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A couple of things to get into today . . .
Now that Henry Anderson is playing a lot more, you are seeing potentially very good defensive end combo emerging with “Goose” as they call him and Leonard Williams. They both played really well in Buffalo.
They are both long, tall, athletic defensive ends who fit the 3-4 scheme well and compliment each other nicely.
You look at the stat sheet, and you don’t see gaudy numbers usually from players at the 3-4 end spots, but that doesn’t usually tell the full story.
There is a lot of dirty work at those spots, where these players disrupt things and create plays for others.
Also, there is no stat for QB pressures in the game book, which are important. I had Leonard Williams for three QB pressures where he forced Josh Allen out of the pocket into throwaways.
Anderson had a monster series at the end of the first half when he shared a sack with Neville Hewitt, and then blocked the field goal attempt. The last few games, Anderson has made a ton of plays.
Anderson is an undrafted free agent after this season who the Jets need to re-sign.
And the fact that he was stuck behind Nathan Shepherd for most of the season is hard to understand and one of the flaws of the current program – sometimes rose-colored glasses when looking at drafted players.
Shepherd, during his limited action against Buffalo, had a 15-yard run by Chris Ivory right into his gap. Shepherd was mauled by guard John Miller. How about making him inactive for a game and let him watch. Great guy, but he’s really struggling right now with technique . . .
Sam Darnold still has a lot of work to do against zone defenses, but he made some progress in Buffalo. A Jets possession early in the second quarter, which resulted in a field goal, is a perfect example of his progress.
He threw a perfect deep out to Robby Anderson on the right side for a gain of 25, and then a few plays later, on third-and-two, he hit Anderson on a quick slant, for a gain of seven. Two good throws against a zone.
But two other throws show you there still is so work to do.
In the third quarter, Darnold eyes let him down a little on a pick by linebacker Tremaine Edmonds on a pass intended for Chris Herndon down the right seam. Bad throw.
Another example.
Late first half, Darnold ran a bootleg left and threw to Jermaine Kearse and it should have been picked off by CB Levi Wallace. Kearse wasn’t open. It was a totally forced throw.
But overall, Darnold had one of his best games as a Jet, including two of his top five plays as a Jet, both in crunch time. His seven-yard TD pass to Robby Anderson, where he scrambled around from right to left, avoiding a potential sack by Kyle Williams, and then rolling left and throwing a dart into the end zone to Anderson. Then, on the next series, the game-winning TD drive, he hit Anderson with a dime down the right sidelines for 37 yards, perfect pass with Tre White in tight coverage.
But overall, you can tell that time away, taking a step back, watching from the sidelines the last three games, helped his maturation process.
“Just being able to watch Josh [McCown] and how he goes about practice, walk-throughs, the way he watches tape, what he does to get ready for a game plan, all of that stuff helped me a ton,” Darnold said. “I can’t thank Josh enough for that.”
December 10, 2018
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