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You know a run defense didn’t have a good game when your two leading tacklers are S Eric Smith (8 tackles) and CB Antonio Cromartie (8 tackles).
On the play after the Cromartie fumble on the kick return he shouldn’t have been handling because he needs to focus on corner, Darren McFadden had a gain of 12 off left tackle. On this play Mo Wilkerson couldn’t get off a block, and the runner scooted right by him.
On the next play, RB Mike Bush waltzed into the end, virtually untouched, up the middle to make it 31-17, putting the Jets in a hole they couldn’t get out of.
This play is a perfect example of the Jets wearing out Sione Pouha. The hole up the middle was gaping. Clearly it wasn’t all Sione’s fault, but the poor guy was probably running on fumes at this point.
David Harris didn’t have a great game. He was credited with a sack, but this was a play that Jason Campbell fell on his own, and Harris happened to be the first guy to touch him. This really wasn’t a sack, per se.
Harris’ best play of the game was a blitz up the middle late in the first quarter that resulted in an incompletion. Campbell threw the ball out of bounds to avoid the sack.
Speaking of QB pressures, Bryan Thomas had one in the middle of the second quarter. He beat LT Jared Veldheer nice job and hit Campbell as he threw – causing incompletion. This might have been the only time Campbell was actually touched.
On the Raiders first touchdown run, on their first series, McFadden ran it in from two yards out off right tackle, and Harris missed a tackle attempt on this play. He had a chance at him in the backfield.
Bart Scott has played better games. He had a chance at Danarious Moore in the middle of this touchdown run, but Scott isn’t great at space at this stage of his career. I’m not ripping him, it’s just a fact of life. It’s not a lack of effort.
I will say one thing in Scott’s defense. He felt he wasn’t protected that well last year by defensive linemen, and that issue continues this year.
The Jets continue to rave about the improvement of Kyle Wilson, but I think it’s a little premature (there is plenty of time for him to still develop into a very good player).
On the Raiders first pass of the game, Wilson was covering Moore, fell down, and this allowed the WR to catch a 13-yard pass on the short left side.
On the next play, Cro was called for pass inference on a pass to Moore down the deep right side. Cro didn’t need to interfere on this play. He was stride-for-stride with Moore, and seemed to have things covered cleanly.
Getting back to Wilson – he did a poor job of getting of a WR block on the Darren McFadden 70-yard TD run.
One nice play by Wilson was a terrific block on Jeremy Kerley’s 53-yard punt return. His block on CB Chimdi Chekwa helped get the return going.
Darrelle Revis was out of business in this game. I think he had one pass thrown at him the entire game.
Cro had four penalties. First off, the new rules are brutal for tall corners with long arms and long legs because they have more body to make contact with. Secondly, Rex should have had the gumption to tell Mike Westhoff – “no, Cro isn’t going to be the full-time kick returner.” He has too much on his plate right now. Having him return kicks full-time is an awful idea. He should be on the sideline studying polaroids.
I will leave you with two bad coverage plays by linebackers late in the game that hurt the Jets comeback bid.
First, on a 2nd-and-8, down just seven, Calvin Pace was called for defensive holding. Then two plays later, RB Mike Bush beat Bryan Thomas for 28 yards down the right hash mark. I will cut Thomas a little slack on this play – Jason Campbell had an eternity to throw, so much time, that this Bush route was an improvisation, that came after everything else wasn’t open.
