Hackenberg Shows Progress

[gmf1369]

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Christian Hackenberg didn’t get the start vs. the Titans, but he got plenty of time behind center as the Jets opened up their preseason schedule with a 7-3 win over Tennessee at MetLife Stadium. In two and a half quarters of action, Hackenberg completed 18 of 25 passes for 127 yards.

Appearing in his first game action since last September’s preseason finale in Philadelphia, Hackenberg connected on 72% of his throws. The strong-armed passer delivered the ball with good velocity and wasn’t helped by a couple of drops. But the Jets weren’t able to establish consistent offensive flow and were held without a point in Hack’s time.

After Josh McCown led the Green & White to a scoring drive in his only series, Hackenberg entered just past the midway point of the first quarter. He got his evening underway with a 9-yard completion to Robby Anderson and completed his first four attempts.

Throwing short and intermediate passes, he completed 11 of 16 in the opening half for 70 yards. He converted a pair of third downs to WR Chris Harper and led the home club to six first downs in all. But the Jets only crossed midfield once and never seriously threatened to score.

Hackenberg was greeted by a sack on his first snap of the third quarter. It was a play he had no chance on and it was the only time he went down behind the line of scrimmage Saturday evening. He converted a pair of third downs on his final drive, but that possession ended in plus-territory after a bad exchange between Jonatthan Harrison and Hackenberg.

While his night might have ended with a turnover, Hackenberg took small steps forward once again. Nothing materialized down the field, but he showed poise in the pocket and threw with authority.

 

[jets82]

Glad to know he looks good but with what McCown did, Hack will probably have to do a lot more over these next three games to be the game one starter.

 

[jetgreen13]

Glad to know he looks good but with what McCown did, Hack will probably have to do a lot more over these next three games to be the game one starter.

all the kid can do is continue to make the bowles' decision ridiculously uncomfortable not to start him..

hackenberg played very well with what was available to him last night.. he looked very much like an NFL QB & i'm excited about what i saw from him..

 

[Mainejet]

He played well overall. Just a few things to point out:

There were much larger chunks of yardage there for the taking. Hack always took the safe play and I suppose that's fine for the preseason. I'd just like him to take larger chances down field.

The fumbled Center/QB was all Hacks fault. He didn't have his hands open. He got too relaxed out there and became complacent.

The OL MUST get better. That unit is going to get Hack killed. There's no excuse for that unit playing as poorly as it has.

Hack must start scoring points? It's ridiculous to see him play as long as he did and never score points. There was no kind of defensive strategy being thrown at him and yet he was unable to put the ball in the end zone. Unacceptable.

 

[maxmet]

technically satisfactory performance by Hack

Would have looked better if a couple of fine throws had not been dropped

nothing great, but solid, hit open guys, threw with good accuracy

 

[jetgreen13]

He played well overall. Just a few things to point out:

There were much larger chunks of yardage there for the taking. Hack always took the safe play and I suppose that's fine for the preseason. I'd just like him to take larger chances down field.

The fumbled Center/QB was all Hacks fault. He didn't have his hands open. He got too relaxed out there and became complacent.

The OL MUST get better. That unit is going to get Hack killed. There's no excuse for that unit playing as poorly as it has.

Hack must start scoring points? It's ridiculous to see him play as long as he did and never score points. There was no kind of defensive strategy being thrown at him and yet he was unable to put the ball in the end zone. Unacceptable.

maine, unless you were at the game last night, i'm missing how you picked up on all the chuck yardage hackenberg left on the field..

could the the kid have been overly cautious?? very possible..

it could also have been hackenberg wasn't given a real opportunity to go down field based on play calling.....

 

[USANYJ]

maine, unless you were at the game last night, i'm missing how you picked up on all the chuck yardage hackenberg left on the field..

could the the kid have been overly cautious?? very possible..

it could also have been hackenberg wasn't given a real opportunity to go down field based on play calling.....

To speak to that point, I was at the game yesterday. On one or two plays there was a chance for more yardage. On hacks scramble on third down a receiver broke free. Not sure if he saw him or if his eyes were focused on the sideline. But if he had seen him he would've had to throw on the run. But the receiver was open.

 

[Mainejet]

maine, unless you were at the game last night, i'm missing how you picked up on all the chuck yardage hackenberg left on the field..

could the the kid have been overly cautious?? very possible..

it could also have been hackenberg wasn't given a real opportunity to go down field based on play calling.....

Well, maybe he was handcuffed? Certainly possible. I just saw a few plays where there was a bigger play available for Hack to take advantage of.

and not scoring must change. ....

 

[Mainejet]

To speak to that point, I was at the game yesterday. On one or two plays there was a chance for more yardage. On hacks scramble on third down a receiver broke free. Not sure if he saw him or if his eyes were focused on the sideline. But if he had seen him he would've had to throw on the run. But the receiver was open.

You never saw him take any chances trying to thread the needle? Threading the needle is sometimes very necessary. Many defenses the Jets will of face this season will not allow all of the dink and dunk passes that Hack was able to complete. The defense was 100% vanilla with no wrinkles whatsoever.

 

[jetgreen13]

To speak to that point, I was at the game yesterday. On one or two plays there was a chance for more yardage. On hacks scramble on third down a receiver broke free. Not sure if he saw him or if his eyes were focused on the sideline. But if he had seen him he would've had to throw on the run. But the receiver was open.

thanks for the intel USANYJ..

missing one or two shots down field speaks to my point that the game plan for hackenberg was to keep the kid away from throwing for chunks of yardage..

if bowles isn't as full of shit as i believe him to be, hackenberg gets nothing less than the lion's share of first team reps next week & starts in detroit..

oh, & is given the chance to make big boy throws, for all of jet coaches, front office, teammates, media & fan base to see..

