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Going over the game again, Aaron Rodgers was outstanding. The only play you could criticize him on, and this is nitpicking, was his 42-yard pass to a wide open Garrett Wilson down the right sideline in the third quarter. He was wide open and with a more accurate throw he might have scored, but fell out of bounds because of where the ball was placed. But it ended up not mattering because the Jets scored on a three-yard pass from Rodgers to Davante Adams.
But if you are a Jets head coaching candidate, you have to be drooling after watching the film of this game – you have a QB for next year under contract. He’s still got it.
And I will give you a perfect example of why he’s still go it.
Remember that FS1 analyst was talking last week about how Rodgers is in denial, like most older athletes, when they are losing some skill?
Well, one of the things that made Rodgers’ performance against Miami so impressive was his movement in and around the pocket creating time under pressure.
“His mobility in the pocket has been outstanding all day,” said former NFL QB Trent Green, who was doing the color commentary on the CBS broadcast of the game.
These people who think he’s losing it, well if he’s losing it, wouldn’t you think his ability to create extra time around the pocket would be one of the first things to go?
Will give you a perfect example of the top-shelf niftiness he still has around the pocket.
Early in the second quarter, on the first play of a Jets series, Rodgers avoided edge-rusher Chop Robinson and LB Mo Kamara in the pocket – bought extra time, drifted left, and hit Garrett Wilson for a 12-yard gain on the left sideline.
There were other examples of impressive pocket footwork to create time.
The guy’s still got it . . .
You could argue that Mike McDaniel isn’t the best head coach, but man is he a good offensive play-caller. Going back over the game, the dude designs and calls so many impressive plays, scheming guys open, like the TD that made it 23-21 (before the two-point conversion), when McDaniel got Tyreek Hill matched up on safety Chuck Clark, and Tua hit the receiver for a four-yard TD.
And how about him throwing three passes to tight end Jonnu Smith in overtime, a player he didn’t use in regulation, catching the Jets off guard.
Once again, not putting McDaniel in Canton as a head coach, but he’s as good an offensive mind as there is in the league . . .
Speaking of the Dolphins game-winning drive in overtime, something I caught on the film was perhaps a missed call by the officials on the first pass in overtime – a 20-yard bubble screen to Smith on the right side.
It looked like Hill was blocking safety Ashtyn Davis before Smith caught the pass, so perhaps there should have been a penalty.
On the TD to Smith, the problem on that play was Tua had all day to throw.
The Jets defensive line of ends Will McDonald and Michael Clemons, and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and Solomon Thomas got no pressure on Tua, allowing Smith to cross all the way from the right side to the left, which can take some time for a tight end, and when he got to the left side he was uncovered. It looked like safety Jalen Mills could have picked him up, but went somewhere else. I’m not going to blame Mills here because I don’t have access to the playbook, so I don’t know if he was at fault. And honestly, the big problem here was the lack of a pass rush.
As mentioned yesterday, Clemons ran right into backup left tackle Patrick Paul, making it easy for the rookie to block up. McDonald was blocked by Kendall Lamm.
Quinnen Williams finished this game with one tackle and no sacks or QB hits.
Against an offensive line with both starting offensive tackles out, some might consider this an underwhelming performance by the Jets’ defensive front.
December 9, 2024
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