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He makes a good point . . .
Talking about the point Brian Costello made today in the New York Post about the Jets’ running game, which I will get to in a second.
So much was made after the Jets’ loss to Cincinnati (which wasn’t an upset) about Le’Veon Bell not getting the ball enough.
Joe Benigno, who uses bashing the Jets on a regular basis as a tool to get ratings, theorized the Jets should keep Le’Veon Bell and dump Adam Gase.
Hey, maybe they should eventually dump Gase if he doesn’t turn the Jets around next year. The owner already said he’s coming back next year, so what is even the point about writing he should be fired after this season, even if you believe it, if it’s not going to happen?
No question the Jets didn’t run enough against the Bengals. We can all agree to that. But I agree with Costello who wrote the solution was/is not giving Bell the ball more, but giving more carries to Bilal Powell and Ty Montgomery.
Bell’s running style, where he often delays a second before hitting the holes, might have worked well in Pittsburgh where he had one off the best offensive lines in football, but it’s probably not ideal with he Jets’ patchwork line.
The Jets need runners who are going to hit whatever hole or seam quickly and not dilly dally. It’s not like this group is going to be able to open up gaping holes like David DeCastro and Maurkice Pouncey did for him with the Steelers.
It might seem presumptuous for any of us to tell Bell how to run the ball with his outstanding resume, but his style is just not working out that great with the Jets’ line this year.
Watching Seattle Seahawks running back Chris Carson on Monday Night Football against Minnesota, it made me realize this even more. Carson presses the line quickly and then takes the punishment to the defenders with an impressive downhill running style.
Bell dancing in the in the backfield behind Tom Compton and company might not be the best approach.
Costello is right. The answer for the Jets running game is more work for Powell and Montgomery. And I’d even throw in Josh Adams.
I would not change a thing when it comes to Bell in the passing game. That should stay the same . . .
The New York Jets Twitter account tweeted today: “Sam is
@PFF; third-highest graded QB the last four weeks. He’ll try to keep it going in the final quarter of 2019.”
It’s interesting that teams, and the Jets aren’t alone, quote stats from PFF, when most NFL coaches don’t value their rating system. Bill Belichick constantly shoots down people who try to use PFF as a grading barometer for player performance, since they don’t see team playbooks and don’t know always know assignments. How do you grade players without being privi to playbooks and assignments?
And you know what, Darnold didn’t play that well in Cincinnati. Obviously his line didn’t play great, but mixed in with plays where the protection wasn’t ideal, he had a number of bad plays, like under-throwing Robby Anderson on a deep ball on the right side of the end zone, and throwing to Anderson on a fourth-down play in the fourth quarter when he wasn’t even close to being open.
So why even get into how he played the last four weeks, when the last game he was average at best? Coming off a substandard game, don’t quote positive stands about anybody. That is not deal from a football culture standpoint. The Jets are coming off a lousy game. There are no moral victories.
December 4, 2019
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