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Premium – It’s time for a heaping helping of notes and nuggets from the Jets-Cincinnati Bengals’ game. Let’s jump into this . . .
This Calvin Pryor is something else.
He looks like he’s going to be special.
He made so much happen in Cincinnati, in his first extensive NFL game action.
Late in the first half, Pryor came up and delivered a perfect hit on WR Cody Hamilton, knocking the ball out. This was a catch, but Pryor’s hit on the ball made it an incompletion.
Then in the second half, he had a tipped pass on a blitz. He also came up like a heating-seeking missile off the edge, and hit RB Rex Burkhead in the thigh so hard in the backfield, it knocked him out of the game.
This guy is a player . . .
Rex Ryan defended Kyle Wilson after the game, claiming he was supposed to get held on the Mo Sanu touchdown.
Maybe a safety could have helped him with a tackle on the back end, but he was clearly beat by Sanu on the reception.
“Kyle Wilson on both of [Mo Sanu’s] receptions – not a good night for him – excellent night for Sanu,” said Anthony Munoz, who is the color analyst on the Bengals’ TV Network.
When it comes to Wilson, Ryan is loyal to the point of defiance . . .
Quincy Enunwa had no catches, but he helped himself in this game. He was a force on special teams, making a punt stop and a kickoff stop. Both were excellent tackles. He’s a very good special team’s player, and when you are deciding on your last couple of receiver spots, this can be the tie-breaker . . .
Another guy who helped himself in this game was backup left tackle Ben Ijalana.
He had two terrific blocks on the second level on screen passes in the second half.
On a screen to RB Daryl Richardson on the left side that gained 26 yards, Ijalana had a great block on safety Taylor Mays pretty far down field, which was the key block on this play. He also had a key block on the screen to Clyde Gates that went for a 10-yard touchdown.
Over the course of the summer, I saw nice improvement from this guy, and he is a solid candidate for the back-up swing tackle job. Oday Aboushi did a solid job at guard in the first half, but struggled at right tackle in the third quarter with DE Margus Hunt giving him problems. Aboushi is clearly a better guard than tackle. So putting politics aside, Iljalana is the better backup swing tackle candidate . . .
Jace Amaro is really struggling as a blocker.
On an Alex Green run in the second half that went for no gain, DE Sam Montgomery beat Amaro with an inside move to make the stop . . .
I saw this all summer, and I saw this on a couple of plays in the Jets-Bengals game, Michael Vick throws really catchable and accurate screens that allow the runner do do some nice work after the catch . . .
Tajh Boyd continues to struggle with his accuracy. He missed two easy throws in the right flat, going way high to TE Chris Pantale, and then too low to FB Chad Young, throwing at his feet.
He hasn’t earned a spot on the practice squad, but he’s got an ally in Rex . . .
August 17, 2014
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