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Perhaps the reason . . .
the Jets were three-point underdogs at home riding a four-game winning streak against a 3-4 team was the inconsistent play they’ve been getting from the quarterback position. The Jets came into this game four of 24 on third down in the previous two games.
So that probably explains the point spread.
And the QB had a rough one again today. Yes, he threw for 355 yards, which isn’t bad, but also threw three picks.
You know what is interesting? Like his rookie year, he’s been very good at creating extra time with his feet, avoiding the rush. He’s gifted in that area, but unlike last year, he hasn’t been as good at finding open receivers while running around after avoiding the rush. This area was better last year.
Here is what is going on in a nutshell: He’s not trusting his eyes reading coverages and poor mechanics are leading to some errant throws. Also, he’s much better when the first read is open. He made some beautiful throws on first reads like on the touchdown pass to Tyler Conklin. But if that first read isn’t open, he either throws it there anyway because he doesn’t want to turn his head anywhere else, or he takes off running.
Denzel Mims played a lot today for Elijah Moore, who seems to be in the doghouse, but Mims went through what Moore dealt with, and probably led to Moore’s frustration. If you aren’t the first read in the passing offense, you probably aren’t going to see the ball. Mims was the #2 receiver today, with Moore in the doghouse, and Corey Davis out knee injury, and caught two passes. True one was a terrific 63-yard catch and run late, but the bottom line is he only was targeted three times (one was a force where he wasn’t open), and caught two passes.
Because it’s really hard for receivers in this offense to see the rock unless they are the first read, because the QB rarely gets off his first read.
Keep in mind, at BYU, during his junior year, most first reads were wide open, playing against the likes of Navy, Texas State and Troy. Having your first read wide open consistently is QB nirvana and doesn’t happen much on the NFL level, and that is why so many quarterbacks who thrived in college, struggle on the NFL
Wilson needs to throw more with anticipation and throw guys open. It’s not often that your first read is wide open. It happens sometimes, and those are generally the plays he has the most success.
One other thing that needs to improve for Wilson to take the next step is his completion percentage. Today he was 20-41, so less than 50 percent. Even in the Pittsburgh game, with the impressive fourth quarter, he was at 50 percent (18-36). On the season he’s at 54.9 percent. Hard to win at that number. As a former NFL QB once told me, “It’s hard to sustain drives with every other pass hitting the ground.”
It’s probably a good time to make a QB change, and let the kid sit back for a while, observe, and get his head in a better place. He’s only 23.
The Jets are 5-3 right now in the playoff race.
This isn’t a good time to use a season to develop a QB by letting him learn on the job.
It’s not fair to him, and the rest of the team.
As a former GM once said about the quarterback position – “The players know who should be playing.”
You can’t fool with the locker room . . .
I’m not even going to write about John Franklin-Myers roughing the passer penalty. I’m sick of what football has become with all these ticky-tack roughing-the-passer calls.
We all know what an egregious roughing the passer call looks like, like some cat launching head first and going to helmet-to-helmet with the QB, or some defender, picking up a QB and driving him into the turf, that kind of stuff.
When I do my notes on games that I save for future reference, I don’t even include roughing the passer calls because the majority of them are BS . . .
Saw rookie tackle Max Mitchell walking into the locker room today and he had no limp. He suffered a knee injury earlier this season.
You have to give Quincy Williams credit. He’s limping after the game on his high ankle sprain. He’s fighting through it, just like Duane Brown, who once again played today with his left shoulder in a harness. The Jets owe it to players like this to play the QB who gives them their best chance to win.
October 30, 2022
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