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Checking in from East Rutherford . . .
The loss of Leonard Williams (ejection) was huge, and I will tell you why.
The Green Bay Packers have two very good offensive tackles with David Baktiari on the left side and Brian Bulaga on the right side. The Jets got very little done against them today with their edge-rushers.
But the Packers aren’t as good on the inside, and got even weaker today when left guard Lane Taylor, perhaps their best interior lineman, got hurt in the second quarter.
A few plays after Taylor’s second quarter injury, Henry Anderson beat his replacement, Justin McCray, for a sack.
Shortly after this, Leonard Williams was ejected for throwing a punch at Bulaga, and the Jets pass rush disappeared. The Packers’ excellent offensive tackles continued to stone the Jets edge-rushers, and with Williams gone, Anderson got extra blocking attention, and Rodgers generally had all day to throw.
The Williams’ departure also led to issues for their run defense. Some other Jets defensive linemen had to play more, with one less guy in the rotations, and clearly started to get worn out in the second half.
And Jets nose tackle Mike Pennel, who is hot-and-cold, was cold today, finishing with zero tackles, and a couple of big runs by Jamaal William were right into holes created because he couldn’t get off a block.
So without Williams to beat interior linemen with pressure to get Rodgers off his spot, with Anderson getting extra attention, with Jets getting nothing from Pennel, or Nathan Shepherd, and the Packers OT’s locking down the Jets’ edge guys, Rodgers had plenty of time to throw, especially in the fourth quarter and overtime.
And this leads me to the Jets’ corners.
On SiriusXM NFL Radio on Saturday, I picked the Packers, the reason I gave was the Jets’ top three corners – Trumaine Johnson, Mo Claiborne and Buster Skrine. You can listen to it on demand. I basically said the way this trio played against Houston, I don’t know how they are going to stop Aaron Rodgers.
To me this wasn’t rocket science.
All three struggled today.
Somebody after the game asked Kelvin Beachum about not being able to close out games
“What needs to change for you guy to make critical plays (to close out games)? a reporter asked.
He said he didn’t know the answer to that.
One suggestion – You can’t keep rolling with guys who are continually making critical mistakes.
#41 is a nice guy, and tough has boot leather as a tackler, but this wild inconsistency in coverage, and penalties, have been going on for four seasons now, and he never gets pulled and never had to take a pay cut.
Absolutely amazing.
I would have moved on after 2016 or ’17.
But when it comes to this player, the head coach and GM have blinders. No matter what happens, nothing changes with the players status. It’s the football version of unconditional love.
The only reason Darron Lee is out of the mix is a suspension. Otherwise you wouldn’t be seeing Neville Hewitt.
Much more game day accountability is needed.
Another big reason they can’t close out games is the lack of great edge-rushers.
So often great pass rushers can be like great closers in baseball. They get those key sacks at the end to help ice a win.
Jets don’t have this . ..
The last couple of weeks the Jets have done something more on offense which is very smart – they are running a lot of cut-off routes for Robby Anderson, where he pretends like he’s going deep, and the corner has to honor that with 4.34 speed, and he cuts off the route, and has had a lot of 14, 15-yard type completions. . . .
Cheesehead takeover today at Metlife today – it looked like a 50-50 split.
December 23, 2018