Struggling Jets Must Stick With Smith

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Struggling Jets must stick with Geno Smith

 

 

September, 29, 2013

 

Sep 29

 

 

11:10

 

 

PM ET

 

 

By  Rich Cimini | ESPNNewYork.com

 

 

 

 

 

Geno Smith Wesley Hitt/Getty ImagesGeno Smith added yet another moment of ignominy to Jets lore: the Around-the-Butt Fumble

 

 

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- If Mark Sanchez was healthy, the New York Jets would have one salacious quarterback controversy. But his injured right shoulder won’t be healed until November (if then), so they have little choice but to ride with Geno Smith.

 

 

Better take a Dramamine.

 

 

After Sunday’s 38-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans at LP Field, Smith approached many teammates in the locker room, basically telling them, “It won’t happen again.” It will, of course, because he’s a rookie, and rookies have days like this. He handed 28 points to the Titans with four turnovers, and introduced a new term into the franchise’s long history of blooper plays -- the Around-the-Butt Fumble.

 

 

At 2-2, it would be a panic move for the Jets to bench Smith in favor of Matt Simms. They’d be going from little experience to no experience. Afterward, Rex Ryan eliminated any doubt, saying Smith will start next week against the Atlanta Falcons.

 

 

Unless he pulls a Greg Schiano and flip-flops, Ryan is making the right call by sticking with Smith. It’s a no-brainer, really. This season is all about Smith, finding out if he’s good enough to make him the centerpiece of the franchise. There may come a time to check out Simms, but not now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So turn down the volume on the “We Want Simms” drumbeat.

 

 

The next chapter of this soap opera is waiting to see how the kid from West Virginia University responds to adversity. He has to get better, right?

 

 

Smith offered a scathing self-evaluation, describing his performance as “piss-poor.” Hard to argue with that. He threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles because of careless ballhandling, evoking memories of some Sanchez-ian gaffes.

 

 

Smith scored points for creativity, trying to switch the ball to his left hand -- behind the back -- while getting bulldozed by defensive tackle Karl Klug at the Jets’ goal line. Note to young quarterbacks: Don’t try any trickeration when there’s a 280-pound human attached to your body.

 

 

Naturally, Smith fumbled, and it was recovered for a touchdown to make it 31-6. The game probably was out of reach anyway, but that one moment -- that one brain cramp -- showed a young player overwhelmed by the moment and the day.

 

 

“It was kind of one of those tough situations,” Smith said. “My only reaction was to swing my left hand around and grab it before I fumbled it. I couldn’t get it around.”

 

 

Sanchez, watching from the sideline in street clothes, could empathize. At least now maybe his Butt Fumble can be put to rest.

 

 

How bad was Smith? He was sacked, lost a fumble or threw an interception on nine of his 42 drop-backs, bringing his turnover total to 11 -- eight interceptions and three fumbles. He’s tied with Eli Manning for the league lead in turnovers. In fact, Smith has more turnovers by himself than all but one team -- the New York Giants, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

 

 

A livid Ryan was in no mood to use the rookie-growing-pains alibi.

 

 

“How many times are we going to make that excuse?” he asked. “One of these days we’re going to have to learn from them, and it better be soon. The team we’re going to play next [the 1-3 Atlanta Falcons] is a pretty good darn football team, so we better learn in a hurry. It has to get better.”

 

 

Smith was intercepted by Alterraun Verner on the second play of the game, underthrowing a deep ball to Stephen Hill, and he was cooked right there. He never regained his composure, rattled by the Titans’ relentless blitzing.

 

 

Another lowlight occurred when he was scrambling in the open field for a first down, holding the ball with one hand and inviting what occurred next -- a tomahawk chop by linebacker Zach Brown, who slapped the ball loose. His second interception was a bad decision, forcing a ball into blanket coverage on Santonio Holmes, who was beaten to the ball by Verner.

 

 

Then came the Around-the-Butt Fumble.

 

 

“I’m extremely disappointed with the way I took care of the ball,” Smith said.

