Content available exclusively for subscribers
Mount Laurel – The Jets-Philadelphia game was an important contest for the team’s two backup quarterbacks, who needed to get into a groove. How did they do? Dan takes a look . . .
Mark Brunell proved in Philadelphia on Thursday night that he can still play with a 124.4 quarterback rating. It would have higher if an overhyped player didn’t drop a pass.
John Connor, who I think is going to be terrific, but who Rex is overrating publicly right now, dropped a pass right in his hands on the Jets third possession in the left flat.
On the play after the Connor drop, Brunell did a great job avoiding the rush in the end zone, and rolled left and hit wide receiver Larry Taylor for a gain of 11 on the left sideline. Also on the third possession, Brunell ran a bootleg to the left side, and hit tight end Matt Mulligan for a gain of eight, and the tight end did a great job of holding on after getting crushed by cornerback Trevor Lindley. This was a real nice drive, that started on the two-yard line and ended on the Washington 35 with a Joe McKnight fumble. But nonetheless, Brunell showed some good skills on this possession.
Early in the second quarter, the Jets took over on a short field after an Emanuel Cook interception. This drive ended with Brunell rolling left (clearly a strength for the southpaw) and hitting tight end Jeff Cumberland for a touchdown.
Another impressive play from Brunell was his 51-yard touchdown strike to Santonio Holmes early in the fourth quarter. He hit him in perfect stride in a crossing route and he was off to the races. It helped that he was wide open, but hey, Mike Vick had guys wide open that he threw behind. This pass was right on the money and allowed Holmes to not skip a stride.
The only real negative play from Brunell was a duck he threw down the right sideline to Holmes that never had a chance, late in the first half.
Kellen Clemens was good, not great, but in his defense, he didn’t get great protection, especially from the tackle combo of Dan Gay and Mike Turkovich, who were inconsistent.
But I do think Clemens pocket presense has improved a little. He steps up in the pocket better, and doesn’t panic as much.
One pass Clemens would want back was a throw to David Clowney down the right hash that was overthrown, early in the third. The receiver was open. Clemens has always had issues with deep accuracy for some reason.
But he’s not bad in the short-to-intermediate range, like his mid-range strike on the right side to Holmes that he took for 24 yards, but then fumbled (and the Jets recovered).
In the middle of the fourth quarter, under duress, Clemens took off and had a real nice scramble for 16 yards.
One caveat that needs to be added about Clemens is that he suffered a stinger in this game, and it did impact his throwing hand in the fourth quarter.
Overall, this game had to give the Jets brass piece of mind that they have two solid backup quarterbacks in Brunell and Clemens. Both look like pros out there.