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There is no doubt
that the Jets X’s and O’s, on both sides of the ball, could be better.
There is dancing around that.
But I think the biggest reason they are 1-5, and you are seeing some ugly performances, is related to personnel issues.
I’m not 0bsolving the coaches. They need to do a much better job, but as Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said today in his weekly press conference: “This is a player’s league.”
He was asked about how much is talent and how much is strategy.
“There is a balance, but I would always lean towards the players in any question you ask,” said Daboll.
The Jets’ struggles are, to a large degree, related to personnel in my opinion, and don’t take that a shot across the bow at Joe Douglas, who I think has done some really good things. It’s a matter of going too young and inexperienced at too many positions.
The NFL is a passing league, and right now the Jets’ struggle to throw the ball and stop the pass. It’s hard to win that way.
And if you look at those two areas, you have a rookie QB, Zach Wilson, who started the first six games, learning on the job, and often held the ball too long, and on defense, a back seven, loaded with young guys, that is playing on a very low level against the pass.
Recently, Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, playing without both his starting receivers, Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage, went 33-45 for 342 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Jets. How do you allow a team with both starting receivers out, who are both very talented, to light you up like that? In last Sunday’s Atlanta win over Miami, you saw him impactful Ridley and Gage are to that offense.
That performance should have been a wake-up call about the personnel issues related to passing defense.
And C.J. Mosley played most of that game. He hurt his hamstring late in that contest. I bring that up because some people talked about Mosley’s absence in New England being a big part of the problem, and it did hurt the Jets, but these significant pass-defense issues were around even when he played. And I’m not blaming him for them. There is only so much he can do to get other players lined up properly and to execute their assignments.
The Jets’ linebacker play in Foxboro, not only against the pass, but against the run, was a dumpster fire. Guys consistently not reading their keys properly leading to big plays. In no other game this year was New England’s offense that offensive juggernaut you saw on Sunday.
If you noticed the Jets signed a 30-year-old linebacker this week – LaRoy Reynolds, who has bounced around the league. His age and experience are noteworthy. Clearly they made a decision – they need more experience at linebacker and they couldn’t rely on another young linebacker.
And in the secondary, when you start two late-round rookies at cornerback – actually, one at corner and the other at nickel, along with second-year safety who almost never makes plays on the ball in pass coverage, it’s leading to lay-ups for opposing quarterbacks.
Some of the young players struggling are obviously going to get better, and getting Mosley and Jarrad Davis back should help at linebacker.
But, to me, while the coaching absolutely needs to improve, the Jets’ biggest problem right now is who are they are starting at a number of positions, some to let them learn on the job, and in some cases due to injury.
Some of these guys should not be starting for an NFL team, at least not at this stage of their careers, and they are making a ton of mistakes, in some cases even when they have been told over the course of the week in practice exactly what they are supposed to do in a given game situations.
So that is what I mean by personnel problems.
As Daboll said, “This is a player’s game.”
October 28, 2021
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