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Here’s why “Overreaction Monday” may not Have Been Overreaction for Jets Fans


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It should be added to our calendars as a national holiday so everyone can get together to point and laugh at the football hysteria.  Call it “overreaction Monday”, a day for NFL fans to lament a bevy of offseason moves and to write off proven players after a single bad day despite anything they’ve done in the past.  And yes,  Jets fans were right there along with the fan bases of every other 0-1 NFL this past Monday.  But unfortunately for Jets fans, this year it could turn out to be no laughing matter.

Plenty of concerns were apparent as several red flags popped up during and after Gang Green’s season-opening 17-16 loss, but in  just a few days since, more concerns have come up, and here’s why they all matter.

Ryan Kalil and the O-line: The Jets pass protection up the middle was brutal.  According to pro football focus, the Jets offensive line allowed Sam Darnold to be sacked, hit or hurried twelve times.  Of those twelve, only three were allowed by the tackles, and the rest were up the middle.  The player who allowed the highest number was center Ryan Kalil with four.  Jets fans hope that it’s the rust more than anything else, but you can’t rule out the fact that Kalil, who retired after last season, may have lost another step as he turned 34 this off-season.  Kalil was added to replace Jonotthan Harrison who started 8 games last season and never allowed as many as four pressures. 

“Q” for Quincy, or “Q” for question mark? It’s only one game and it was one that had a very conservative approach, but where was Quincy Enunwa?  Finishing with just one catch for minus-4 yards, was it the game plan, or is Enunwa no longer the same player he was after a string of injuries?  Not much was taken from Enunwa’s lack of production in the pre-season because, well, it was the pre-season.  But when the offense was sputtering against the Bills, Enunwa was invisible.  We’ll find out on Monday night if Enunwa and Darnold can regain some of the chemistry they’d developed last season, or if this coahching staff doesn’t have any confidence in him.

Gase Blameless?  There was plenty of criticism after the Jets hired Adam Gase, and one thing that stood out from his time in Miami was his demeanor and attitude following a loss.  It rarely went well.  We saw more of this after just one bad game when Gase called out several players in a roundabout way, most noticeably the wide receivers.  While there is nothing wrong with publicly holding players accountable, one person Gase failed to put under the microscope when speaking with reporters was Adam Gase.  If his game plan against the Bills was the best thing he could come up with despite having months to prepare, it won’t be long before Chris Johnson picks up his phone to block Peyton Manning’s number.

Secondary truly struggled: Any panic regarding the play of Trumaine Johnson was and is completely justified.  With Johnson spending the majority of his day trailing well behind his assigned receiver, is there any reason to believe it won’t be a theme all season?  Don’t be surprised of Odell Beckham Junior shatters some receiving records on Monday night after what the immortal John Brown did on Sunday (7 rec. 123 yds).  Things didn’t go much better for Darryl Roberts who earned an overall grade of 39.9 from PFF, lower than any single game in which he started at cornerback last season.

Who’s the kicker?  Well, for some odd reason it was Taylor Bertolet during the pre-season after Chandler Catanzaro retired, and Kaare Vedvik when the season started.  This, despite the fact that there were and are better options available (Matt Bryant, Connor Barth).  Now, with Vedvik gone, it’s Sam Ficken, who is a career 2-3 on field goals after hitting just 72% of his kicks in college.  With no proven kicker on the roster, the Jets carried two punters throughout training camp but never felt the need to audition more than one bad kicker at a time.  If Ficken isn’t the answer, this could drag out all year long.

Again, these are issues that only took place in week one, but some are a continuation of historical performances that may now be the norm, and others give reason for legitmiate concern as to whether or not there will be changes in the near and distant future.  

The post Here’s why “Overreaction Monday” may not Have Been Overreaction for Jets Fans appeared first on JetNation.com (NY Jets Blog & Forum).

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8 minutes ago, DMan77 said:

I think the OL will get better... But the secondary is just toast. 

