Jets Passing Offense Film Review – Week 5 (Steelers) Bad Magic

[JetNation]

Ryan Fitzpatrick is facing a firestorm from Jet fans for his lackluster play so far this season, and he contributed to the pile of evidence with his play against the Steelers.  He played better than the Chiefs game, but the game plan seemed to limit risks, which caused the offense to sputter consistently.  Let’s examine some of the bad magic from Week 5:

Bad Magic:

1) 

During the draft, it’s often emphasized that arm strength shows up on throws across the hash marks to the outside.  You will see draft experts rave about big arm prospects having the ability to throw the far out route.  Well this is an example of lackluster arm strength from Fitzpatrick, although this is a good read.  The defense is in single high safety and Fitzpatrick is locked into Marshall from the start, knowing it’s one on one coverage since the seam route in the middle is going to keep the safety from jumping the route.  Fitzpatrick correctly surmises that Marshall will have an opportunity to be open and throws the ball, but it arrives woefully late.  The CB gets turned around at the last second, which is a big reason why he did not have a direct line towards this ball, but it needs to arrive earlier consistently for this to be caught on a regular basis.  This is not a big sin, and the play is positive since there was a pass interference penalty on this play, which is why the Steelers didn’t challenge the catch ruling on the field, which was clearly wrong according to replays.   This one is just pointing out a limitation with Fitzpatrick, even though he makes the correct read because his arm just isn’t strong enough for these throws unless he throws them earlier (at which point the CB won’t be turned around).

2) 

This is very similar to the types of plays we see in this article every week.  There is a pre-snap read that indicates an easy completion, there is a receiver open on that side, and Fitzpatrick completely ignores it for an incomplete pass to Marshall.   The defense is again in single high safety, but the two receivers to the right of the formation have man coverage at the line of scrimmage.  However, on the other side, the Jets have three possible receivers with only two defenders lined up on them, and even so they are giving up about eight yards.  It’s important to note that this is a 3rd and 1 play as well.  Austin Seferian-Jenkins is also lined up with no one directly over him, indicating that one of the LBs has to run over from the middle to cover him, which puts him at a disadvantage being out of position, or he’s not covered at all.  In any scenario, the first read needs to be towards the left of the formation because the pre-snap reads all indicate that is the side of the field that has a better chance to be open.  So what does Fitzpatrick do?  He locks into a one on one coverage with Marshall, and throws a possible interception that Marshall does a good job of swatting away from the defender.  These are the types of plays that drive offensive coordinators nuts because the design of the play yielded an easy first down option which should have continued the drive.  The entire premise of the offense is to rely on pre-snap reads, which Fitzpatrick did a much better job of doing last year, but for some reason has gone away from it this year.  This is a horrible read and throw by Fitzpatrick.

3) 

This is a second and 10 play in the first quarter and the Steelers are coming out with a two deep safety look, and the pre-snap movement indicates zone coverage.  They have seven in the box, with a second safety coming towards the middle right before the snap.  All of this indicates that a screen pass to the RB probably won’t amount to much, but Fitzpatrick is locked in on this play to Powell.  Notice the space given to Robby Anderson, and how wide open he is on the curl route to the right of the formation.  Even Brandon Marshall is open on the other side of the field on the same exact route.  Yet, Fitzpatrick ignores both options for the pre-designed pass to the RB, which goes nowhere.  This isn’t even a case of the QB being pressured, having to throw the ball because the pocket is clean.  For most QBs, the read is high/low in on this play, so Fitzpatrick has to look at his outside high option (Anderson) and if he’s covered then go to his low inside option (Powell).  If Fitzpatrick even looks at Anderson at his break, he’s wide open for a first down but he’s locked in on Powell.

