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Early in the Jets’ loss to Miami, the Dolphins lost their starting left tackle Terron Armstead. Their starting right tackle Austin Jackson is already on injured reserve.
So the Dolphins played most of this game with two backup offensive tackles, journeyman Kendall Lamm, who is on his fifth team and rookie Patrick Paul, who took over for Armstead.
How’d the Jets fair against these two backup tackles?
They finished the game with no sacks and no quarterback hits.
The following stat might shock you.
Starting defensive ends Michael Clemons and Will McDonald not only had zero sacks and QB hits, but neither registered a tackle in the game.
How can that happen against two backup offensive tackles?
Look, McDonald has clearly done some good things this year, and has 10 sacks on the season, but where was he today?
I know where Clemons was on Tua Tagovailoa’s game-winning touchdown pass in overtime – locked up by Paul. Tagovailoa had a lot of time to throw on this play.
As Clemons often does, he ran right into the tackle, trying to bull rush him, and it didn’t work. The rookie from the University of Houston handled him easily.
Clemons is one of the toughest players around. He really is. He’s a hard-hitter with a great motor. And for that he deserves credit. But he doesn’t fit the Jets’ scheme, and he never did, and this has hurt the Jets too often over the last three seasons, and this is 100 percent the fault of the former head coach and GM.
His struggles are not this fault, it’s the former coach and GM, who not only drafted a player that flat-out doesn’t fit the Jets’ scheme, but never moved on, and at this point, there is little Jeff Ulbrich and Phil Savage can do. Who are you going to get now?
Clemons is a 3-4 defensive end. Most scouts on planet earth will tell you that. He would be a great fit in that system as a two-gapper. At 6-5, 290 with arms like vines and great strength, he is built to two-gap and tie up blockers to free up other players to make plays.
The Jets system calls for the linemen to run sideline to sideline and chase the ball, and he doesn’t have the speed to do that.
And none of this criticism is directed at him, but at the decision-makers who made the draft pick, and then refused to pull the plug when it was crystal clear he didn’t fit their scheme, getting consistently beat off the edge by runners because he didn’t have the speed to get out to the flank . . .
While on the topic, where was Haason Reddick today against Lamm and Paul?
He had one nice run stop, and that was about it.
Why did they beg him to come back?
For what reason?
What not just let him continue his baffling holdout?
Why would you beg an independent counter, who refused to honor his contract, to come back? How is that good for your culture?
In six games, he’s registered half a sack.
And let’s not use the excuse they haven’t had leads. Today they had a lead in the fourth, and also against Indy, and the Colts were without their starting left tackle, and Anthony Richardson led the Colts on two 70-yard fourth-quarter TD drives, with the Jets in the lead on both drives. Those kinds of drives is why you pay edge-rushers the big bucks . . .
The Jets corrected a big mistake they made in the Seattle game when they made backup swing tackle Max Mitchell inactive for that game. Mitchell was active in Miami Gardens.
After right Morgan Moses got hurt against Seattle, Carter Warren filled in and struggled mightily, and contributed to Aaron Rodgers being under constant duress.
Why would the Jets go with Warren over Mitchell as the swing tackle? Mitchell is the more experienced player.
Today, Moses got hurt against, and Mitchell took over, and did a fine job.
Sometimes these are the little things that can cost you games.
Who made that rosters decision before the Seahawks game? It’s hard to know with the Jets front office and coaching staff in a state of flux, but that was certainly a dubious decision . . .
One of the biggest plays of the Jets’ OT loss to Miami was Malik Washington’s 45-yard kickoff return late in the game with the Jets up three. The little time left, the Dolphins quickly got into field goal range and Jason Sanders tied things up to send the game into overtime.
A big reason this devastating play probably happened was the knee injury suffered by the Jets’ best kick cover guy Irv Charles early in the fourth quarter . . .
Look at that, I just wrote about the Jets’ loss, and didn’t mention Aaron Rodgers as having anything to do with it. I will leave that for the unwatchable cable talking head shows during the week. He was outstanding today. He’s the least of the Jets’ problems, and whoever the next coach is, should thank their lucky stars he’s under contract next year.
Why do the Jets defer when they win the toss with Rodgers at QB, and a pedestrian defense?
Strange.
December 8, 2024
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