The Week 3 Ben Graham Report

The Jets won a game few thought they would, going into Buffalo NY, a place where the Jets had not won since 2002. Even when the Buffalo team is bad, the give the Jets fits, but we came away with a win, and it was a win in which Graham played a big part.

The Jets gave up a lot of yardage, but Graham had the Bills backed up when they got the ball for most of the game, including 4 punts inside the opponent's 20 yard line. Not only did he do that, he did it under very difficult conditions, with a wind of 20 MPH blowing across the field, from one end zone towards the other. He posted an average of 48.3 yards per punt, and an average net (after return) of 44.6 yards. Those are very good numbers under normal conditions. To do it under these conditions, it was outstanding, but there were some fortunate bounces that helped Benny out.

As for the "lucky" bounces... there may not be as much luck involved as skill in Graham's case. First, he angled these punts (in most cases) away from the punt returner, making his kicks hard to catch. Secondly, he seems to be able to kick the ball with a technique that is somewhat predictable as to how it will bounce when it hits the ground. His drop punt tends to deaden, while his torpedo generally bounces forward. When kicking this year, he uses the torpedo mist of the time, but had a very pretty drop punt on Sunday as well.

1. With the Jets down 7-0 early, and backed up to their own 17 yard line, Graham had to punt this one as far as possible into that stiff wind. The wind was pushing even thrown balls down, so Graham hit a low kick, angled towards the sidleine, with a short hang time of only 3.0 seconds, but that made it impossible to catch. It went 37 yards in the air, but had a nice 13 yard roll, resulting in a 50 yard punt with no return. Under these conditions, a near perfect effort. Grade: A+

(One could agrue a lower grade here, but it depends on what Graham's intention was. If he planned this punt the way he kicked it, it's an A+ IMO)

2. This time, still against the wind, graham got under it more for a 44 yard punt and a 4.3 second hang time. This one was returned 7 yards, for a 37 yard net. Due to the conditions, I have to rate this as a good punt. Grade: A-

3. Still into the wind, inexplicably, this ball carried. I think Ben expected the wind to knock it down, but it didn't, at least enough, as evidenced by a hang time of 4.6 seconds. It went 39 yards from the LOS, one yard into the end zone. This one hurt Graham's overall average numbers on the day, with a 37 yard gross and an 18 yard net. Grade: B- (In better conditions, the gradewould be lower, but it was very close the the goal line)

4. Now kicking with the wind at his back, this was a beauty. The hang time was a bit low at 4.0 seconds, but it was good for a 54 yard gross, and a one yard return. The wind did seem to me to be somewhat unpredictable, and shifting. Even when kicking with it, it seemed to swirl and it's affect on the ball was not easy to guess at. This was inside the 20, at the Bill's 12 yard line. He backed them up again. Grade: A-

5. Now, again kicking into the wind in the third quarter, Benny hit another pretty one.....44 yards, BUT with a 4.7 second hang time. That hang time made the returner have to call for a fair catch (can catch it without interference, but can not advance it after the catch) Another punt inside the Bi''ls 20, at the 17 yard line. Grade: A

6. The Jets are now up 21-10, and trying to protect a lead. Graham has to hit another one into the wind. This was another low line drive sort of punt, again angled towards the sideline, away from the punt returner. It hit close to the sideline, uncatchable, and bounced another 7 yards before going out of bounds. 49 yard punt, no return, inside the 20 at the Bill's 11 yard line. Backed them up again. This was definitely a drop punt, great directional kick. Grade: A+

7. Ben can finally get off his second punt with this wind at his back. This wind did seem to help the ball carry, but still tended to knock it down. The hang time was 3.9 seconds, and went 53 yards in the air, 62 from Graham's foot. Yet another nice directional punt, with a 6 yard bounce before going out of bounds, for a 59 yard gross and net, and again pinning the Bills back deep in their own territory at their own 13 yard line. Grade: A

I give Benny an A for the day. Maybe his best game as a Jet under VERY difficult weather conditions. the grades could be argued, but the results cannot. Benny made sure that the Buffalo team would have to gain a lot of yards to score on us.... and even though they did in fact rack up a lot of offensive yardage, starting so deep in their own territory all day made it very hard for them to put up many points. Even the announcers, who usually ignore punters were talking about what a great day he had. If it were up to me, he would have gotten the game ball. He was that good.

 

LOL! Hey, I got 5 FF teams to worry about and then the Monday night game comes on.... Tuesday is the day I do this report! When I do it right, it takes well over an hour.... going to the NFL.com gamebook, reviewing each punt on TiVO.... it takes some time. Last week I tried to shortcut it, and made some mistakes. (BTW, I am now semi-retired.... went back to work, so i only have evenings for this banter). The beer tab is much lower now....

Benny, it's early. Yeah, last week's shank hurt his numbers, but he'll come back up. He's caught some bad snaps, and hasn't had one blocked yet. the Stats aren't everything, especially this early on. Graham was a HUGE part of this upset win. That's why I like the guy.... he helps us win.

 

Lighten up! Last year the Aussies wanted more info than NFL.com provided. So, I did a detailed reprt on each and every punt for them, explaing the situation the graham was faced with, and how well he did with it. Where you MIA last year? i was asked to continue these reports.... if you don't like them... don't read them... pretty simple.