4) 

This play is bad for many reasons because they have the Steelers in the perfect defense for this play call.  They have a single high safety look against two receivers, but on the first down play, they have stacked eight men in the box.  On a play action, the LBs have bit, so this is a great match up for a deep slant route.  Quincy Enunwa runs the deep crossing route and is open for the pass but Fitzpatrick bypasses that option for the deep pass to Robby Anderson.  While Anderson is covered on this play, he has the inside track on his defender, so the pass needs to be led towards the left side of the field so he can run across and keep separation from the defender.  However, this is just a horrible throw from Fitzpatrick as he throws it straight over Anderson which forces him to change directions and puts the CB in the better position to catch this ball.  There is a lot of mention of Fitzpatrick locking into receivers, and it’s tiresome to read time and time again, but this is a great example of it.  If Fitzpatrick even looks at Enunwa, he has a big completion down the field.  However, Fitzpatrick picked Anderson, which wasn’t the worst decision, but it’s just a horrible throw.

5) 

The defense is in single high safety and Fitzpatrick turns a screen pass into a sack.  While the major fault on this play is on the right tackle, there is a screen pass set to the left side of the field that should get yards on this play.  However, Fitzpatrick not only does a ball fake to Forte, but a fake pass to Powell, then a spin to set up for the real screen pass to Forte.  The set up on the play is great in theory because Forte is set to run down the field with blockers but the play takes too long to develop.   This play is in “Bad Magic” instead of “Assistant’s Failures” because screen passes are tricky to defend.  The tackle has to drive the defender outside to open up the passing lane for the screen pass, but this also means there is a limited amount of time to execute the pass.  Fitzpatrick takes a split second too much to execute this play, as there is no need to do a complete spin fake pass here, and it blows up on the Jets.  This is not just a bad play for Fitzpatrick, this is a horrible play all around.

6) 

Another play that isn’t a horrible play, but highlights the conservative nature of the offense against the Steelers.  The defense is in a single high safety look and the movement indicates man coverage.  The Jets have five receivers on this play, with two to the left of the formation and three to the right.  They throw this pass well short of the first down on a 3rd and 9 play, and have to settle for a FG.  The right side of the field has two options that were deeper, a go route by Anderson as he’s beating his defender and an out route by Marshall who also beats his defender.  Pre-snap read, this is a safe pass because Peake has about eight yards on his defender at the line, but he gets tackled well before the first down marker.   The Jets opted for the safer option here, when they need to be more aggressive on offense.  The lack of respect for the deep passing game is again persistent, as defenses are letting guys run deep knowing there is minimal chance of an accurate deep pass.

7) 

The defense is again in a single high safety look, while the Jets have four receivers lined up at the line of scrimmage.   This is a miscommunication issue based on pre-snap reads.  The initial look on this play indicates that the Steelers are playing man coverage on this play, but they drop back into zone coverage.  Fitzpatrick throws the ball as if it’s man coverage with the LB dropping back to cover Enunwa, so he throws it up the field.  Enunwa correctly sees that it’s zone coverage so he slows down for a passing lane in the soft spot of the zone, and the ball is thrown too far ahead of him to catch it.  This is just an unfortunate play for the Jets.  The full blame can’t go on Fitzpatrick nor Enunwa because it’s miscommunication.  However, Enunwa is right in reading the coverage on this play because the LBs did drop back into zone coverage on this play.  The interesting aspect from this play is the respect given to Robby Anderson.  The defender is about eight yards away from him, and he’ll be wide open for those curl routes.  However, remember the first play in this article?  Fitzpatrick is lined up on the far side of the hash, so this is the defense betting that he can’t throw that pass on time, and hedging their bet against other routes, either inside or deep.

8) 

This is a second and nine play in the fourth quarter and the Jets need to put up points to stay in this game.  The defense comes out to a  single high safety look, while the Jets show four receivers.  Brandon Marshall is lined up the right side of the formation, while there are three others on the left side of the formation.  The movement indicates that this is zone coverage on the play.  The defender on Marshall is up at the line, while a LB is shading towards that side as well to defend slant routes.  In essence, every indication shows that Marshall is going to be double covered on this zone defense play.  So naturally, Fitzpatrick locks into him from the snap and throws an incomplete pass.  The left side of the formation is defended differently, indicating that there is a better chance of a player being open to this side.  There are two defenders giving up at least six to eight yards on their receiver, while a LB has to jump from the middle to defend the third option.  The read should be simply be the slot defender and see where he goes and throw a pass based on that, but Fitzpatrick ignores this side completely.   Again, notice Robby Anderson open on the curl route.  If the Jets could get a QB with great arm strength, this receiver will be dynamic.

