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Aside from Mike Devito, the Jets Front Seven was a little underwhelming in this game. Bart Scott had a rough game. Here is a breakdown of the Front Seven . . .
Mike Devito was very active and finished with six tackles.
Early in the second quarter, Devito blew by guard Eric Steinbach and stopped RB Peyton Hillis for a loss of two on pass to the right side. On the first play after the missed field goal in the middle of the third, DeVito stopped Hillis around the line.
In the middle of the second quarter, DeVito stopped RB Thomas Clayton for no gain.
Shaun Ellis finished with four tackles and a sack.
Sione Pouha was very quiet, and finished with just ½ of a tackle.
Backup/guard center Robert Turner played some defensive line.
The linebackers were average in this game.
On Colt McCoy’s second pass of the game, on third-and-four, Hills beat Calvin Pace on the left side for a gain of six. The linebacker never turned around. Also on the first series, Pace charged way too far up field, and Hillis ran by him for a gain of 14 on the left side. Pace did have a nice play towards the end of the first possession, when he stopped Hillis after just a gain of two on second-and-10.
Bart Scott had a poor first half. He was late coming over to Robert Royal, and Colt McCoy hit the tight end on the right side, on a roll right, for a gain of 14. Scott was called for roughing the passer on the second series. In the middle of the second quarter, Scott attempted to tackle Hillis, but bounced off him, and the runner, on a catch-and-run gained 12 yards.
Late in the first quarter, FB Lawrence Vickers took Scott out of the play, and Hillis ran through that void for a 12-yard TD off left tackle.
In the middle of the second quarter, WR Joshua Cribbs took a short pass on the right side for 37 yards (he was injured on the play). There was a blown coverage here, but there was also another problem. McCoy had an eternity to throw. Even a rookie quarterback, who isn’t necessarily great at reading defenses yet, is going to find somebody open with this kind of time.
The Jets pass rush in this game was underwhelming. The Browns were starting journeyman right tackle Pork Chop Womack at right tackle, and lost their right guard, Billy Yates, for the season, in the second quarter. So they played most of this game with mediocrity on the right side, and the Jets could do almost nothing to exploit it.
David Harris recovered a Peyton Hillis fumble on the second series. But it’s important to note on this play that Pace missed a tackle attempt on the runner on the line, and he was off-to-the-races, and the Jets are fortunate Jim Leonhard was able to cause a fumble.
After Folk’s missed field goal in the middle of the third, Harris and Pace both pressured McCoy into a bad throw to end the drive. Another Harris and Pace collaboration was on the last play of the third quarter when they combined to stop Hillis after a short gain.
Pace did get a sack on the fourth quarter, but it was one of those plays, where McCoy left his pocket, moving up in the pocket, his tackle didn’t know, and Pace just moved into the middle, and tackled the quarterback for a zero yard gain, so it was a sack. I don’t mean to take anything away from Pace’s effort on this play, but once in a while, these OLB’s need to flat-out beat a tackle.
Bryan Thomas was very, very quiet and had one tackle.
Jason Taylor was quiet, but had two nice plays. He combined with Shaun Ellis for a sack in overtime, and stopped a scrambling McCoy after just a gain of one late in the fourth.
Jamaal Westerman had a nice stop on second quarter kick return.