Content available exclusively for subscribers
Perhaps one factor . . .
on the 14-yard TD run by Alexander Mattison was Sheldon Rankins’ elbow injury.
It should be pointed out Rankins never complained or made excuses, but if you saw how easily he was pushed out of the way on that play by an interior lineman, which is out of character, perhaps you understand what I’m saying.
A big part of playing defensive tackle is stacking and shedding massive interior offensive linemen. If you have elbow weakness, obviously that hurts your leverage . . .
Losing in Minnesota obviously hurts the Jets a little in the wildcard race.
But honestly, you could make the argument they should be 9-3 right now.
They should have beaten New England twice, but you could argue they took too long to make the QB change.
The QB spearheaded those loses by throwing three picks in the first one, and then for just 77 yards in the second game.
You’ve now seen Mike White in back-to-back games throw for over 300 yards.
Don’t you think with White, with how they played defense in those games, those are two “W’s?
The reason given for the Zach Wilson benching – bad throwing mechanics – was going over way before the second Patriots game.
“The mechanics are totally out of whack, but the mechanics have been out of whack for a while,” ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio said the week that followed the benching.” So what precipitated the benching had to be more than just mechanics.”
Perhaps the post-game quote was the final straw, but the issues that we saw in New England, were there last year and this season. It was nothing new.
White has always been the better option for any observer without an agenda . . .
The Jets’ offense was shockingly bad in the first half, falling behind 20-3, before a late first-half field goal, from 60, made it 20-6.
I’m not going to lie, I was really surprised by this. All week we wrote about how this Viking secondary, missing cornerbacks Cam Dantzler and Andrew Booth, has been awful recently, getting lit up by Dallas and New England.
So why did the Jets’ offense have such a substandard first half?
One factor, according to Garrett Wilson, was the Vikings’ inside linebacker Eric Kendricks, did a great job diagnosing the Jets’ route combinations. Kendricks, who calls the Vikings’ defense on the field, was giving his teammates great guidance presnap.
The Jets were much better in the second half, but considering the Vikings’ issues at corner, Kendricks or no Kendricks, the Jets’ offense should have accomplished more in the first half.
Speaking of more, well actually Moore, where was Elijah Moore today?
I’m not looking to re-ignite the mess from earlier in the year when he complained about his role in the offense, but for him to finish with two catches for seven yards is a problem.
It should be pointed out he was targeted six times for those two catches, so it’s not like the wasn’t involved.
Considering the Vikings’ issues at cornerback, and considering how focused they were on Garrett Wilson, how on earth does Moore finish with two catches for seven yards?
Keep in mind, White is much better at going through his progressions than Wilson, so if you are getting open, he’s likely going to find you.
So what the heck is going on here?
Is he not getting open?
We need to do a deep dive on this one.
Look we know Wilson’s the #1 receiver, but the Jets threw the ball 57 times today, so how does Moore finish with two catches for seven yards?
There is something amiss here . . .
I’m not one of these people that questions play-calling a lot, because it’s easy to second-guess a play after it doesn’t work. We know the result and then we judge.
But I will say the Jets need to do a self-scout on their offensive red-zone play-calling.
Calling plays down there is very difficult. I get that. It’s very congested down there, but there is a way to do it better than what we’re seeing.
December 4, 2022
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Monday.