9) 

The defense comes out in a single high safety look, while the Jets come out in a five wide receiver formation.  The defense is lined up exactly the same to both sides of the field, so the pre-snap read is to just pick a side on this play.  Ryan Fitzpatrick picks to look at the left side of the formation, and he has Quincy Enunwa open for a pass, but decides to pass it up and run himself right into a sack.  There is pretty much no reason for Fitzpatrick to even run up in the pocket on this play as the offensive line is doing it’s job.  Fitzpatrick can’t pull the trigger on the pass to Enunwa, and it costs the Jets a sack because instead of sitting back in the pocket and scanning the field, he ran up field right into the arms of a defensive lineman.  The failure on this play is heightened because the opposing QB, Ben Roethlisberger, picked apart the Jets defense doing exactly that, scanning the field while patiently waiting in the pocket.

10) 

Part of the blame on this play lays on Brandon Marshall, as this is not a great pass, but a great player has to make this catch.  However, this is just a bad read and another example of Fitzpatrick locking in on the receiver at the snap.  The pre-snap read on this play shows the defense in single high safety with three defenders in the area of Marshall, and a possible receiver from the backfield.  The Steelers actually make a mistake on this play by doubling the running back, but Fitzpatrick throws this ball low.  Pre-snap, the right side of the formation has three receivers, with two defenders in the vicinity.  This is a mismatch the Jets have to exploit, and Quincy Enunwa is wide open for a pass but Fitzpatrick doesn’t look towards him.  This is also a 3rd and 2 play, right before the terrible decision to punt the ball.  The right side of the formation indicates an easy completion either on the outside curl route or one of the receivers from Enunwa or Davis, since Fitzpatrick just has to read the slot defender.  While Marshall needs to make this catch, and Fitzpatrick needs to make a better throw, easier options were available to the Jets.  This isn’t hindsight criticism, because if you know the receiver’s routes, you can easily discern that there are going to be open players on the right side of the formation.

11) 

This is the Jets final drive, and they are just trying to get some respect at this point.  Fitzpatrick does a good job of moving up in the pocket on this play, but makes a terrible throw behind his receiver.  This play is another pass that hits the defender right in the hands, and should have been intercepted, but is dropped.  It’s just a horrible throw by Fitzpatrick on this play which ruins a good play by him to avoid the rush.   The TV angle and this angle both make it hard to determine how close this came to an interception, but this hits the defender right between his hands, as if the pass was intended for him.  As you can see, the CB is agitated that he dropped the pass.

Conclusion:

Another mediocre game from Ryan Fitzpatrick.  He didn’t kill the Jets like the Chiefs game, but the offense was very conservative and missed numerous opportunities to throw the ball down the field.  Fitzpatrick continued to show the inability to make progressive reads after the snap, and his pre-snap reading ability has eroded from last year (which wasn’t great to begin with).  While statistically, this wasn’t a bad performance and looks better than the performance against Seattle, but this was the 20th ranked pass defense according to Football Outsiders.   While Chan Gailey gets rightfully criticized for some of these play calls, he did draw up plays that had players open, but Ryan Fitzpatrick just misread the defense.

Fitzpatrick grade: C

Forum Questions:

A.  What is Ryan Fitzpatrick’s biggest weakness and please explain? 

B.  What do you think the floor/ceiling is for Robby Anderson?

Thank you for reading our series of film breakdowns for Week 5.  

Click here to read the full story...

[peekskill68]

Thank you for putting the time in to put this together.  I always get alot of these types of reviews.  I've been really pissed at Gailey with the play calling but this type of analysis shows its much more about the QB than the OC right now. That throw to Anderson on the post was just brutal....

