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East Rutherford – I have said this many times, so I hate to sound like a broken record, but it continues to be a problem, so here I go again.
DeMario Davis is a pedestrian coverage linebacker.
He got beat on a wheel route by running back Ryan Mathews for a 23-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Early on that drive, he was beat by tight end Zach Ertz for a gain of 21.
The problem is very simple and it’s two-fold. He has stiff hips, so he’s not smooth changing directions in the open field. Also he’s constantly a tick late in his diagnosis, so he’s often late arriving. That is a bad combination for coverage.
The Jets have better coverage linebackers behind him in Erin Henderson and Jabari Lattimore, especially Lattimore.
I’m not saying bench Davis, he should still have a big role. I like him at outside linebacker where he can play moving forward more.
He’s really good in the box as a blitzer and run stuffer, but he’s too often a liability in coverage. I hate to say it, because he’s a very hard-worker and a class act, but they need to get real . . .
I looked back at the Darren Sproles punt return for a touchdown several times, and I believe this not just on coaching, but the personnel department.
Mike Maccagnan and company have received a lot of praise up to this point, and a lot of it is merited. But when you look at the players on the field for this play, it was problematic.
You had a pair of 260-pound tight ends (Jeff Cumberland and Kellen Davis) who are neither tacklers. You had Tommy Bohanon, not a tackler either, and very tightly wound, so no great in the open field. You have Devin Smith, skinny as a rail, with messed up ribs, and no experience on punt coverage.
You had Bilal Powell, who is a pretty good special team’s player, but he was the Jets bell-cow at running back today, so was expending a lot of energy on offense, taking a lot of hits. He shouldn’t have been running down on punts.
Obviously you had the long-snapper and punter.
The only legit cover guys were Marcus Williams and Jabari Lattimore.
This was really poorly configured. Devin Smith was lost on this play and contributed to the result. He’s not a cover guy. Not built for it.
I can’t believe anybody thought rolling with this group on punt coverage was a good idea.
When the Jets got rid of both Saalim Hakim and T.J. Graham in August it wasn’t a good idea. Both were excellent last year on kick and punt coverage.
By picking Smith, which wasn’t a need, Mike Maccagnan showed little respect for Chris Owusu, Hakim and Graham.
Owusu obviously grew on him this summer.
And by having Smith as your fourth or fifth receiver, you have a guy who can’t help on kick or punt coverage, and you generally need that from your last few receiver spots.
I’m not putting Hakim, Graham or Owusu in Canton, but that group on the field for the Sproles punt return was ill-conceived, and contributed as much as Sproles to the return.
So this return is on Maccagnan as much as coaches and players . . .
I was talking a prominent sports columnist after the game, and he feels the Jets should go to Geno because, “Fitzpatrick stinks.”
This narrative is so foolish and short-sighted, I don’t even know what to say.
I said right to his face, “You are just writing that to sell papers.”
Fitzpatrick threw three picks today, and two of them weren’t his fault – he was hit as he was throwing on one, and then another was a terrific pass that Brandon Marshall admitted he “short-armed.”
The third pick I blame on the play-calling. The Jets kept dialing up deep passes to Devin Smith and he was getting no separation.
It’s not like Fitz threw a terrible pass on the pick on this pass.
Smith is fast, but I don’t know if he’s as fast as the Jets’ offensive coaches think. They were throwing deep to him like he’s Wesley Walker.
It’s much easier to blow by lousy college defensive backs than NFL defensive backs. So many college secondaries are terrible.
And the other problem with these deep passes to Smith is he’s not a guy you can throw open, because he’s not that strong, and isn’t going to win many jump balls. On this play, the pass wasn’t that poor, and if it was to Brandon Marshall, he might have snatched it from the defensive back.
Fitzpatrick really wasn’t that bad today.
Did he make mistakes? No doubt.
The Jets lack of a running game certainly hurt, as did Marshall’s lateral, which led to a 24-0 deficit.
People calling for the Jets to go back to Smith are out to lunch and reactionary.
September 27, 2015
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