstring), and then lost left tackle Nate Solder in the middle of the second quarter to a concussion.
So let’s dive into the Jets sacks in this game and who they came against.
Jordan Jenkins beat backup left tackle Eric Smith, a former Jet, for two sacks. Nathan Shepherd also beat Smith for a sack. Smith said he got no reps at left tackle in practice during the week.
Jets defensive tackle Steve McLendon beat backup center Spencer Pulley for a sack.
So right there you have four sacks from the Jets front seven against backup players.
The two other sacks were by a blitzing Jamal Adams, who beat Giants running back Saquan Barkley on both plays. It’s well-documented that Barkley is a horrendous blocker.
Look, I’m not looking to be negative here, but just keep things in perspective.
The Jets’ pass rush took advantage of the Giants being without three starters on their offensive line, and also of a very talented runner who can’t block.
Putting Adams aside, who is a good blitzer, the Jets’ front seven needs to show they can consistently beat front-line starting offensive linemen before we say they’ve “turned the corner.”
November 11, 2019
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