[Maxman]

Great job as always!

[JiFtheOracle]

but but but he played well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  smh

I love you for doing these but they make me sick to my stomach every time I watch them.  Robbie Anderson should have had a career day.  So many plays left on the field.  How this coaching staff reviews this game and sees all the missed opportunities but continues to support this schlub is beyond me.

[JiFtheOracle]

A.  Biggest weakness for Fitzpatrick is he sucks.  Its that simple.  He's not good and we're expecting him to because he had a "good year" last season.  He's a one read QB, who doesnt know how to read a defense, he locks onto his receivers, he's got a limited arm and this season he's creating pressure in the pocket that isnt there.  This isnt new.  This has been the book on him since he started taking snaps.  The whole league knows this guys sucks, that's why nobody wanted anything to do with him as he sat as a FA for the entire offseason.

B. Robbie Anderson is open, all day, every day.  If he had a real QB, he'd be having a break out season with multiple TD's, 100 yards games and we'd all be rushing to add him to our Fantasy teams.  I think the Jets have a keeper in this kid.  Just looking at the past weeks film that you've posted; he gets off his break very well, he runs very crisp and precise routes and knows how to create separation.  

 

 

[AFJF]

38 minutes ago, JiF said:

but but but he played well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  smh

I love you for doing these but they make me sick to my stomach every time I watch them.  Robbie Anderson should have had a career day.  So many plays left on the field.  How this coaching staff reviews this game and sees all the missed opportunities but continues to support this schlub is beyond me.

Time for some "Start Bryce" billboards.

[JiFtheOracle]

9 minutes ago, AFJF said:

Time for some "Start Bryce" billboards.

I just dont see this coach putting Fitz on the bench.  I really dont.  It's ride or die for all of 2016 and I'm not joking when I say I think he's the starter again in 2017.

 

[shevys]

1 minute ago, JiF said:

I just dont see this coach putting Fitz on the bench.  I really dont.  It's ride or die for all of 2016 and I'm not joking when I say I think he's the starter again in 2017.

 

I tend to agree that Bowles is going to ride Fitz to the end for some ungodly reason, but no way Fitz is starting next season. 

[AFJF]

15 minutes ago, JiF said:

I just dont see this coach putting Fitz on the bench.  I really dont.  It's ride or die for all of 2016 and I'm not joking when I say I think he's the starter again in 2017.

 

Jif....that's just plain silly, and you know it. 

[j4jets]

Wait, wait, wait, I thought Fitz had an outstanding day throwing for a TD and avoiding a pick? Are you telling me you actually watched the tape? I could've sworn that TD pass was a thing of beauty.

[j4jets]

19 minutes ago, JiF said:

I just dont see this coach putting Fitz on the bench.  I really dont.  It's ride or die for all of 2016 and I'm not joking when I say I think he's the starter again in 2017.

 

[JiFtheOracle]

7 minutes ago, AFJF said:

Jif....that's just plain silly, and you know it. 

We shall see.  I'm not joking though.  I think this offseason is the exact same as last.

[win4ever]

14 hours ago, peekskill68 said:

Thank you for putting the time in to put this together.  I always get alot of these types of reviews.  I've been really pissed at Gailey with the play calling but this type of analysis shows its much more about the QB than the OC right now. That throw to Anderson on the post was just brutal....

Thanks. 

The play calling isn't exceptional, but there are people open more times than not, which is more than I can say for MM's offense.  The weird part is, I or anyone else can look at these pre-snap reads on the defense (as long as you know the routes) and tell which side is going to be open 90% of the time.  It's quite mind boggling because Fitz completely locks into a random target at the line, and that's it.  I can't see how Gailey puts up with it, because he's designing plays that are getting open.  One of the biggest aspects of this offense is a pre-snap read to determine where the defensive weakness is.  Often you will see mirror routes (albeit, less this year) because the QB gets to pick a side and go from there.  But this year, Fitz is going to the wrong side much more often.  

