Our ST have been Horrendous (and that's an understatement) the past few years after Westhoff left. It's games like today's and other close games where the hidden yardage, tackles and plays on ST can translate to an L or W. So far Lachlan (Lac/Loc) Edwards has been a really solid surprise. I haven't been this excited over drafting a P since Craig Hentrich which I have NEVER let us down for after letting him go over Aguiar. To this day i'm SMMFH!! That Killed us for YEARS! ok.....breath Royal...breeeath.. We also look better, even good on returns. Blocking schemes seemed to have improved immensely as guys now appear to have some space to work with. Whether that's from the players or coaching it's definitely improved. This is where Jalin Marshall can really help this team out. Folk is Folk when he isn't Nick'd up so I hope he's back to 100% because FG's are going to be huuuuge in these close games especially since we'll be on the road 6 of our next 8 games..(WTF!!) Other than the hidden yards, another Key is those ST turnovers... hang on to the ball, don't try and force something that isn't there....and the biggie, NO DUMBASS PENALTIES...especially when our D stops them and it's 4th and short. Just chill the fk out! lol Discipline plus improvement in almost every facet of our ST's will impact field position over the course of the game. Starting at the 40 while keeping them backed up alone can really translate into Wins especially since this absolutely helps the Defense out....big time. Yea..so um..special teams..Not talked about much but so damn important.
Special teams look much improved.. as jets I think we took it for granted for so many years as they were always solid. Last year it seemed like we lost every field position battle. Was brutal to watch. While there are tons of reasons the jets lost games, you can blame the special teams for two losses bills(first game) and the eagles game. I dont ever remember being able to say that when westhoff was here. Im happy they made a switch in the offseason.
special teams was already awful at the end of Westhoffs tenure. they totally ignored the back end of the roster leaving nothing for whoever was coach to work with. I believe he even cited it as a main reason for retiring. Hopefully the vast improvement we've seen in preseason carries over to the regular season.
Here is the reason for the decline in Special Teams: Once the NFL, see Goodell, made the changes on kickoffs, ST play went down league wide: Touch back at the 25 Wedge blocking rules
This doesn't affect terrible punting and coverage, two things we've struggled with recently. I think our personnel is massively upgraded. It was painful watching Jeremy Kerley fair catch every goddamn punt that came his way no matter how much room he had to run, or catch it and then tap dance for a loss or gain of 2 yards on the sideline. And even though it's only been for preseason games, I can already guarantee that Edwards is a massive upgrade.
Jalin Marshall may only be a rookie but he's electric as a kick returner and should be a gigantic improvement and upgrade over that of Zac Stacy; who was as slow as molasses with zero big play potential and no athleticism whatsoever. Jalin Marshall is a kid i have high hopes for on special teams as our #1 return specialist. And Lachlan Edwards was well worth a 7th rounder. This Australian born has a cannon and/or a rocket of a leg. His hang time and overall distance on his punts are something I haven't seen from a Jets punter. He can become a true X-Factor here in 2016. The days of opposing offenses starting off on the 40 yard line should be a thing of the past. Field position is major. Outside of one punt return TD during preseason our kick coverage & pursuit looked much improved (night and day).
It's finally time to see what this unit can do. I have more confidence, especially since it seems the staff played attention to getting guys who can play a GOOD ST as well as a coach who can coach the damn thing.
Specials teams are one of the things I am most excited and optimistic about for this season. Having mediocre special teams performances on a weekly basis would be a welcome sight and I truly believe we have the potential to be much better than that.
They have been pretty special today. Cost the team 4 points already. At this rate, they are good for more than a TD a game. When the game is tight, it WILL cost the game.
Isn't it something, like someone said in the GDT the Jets fix the punting and return game and now the kicker goes to shit.
Yep. That 4 points have been the deciding factor all game. And yeah. Defense stunk up to the high heavens. While the offense wasn't flawless, I don't think we should blame this loss on this offense. If the offense generates more than 3 TDs, you know they are doing their job.
The STs didn't cost the team 4 points. FOLK did! He's a part of the STs of course, but it wasn't a breakdown in coaching, play by the coverage units, poor scheme, etc. It was Folk, and almost every kicker has bad days at the office.
Jalin Marshall looks like Bobby Humphrey as a kick returner....explosive Jalin Marshall looks like Jeremy Kerley as a punt returner....too tentative Lachlan Edwards maybe our best punter since Tom Tupa
Hopefully, he'll look less and less tentative, and more and more explosive on the PRs as the weeks go by.
