A truckload of Dan’s Post-Game Whispers . . .

Late in the third quarter, there was a third-down pass over the middle to receiver John Metchie that was incomplete, and the Jets attempted a 55-yard field goal that was missed, Nick Folk’s first field goal misfire of the season.

A reason the pass was incomplete was a big hit by Falcons safety Xavier Watts. The area was very congested. One reason for that is that WR Adanoi Mitchell ran in route in the same area as Metchee. It was like Times Square in that part of the field with all the foot traffic.

So when Mitchell, who was one of the stars of the game for the Jets, said after the game, “It wasn’t perfect and we both had our mishaps” about he and Metchie, this is an example of that.

And Metchie had a bad drop on a crossing route.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a team trade for two receivers in the middle of the season and put them both in the starting lineup so fast.

We have seen a team add one receiver in-season and do this, but two?

I challenge anybody to find an example of that.

Not judging, just saying how unusual this is.

Remember, against New England, there was a misfire to a wide-open Mitchell down the right side. It was a legal pick play, and Mitchell had nobody near him – Justin Fields threw an out, and Mitchell continued upfield.

“That play should be completed 100 percent of the time – those are misses that just can’t happen in the NFL,” said Jim Miller on SiriusXM NFL Radio.

People were quick to blame Fields, but maybe the receiver ran the wrong route.

So clearly, there has been some dysfunction in the pass game playing these two acquisitions so quickly, right after the trade.

But after some rough times, Mitchell certainly made the Jets trade for him and two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner look pretty darn smart today.

However, there is no doubt that along the way, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing.

There is a reason off-season workouts used to be called “passing camps,”
because they have been for quarterbacks and receivers to get on the same page. And then you have training camp to take the process to an even higher level.

So there has been a lot of street-yard football with Metchie/Mitchell and the Jets quarterbacks.

Think about the Metchie’s touchdown catches against New England and Baltimore – street-yard plays. In Foxboro, Fields hit him after scrambling around, and then Fields did the same thing in Baltimore.

It’s been a wild ride for these two receivers since their arrival, taking a Berlitz Course on the Jets’ offense.

But it’s starting to come together, with these two leading the Jets in receiving against Atlanta, with Mitchell hauling in eight catches and Metchie four . . .

During the week, I asked Aaron Glenn how WR Arian Smith is dealing with not playing as much and moving down the pecking order at receiver late in his rookie season with the additions of Metchie and Mitchell.

Glenn shot down the premise.

“Don’t want to say he’s moved down the pecking order, we just rotate those guys quite a bit,” Glenn said.

Smith was inactive today.

Hard to go further down the pecking order than that . . .

While we know he’s a very good run defender, we have pointed out quite a bit that LB Jamien Sherwood could use some work in pass coverage.

And to his credit, in the Jets’ win over Atlanta, he might have had the best coverage play of his career, and it was a very important play in the game as well.

In the fourth quarter, with the game knotted at 24-24, in what turned out to be the Falcons’ last possession, before the Jets’ game-winning drive punctuated by a Nick Folk field goal, Kirk Cousins threw down the left side to tight end Kyle Pitts, and Sherwood, running stride-for-stride with the speedy tight end, broke it up.

Huge play. If Pitts caught this, the Falcons likely would have been on the cusp of field goal range.

You know what was interesting about Sherwood’s performance today? While he had that huge PD, he had just four tackles (one solo, and three assisted). That is a very low tackle number for him.

Not blaming Sherwood, but the Jets’ run defense was pretty bad today, with Falcons running back Bijan Robinson rushing 23 times for 142 yards. A lot of these runs went past the first and second levels, and that is one of the reasons why the Jets’ leading tackler today was safety Malachi Moore, on the third level . . .

It’s a shame they can’t call on reporters in Glenn’s post-game press conferences. One guy sitting front and center was dominating the questions, and didn’t seem too concerned with those behind him trying to jump in, including a friend of his who was trying to get one question in at the end, but couldn’t . . .

A little bit of a rough one for RT Armand Membou. The promising rookie, who has looked awesome at times this season, had his second up-and-down game in a row. Maybe he’s hitting a little bit of a rookie wall . . .

Hat-tip to Jets GM Darren Mougey, and his right-hand man, player personnel director Robbie Paton, for some really good work during the season adding players. Not just adding Metchie and Mitchell, but returner Isaiah Williams, who had an 83-yard return today. Recently added conerback Ja’Sir Taylor, forced into action today due to the injury to Jarvis Brownlee (another nice in-season addition, the New England game notwithstanding), had three tackles and a PD.

November 30, 2025

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