 

[SackExchange]

I wonder if he was coached to look the short, safe routes, and not try to do too much. That may be why he missed a few guys deep.

If he was coached to do that, it's not a bad idea. You don't want him doing too much yet. Work in the deeper chances gradually.

 

[Elias]

Hack was nothing spectacular. He was accurate and he throws the ball with zip. Only negative play that stuck out to me was the screen to McGuire. He threw behind him and the play was stopped behind the line of scrimmage.

The rest of the game he played it very safe but he didn't look like he didn't belong. If he can build on this performance I can see him being good this year.

 

[lounap23]

The play calling was interesting. It may have looked familiar and felt familiar to what Gailey did to Petty last year by keeping it all 5 yds or less. But there was a slight difference. Even with the D crowded at the LOS unlike last year more plays were there for the taking to get yardage..... IDK if either WR were just beating there guys at the LOS or the play design for the routes against those types of Defenses was better but going 18-25 ( and 2 perfect passes dropped) is a not easy to do when the D knows the pass is gonna be 5 yds or less... SO that was encouraging. Also, you gotta think this is Mortons setup for the Jets Offense.... TRUE WC offense. no wrinkles, no gimmicks. Just the pure 3 step drop and let it go and let the Playmakers make the plays...take the 5-7 yd chunks and keep moving the chains....Because when the true WC offense is run efficiently... It opens up for 3 things to happen......1. The Deep ball with the D locked (lulled) into the short rhythmic passing game... 2. The Quick slants to bust open for Big plays... 3 and the running game to have the D out of position.....

Maybe I am projecting here... Maybe it's wishful thinking but it sure looked and felt like the true WC offense. Let's hope it works

 

[jetgreen13]

I wonder if he was coached to look the short, safe routes, and not try to do too much. That may be why he missed a few guys deep.

If he was coached to do that, it's not a bad idea. You don't want him doing too much yet. Work in the deeper chances gradually.

I wonder if he was coached to look the short, safe routes, and not try to do too much. That may be why he missed a few guys deep.

If he was coached to do that, it's not a bad idea. You don't want him doing too much yet. Work in the deeper chances gradually.

if we weren't dealing with what i believe to be a rigged game, i would agree.. hackenberg's got two more weeks to force bowles' hand in to naming him the starter sack.. they "red shirted" the kid last season, if the time isn't now, when is it?? year three under a new regime??

 

[SackExchange]

if we weren't dealing with what i believe to be a rigged game, i would agree.. hackenberg's got two more weeks to force bowles' hand in to naming him the starter sack.. they "red shirted" the kid last season, if the time isn't now, when is it?? year three under a new regime??

Agreed. That said, it's not like McCown looked awful out there. One drive, and he looked solid.

I don't want McCown starting, but if he sets a high bar and is the best QB on the roster, it's not easy to keep him on the bench, at least from Bowles' perspective. It's not one I share, but I'm also not the HC.

 

[gmf1369]

would hope they would give him the start week 2 but won't happen not saying he can not take the job but dont see it happening...

the only thing Hack can do is come out next week and continue to make the right reads and hit the open guy... Christian needs to build his confidence not only understanding what he sees but understanding how to attack said defenses... first game he did what he needed to, and impressed while doing it... hope in the second game he opens up a tad and takes a few shots downfield along with his impressive short to intermediate passing attack and really put the pressure on McCown to possible stealing the start...

we know this from what he was last year to now he has improved slightly... he needs to continue to build upon that and now has some good tape to work on...

 

[gmf1369]

The fumbled Center/QB was all Hacks fault. He didn't have his hands open. He got too relaxed out there and became complacent.

that wasn't Hackenberg's fault that was Jonathan Harrison mistake as he thought the play was on the first count, clearly Hack wasn't set and ready for it...

 

[jetgreen13]

Agreed. That said, it's not like McCown looked awful out there. One drive, and he looked solid.

I don't want McCown starting, but if he sets a high bar and is the best QB on the roster, it's not easy to keep him on the bench, at least from Bowles' perspective. It's not one I share, but I'm also not the HC.

mccown heaved the ball as far as he could & anderson made a really nice adjustment on the throw.. a few moments later he throws a about a 5 yard TD.. end of his first & only series, end of his work day.. & hey, nothing against mccown, he has fit in very well by all accounts & both of the kids seem to have taken to him.. but LOLz you think bowles even thought for a nanosecond to give mccown another series??

meanwhile, hackenberg is apparently force fed dump offs for almost 3 quarters & looks good doing it.....

 

[Mainejet]

that wasn't Hackenberg's fault that was Jonathan Harrison mistake as he thought the play was on the first count, clearly Hack wasn't set and ready for it...

Watching the replay it was clear Hack didn't have his hands open. No way he should have his hands down there to begin with unless he's prepared to take the snap.

 

[gmf1369]

Watching the replay it was clear Hack didn't have his hands open. No way he should have his hands down there to begin with unless he's prepared to take the snap.

Hack was good, better than expected so I really don't get that he fudged up on that play... btw he looked surprised when it was snapped, because he wasn't expecting it, so have to blame the center, Harrison miss judging the snap count... on whether Hack had his hands set before the botched snap is irrelevant just b/c if it was suppose to be on count 2 then until after count 1 does he need to set his hands for the snap...