Positive Changes Downing Made to the Offense vs Buffalo

[JKlecko]

From Today's The Jets Way by David Wyatt-Hupton:

Unfortunately, I'm unable to share the clips from the article.  Substack includes the videos in some format where I cannot copy them.

I know that we didn’t get the result we wanted. But can we just take a moment to appreciate the changes that Downing made that unlocked a lot from this offence.

We had some hiccups in the end-zone but from a play-calling perspective I thought he called an outstanding game, and I would argue that the issues in the red-zone came down to execution and not coaching.

With just 4 days to prepare, Downing made some pretty comprehensive changes to the way the Jets ran their offence.

One of the main criticisms of the Hackett led offence is that it was stuck in the early 2000’s, with no motion, no movement, just a HOF QB being asked to drop back and do absolutely everything. It was a warranted piece of criticism.

Well Downing decided to use pre-snap motion on a season-high 72.9% of plays and on those plays that contained pre-snap motion, the team averaged 7.7 yards per play.

Before the Buffalo game the Jets were ranked right at the bottom (31st) of that list and way below the league average.

Some of the best offences in the league use pre-snap motion to confuse defences and change the look pre-snap, Kyle Shanahan does it, Andy Reid does it. If it’s a successful offence in the NFL, chances are they use a lot of pre-snap motion. You can see how well it works here when you focus on the linebackers and how the Jets got them flowing one way with Wilson and went the other.

He also used 11 personnel at a season-high clip as well, meaning that the Jets spread out three wide receivers more than at any other points this season. On those plays they averaged 9.9 yards per play.

Breece Hall had a season high in carries and yards, snap share and routes run. The Jets EPA increased significantly, in fact over the first two drives of the game the Jets EPA tripled what they’d managed in five weeks under Hackett.

I know Tyron Smith has come under a fair amount of warranted criticism this week, but he still moves well in the run game and it was him pulling along with Lazard on the outside that sprang Breece for this big play, I also think Breece would love that one back as I can guarantee you Taylor Rapp didn’t want to see Hall running right at him. He should of lowered his shoulder and carried the DB into the end-zone.

One issue I’ve had with Hackett is how vanilla his system is and while it’s still early days with Downing, I actually thought that his play-calling challenged the Bills to cover a lot more space through levels.

In this clip he had options in both flats which drew the defense up, he had clear out deep route by Lazard and then had Wilson attack the middle of the field. All three linebackers took forward steps with the fake hand off to Breece and Ruckert running into the flat, that created enough space over the linebackers for Garrett to exploit. Really nice play design, great time to call it on first-down. Not earth-shattering, but also not predictable.

He also worked to get his playmakers the ball in space and allowed his lineman to showcase their athleticism, on this play it’s Joe Tippmann getting out to block for Breece with Ruckert and Lazard doing exactly what they need to do. It’s as simple as putting players in positions to succeed.

Take the Garrett Wilson catch from the clip above. According to Seth Walder of ESPN, Garrett Wilson’s most productive routes from 2022-2023 came on deep crossers, deep overs, medium crossers and digs. Through the first 5 weeks of the season those productive routes made up just 9% of Wilson’s routes run. In week six under Downing those routes made up 30% of his routes run, more than triple. 8 catches, 107 yards, 1 touchdown and a 13.4 average per reception.

The Jets in general have had an offence stuck in history. Before week six the Jets were ranked top three percentage of short fades, deep fades, short outs, ins, slants and go routes ran. They were ranked bottom three in deep crossers, medium crossers, deep outs, comebacks and digs. As Walder put it, the Jets run short and straight…that’s a dream for defensive coordinators.

Downing completely changed the profile of the offence. They stressed the defence on three levels, they spread teams out, part of that was running for 11 personnel, part of it was the play design.

With 4-5 days to prepare we put up 393 yards and worked at 6.7 yards per play. In that Minnesota game we managed 254 yards working at 3.6 yards per play, against the Broncos it was 246 yards and 3.5 yards per play.

One of the highlights of Downing’s play-design and play-calling was his willingness to target deeper areas of the field. Rodgers averaged his highest yards per attempt of the season (8.4), which is considerably higher than the previous two weeks (4.5, 5.4)

I’m not going to send up the confetti cannons and there are no moral victories in the NFL, but there is progress and the Jets made a whole lot under Todd Downing.

 

[Sonny Werblin]

Fire keith Carter

[NYs Stepchild]

If it weren't for drops and penalties we would have been playing this game from ahead and it would have changed the whole complexion. 

All we can do is move on and do better. Nothing disheartens me more than lousy coaching. 

This way we just have to execute better and we should begin to jell as we have more success. 

Don't forget that most of these guys have not played together very long yet. 

[Trotter]

i thought in many spots the offense did look better.

Was it the change, the fact that it was game 6 and they are getting accustomed to each other etc I dont know, but I thought improved.

If the line (left tackle) is not improved it wont matter cause Rodgers cant take that punishment every week.

Give him time and he will put the he's washed group away. 

[Larz]

could have been a 40 burger

but its the jets lol

[Barry McCockinner]

7 minutes ago, Sonny Werblin said:

Fire keith Carter

and hire who?

I'm no keith carter fan but as a position coach I don't know there's someone on the staff that can step in.

[Claymation]

10 minutes ago, NYs Stepchild said:

If it weren't for drops and penalties we would have been playing this game from ahead and it would have changed the whole complexion. 

All we can do is move on and do better. Nothing disheartens me more than lousy coaching. 

This way we just have to execute better and we should begin to jell as we have more success. 

Don't forget that most of these guys have not played together very long yet. 