 

 

Smith wasn’t the only goat. The Jets committed 10 penalties (that’s 30 in two weeks) and allowed four touchdown passes, so there was plenty of blame to go around. Ryan tried to emphasize that point. Sensing the media was picking on Smith in the postgame news conference, the coach insisted, “I think we’re unfairly criticizing one man.”

 

 

His teammates -- the ones who spoke, that is -- supported him, saying the right things. Holmes and Calvin Pace, veteran leaders, left without speaking to reporters.

 

 

“We believe in the guy,” Kellen Winslow said of Smith.

 

 

Do the Jets have a choice?

 

 

They are paying the price for mismanaging the quarterback competition in the preseason, resulting in Sanchez’s injury. So now it’s Smith or bust, trying to figure out a way to make him better. Marty Mornhinweg could help by calling more running plays. They actually ran well against the Titans, but the aggressive playcaller kept dialing up passes.

 

 

In the meantime, prepare for a bumpy ride.

 

 

“[The mistakes] are correctable,” Smith said, “and they will be corrected.” 

[joewilly12]

Agreed stick with Geno Smith he needs help he cant do it alone.  RB,WR improve the OL. 

[DonCorleone]

Agreed stick with Geno Smith he needs help he cant do it alone.  RB,WR improve the OL. 

What exactly can't he do alone? First play of the game and he throws an inexplicable interception. What exactly am I missing?

[joewilly12]

What exactly can't he do alone? First play of the game and he throws an inexplicable interception. What exactly am I missing?

Have you ever watched the Jets WRs run routes?  They don't.  INTs are part of the game especially with a rookie QB. Geno needs to check down more often and utilize the TEs Cumberland and Winslow are decent and can get the job done here.

[flgreen]

"The around the butt fumble"

 

Got a nice ring to it.  Are Smith and Sanchez related? 

[bitonti]

Agreed stick with Geno Smith he needs help he cant do it alone.  RB,WR improve the OL. 

 

he gave his best WR  a concussion on the first passing play of the game. Geno needs to help himself. 

[Bleedin Green]

Ryan is making the right call by sticking with Smith. It’s a no-brainer, really. This season is all about Smith, finding out if he’s good enough to make him the centerpiece of the franchise. There may come a time to check out Simms, but not now.

 

This says it all right here.  It is unfortunately becoming yet another ridiculously painful process, but at this point it is the only thing that makes any sense to do and that would be no different even if Sanchez were healthy.  If this keeps up there is still a whole lot of time left in the season to possibly take a look at Simms down the line, but there's no point in doing that now.  In all likelihood, he'll be a disaster too and then what the hell do you do?  This team would ultimately find themselves in an even bigger mess than the one they already are in.  It really sucks, but the Jets still absolutely need to ride it out with Geno for a while longer because like it or not, of the guys on the roster, he's still the best chance they have for a long-term answer.

[Matt39]

Stick with Geno and hand the ball off. Punts are good with this type of team.

[bitonti]

This says it all right here.  It is unfortunately becoming yet another ridiculously painful process, but at this point it is the only thing that makes any sense to do and that would be no different even if Sanchez were healthy.  If this keeps up there is still a whole lot of time left in the season to possibly take a look at Simms down the line, but there's no point in doing that now.  In all likelihood, he'll be a disaster too and then what the hell do you do?  This team would ultimately find themselves in an even bigger mess than the one they already are in.  It really sucks, but the Jets still absolutely need to ride it out with Geno for a while longer because like it or not, of the guys on the roster, he's still the best chance they have for a long-term answer.

 

the Jets ruined Mark and they are in the process of ruining Sanchez. if the GM had done his job and signed a real backup (for example Ryan Fitzpatrick) instead of David Garrard, maybe they wouldn't be choosing between which rookie to ruin this year.

[Bleedin Green]

he gave his best WR  a concussion on the first passing play of the game. Geno needs to help himself. 

 

Only you could watch such a horrendously awful game by a football player and yet still manage to fail in your attempts to properly criticize him.

