The Jets beat
the winless Cleveland Browns 31-28 with their best second half performance of
the season. When you looked at the first half stats it was stunning.
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was
3-14 for 30 yards and it seemed like most of
his passes were tipped. Thirty-seven year old Josh McCown coming off an injury,
was 16-27 for 230 yards and one touchdown pass. Defensively, Hall of Fame bound
Darelle Revis was getting torched by college quarterback turned wide receiver
Terelle Pryor who had his way Revis and even dropped some passes. The winless
Browns looked like they were on their way to their first victory. What in the
name of Bela Lugosi was going on?
In the second
half, things somehow turned around. Ryan Fitzpatrick who has the worse second
half stats of any quarterback this side of Transylvania looked like a different
player. The Jets, with an offensive line that seems to fold as games go on
began to block. The running backs that usually look lost finding non-existent
holes, showed some change of direction and some burst (Todd, please give Bilal
Powell more snaps). The Jets defense with a secondary that has more holes than a
Swiss cheese factory began covering receivers and actually had two
interceptions. One by Lorenzo Mauldin which was the first Jets INT by a
linebacker in 49 games. The second half Jets were a different team and Todd
Bowles who I have gotten on this year showed us Jet fans a lot. Not only did he
have his team come out in the second half like a different team, he challenged
and won it on a play I thought he had no business questioning.
The Browns
first touchdown came on a 5-yard pass from Josh McCown to Andrew Hawkins with
Marcus Williams getting burned for yet another one. The Browns added a 41-yard
field goal later in the first quarter.
In the second
quarter, Bilal Powell scored on a great 35-yard touchdown run to get the Jets
on the scoreboard. This play was a 3rd and 10 audible that Fitz
seemed to see something in the Browns defense to run a play that should have
been a pass. Give him credit if in fact it was a true audible. Brandon Marshall
made a great downfield block making contact with two Brown defenders. Jet fans
have to live with Marshall’s 1 or 2 drops a game but some of the little things
he does for the team go under the radar. Blocking and recovering an on-side kick
late in the game are two examples of his value.
The Browns
added a touchdown and another filed goal to take a half-time lead of 20-7 into
the locker room. The most agonizing thing of the first half was how bad the
Jets secondary looked. Darrelle Revis looked slow and old. He could not contain
Terelle Pryor. Revis was turned around, beat long and looked like an old
veteran playing in a sport that passed him by. The other players in the Jets
secondary did not play much better. At the beginning of the season if you told
me the Jets secondary would be the weakest unit of the team, I wouldn’t have
believed it.
The Jets took
the kickoff in the second half and started an excellent drive mixing up
running and passing plays. Forte and Powell ran the ball
well as the line was opening up holes. Brandon Marshall caught a couple of
passes. But it was the touchdown pass to Quincy Enunwa that was the offensive
highlight of the day. His touchdown reception was one that fans always seem to
see happen against the Jets. He caught the ball and broke tackles, cut inside
then outside and barreled over the goal line for the touchdown. Enunwa
continues to prove he is Jets best weapon on offense. He has speed, power, he
blocks and plays smart. Despite a couple of drops today, he continues to make
plays that count and the second best play of the day for the Jets may have been
the pass to him that looked like a
sure interception that he came back to break up. The young Jet receivers should
take note of that play and learn that receivers are not on the field just to
catch footballs.
After the Jets
stopped the Browns, they began another drive. The highlight again was a 57-yard
pass to Enunwa. A 3rd and 10 pass to Robby Anderson went for 9
yards. It was an awful spot of the football by the officials and I thought Bowles
should have challenged. He ended up calling time out so why not challenge? The
Jets went for it on 4th and 1. Bowles showed guts. Forte scored on a
touchdown on a 4-yard run. The third quarter ended with the Jets ahead 21-20
and Jet fans thought their Halloween bags were getting more than their share of
Snickers. The Jets roster is just not put together to come from behind.
The Jets
continued a drive as the 4th quarter opened. Mostly by running the
ball, the Jets moved from their own 19-yard line down the field. Forte scored
on a 2-yard run. During the drive Robby Anderson caught a pass for 6-yards.
Anderson continues to impress and caught 3 passes for 31 yards. I’m not saying
the Jets are better without Decker who runs incredible routes but Anderson’s
speed gives the Jets something they didn’t have with Decker. He now has 15
receptions for 152 yards. Let’s not put him in Canton yet but this undrafted
free agent is improving as the season goes on. Anderson is a type of receiver who is somewhat handicapped
with Fitzpatrick at quarterback because Fitz’s strength is throwing toward the
middle of the field. Anderson’s strength looks to be on the outside. With teams
beginning to pay more attention to Enunwa, Anderson should reap more
opportunities in the next nine games.
After the Jets
kicked off, Marcus Gilchrist intercepted a second down pass by McCown. The
drive went nowhere but the Jets punt was downed on the 1-yard line. The downing
of the ball was something Jet fans never see! Normally it is a guarantee the
ball ends up for a touchback but things were going the Jets way so much, it
wasn’t a surprise. Four plays later another McCown pass was intercepted. This
time by linebacker by Lorenzo Mauldin (remember him?). He made a great play
after a solid hit by Calvin Pryor causing the ball to be jarred loose into the
air and Mauldin grabbed it. The Jets settled for a field goal.
The Browns
scored a meaningless late touchdown and on the ensuing on sides kick, Brandon
Marshall secured the ball and the victory. Give the Jets and Todd Bowles credit
for turning the game around. With the Jets and Fitzpatrick’s second half
history, it was kind of shocking to see the way the Jets played in the 3rd
and 4th quarter. Whichever witch’s brew the Jets drank at half time,
send some to Miami next week.
Green Tidbits:
….There
was a Mo Wilkerson sighting. He made a nice sack and had a couple of
pressures….
I love Sheldon Richardson but why does he jump off sides at least
once a game….I still don’t like Jalin Marshall returning kicks or punts….With
the Jaguars in disarray, how about making a call about getting Chris Ivory
back?....LB Julian Stanford had 3 more
tackles and 2 assists. I love bench players who make the most of their playing
time…. I’m glad David Harris is back but his pass coverage has always been
lacking….Darrelle Revis came back with a respectable 2nd half
shutting out Terrelle Pryor who did catch the 2-point conversion….Is it me or
do the Jets offensive linemen look way too heavy? Maybe take away the potatoes and
bread at Florham Park….The Pats look unstoppable but stranger things have
happened in sports….I still like WR Charone Peake. He fights for the ball and
runs excellent routes…Enunwa is one player I wouldn’t want to tackle head on
when he is running full speed…. Happy Halloween!
@GreenRewind
This weeks newsletter is sponsored by Amazon Prime Instant video and Marty Schupak's sports instructional videos. Always free on Amazon Prime!
This weeks newsletter is sponsored by Amazon Prime Instant video and Marty Schupak's sports instructional videos. Always free on Amazon Prime!
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