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It’s pretty shocking when you think about it.
The Jets didn’t have a third-down conversion until right before the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter when Zach Wilson scrambled for 17 yards on third-and-11.
That has to be troubling to anybody in Jets Nation who isn’t traumatized by facts.
A big problem for Wilson is that if the first read isn’t open, the play often doesn’t go particularly well.
A few examples of Nate Hackett dialing up perfect first reads on plays against the Giants, and the play going swimmingly well:
Mid-first quarter, on first-and-15, Zach Wilson hit Garrett Wilson for a gain of 14 on a one-read crossing route where Garrett Wilson beat cornerback Deonte Banks off the press.
Mid-second quarter, off a play-action fake to Breece Hall, Zach Wilson rolled right and hit a wide-open C.J. Uzomah for a gain of 19.
And obviously, the throw over the short middle to Hall that the running back took in for a 50-yard TD. It was a two-yard pass and then Hall did the rest, including great moves on both Giants inside linebackers, Bobby Okereke and Micah McFadden.
As long as Hackett dials up this kind of stuff, things generally work well for the Jets offense.
Too often you see the fixation with the first read, leading to missed opportunities elsewhere with second, third and fourth read possibilities.
What you see sometimes is the throw still going to the first read, even if it’s not open, because like a lot of young QBs, that is where the signal-caller is most comfortable going.
For instance, on a third-and-one, late third quarter, when Zach Wilson threw an out to tight end Tyler Conklin on the left side, he wasn’t open, but that was the first read – and it was broken up by safety Jason Pinnock, who had tight coverage.
It’s just too hard to sustain drives when the OC needs to be perfect with first-reads most of the time. That is very hard for an OC to do all afternoon. The opposing defensive coordinator and his player are also paid. Sometimes they have first read covered.
Jets coach Robert Saleh wasn’t asked about Zach Wilson today in his press conference in the New York market, but it just seems like there is too much pressure on Hackett to be perfect all the time, which is impossible.
There is no doubt Wilson deserves credit for those two 29-yard throws at the end to get the Jets in field goal range to send the game to overtime, but what was going on before the last :24 seconds of regulation? . . .
One of the most underrated plays that helped the Jets’ cause, was late in the first half, on third-and-8, Saquan Barkley swung out of the backfield, and was cutting over the middle from the left side, and was open, but C.J., Mosley batted the pass down on the level in front of Barkley. This is an underrated huge play because he could have gone a long gain. Barkley was being covered by defensive end Bryce Huff, who isn’t really a cover guy, and this could have been the Giants’ version of the Hall catch and run. The Giants ended up punting. If Mosley had not gotten his hand on this pass, who knows what the result of this play would have been . . .
Can you imagine being a young NFL center, in your first game action, and you have to face Dexter Lawrence?
Xavier Johnson-Newman must be really sore today.
You could see him in the locker room after the game hobbling around a little bit, with a slight limp. He should be fine, but what a first assignment, dealing with Lawrence, a 6-4, 345-pound freak.
October 30, 2023
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