Yeah, that is a horrible throw.  I honestly can't even go into detail because it just pisses me off, lol.

12 hours ago, Maxman said:

Great job as always!

Thanks.

9 hours ago, JiF said:

but but but he played well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  smh

I love you for doing these but they make me sick to my stomach every time I watch them.  Robbie Anderson should have had a career day.  So many plays left on the field.  How this coaching staff reviews this game and sees all the missed opportunities but continues to support this schlub is beyond me.

Thanks.  Robby Anderson probably had a better QB in college in terms of throwing the deep pass.  It's a shame really.  

9 hours ago, JiF said:

A.  Biggest weakness for Fitzpatrick is he sucks.  Its that simple.  He's not good and we're expecting him to because he had a "good year" last season.  He's a one read QB, who doesnt know how to read a defense, he locks onto his receivers, he's got a limited arm and this season he's creating pressure in the pocket that isnt there.  This isnt new.  This has been the book on him since he started taking snaps.  The whole league knows this guys sucks, that's why nobody wanted anything to do with him as he sat as a FA for the entire offseason.

B. Robbie Anderson is open, all day, every day.  If he had a real QB, he'd be having a break out season with multiple TD's, 100 yards games and we'd all be rushing to add him to our Fantasy teams.  I think the Jets have a keeper in this kid.  Just looking at the past weeks film that you've posted; he gets off his break very well, he runs very crisp and precise routes and knows how to create separation.  

 

 

A.  Yeah, he didn't have a good year last year, but he faces bad defenses with good weapons and got bailed out.  I remember posting here in the offseason about how we should move on, invest that money elsewhere, because Fitz isn't worth Geno + $8 million (at the time it was assumed he'd sign for 8) player, but the team went against it.  It didn't make sense at all.  You could see the train wreck from a mile away and they still went headlong into it.  

One of my biggest arguments was that, Fitzpatrick theoretically was the perfect fit for two teams that needed a game manager.  The Texans, who already had him, needed a QB who could throw to weapons with a very good defense, and they didn't sign him at all.  They already had him in the locker room, so his secret chemistry formula had already been in place, yet they didn't sign him, instead opting to put millions into an unproven starter.  Then the Broncos, again a team that just needed someone to keep them afloat at the QB spot and they didn't sign him.  Yet, here we were creating space to sign him, with coach all but saying he was the starter all off-season long.  

B.  The Anderson one is interesting to me.  He's open all the time, but is it a function of the QB?  This was similar to the Marshall vs. Sherman one.  Are defenses not playing the deep route because they know Fitzpatrick won't throw them?  Same with out routes on the far hash mark, knowing defenses are taking a chance on Fitz not making that pass?  I think Anderson is very talented, and can't wait to see him with a good QB.  

8 hours ago, AFJF said:

Time for some "Start Bryce" billboards.

It's way past due.  

8 hours ago, JiF said:

I just dont see this coach putting Fitz on the bench.  I really dont.  It's ride or die for all of 2016 and I'm not joking when I say I think he's the starter again in 2017.

 

I think Fitz is cut after the season, but Bowles refusal to even consider a QB change boggles my mind.  Can we put Bowles through the concussion protocol?  

8 hours ago, shevys said:

I tend to agree that Bowles is going to ride Fitz to the end for some ungodly reason, but no way Fitz is starting next season. 

Yeah, I see Bowles going with Fitz until it's hopeless.  

7 hours ago, j4jets said:

Wait, wait, wait, I thought Fitz had an outstanding day throwing for a TD and avoiding a pick? Are you telling me you actually watched the tape? I could've sworn that TD pass was a thing of beauty.

Yeah, not the greatest game, and that TD was an easy interception.  I almost wanted to include that in the "Bad Magic" one because it was such a bad throw, but Marshall did bail him out.  Although, judging from the responses, I'm guessing not too many people read the other three articles, lol.  With a lot of Fitz support, I expected to see more traffic in the Fitzmagic one this week.  

