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Big challenge week this week for
John Benton, the Jets’ offensive line coach.
Obviously not all of the protection issues in Charlotte were the fault of the offensive line, but they are at the tip of the spear.
In the Jets’ loss to Carolina, the Panthers were credited with 10 QB hits and six sacks, but it was even worse than that. when you consider all the QB pressures where Zach Wilson was able to get rid of the ball, under pressure, before he got hit.
When you consider the constant pressure, including some that didn’t register on the stat sheet, Wilson was probably more impressive in this game than his stats indicated – 20-37-258 yards, 2 TD’s, 1 pick and a 82.6 QB rating.
A perfect example of a play where he could have been sacked, but got the ball off with a rusher bearing down on him was in the second quarter. Edge-rusher Hassan Reddick took advantage of Mekhi Becton oversetting to the outside, and beat him with an insider move, and got to Wilson as he threw, but he still completed a 10-yard pass to Tyler Kroft.
Wilson showed an innate skill on a few plays to avoid the rusher and keep plays alive. That is something you either have or you don’t, and he clearly has it. And on top of that skill, something he did all game, which is huge on the NFL level at the QB position, is under pressure, he would keep his eyes down field, like on his 22-yard TD pass to Corey Davis in the third quarter, another play he was under pressure, but kept things alive with his fancy footwork.
But getting back to the line, considering all the communication issues on switch-off blocks on stunts, they could not ask for a worse opponent coming to town than New England.
It’s well-documented that Bill Belichick is a defensive savant, who has a history of feasting on young quarterbacks. Remember when Sam Darnold said while mic’d up that he was “seeing ghosts” trying to process New England’s defensive looks.
Not sure Wilson will see “ghosts,” but the bigger concern for the Jets is all the chicanery Belichick will present in the front seven to take advantage of a Jets line that clearly wasn’t on the same page last week.
A big problem for the Jets’ line in the opener was stunting linemen shooting into unmanned gaps, because the two linemen in charge of those gaps. didn’t communicate properly.
So Benton, and the Jets’ assistant offensive line coach Jake Moreland, have a huge challenge this week getting their linemen to communicate a heck of a lot better than they did last week. The fact that Becton is out with a knee injury should not be viewed as a set-back in this area, because while he has a lot of talent, George Fant, who is replacing him, has a lot more experience, and has seen many more funky looks over the years than the 22-year-old Becton.
It will be interesting to see if Benton, who has been coaching lines in the league for almost 20 years, can get this thing fixed.
September 15, 2021
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