If Tyron Smith was still a Cowboy, do you he gets flagged for holding?

[Claymation]

The flag that bothered me the most was the one they picked up for illegal man downfield. 

[NYs Stepchild]

43 minutes ago, Claymation said:

If Tyron Smith was still a Cowboy, do you he gets flagged for holding?

That hold is let go 20 times a game all over the NFL so I imagine not. I don't know why they want to be a part of the outcome all the time.

[NYs Stepchild]

39 minutes ago, Claymation said:

The flag that bothered me the most was the one they picked up for illegal man downfield. 

I hear that was a booth call down saying the replay showed he was not more than a yard downfield. 

[Barry McCockinner]

Just now, NYs Stepchild said:

I hear that was a booth call down saying the replay showed he was not more than a yard downfield. 

When have they ever over turned flags via replay though? And if they're doing that how do they not overturn the pass 5 yards oob DPI flag?

[jamesr]

28 minutes ago, Barry McCockinner said:

When have they ever over turned flags via replay though? And if they're doing that how do they not overturn the pass 5 yards oob DPI flag?

DPI is usually viewed as a subjective call, and I think it was why they stopped allowing challenges on it, or something like that.

Illegal man downfield is not subjective, so can be reviewed and corrected.

[Barry McCockinner]

5 minutes ago, jamesr said:

DPI is usually viewed as a subjective call, and I think it was why they stopped allowing challenges on it, or something like that.

Illegal man downfield is not subjective, so can be reviewed and corrected.

the ball landing 5 yards out of bounds is not subjective

Quote

1. Contact that would normally be considered pass interference, but the pass is clearly uncatchable by the involved players, except as specified in 8-3-2 and 8-5-4 pertaining to blocking downfield by the offense.

https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/nfl-rulebook/#section-5-pass-interference

[Sonny Werblin]

1 hour ago, Barry McCockinner said:

and hire who?

I'm no keith carter fan but as a position coach I don't know there's someone on the staff that can step in.

 

BEN WILKERSON enters his third season with the New York Jets after joining Robert Saleh's staff as the Assistant Offensive Line Coach on February 16, 2022. For Wilkerson, this is his 10th season coaching in the League following a four-year playing career.

Prior to joining the Jets, Wilkerson spent four seasons with the Giants (2018-21) as the Assistant Offensive Line coach. In 2021, Andrew Thomas cut his sacks allowed from 10 as a rookie to two and his pressures allowed from 59 to 18 (according to Pro Football Focus). Thomas ranked in both the top 10 in sacks and pressures allowed among all tackles with 500+ snaps.

Serving as the Assistant Offensive Line Coach with Chicago (2015-17), Wilkerson helped oversee an offensive line that helped the Bears rank 10th in rushing, averaging 112.0 yards a game in that span. Additionally, rookie Jordan Howard's 1,313 yards in 2016 were the second-highest total in the NFL that season, and the most by a rookie in franchise history.

Wilkerson began his coaching career at his alma mater, LSU, as an Offensive Graduate Assistant (2010), and then as an Offensive Administrative Intern (2011). He then spent training camp with the Steelers (2012) as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program, two seasons at Grambling State (2012-13) as the Offensive Line Coach, and a year as an Assistant Football and Track Coach for North Shore (TX) Senior HS (2014) before returning to the NFL.

Entering the NFL as an undrafted rookie in 2015, Wilkerson played in 32 games over four seasons with Cincinnati and Atlanta before finishing his playing career in 2009 with the UFL's Florida Tuskers.

A co-recipient of the Rimington Trophy, awarded to the top center in college football, as a senior, Wilkerson started 41 total games at LSU, finishing as a Rimington finalist and winning a BCS National Championship as a junior.

[jamesr]

11 minutes ago, Barry McCockinner said:

the ball landing 5 yards out of bounds is not subjective

https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/nfl-rulebook/#section-5-pass-interference

"Clearly uncatchable" has a subjective element to it.

[Barry McCockinner]

2 minutes ago, jamesr said:

"Clearly uncatchable" has a subjective element to it.

the ball landed 5 yards out of bounds. that's no more subjective than how many yards downfield a lineman is.

[DJF71]

Still lost so who cares. 

[Green DNA]

1 hour ago, NYs Stepchild said:

 

Don't forget that most of these guys have not played together very long yet. 

If only we had a preseason to let all these strangers get some reps together. 

[jamesr]

the ball landed 5 yards out of bounds. that's no more subjective than how many yards downfield a lineman is.

But the rule covers every pass made in every game - so it is still considered, in general, a subjective rule. And subjective rules are not subject to review. So a booth review cannot overturn it, however clear cut one specific instance may be.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[C Mart]

Has a game now on tape. Let's see what opposing defenses do

[Barry McCockinner]

8 minutes ago, jamesr said:

But the rule covers every pass made in every game - so it is still considered, in general, a subjective rule. And subjective rules are not subject to review. So a booth review cannot overturn it, however clear cut one specific instance may be.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk
 

I'm sorry but this is stupid. Either allow them to overturn penalties or not. If it's clear and obvious to everyone watching that a penalty was called but did not actually occur the rest of what you're talking about is irrelevant.

[NYs Stepchild]

52 minutes ago, Barry McCockinner said:

I'm sorry but this is stupid. Either allow them to overturn penalties or not. If it's clear and obvious to everyone watching that a penalty was called but did not actually occur the rest of what you're talking about is irrelevant.

The way it is they look at only obvious things like TDs, catches out of bounds, offsides, illegal man downfield, fumbles.

This is the booth calling them when they see an obvious mistake.