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The Denver Broncos did a great job scouting the Jets passing game. Look at how effectively they were jumping routes.
Each of Mark Sanchez’s first two passes were nearly picked off. The first, a throw to the right side to Braylon Edwards, was almost picked off by CB Champ Bailey. Why would you come out throwing a Champ Bailey? That doesn’t make a lot of sense. Then on the next play, the second pass, thrown to Edwards on the left side, was almost picked by Perish Cox. This was a matchup made more sense to exploit.
The Jets second possession ended with a coverage sack by linebacker D.J. Williams. Sanchez had forever to throw and couldn’t find anybody.
The third series lasted two plays. After a short Shonn Greene run, Sanchez was picked off by linebacker Jason Hunter. He was attempting to throw to Cotchery on a middle range pass around the left hash mark, and didn’t see the linebacker underneath.
Clearly, this defense was very, very well prepared.
The Jet offense finally got their act together on their fourth possession.
It didn’t start out well. On second down, there was some kind of confusion and Sanchez had to call timeout. On 3rd-and-6, Sanchez connected with Santonio Holmes on a crossing route for a gain of seven. What helped the Jets on this play was that the defensive back covering Holmes ran into Braylon Edwards, and this freed up Holmes. Then, on the next third down, 3rd-and-2, Sanchez rolled right and connected with Jerricho Cotchery for a gain of three. Two plays later, on 2nd-and-11, Dustin Keller beat cornerback Nate Jones for a gain of 12 on the short left side.
This drive ended with Sanchez connecting with Edwards on a 32-yard post route for a touchdown. The Jets lined up a bunch of players on the right side, and this created some assignment confusion for the Broncos. It looked like Edwards beat Bailey on this play, but he lagged so far behind Braylon, you get the sense he might have thought he was on somebody else.
The Jet offense wasn’t on the field for a long stretch after this TD drive. Denver went on a long TD drive, and then recovered an onside kick.
When they finally got back on the field, they had some issues – two pass interference calls – one on Keller and another on Holmes. Another play the Jets would want back on this play was a crossing route to LT. He was wide open, but Sanchez threw it behind him, and he had to adjust his body, and this made him stumble to the ground. The play went for eight yards, but could have gone for a lot more.
On the Jets next possession, Sanchez did a great job on a play-action pass, bootleg right, and hit a wide open Keller for a gain of 22 yards. There was nobody near Keller because so many defenders were sucked inside by the outstanding play-action fake. But this drive ended when Sanchez threw a pick to cornerback Syd’Quan Thompson on a pass to Sanchez on the right side. Sanchez didn’t see Thompson, who seemed to be covering somebody else, and snuck over to Keller’s area for the pick. Thompson, a Cal-Berkley kid, has a good feel for Sanchez from the Pac-10.
On the Jets first possession of the second half, the Jets proclivity to call bootlegs, led to a sack of Sanchez. The quarterback faked a handoff to LT off left tackle, and he rolled right, into the arms of defensive tackle Marcus Thomas, who didn’t fall for it, for one second.
At the end of the third quarter, Sanchez opened up a drive with a 41-yard connection with Keller. It was a short route on the right side, and Keller did some good running after the catch. But the drive ended on the next play when a reverse to Holmes ended in a fumble.
In the middle of the fourth quarter, the Jets opened up a possession with a 22-yard crossing route to Holmes, who beat Cox on this play. Clearly the Jets were picking on the Oklahoma State rookie, who does look like he’s going to be very good. This drive ended with a long LT touchdown run.
The Jets got the ball with about four minutes left, and Sanchez opened this possession with a pass too high to Edwards, who was open on the left side. Two plays later, Sanchez did a good job on 3rd-and-5, hitting Edwards on a crossing route for a gain of seven (on Cox). On the next third down, on 3rd-and-7, Sanchez connected with Holmes for a gain of 13 on the left side. It was a great catch by Holmes, and yes, once again, it was on Cox, who was starting for the injured Andre Goodman. And of course, this drive was keyed by the pass interference penalty on Renaldo Hill on Holmes.
It is a little surprising the Jets couldn’t do more against a defense missing three starters, including their defensive leader, safety Brian Dawkins, and their best pass rusher, Robert Ayers.