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On the Eagles second offensive play of the game, Mike Vick hit TE Brent Celek for a gain of 38 on the left side, and this was a harbinger of things to come . . .
While the coverage on Celek wasn’t very good on this play, we need to point out that Vick had an eternity to throw on this play. There was no pass rush, and the cerebral Celek found a hole in the zone, in back of Bart Scott and in front of Kyle Wilson.
This play was Scott’s fault. When he first signed, he was billed as a terrific coverage linebacker, but perhaps he’s lost a step, because this isn’t the case anymore.
On the first play of the Eagles second possession, the same problem occurred. Once again, Vick had forever to throw, and hit Jeremy Maclin for a gain of 16 over the middle. Maclin beat Kyle Wilson on this play.
Speaking of Wilson, a few plays later, he blitzed Vick, but the quarterback made him miss as he was bearing down on him, and Vick ran for 10 yards to the left side.
Two plays later, Vick threw a 26-yard TD to Brett Celek. Bart Scott was blitzing, and Eric Smith was playing in the box, and Celek broke free on a crossing route – Cro and Brodney Pool were late to come over to him. It’s unclear whose fault this was, but the Jets were a little shorthanded in coverage. While Pool is a size-speed upgrade over Jim Leonhard, he’s an instincts downgrade.
On the drive that started at the end of the first quarter, and carried into the second, the Eagles got great field position thanks to a poor punt by T.J. Conley. He was punting from his own 12, and this punt went only 35 yards. Then a few plays later, Marcus Dixon was called for a helmet-to-helmet on Vick, and the Eagles were quickly on the Jets’ 30.
Two plays later, Vick threw into the left side of the end zone to WR Jason Avant, but Donald Strickland had tight coverage, and the pass fell incomplete. On third-and-seven, WR DeSean Jackson beat Darrelle Revis for a gain of 16 on the right side. He drove down field, and did a good job cutting it off, and coming back to the ball on Revis. O the next play, Vick scrambled for a touchdown, to make it 21-0.
The Eagles got the ball right back on a fumble, and Shady McCoy ran it in two plays later to make it 28-0.
Early in the third quarter, Vick hit Celek for a gain of 73. It was a short pass that the wide open Celek took a long distance. Celek snuck off the line, and was uncovered. Eric Smith said the defensive call left a big void in the middle.
Early in the year, the Jets talked about playing Josh Mauga more because of his cover skills, but that plan seemed to go by the wayside. Expect Mauga to start next year, over Scott, to help with this tight end issue.
Over the last month, the Jets had Strickland covering tight ends a lot, but that wasn’t the case in this game, for some reason.
The Eagles have a couple of brilliant offensive minds in Andy Reid and Marty Morhinweg, and they did a tremendous job of using Celek in this game.
The Jets are fortunate that their last two games are against teams without dynamic tight ends.
You know what was kind of bizarre about the Jets blowout loss to Philly. How often does a team lose 45-19, and the other team completes just six passes to their wide receivers?
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