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Jets rewind: Rex’s scouting report of Woody Johnson says it all
By Brian CostelloDecember 8, 2014 | 1:20pm
The Jets suffered another loss Sunday, this one a 30-24 overtime loss to the Vikings. The Jets are now 2-11, their worst 13-game record since they finished 1-15 in 1996. All that is left to find out is just how many people owner Woody Johnson fires after the season and what draft pick the Jets end up with.
Here are a few of my thoughts after the latest loss:
1. Something I’ve always found myself doing after Jets losses while I’ve covered the team is trying to figure out which Rex Ryan we’re going to get in the postgame press conference. At times, it’s been the fiery Ryan, vowing the team will get better. At other times, it’s been the somber Ryan who looks like he is close to tears.
Right now, we’re getting the resigned Ryan, who seems to have accepted his fate. One telling comment from Sunday was when Ryan spoke about Woody Johnson. He sounded like a man who does not expect to be working for Johnson much longer.
“I deserve a lot of the criticism for the way this team’s performed this season,” Ryan said. “I get that, no question, but Woody doesn’t. I’ll tell you that much. The Jets are in good hands with him as the owner.”
In good hands?
That sounds like Ryan expects to be in a TV studio next year. How could he not? This 2-11 season has been a disaster. GM John Idzik deserves a ton of blame for the roster he assembled, but Ryan has failed as head coach, too. This is the fourth straight year with no playoff appearance. It’s sad to see Ryan going out with a whimper, but the farewell tour has begun.
2. While fans of other teams will be studying the playoff scenarios, Jets fans will be looking at the top of the draft and just how high (or is it how low?) the Jets can climb in the draft order. The Raiders’ win Sunday moved the Jets into the No. 4 position. Here is the current top 5:
1. Buccaneers; 2. Titans; 3. Jaguars; 4. Jets; 5. Raiders
In that group, the Jets, Buccaneers and Titans need quarterbacks. So that is the race for Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston if teams are willing to overlook his off-field issues. The Jets and Titans meets this week in Nashville with draft seeding on the line. If the Jets win, they can forget about passing the Titans. If they do lose, they will have a shot at ending up with the No. 1 pick. The Jaguars and Titans play each other, so if the Titans beat the Jets and then lose to the Jaguars, the Jets move past both of them. Tampa Bay has a game remaining with the hard-to-figure Panthers in the crazy NFC South. It’s not crazy to think the Bucs win that game, and — voila — the Jets have the top pick.
Not exactly what Jets fans were hoping for over the summer, but it will make next spring exciting.
3. When you watch a lot of Jets games, you become an expert in bad quarterback play. This is what I’ve learned about what separates the good ones and the also-rans. The good ones are unaffected by those around them. If the blocking breaks down or the wide receivers are not getting open, they somehow find a way.
Geno Smith is not one of the good ones. He is one of the also-rans. But here is the thing: Every starting quarterback in the NFL can play the position well. They wouldn’t be in the NFL if they couldn’t. But not every starting quarterback can play well when things break down around them. Smith is one of those.
The Jets offensive line gave Smith a ton of time Sunday, and Percy Harvin and Eric Decker did a great job getting open. That helped Smith look good (after the game-opening pick six). It’s what we’ve seen over two years from Smith, and it is the same problem Mark Sanchez had (and maybe still has). When things are going right, they can get it done. But if something is off, they fall apart.
I don’t know how you figure out in the draft process which quarterbacks can survive turbulence and which can’t, but in my opinion, it’s more important than any 40 time or combine drill.
4. What the heck happened to Jeff Cumberland? The Jets tight end was never going to get confused for Jimmy Graham or Rob Gronkowski, but he showed a lot of promise last season. The Jets re-signed him and he has been terrible this year. His latest gaffe was not finishing his route in the end zone Sunday for what looked like a sure touchdown. Cumberland has improved as a run blocker, but remains a liability when asked to stay in on pass protection.
He had zero catches on two targets. Rookie Jace Amaro has missed the last two games with a concussion. When Amaro is healthy, it’s time to give him the bulk of the snaps and sit Cumberland down.
Revealing number: The Jets won the time of possession battle with 35:52 compared to the Vikings’ 28:47. They also had close to 100 yards more of total offense before the 87-yard game-winning touchdown. It’s the latest in a few games the Jets have had like that this season where statistically they were better than the team that beat them. But it was the same old story of how they lost. They settled for field goals in the red zone (0-for-5) and allowed a few big plays on defense. New movie, same script.
Game ball: One silver lining in this lost season has been the play of second-year defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. He played perhaps his best game Sunday, sacking Teddy Bridgewater three times, once for a safety. He now has a team-leading 6 ½ sacks. Idzik has made plenty of mistakes, but drafting Richardson was a home run.
Surprising snap count: Safety Dawan Landry played just 28 of 58 snaps (48 percent) in the game as the Jets gave rookie Calvin Pryor (37 snaps) more time. Landry had only been out for 15 plays all season before Sunday’s game.
The coaches have talked about playing younger guys to end the season and they did that here.