[JiFtheOracle]

9 hours ago, win4ever said:

A.  Yeah, he didn't have a good year last year, but he faces bad defenses with good weapons and got bailed out.  I remember posting here in the offseason about how we should move on, invest that money elsewhere, because Fitz isn't worth Geno + $8 million (at the time it was assumed he'd sign for 8) player, but the team went against it.  It didn't make sense at all.  You could see the train wreck from a mile away and they still went headlong into it.  

One of my biggest arguments was that, Fitzpatrick theoretically was the perfect fit for two teams that needed a game manager.  The Texans, who already had him, needed a QB who could throw to weapons with a very good defense, and they didn't sign him at all.  They already had him in the locker room, so his secret chemistry formula had already been in place, yet they didn't sign him, instead opting to put millions into an unproven starter.  Then the Broncos, again a team that just needed someone to keep them afloat at the QB spot and they didn't sign him.  Yet, here we were creating space to sign him, with coach all but saying he was the starter all off-season long.  

B.  The Anderson one is interesting to me.  He's open all the time, but is it a function of the QB?  This was similar to the Marshall vs. Sherman one.  Are defenses not playing the deep route because they know Fitzpatrick won't throw them?  Same with out routes on the far hash mark, knowing defenses are taking a chance on Fitz not making that pass?  I think Anderson is very talented, and can't wait to see him with a good QB.  

I think Fitz is cut after the season, but Bowles refusal to even consider a QB change boggles my mind.  Can we put Bowles through the concussion protocol?  

 

A.  It was my biggest contention all offseason.  It's not worth it and it doesnt do anything to advance the team. What is Todd Bowles learning about this team right now?  He's learned his D is terrible but you cant assess anything you have on offense when your QB play is this bad.  Hence my, stick in mud reference.  This is a complete waste of a season.

B.  I see what you're saying but he gets open on all types of routes.  He's been open deep, on curls, on outs - you name it.  He's just getting the separation.  He knows how to set up corners really well.  I'm impressed and its a shame its going to no use. 

[Jetdawgg]

Great job as always bro. I know this is extremely difficult especially since w are losing. The Fitz supporters quickly dropped off that bandwagon huh? Lol

Anywayz, Fitz's locks on to a target and that is it. His arm is weak and he only trusts BM to bail him out. He was going to Enunwa early who was making plays. Then it was back to BM for good.

Robby Anderson can be a star. He is not just a straight line runner. He runs good routes and get separation. He also catches the ball at the height of the reception. 

Peake is also a WR with potential. He runs good routes. He can make heady plays as we have already witnessed. He also has very good feet which were on display in the PS when he caught that pass from Geno for a TD.

The Jets are wasting a season here going with Fitz. The younger players need to be developed. Too many here and in Jets fandom wanted him so they got him. I would hope that in the future they really analyze how teams build to win. It is ok to hate players. It is not ok to hate a player that has the tools and is a better fit for the team.

i stated many times that with this schedule the Jets would need the deep ball to win some of these games. An NFL QB has to have the arm strength to make the throws outside of the hash marks and with accuracy. Smith, Petty and Hack all have that tool. It is unthinkable that Fitz is the starter and yet he is the one who can't make that work for him. 

I think it is more than TB on why the QB is still Fitz. $12MM does not come from Bowles. CG is making good calls. When you get bad QB play it makes all else suffer even more.

Thanks again bro. As always you keep the season interesting. It already feels like the off season with draft talk. Even Buff is better than us. Ugh. 

[win4ever]

13 hours ago, JiF said:

A.  It was my biggest contention all offseason.  It's not worth it and it doesnt do anything to advance the team. What is Todd Bowles learning about this team right now?  He's learned his D is terrible but you cant assess anything you have on offense when your QB play is this bad.  Hence my, stick in mud reference.  This is a complete waste of a season.

B.  I see what you're saying but he gets open on all types of routes.  He's been open deep, on curls, on outs - you name it.  He's just getting the separation.  He knows how to set up corners really well.  I'm impressed and its a shame its going to no use. 

