Just rewatched all of Geno's throws. He was solid. Best I could describe it. Nothing to be discouraged about, but also nothing outstanding either. He wasnt asked to do much so its hard to get a full grasp. He seemed pretty good dropping back from center and moved pretty well in the pocket. A little flustered when he threw the tipped pass. Showed his athleticism on the play he got injured... He should be okay.
The only request I have at this point is that we not treat a valuable asset like a trick play option. Geno didn't get hurt on a planned run but he will get hurt on a planned run sooner or later. It was just bad luck that he caught a cleat on that crappy new surface in Detroit. He's going to be scrambling fairly often this year, just hopefully not too many planned scrambles.
Smith didn't much since he only attempted like 7 passes, but from those 7 passes, I think most where all accurate other than the one to Powell. He sure does throw a beautiful ball.
Griffith out with a leg fracture. That totally bums me out. I had high hopes for him. Our RB situation is beginning to really suck.
They need to start upping the penalty for horsecollar tackles. Maybe a game suspension or something cause they almost always cause a nasty leg injury.
That piece of shit tackle pissed me off more than anything else tonight, even though we were pretty bad. I definitely wanted one of our guys to take a run at him after the whistle hockey-style and negate the penalty.
Below are my thoughts on the QB play tonight Sanchez What I didn't like The 2 screen passes What I liked Much improved footwork. Not throwing off the back foot. His velocity was up greatly because of this. This was evidenced in his best pass of the night a short out pass to Winslow with some velocity. He did not have the bouncing feet we have seen in the pocket the last 4 years. His entire body was much more calm. Lack of panicking in the pocket. He pretty much had little to no presure. But early on he had did showed some nice footwork in the pocket. Although he did panic on both screen passes. But overall it was much improved. He kept his head up and downfiled and was not lowering his head like we often see him do under pressure. Getting rid the ball quickly rather than freezing and holding the ball. He was more decisive than what we are used to seeing. IMO the most important attribute in a QB. get rid of the ball don't sit there and hold it. He did a very nice job with this tonight. The Touch pass Something we rarely see from Sanchez He did it twice on the TD and on a pass to Spadola. On the the TD pass the old Sanchez would have likely tried to gun it in seeing him wide open and missed him by 5 yards. This was much more of a calm well thought out pass. Toughness Sanchez took a hit while completing a pass. This is something we almost never see from him. He normally would rather lie down and take a sack then take a hit. Maybe he wants to keep his job enough to put his body on the line. Decision Making He found the wide open receivers While the pick 6 may standout I thought there was a lot of improvement. While it was only 3 series it was one of the best games he has ever played. What to be cautious about The Lions did not play defense. They left Sanchez a clear pocket and uncovered receivers. Sanchez has shown in the past if a team does not cover his receivers and leave him a clear pocket that he can complete some passes. The test for him always is what happens when he is pressured. When he is pressured everything breaks down, This is similar to the Buffalo game last year when Buffalos defense sold out of the run. When Sanchez had to play against actual defenses the rest of the season he folded. But it remains to be seen. There were a lot of positives tonight in mechanics. Smith What I liked The arm and the accuracy What I did not like I did not like his footwork. He looked nervous and shuffled his feet a lot. But he is a rookie and this to be expected. I want to see more live action from him. Not much else to say he did not get enough of an opportunity McElroy What I liked The arm strength Wow he had zip on intermediate passes. People who doubt his arm have not paid attention. He may not be Geno or Vinny but has at least as much arm strength as Sanchez Throwing the ball down the field He was not throwing short passes. He was challenging the defense and making them pay. very impressive. He was making Plays Pocket Presence He has very good footwork and pcoket presence. if he is ever given practice reps and game experience he would be should be very good at avoiding sacks and extending plays Toughness The kid is a fighter and willing to get himself killed to gain a yard What I did not like He puts his body on the line to much and with his lack of experience combined with our 3rd string OL he could get himself hurt. He needs more live playtime to develop What to be cautious about As impressive as he was it Against the 3rd string - I would love to see the kid get some reps with the 1st team but those reps are so limited. Hopefully one day he be a number 2 and at least get some practice reps during the season Overall McElroy was the most impressive QB tonight attacking the defense down the field and making plays with his arm. Something we have not seen in a Jet since Favre. But it really does not matter it was with the third string and the likelihood of him playing is very low. In terms of what actually mattered tonight Sanchez's play was much improved in terms of mechanics and presence in the pocket. One should keep in mind it came against the Lions 2nd team defense which really did not play defense but he was still impressive. I want to see if his new improved mechanics hold up under an actual rush before I anoint him improved. But it was a very positive step.
I love how both of Wilkerson and Coples put up sacks tonight. Could become cornerstone defenders for many of years to come. Front 7 should be stout this year.
Smith also stared down his receivers some, but, had the zip to complete passes. If that's a habit of his, he needs to break it quickly.
i like your analysis. sancho was a little less accurate in the strike zone than he should be but you bring up valid points of improvement. i am in full agreement with you on geno.
