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Jets Country – Beware of getting ahead of one’s self. Sometimes viewpoints can be extreme after wins and losses. The Jets are 1-0, but things could look really different a week or two or three from now. We shall see.
I’ve read a lot of coverage of this team over the last few days, and my reaction is, “Hold your horses.”
Just like 0-1 teams shouldn’t panic, 1-0 teams shouldn’t put themselves in Canton. There is a lot of football left to be played.
Daily News Headline – “Rex Ryan believes Geno Smith is heading in right direction to become NY Jets franchise quarterback.”
That is way too strong.
Ryan can believe whatever he wants, but let’s keep in mind the Jets barely beat an Oakland Raiders team, they destroyed in the trenches, 19-14.
The score should have been a lot more lopsided than that.
And while Smith did some nice things, he also contributed to this score being way too close, with his fumble in the red zone, he’s pick to Charles Woodson deep in his own territory, and taking a sack in the second half knocking the Jets out of field goal range.
It also seems like most of his completions are too wide open receivers.
His first pass of the game was a gain of 17 over the middle to David Nelson. On this play, both CB Terrell Brown and LB Sio Moore, who were covering the shallow left side, went to cover Eric Decker in the short left flat, and left Nelson open as he crossed to the middle. He was wide open.
Late in the first quarter, Jeremy Kerley was wide open on a mid-range pass on the right hash, for a gain of 19.
Early the second quarter, Jeff Cumberland was wide open over the middle for a gain of 26
Late in the second quarter, Eric Decker executed a terrific double move, and got behind a cornerback, and Smith hit him for a gain of 24. Wide open.
Look, I’m not being a hater, but just pointing out that it’s no always this easy in the NFL. Smith has a great arm and can make all the throws, but the windows aren’t always as big as this. And it seemed in this game, unless guys flashed wide open, as was the case on these plays, he often took off running. He’s turned into a much better scrambler than people thought he would be coming out of West Virginia (where he didn’t run a lot), but he’s taking a lot of big hits.
“You got to run and protect yourself, and hasn’t done a very good job of that today,” said Phil Simms during the CBS broadcast of the Jets-Raiders game.
Like on that fumble in the red zone, he got rocked by two defenders.
So we will see how Smith does moving forward, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, and act like he has arrived. He still has a lot to prove.
Headline in the Bergen Record – “Jets: Cornerbacks’ play silences critics.”
Whoa! Let’s slam the brakes on that one.
Facing rookie Derek Carr at home, and facing Aaron Rogers at Lambeau Field, are two different animals. If they struggle this week, the critics won’t be silent anymore.
While the Jets corners did a solid job against Oakland, the Raiders QB was lost, over his head. Rogers is a Top-Five QB.
In the second quarter, Raiders WR Rod Streater, beat Kyle Wilson deep on a double move down the left side, but Carr didn’t see him, and threw the ball away.
Rogers would see that kind of opportunity.
So let’s reserve judgment on things like the QB and secondary play, after just one game.
September 9, 2014
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