Yeah, so far this is a waste of talent for one of the most talented teams that I can remember.  Any other coach, turning every rock to find a spark, yet here we are going along like we're fine, QB isn't a problem, defense isn't a problem either.

He does get open a lot, which is really encouraging.  I'd love to see them throw more deep passes because he's blowing by people.  I was watching film breakdowns from that guy who did the Hackenberg one (against Temple- Brett Kollmann) and he's a Texans fan raving about Will Fuller.  However, if you watch the tape, and then see Anderson on tape, they aren't that far apart.  Both have some drop issues, but both are blazing fast, and blow by people.  He detailed how the speed was causing opposing defenses to change their pass coverage schemes.  However, for us, it makes no difference because no one respects Fitz's ability to throw deep.  For some reason, YouTube has take down his videos.

2 hours ago, Jetdawgg said:

Great job as always bro. I know this is extremely difficult especially since w are losing. The Fitz supporters quickly dropped off that bandwagon huh? Lol

Anywayz, Fitz's locks on to a target and that is it. His arm is weak and he only trusts BM to bail him out. He was going to Enunwa early who was making plays. Then it was back to BM for good.

Robby Anderson can be a star. He is not just a straight line runner. He runs good routes and get separation. He also catches the ball at the height of the reception. 

Peake is also a WR with potential. He runs good routes. He can make heady plays as we have already witnessed. He also has very good feet which were on display in the PS when he caught that pass from Geno for a TD.

The Jets are wasting a season here going with Fitz. The younger players need to be developed. Too many here and in Jets fandom wanted him so they got him. I would hope that in the future they really analyze how teams build to win. It is ok to hate players. It is not ok to hate a player that has the tools and is a better fit for the team.

i stated many times that with this schedule the Jets would need the deep ball to win some of these games. An NFL QB has to have the arm strength to make the throws outside of the hash marks and with accuracy. Smith, Petty and Hack all have that tool. It is unthinkable that Fitz is the starter and yet he is the one who can't make that work for him. 

I think it is more than TB on why the QB is still Fitz. $12MM does not come from Bowles. CG is making good calls. When you get bad QB play it makes all else suffer even more.

Thanks again bro. As always you keep the season interesting. It already feels like the off season with draft talk. Even Buff is better than us. Ugh. 

Thanks.  

It sucks to watch these over and over again.  I'm surprised there weren't more Fitz supporters in the "Fitzmagic" one, figured more people would take solace in that one.  

I'm just not sure what Fitz does well anymore.  Last year, I thought he did a much better job of reading the defense pre-snap.  This year, he's been horrible at pre-snap reads, horrible with his accuracy, horrible with the deep pass.  What exactly does he do well?  Assuming Fitz was being scouted for the draft this year, he'd have to get an undrafted free agent grade, because I can't point to anything positive.  He was better than this last year in that, he took what the defense gave him, but this year, he's not even doing that.  

I'm surprised by Anderson to be honest.  I wrote scouting reports on Peake and Marshall, but when I got to Anderson, I figured there was only a small chance he even makes the team, so no one is going to care about him.  I ended up making about 6 Gifs of him before giving up since it was taking too long to write something that people wouldn't read, lol.  I thought for sure, he was a practice squad guy because he needed to put on some weight.  But he's really thrived so far, running very good routes and making good catches.  

Peake is a guy that I compared to a refined Stephen Hill, with an injury history.  He has a ton of potential, although he has concentration drop issues, and someone I'm really excited to see develop.  I can see a lot of Marshall/Enunwa/Peake/Anderson formations in the future.  

I try not to get too invested in these Geno vs. Fitz threads because most of it is trolling at this point.  If I think of something useful or funny, I post it, and then just stay out because people just come up with the stupidest reasons to defend their point of view.  In the end, it doesn't help me sleep better that I was right.  It probably makes it worse because I lose more and more faith in the staff because of it, and therefore less hope for the future.  