I honestly thought that Sanchez looked better than he has in about 2 years. Yea the pick 6 was awful, but that was 1. part poor decision making by Sanchez 2. terrific defense 3. piss poor pass protection. Once the OL settled in and stopped letting the blitzers collapse the pocket within 2 seconds, Sanchez balled out. 5 for 5 on the TD drive with 3 really great passes, the one to Gates, the one to Winslow and the score to Cumberland. I think each of the 3 were for more than 20 yards.
To me it was a bad day for Sanchez. Sanchez can smile, say he is confident, and how great it was that he bounced back but it was a bad day because he showed pretty much what he has shown his entire career with that pick 6. Do you think it'll be easy to "bounce back" in the regular season when you're playing the Pats? Ravens? Steelers? Falcons? Bucs? They will keep going after Mark Sanchez until he walks back to the bench with his head down after 3 and outs.
P.s. if Ferguson holds the block, its TBo, with Mangold in front. When they can actually execute the play, it going to be sweet. The wideout had the corner, with Mangold inside, running up the numbers
That sucks about Griffith...that's a tough break, literally and figuratively. Our RB situation is DIRE. For those holding out for Goodson...I don't know what to tell you. I roll like a coach in these types of scenarios. If he isn't here don't worry about him. And he isn't here... To me Ivory is the biggest concern. He has practiced, what...2 or 3 times? That's not enough. The Jets knew they were taking a risk with his injury history...let's hope it doesn't carry over to the regular season. I liked what I saw from Powell he just simply will not be enough for the season. I really liked what I saw from the WR's! I saw pretty decent production across the board. No GREAT ones but it looks like we have quite a few good ones. Fairly deep too. I really hope that massive drop Rodgers had doesn't impact their decision to keep him. I think he wins a game or two for us this year. Maybe he was stunned at being so open that he forgot to close his hands. He'll be spending extra time on the Jugs machine this coming weekend. I already commented on the o-line...no need beating a dead horse. I want to bring up one other thing....for those that think we are overreacting to a crappy preseason game, let alone it being the 1st one, need to get with the program. Thanks to the new terms of the collective bargaining agreement, these teams only have one practice a day as well as cream puff everything else. At least we have 4 games to iron things out...I'd be might worried if they only had 2 preseason games and we were going to go into the season with THAT o-line depth and that amount of penalties etc... I understand about injuries etc...etc...but that was a sloppy mess. Know what I'm sayin'? My last thought for now is WHY can't some people get onboard with the thought of having McElroy join the QB competition? Let's establish right off that you do NOT need a cannon to function the WCO. Let's make sure arm strength is taken off the table RIGHT NOW. Intelligence, accuracy and the ability to read a defense are what makes it tick. I really liked what I saw from Smith and I feel given time and experience he will be our QB. I'd even suffice it to say he might just be our QB du future. Time will tell...BUT, until that time, you can take "read the defense" right off the table when talking about Nacho! A 5th year QB does not toss a pick 6 on a SCREEN pass on the first series of preseason! A 5th year QB throws it away...or runs for a yard or so!!! Mark Sanchez benefited from two blown coverages to "redeem" himself. He did nothing special. If the role is reversed and Nacho gets blown up in the mouth like McElroy did on that strip fumble dare I say Nacho is spooked for the rest of the game! People can give me a hard time all you want about this and claim that GMac is nothing more than a pedestrian career backup and he did what he did against Detroit's 3's blahh blahh blahhh. Well, if you haven't looked, until Geno Smith gets some time and experience under his belt we have THREE pedestrian QB's right now and, personally, I'll take the guy who appears to be able to at least READ a defense. And there you have it. If we had Peyton Manning on our team...then yeah, Gmac rides the pine...career backup...but since we have a piece of crap, a rookie and a "pedestrian" career backup to choose from and the rookie might be hurt...I'll take the career backup over the idiot who gives 6 points away.
Geno did not get an opportunity. But like Ive been telling you, the competition talk....is just talk. And while the media tells you the insiders have been wanting Geno to win the job, the truth is, those inside people are rooting for Genos ankle injury to be minor, but keep him out for a week or so, to erase the circus created by the competition talk. They know Geno is going to be good. But hes not the guy, Today. They also know, that barring Injury, Sanchez is the starter...
When Plaxico was on the team, Sanchez threw TD after TD on touch passes to the end zone on jump balls. (Led NFL in red zone offense that year iirc). I always thought he did touch passes well (on back corner TD routes especially); problem was, he'd throw them into traffic in the middle of the field too, and they'd be picks, because he wasn't throwing fastballs. Back when he was good, it was play action & touch passes down field, to guys like Keller going vertical in the middle of the field, just like the TD tonight. If we're seeing more of that- without turnovers- it's a huge improvement over the last two years. Huge.
