Content available exclusively for subscribers
On Wednesday, Jeff Ulbrich was asked a couple of questions about how Haason Reddick is playing.
“We got to force, first of all, third and longers where you get an opportunity to really jump out your shoes and we got to have more leads that’s what it comes down to. The more you operate with leads the more you can rush the passer, the more you can let your guys loose,” Ulbrich said.
Reddick finished the Jets’ loss to Indianapolis with one assisted tackle that he obviously shared with another player
That was it on the stat sheet.
Look, I’m not going to go after Ulbrich. He’s trying to stay positive and keep the players motivated in a lost season, coaching a team he likely won’t be coaching next year.
So I’m about to write is not an attack on him, but just trying to keep it real.
The Jets had the lead most of the fourth quarter against Indy. Early fourth quarter, Aaron Rodgers hit tight end Kenny Yeboah for an 11-yard TD and with the extra point, the Jets took a 24-16 lead. The Colts scored to make it 24-22, and then Rodgers, drove the Jets 53 yards on 13 plays, and they kicked a field goal to make it 27-22. Rodgers did some impressive work on this drive, including converting on 3rd-and-14 early on the drive, creating time with his feet (which the TV talking heads say he can’t do), and hitting WR Xavier Gipson for a 17-yard gain.
So the Colts were forced to drive the field for a TD late to win the game, and that is what they did.
Anthony Richardson, one of the NFL’s lowest-ranked quarterbacks, who had been benched a few weeks early, took the Colts on two 70-yard TD drives in the fourth quarter.
Where was Reddick on these two drives?
Great edge rushers are like great baseball closers, who come in late and help ice the win. So often they set up the tackles all game, getting a feel for them, setting up their piece to resistance in the fourth quarter, like a key sack when the team needs it.
This didn’t happen.
So, once again, not looking to go after Ulbrich on this, but the Jets were “operating with a lead” for almost the entire fourth quarter, and their best edge-rusher, a player who had 50.5 sacks the previous four seasons for other teams, wasn’t a factor.
In four games for the Jets this season, Reddick has a 1/2 sack, one solo tackle and three assisted tackles.
“He’s done well, he has,” Ulbrich said on Wednesday. “You know what’s been really cool about him? That I probably knew, but just to see it in person I just have gratitude for it now is that his effort is off the chain like as far as screens, coming out of the stack, just chasing on the backside, excellent effort and for a guy that’s got the reputation of being a pass rusher and an undersized pass rusher at that, he’s been very good in the run game as far as edge setting and playing a physical brand of football, so he’s definitely done everything we’ve asked of him.”
Then perhaps they need to ask a little more.
Look, there is a lot of blame to go around regarding how the Jets played defensively in the fourth quarter against Indianapolis, against a QB, who entered the game with a 44.4 completion percentage and was awful a week later against Detroit (11-28 passes – 39.3 completion percentage and no touchdowns).
But they needed a little more from their best closer. That is why he was brought in.
November 28, 2024
Premium will return by 9:30 pm (or sooner) on Friday.
