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Need to up the ante here a little . . .
We all know teams aren’t showing much, and a lot of the play-calling is vanilla, however, you could make the argument the Falcons’ offensive play-caller Arthur Smith and defensive boss Dean Pees, were very good in the first half, and gave their Jets counterparts issues.
The Falcons were up 16-3 at the half, playing some starters and some backups. The Jets had mostly backups, but there were some starters mixed in.
Smith and Pees are two of the most erudite minds on their respective sides of the ball in the NFL. Even within the framework of being vanilla in the preseason, they kind of won the chess match in the first half, mixing and matching first and second-string players.
Smith was dialing up plays springing guys open in the passing game, and Pees with dialing up pressures and coverages that gave the Jets trouble.
That first half, regardless of who was playing starters or backups, needed to be a little cleaner for the Jets.
And remember, in the Jets’ first preseason game, Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, who isn’t considered an elite passer, played in the first quarter, and went 6-6 passing, with a perfect QB rating and a touchdown pass in two series.
The Jets should be better on defense once the regular season begins with all of their starters, including Carl Lawson at defensive end, but they certainly need to up the X’s and O’s ante a little this year, which you would think they will in the second year of their installation.
Because you can blame them being vanilla in the preseason for some of the issues, and that is true to a degree, but it’s not like Atlanta and Philly were showing a lot either, yet with the framework of being vanilla, the opponents seemed to dial up better stuff, when the players higher on the depth chart were playing in the first half of these games.
And also the Jets need to cut down on the penalties.
Saleh and his staff are great motivators. Last season, and in this preseason, they play very, very hard and play with top-shelf toughness.
They need better “fundy’s” as they call them in baseball.
And, at times, better X’s and O’s.
There are a lot of smart guys on that stuff. We will see what they do once the regular season starts. You don’t want to get too crazy about what goes on in the preseason.
But the first half against Atlanta should be a wake-up call to the whole football operation.
Smith and Pees had their number . . .
The kicking competition is over with Greg Zuerlein winning the job.
You got the sense unless Zuerlein totally screwed up, it was his job to lose.
When a team signs a kicker late in the season, and he goes 8-8 on field goals like Eddy Piniero did, but they bring in a big-name to compete with him the next off-season for the job, you have to figure he’s in trouble.
The advantage Zuerlein seemed to have over Piniero is a stronger leg and more lift on his field goals.
It’s not that Piniero doesn’t have a strong leg, but Zuerlein’s is a little stronger.
Don’t expect Piniero to be out of work too long.
He will kick in this league this year.
The man did a terrific job of kicking in Chicago a couple of years ago, and we all know windy Soldier Field isn’t an easy place to kick.
And then he went 8-8 on field goals with the Jets.
He’s got a good resume . . .
Denzel Mims seemed to be limping after the game last night. Something to keep an eye on.
August 23, 2022
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