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East Rutherford – Time for a Whispers and things from the Jets win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday . . .
The Jets played a lot with four defensive linemen upon the return of Sheldon Richardson.
It certainly worked well in terms of run defense. The Redskins ran for 34 yards on 17 carries. Part of this success was related to the talent of the Jets’ defensive line, Another part of that were the Redskins being without their starting center and left tackle.
However the pass rush was good, not great, especially when you consider the patchwork nature of the Redskins’ line. While sacks aren’t everything, finishing with one sack is average. It was a shared sack between Mo Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson. The Jets did have five quarterback hits.
But here is the issue with the sacks, in my opinion. The Jets are getting very little edge pressure from their outside linebackers.
I watched Lorenzo Mauldin closely on a few plays, and he had a hard time getting off the blocks of Redskins right tackle Morgan Moses.
Calvin Pace finished the game with one tackle. Quinton Coples didn’t play very much, and let’s be honest, he’s not an outside linebacker, he’s a defensive end.
There were several third down situations in the first half were no outside linebackers were even on the field. That is very unusual in a defense that has a 3-4 base.
That speaks volumes. The defensive coaches realize that their edge pass rushing isn’t up to snuff, so they are resorting to using more defensive linemen.
In a 3-4 defense, you need to get pressure from your edge OLB rushers. Look at Denver with Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, and Kansas City, even though they stink right now, with Justin Houston and Tamba Hali.
Maybe the Jets can fix this next off-season.
But can you imagine if the Jets had game-wrecker coming off the edge to compliment their defensive linemen? Wow.
Honestly the Redskins were starting a left tackle who has never started an NFL game, and the Jets got nothing done against him.
Ty Nsekhe is 6-8. If the Jets had a Robert Mathis-type getting underneath, it could have been a problem for the guy, but with tall defensive linemen, he was fine . . .
The Jets better keep their fingers crossed on Buster Skrine and his concussion.
Who is going to cover Julian Edelman?
He is an awful matchup for Revis and Cromartie – way too quick and shifty. Darrin Walls isn’t quick enough, and Dex McDougle likely lacks the requisite experience to deal with Edelman and his bag of tricks. Marcus Williams’ (hamstring) status is unclear.
Skrine was signed for a lot of reasons, but one of them was this match-up. Coaches rave about his ability to change directions on a dime. His hips are very loose and he has word-class speed.
He has the skill-set to deal with Edelman. If he can’t play, and we will know more in a few days, this is a huge blow to the Jets . . .
I don’t want to be critical of Geno Smith. He’s done a nice job of settling into the background as the Jets’ backup. However, I just want to make a comparative point.
Ryan Fitzpatrick has made a living this year throwing 50-50 balls to Brandon Marshall – throwing him open, if you will.
He’s been doing it all year – throwing it to Marshall when he’s covered, and the 6-4, 230-pound receiver has often figured out a way to haul it in many of these passes, including a 35-yard TD today.
Smith, like most young quarterbacks, isn’t entirely comfortable with this concept.
As Brian Billick said recently, “Veteran quarterbacks can throw guys open, young quarterbacks needs guys to be open to throw.”
So Geno has plenty of company. This is one of the reasons Sammy Watkins was complaining about his situation in Buffalo. Young quarterbacks like Tyrod Taylor and E.J. Manuel like to see a guy open before they throw. Watkins a big, physical athletic receiver (who is now hurt) wants the quarterbacks to throw it to an area.
Young quarterbacks don’t like to do it.
Fitz is very, very comfortable doing it, and it’s led to some great results for the Jets.
October 18, 2015
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