This is where I’m at with it. The OL, no matter how skill deprived, will naturally get better with gel time and more reps. Something tells me the guys that are out there are still banged up from the preseason. This is going to get better even if not by much. 12 sacks/pressures/ect is unacceptable though. That is clearly a big reason why Darnold played like he did. His WR’s didn’t show up and neither did his line.

The cornerback situation is disgusting though.

Trumaine Johnson may be the worst cornerback I’ve seen play in a Jets uni since Kyle “the finger wag” Wilson. Darryl Roberts sucks really bad. He’s another one getting burned on just about whatever pass you can draw up. This secondary needs a lot of help and if I’m serious about contending in 2019, I’d be on the phone with teams interested in trading a good corner or a starter. What to give back in trade compensation needs to be looked at with a lot of consideration...because we ain’t going anywhere soon without something better than what we got in the backfield. If it’s a 2nd or 3rd rounder... I wouldn’t rule anything out. 

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I know it's early in the new regime, but I have to admit, when I heard that we traded with NE for D Thomas, I wondered for a second if these guys know what they are doing, especially after that vanilla-a$$ed game plan Sunday. Also, can Manush or one of the other reporters who can get close to Gase please tell / remind him that we have a mobile QB that has 2 perfectly good & functioning legs? Why we did no roll outs or RPO type plays with Darnold to avoid pressure was so frustrating and reminded me of our last stubborn head coach.

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6 minutes ago, ASH1962 said:

I know it's early in the new regime, but I have to admit, when I heard that we traded with NE for D Thomas, I wondered for a second if these guys know what they are doing, especially after that vanilla-a$$ed game plan Sunday.

You really think in the light of what's since transpired that NE wouldn't want to take that trade back? 

We're fans and we view the game as fans.  

But D Thomas is a big time pro, past his prime or not, he has an agent - and when his client's team just signed AB right before the season's kick off, there's a conversation that I'd bet TD his agent and the Patriots had immediately.  

The real surprise, to me, is that NE traded with the Jets.  

But most of the speculation about the trade leaves out the player's agent, who well may have been registering DT's profound disappointment with the team. 

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I'm shocked that hiring the coach that was run out of town by the other dysfunctional team in the division doesn't look like it's going to work out.

Can you imagine how a passionate defense of Adam Gase would've played here a year ago?

We have always been at war with Eurasia...

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9 minutes ago, TheClashFan said:

The OL will get better, but almost by default because it was so bad on Sunday.  How much better and how soon?

At any rate, it needs to be totally rebuilt ASAP, starting in the 2020 draft.  Need to draft at least three of them, and at least two of those in the first three rounds.  

 

If Sam Darnold played up to the hype on Sunday, it wouldn't matter how leaky the line was or how toast the CBs was

he had a million opportunities but the worst was the last drive... throwing to air with zero pressure? happy feet? 

he looked scared, he was checking down, underneath etc.

Adam Gase is supposed to be developing this player.  

all this talk about the Oline neglects the real issue which is Darnold looking like late stage Chad

 

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It is very easy to blame Mac for the mess he left the Jets.   Mac gets an F for his GM tenure and a prediction he may never work again in a real job. 

But as of week 1, JD did not provide Gase with a functioning PK, and my guess is that there were CBS available that could have been signed after JD was hired.   So I am giving JD a C- as of week 1.  

I don’t hold Kalil against JD-it was a good try, and he is still likely better than Jon Toth.

I hold playing Kalil against Gase-Harrison would have played better, and it would have saved the Jets money in playing incentives for Kalil.   The fans would be cool with it for week 2.

Gase also did not design a functionally creative offense against the Bills.    I give Gase a D for week 1.

GW had a good defense designed, but there was NOT a plan b after Mosley went down.  He is working with bad players who were generally drafted as high as the Bills’ players.  I give GW a B for week 1. 

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The poor offensive line play and general lack of explosiveness were/are the two biggest red flags for me. 

I had the team going 8-8 headed into the season, but that was predicated on the offense playing well above average. 