[joewilly12]

the Jets ruined Mark and they are in the process of ruining Sanchez. if the GM had done his job and signed a real backup (for example Ryan Fitzpatrick) instead of David Garrard, maybe they wouldn't be choosing between which rookie to ruin this year.

Smith you mean and I agree 110%.

[BroadwayJoe12]

the Jets ruined Mark and they are in the process of ruining Sanchez. if the GM had done his job and signed a real backup (for example Ryan Fitzpatrick) instead of David Garrard, maybe they wouldn't be choosing between which rookie to ruin this year.

 

The gonna ruin him twice?

[DRJETS]

The gonna ruin him twice?

 

We should change his name to TONTO.

[dbatesman]

the Jets ruined Mark and they are in the process of ruining Sanchez. if the GM had done his job and signed a real backup (for example Ryan Fitzpatrick) instead of David Garrard, maybe they wouldn't be choosing between which rookie to ruin this year.

 

Yeah, the pouty SoCal candyboy with 16 college starts was well on his way to the Hall before Brian Schottenheimer dug his claws into him.

[Il Mostro]

Jets are in "cure it or kill it" mode.  Until Geno completely crashes and burns, leaving a smoldering pile or ruble (or a steaming pile of $hit), we are stuck with him.  Look for the interception & fumble fest to continue.

[MexiRoll6]

Since NO ONE actually WON the Jets QB 'competition' why should Geno be 'the guy' the team sticks with? I know Simms doesn't have any more experience than Smith, but I doubt he would hold the ball out there like a loaf of bread like Smith does, and has since college when he fumbled like 36 times. I don't care, it's Rex's job to lose and he will. So go ahead there big guy and stick with Sanchez II, and you will be assured of that pink slip. There is NO rule that says the Jets can't change QB's on a weekly basis, heck Tom Landry did it on a quarterly basis with Meredith and Staubach.

[JohnnyLV]

he gave his best WR  a concussion on the first passing play of the game. Geno needs to help himself. 

 

Horsesh*t. Hill ran a truly crappy route. That interception was on Hill. He needed to shield the corner on his post. And that hit was completely illegal cheap shot that will be fined by the NFL. 

 

But let's blame everything on Geno.

[aec4]

Horsesh*t. Hill ran a truly crappy route. That interception was on Hill. He needed to shield the corner on his post. And that hit was completely illegal cheap shot that will be fined by the NFL.

But let's blame everything on Geno.

Geno was awful yesterday. There were a lot of other bad plays too but Geno singlehanded gave the titans at least 24.

[Larz]

we found out already who geno is

 

he doesn't give a sh*t about ball security

 

letting him keep his job won't change that

[bitonti]

Horsesh*t. Hill ran a truly crappy route. That interception was on Hill. He needed to shield the corner on his post. And that hit was completely illegal cheap shot that will be fined by the NFL. 

 

But let's blame everything on Geno.

 

the titans were in press man coverage with 1 safety in the deep middle third. a slant is not going to work against that defense.  the route Hill is running leads him right into that 1 safety. even if Hill runs a better route, shields the corner  (who was jumping the underthrown ball),  the ball should never have been thrown. the interception was on Geno. Geno could have looked the safety off or pump faked or something. The best move is to audible to a go route or something to get Hill away from that safety. throwing it into that coverage, only bad things were gonna happen. As it turned out it was a kill shot on the WR and an opening drive INT. bad decision all the way.  Why not throw it away if nothing is there? That should be Geno's motto, throw it away. 

[T0mShane]

Geno was awful yesterday. There were a lot of other bad plays too but Geno singlehanded gave the titans at least 24.

Geno made Jake Locker look like Peyton Manning?

[bitonti]

Geno made Jake Locker look like Peyton Manning?

 

until they broke him. the D played rugged, as usual. the offense ate a cock and balls. 

[Smashmouth]

Cimini wants the Jets to stick with Smith because Smith will provide material for Cimini to write about for the entire season.

[Smashmouth]

until they broke him. the D played rugged, as usual. the offense ate a cock and balls. 

 

Stop talking Silly ...you make it sound like the Jets made some great play injuring Locker and knocking him out of the game when in fact it was a borderline late hit .