FILED UNDER CALVIN PRYOR, DAWAN LANDRY, GENO SMITH, JEFF CUMBERLAND, JOHN IDZIK, NEW YORK JETS, REX RYAN, SHELDON RICHARDSON, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS, TENNESSEE TITANS, WOODY JOHNSON
By Brian CostelloDecember 8, 2014 | 1:20pm
The Jets suffered another loss Sunday, this one a 30-24 overtime loss to the Vikings. The Jets are now 2-11, their worst 13-game record since they finished 1-15 in 1996. All that is left to find out is just how many people owner Woody Johnson fires after the season and what draft pick the Jets end up with.
Here are a few of my thoughts after the latest loss:
1. Something I’ve always found myself doing after Jets losses while I’ve covered the team is trying to figure out which Rex Ryan we’re going to get in the postgame press conference. At times, it’s been the fiery Ryan, vowing the team will get better. At other times, it’s been the somber Ryan who looks like he is close to tears.
Right now, we’re getting the resigned Ryan, who seems to have accepted his fate. One telling comment from Sunday was when Ryan spoke about Woody Johnson. He sounded like a man who does not expect to be working for Johnson much longer.
“I deserve a lot of the criticism for the way this team’s performed this season,” Ryan said. “I get that, no question, but Woody doesn’t. I’ll tell you that much. The Jets are in good hands with him as the owner.”
In good hands?
That sounds like Ryan expects to be in a TV studio next year. How could he not? This 2-11 season has been a disaster. GM John Idzik deserves a ton of blame for the roster he assembled, but Ryan has failed as head coach, too. This is the fourth straight year with no playoff appearance. It’s sad to see Ryan going out with a whimper, but the farewell tour has begun.
2. While fans of other teams will be studying the playoff scenarios, Jets fans will be looking at the top of the draft and just how high (or is it how low?) the Jets can climb in the draft order. The Raiders’ win Sunday moved the Jets into the No. 4 position. Here is the current top 5:
1. Buccaneers; 2. Titans; 3. Jaguars; 4. Jets; 5. Raiders
In that group, the Jets, Buccaneers and Titans need quarterbacks. So that is the race for Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota and Jameis Winston if teams are willing to overlook his off-field issues. The Jets and Titans meets this week in Nashville with draft seeding on the line. If the Jets win, they can forget about passing the Titans. If they do lose, they will have a shot at ending up with the No. 1 pick. The Jaguars and Titans play each other, so if the Titans beat the Jets and then lose to the Jaguars, the Jets move past both of them. Tampa Bay has a game remaining with the hard-to-figure Panthers in the crazy NFC South. It’s not crazy to think the Bucs win that game, and — voila — the Jets have the top pick.
Not exactly what Jets fans were hoping for over the summer, but it will make next spring exciting.
3. When you watch a lot of Jets games, you become an expert in bad quarterback play. This is what I’ve learned about what separates the good ones and the also-rans. The good ones are unaffected by those around them. If the blocking breaks down or the wide receivers are not getting open, they somehow find a way.
Geno Smith is not one of the good ones. He is one of the also-rans. But here is the thing: Every starting quarterback in the NFL can play the position well. They wouldn’t be in the NFL if they couldn’t. But not every starting quarterback can play well when things break down around them. Smith is one of those.
The Jets offensive line gave Smith a ton of time Sunday, and Percy Harvin and Eric Decker did a great job getting open. That helped Smith look good (after the game-opening pick six). It’s what we’ve seen over two years from Smith, and it is the same problem Mark Sanchez had (and maybe still has). When things are going right, they can get it done. But if something is off, they fall apart.
I don’t know how you figure out in the draft process which quarterbacks can survive turbulence and which can’t, but in my opinion, it’s more important than any 40 time or combine drill.
4. What the heck happened to Jeff Cumberland? The Jets tight end was never going to get confused for Jimmy Graham or Rob Gronkowski, but he showed a lot of promise last season. The Jets re-signed him and he has been terrible this year. His latest gaffe was not finishing his route in the end zone Sunday for what looked like a sure touchdown. Cumberland has improved as a run blocker, but remains a liability when asked to stay in on pass protection.
He had zero catches on two targets. Rookie Jace Amaro has missed the last two games with a concussion. When Amaro is healthy, it’s time to give him the bulk of the snaps and sit Cumberland down.
Revealing number: The Jets won the time of possession battle with 35:52 compared to the Vikings’ 28:47. They also had close to 100 yards more of total offense before the 87-yard game-winning touchdown. It’s the latest in a few games the Jets have had like that this season where statistically they were better than the team that beat them. But it was the same old story of how they lost. They settled for field goals in the red zone (0-for-5) and allowed a few big plays on defense. New movie, same script.
Game ball: One silver lining in this lost season has been the play of second-year defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson. He played perhaps his best game Sunday, sacking Teddy Bridgewater three times, once for a safety. He now has a team-leading 6 ½ sacks. Idzik has made plenty of mistakes, but drafting Richardson was a home run.
Surprising snap count: Safety Dawan Landry played just 28 of 58 snaps (48 percent) in the game as the Jets gave rookie Calvin Pryor (37 snaps) more time. Landry had only been out for 15 plays all season before Sunday’s game.
The coaches have talked about playing younger guys to end the season and they did that here.
FILED UNDER CALVIN PRYOR, DAWAN LANDRY, GENO SMITH, JEFF CUMBERLAND, JOHN IDZIK, NEW YORK JETS, REX RYAN, SHELDON RICHARDSON, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS, TENNESSEE TITANS, WOODY JOHNSON