I'm assuming that Darnold is going to start connecting with Robby down the field as the season progresses, but I am terrified that this OL is trash. I'm hoping that more time together does the trick, but I'm far from optimistic. 

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1 hour ago, slimjasi said:

The poor offensive line play and general lack of explosiveness were/are the two biggest red flags for me. 

I had the team going 8-8 headed into the season, but that was predicated on the offense playing well above average. 

I'm assuming that Darnold is going to start connecting with Robby down the field as the season progresses, but I am terrified that this OL is trash. I'm hoping that more time together does the trick, but I'm far from optimistic. 

 I felt the same way you do about all of this until I had a day to rewatch the game and rethink things. My feeling now is that the two biggest red flags were Gase and Darnold, in that order.

Gase had months to come up with a game plan and the one he had Sunday was horrible. His performance yesterday was no better. I’m fine with holding people accountable, but do it “in the room” with players, not in a PC. I also found it telling he held himself blameless.

Darnold was pressured at times, sure. Gase could’ve helped him with a different game plan, but Darnold looked awful on too many occasions where there wasn’t pressure. We all saw the happy feet, back foot throws, and inaccuracies on plays down field.

There is nothing worse, in any sport then “playing off your back foot”... In non contact sports it robs you of your balance and power. In a contact sport like football? Well, I don’t even want to go so far as to say what I think it signifies.

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35 minutes ago, Lot K Tailgaters said:

Gregg Williams will be the head coach before the season ends.  Just my prediction.  

I applaud you for saying this. 

I’ve had the same thought, I just didn’t want to deal with the aggravation that would’ve followed. That’s how big a disaster I think this hire is. He does have Douglas in his corner though...

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2 hours ago, 14 in Green said:

 I felt the same way you do about all of this until I had a day to rewatch the game and rethink things. My feeling now is that the two biggest red flags were Gase and Darnold, in that order.

Gase had months to come up with a game plan and the one he had Sunday was horrible. His performance yesterday was no better. I’m fine with holding people accountable, but do it “in the room” with players, not in a PC. I also found it telling he held himself blameless.

Darnold was pressured at times, sure. Gase could’ve helped him with a different game plan, but Darnold looked awful on too many occasions where there wasn’t pressure. We all saw the happy feet, back foot throws, and inaccuracies on plays down field.

There is nothing worse, in any sport then “playing off your back foot”... In non contact sports it robs you of your balance and power. In a contact sport like football? Well, I don’t even want to go so far as to say what I think it signifies.

As bad as Darnold was, he played better than a lot of QBs in week one around the league who are supposed to be better than him, including the loudmouth from his draft class. If this was as bad of a performance as he has this season, he will be in very good shape. 

I am still of the opinion that Darnold will have a lot more good days than he does bad days. 

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8 hours ago, Patriot Killa said:

This is where I’m at with it. The OL, no matter how skill deprived, will naturally get better with gel time and more reps. Something tells me the guys that are out there are still banged up from the preseason. This is going to get better even if not by much. 12 sacks/pressures/ect is unacceptable though. That is clearly a big reason why Darnold played like he did. His WR’s didn’t show up and neither did his line.

The cornerback situation is disgusting though.

Trumaine Johnson may be the worst cornerback I’ve seen play in a Jets uni since Kyle “the finger wag” Wilson. Darryl Roberts sucks really bad. He’s another one getting burned on just about whatever pass you can draw up. This secondary needs a lot of help and if I’m serious about contending in 2019, I’d be on the phone with teams interested in trading a good corner or a starter. What to give back in trade compensation needs to be looked at with a lot of consideration...because we ain’t going anywhere soon without something better than what we got in the backfield. If it’s a 2nd or 3rd rounder... I wouldn’t rule anything out. 

true enough about johnson and roberts but at the same time the pass rush didn't get to allen that much and he was able to escape a collapsing pocket and hurt the jets by running.  if the pass rush can get to the qb then the corners will look that much better.

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