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Premium – What happened tonight in Cincinnati was a little misleading. The Jets won, but did they really? Let’s take a closer look . . .
I really don’t know what Rex Ryan’s mission was tonight in Cincinnati.
The Bengals starters beat the Jets starters 17-3.
Andy Dalton didn’t throw an incompletion. He went 8 for 8 for 144 yards, one touchdown and a perfect passer rating of 158.3
Marvin Lewis pulled his starters after the first quarter.
The Jets dominated the second quarter, with their starters, on both sides of the ball, facing the Bengals’ backups.
And the Jets ended up winning the game.
In the second quarter, the Jets scored a touchdown after taking the ball over in deep Bengals territory after reserve quarterback Matt Scott fumbled.
Scott isn’t the Bengals usual #2. Jason Campbell is in the spot, but he’s hurt.
Scott isn’t the type of player you will usually see in the second quarter of the second preseason game. He’s not a very
good NFL quarterback, and a long-shot to stick around in the league very long. And the Jets first team defense dominated him in the second quarter, with the Bengals playing backups around Scott, even on their offensive line.
Geno Smith threw a bad pick in the first quarter, when he was way off-target on a short timing route on the right side to David Nelson. Right now, Smith isn’t a good timing route passer. He likes to see a guy flash open, and then fire a rocket. Smith had a few nice throws like that tonight, including passes to Stephen Hill and Greg Salas, but in general, he checked down to the running backs a ton. He’s not trusting his eyes on many plays.
Smith also didn’t put enough air under a deep pass to Nelson on the Jets’ first offensive play. The pass was too flat.
I hate to be negative, but I don’t see what the Jets really accomplished tonight, when they lost 17-3 against the Bengals starters, and then got rolling in the second quarter with their starters against the Bengals backups.
And a big problem tonight was the Jets first string secondary against Dalton.
Rex Ryan has a fatal attraction to Kyle Wilson that I just can’t explain. It’s bizarre.
Wilson got smoked by Mo Sanu for a long touchdown in the first quarter. Keep in mind, Sanu is a 4.6 forty guy, not a speed merchant, and he blew by Wilson. Then Wilson gave up a sizable gain on an out to Sanu on the very next series.
As Trevor Pryce said, “Rex is loyal to the point of defiance.”
Some positives aside from the Jets’ starters dominating the Bengals backups in the second quarter.
Calvin Pryor has throwing his body around tonight, and had six tackles, including some big-time hits, one knocking RB Rex Burkhead out of the game. He was an enforcer out there.
Also, A.J. Edds led the Jets in tackles for the second straight game. Last week he had seven, this week he had five. He’s a very instinctive football player.
I saw this all camp – IK Enemkpali getting to the punter. With his low center of gravity and powerful built, he was consistently getting under blockers, and disrupting punts in Cortland, and tonight he blocked a punt. Also, Trevor Reilly was a force on kick and punt coverage. If I’m the Jets, I keep Enemkpali and Reilly, and move on from Jason Babin. Do you really need two 34-year-old OLB’s on one roster – Babin and Calvin Pace. Give these young guys a chance. They both have had terrific summers.
August 16, 2014
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