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There were a lot of blown . . .
. . . assignments in the Jets’ loss to Jacksonville, like nobody blocking nose tackle Marcel Dareus on the safety. How do you knock block the nose tackle on a running play?
Another really bad blown assignment in this game was on the TD catch by Jaguars running back T.J. Yeldon in the second-quarter.
It was a short crossing route where nobody covered Yeldon – most of the yardage on the play was running after the catch. Not only was he wide open for the catch, but since nobody was near him after the catch, it was clear sailing into the end zone.
So what happened on this coverage?
I had a good idea yesterday, but I like to be careful anointing blame on coverage plays because sometimes we guess wrong.
On this play, both inside linebackers went over to cover wide receiver Dede Westbrook on the short left side, so when Yeldon cut from the shallow left side to the middle, nobody followed him.
I asked a former NFL 3-4 inside linebacker to give me his take on this play.
“58 (Darron Lee) should have passed the shallow crossing wide receiver on to 54 (Avery Williamson) and picked up Yeldon,” former former NFL ILB said. “[Lee] saw it late and then it was too late.”
This kind of thing happened a lot with Lee in his first two seasons with the Jets. His reads in coverage are too often bad ones leading to completions. He’s too often a tick late reacting in coverage.
But Todd Bowles has his back, so don’t expect any lineup changes.
Bowles is very loyal.
Just like with Buster Skrine, who was dominated by Westbrook in Jacksonville. Even on the play Skrine caused a fumble on Westbrook, he was soundly beat on the play, and stripped the ball when he tackled the receiver on the left sideline.
But Skrine should be in safe ground also. Bowles seems to really like him as a player.
The Jets should have probably moved on from Skrine after last season, but not only kept him around, he didn’t even have to take a pay-cut. I hear the GM is close with his agent, so perhaps that’s a factor.
In my worldview, when players are struggling, and impacting wins and losses, they need to be replaced, or at least temporarily benched, but I don’t think that view is shared by some Jets decision-makers. Maybe I need to wear a tin-foil hat. What a radical idea to expect a meritocracy on a football team.
Hey, different strokes, for different folks . . .
Sam Darnold did lengthy Q-and-A’s with three beat writers last week. Favorite actor, food, all that kind of stuff.
Why allow this before he establishes himself? Why allow that coming off two bad games?
Can you imagine a rookie doing that under Parcells or Belichick?
There is a time and place for everything, and the “get to know” Darnold lengthy Q-and-A’s can wait.
To me, this was a bad optic, and I don’t blame the kid. He’s just doing what he’s asked . . .
October 1, 2018
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