I reiterated this so many times, but the point of a spread offense is to spread you horizontally, so you are weak vertically.  It's why so many spread offenses have a running QB, and speed guys.  The defense is thin across so they have to choose their poison vertically.  Either they defend the deep pass and be vulnerable to the QB rushes or RB attack, or they give up the deep pass and defend the run.  The second aspect is pre-snap reads, because most spread offenses don't run too many complicated plays.  I argued that if Geno had the mental aspect of the game improved (which sounded like he did according to coaches) he was a much better fit.   

Yeah, you either have to make those throws or you have to be that much smarter than the people on the field.  Like Peyton Manning couldn't make those throws as the years went on in Denver, but he was smart enough to make all the pre-snap reads that he could tell you where the defense was weak.  Fitz doesn't do that at all.  

I think it was more of a risk aversion than anything to bring back Fitz.  They rightfully said, we will bring him back at our price, but ended up paying up for him anyway, even though it's only a 1 year deal in reality.  I think the media played a large part in it, because everyone beat the drum like letting Fitz (the Jet record holder) go was some kind of unthinkable move.  All off-season "Yeah don't worry, the Jets have to resign him- would be foolish not to" and the front office caved to the pressure because if he went elsewhere and succeeded, it would be a Idzik-ian backlash from the media.  Fans bought it left and right, thinking Fitz is some cerebral QB dissecting defenses at will.  Chan Gailey must really hate Fitz by this point, because he's tanking his NFL career for a second time due to this guy.   

Thanks again, I appreciate it.  I've started to scout college guys, just watching their game tapes (since I can't get All-22) and I'm not even sure what I'm looking for.  I'm not sure we go QB high again, unless Kizer/Watson drop to us because they have faith in Hackenberg.  However, the good news is that, this draft is loaded on CBs and offensive lineman from what I can tell so far.  So, we'll most likely draft a DT, lol.  

 

[Ken Schroy]

On ‎10‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 2:40 PM, JiF said:

A.  Biggest weakness for Fitzpatrick is he sucks.  Its that simple.  He's not good and we're expecting him to because he had a "good year" last season.  He's a one read QB, who doesnt know how to read a defense, he locks onto his receivers, he's got a limited arm and this season he's creating pressure in the pocket that isnt there.  This isnt new.  This has been the book on him since he started taking snaps.  The whole league knows this guys sucks, that's why nobody wanted anything to do with him as he sat as a FA for the entire offseason.

B. Robbie Anderson is open, all day, every day.  If he had a real QB, he'd be having a break out season with multiple TD's, 100 yards games and we'd all be rushing to add him to our Fantasy teams.  I think the Jets have a keeper in this kid.  Just looking at the past weeks film that you've posted; he gets off his break very well, he runs very crisp and precise routes and knows how to create separation.  

 

 

Truth. Talk about pre-snap reads? With Fitz it is pre-snap determination. He doesn't even look at a 2nd receiver. I like Marshall, but I wonder what would happen if he wasn't playing. Would Fitz suddenly discover he has 2 other receivers and a TE/RB ? It is an absolute joke.

[Jetdawgg]

37 minutes ago, Ken Shroy said:

Truth. Talk about pre-snap reads? With Fitz it is pre-snap determination. He doesn't even look at a 2nd receiver. I like Marshall, but I wonder what would happen if he wasn't playing. Would Fitz suddenly discover he has 2 other receivers and a TE/RB ? It is an absolute joke.

The joke is on the Jets fans who screamed for this guy. The cost is not only $12MM. It cost us the season and the development of the new corps of younger QB's. 

[win4ever]

5 hours ago, Jetdawgg said:

The joke is on the Jets fans who screamed for this guy. The cost is not only $12MM. It cost us the season and the development of the new corps of younger QB's. 

It's really costing us the evaluation of the wide receivers to be honest.  All the young guys are size/speed guys plus a speed guy in Devin Smith.  But the biggest threat from their strengths are marginalized so teams don't have to worry about deep pass.