Jets Lose Snooze Bowl 9-6

  In a game that was determined by two plays, Bryce Petty starting debut was a loss in a game that was as boring as any football fan will ever see. On the opening drive by the LA Rams, Kenny Britt had his way with Darrelle Revis making the future Hall of Famer look old, slow and unprepared once again. Rams quarterback Case Keenum enjoyed the benefit of an awful Jets secondary looking like Johnny Unitas on that first drive.  When the Rams got to the Jets one-yard line, the defense rose to the occasion and actually put up an excellent effort when it counted. A big overlooked play was on first down when Benny Cunningham fumbled the football but the Rams recovered. The play itself was somewhat confusing and the Jets looked like they may have recovered. Nevertheless the next two plays went for nothing and the Rams settled for a field goal.

  The Jets answered with 99-yard drive that went into the second quarter. The highlight was the 

52-yard pass completion to Robby Anderson who made a great catch up the left sideline. Matt Forte who ran very well today had a nice 28-yard run. Three plays later Petty threw a pass behind the line of scrimmage to Brandon Marshall who quickly tossed a lateral to Bilal Powell who scored a touchdown. The play was beautiful to watch and will make the Jets highlight film. Quincy Enunwa made a key block on the play that looked like it actually took out two Rams. The great Nick Folk went on to miss the extra point. Every time Nick Folk kicks the ball this year, it is an adventure. He had been one of the most reliable players on the Jets and in fact during one of Rex Ryan’s years here, Nick Folk could have been the team MVP. Now he looks like a different player who is not as reliable as he once was. As it turned out this would be all the scoring in the first half.

  In the first half, The Jets got called for 12 men in the huddle. Bad coaching! Rontez Miles made a nice stop on a Rams drive in the first quarter. When is Todd Bowles going to realize that Revis cannot cover the opponent’s number one receiver by himself? There is nothing wrong with double-teaming the receiver. Jalin Marshall fumbled a punt in the second quarter and the Jets were lucky to recover it. Having this guy return punts is like Russian roulette. He is a mistake waiting to happen and I’ve said it before but someone else must return punts for the Jets. In the second quarter, Bryce Petty missed a wide open Robby Anderson all alone on the right sideline. This is inexcusable and was the game right then and there. This was one of the two plays that helped determine the winner of this game. In the first half despite the opening drive by the Rams, the defense did a good job. Steve McLendon was solid all day and showed a good motor. David Harris was active again and for the game had 8 tackles and a half a sack. Yet again, at the end of the half coach Bowles played it too conservative. The last play of the half was a nice run by Bilal Powell to the Rams 38-yard line when time ran out. But why not take a crack with a Hail Mary? There is no real downside. To me it looks like Bowles is coaching too cautiously and scared. He’ll never succeed in this league the way he uses the clock and with the plays he calls at the end of the half and/or the game.

  The Rams scored field goals in both the 3^rd and 4^th quarter to win the game. Again it looked like the Jets offensive line was being worn down in the second half. If our GM was smart, he would follow the Dallas Cowboys formula from a few years ago and draft offensive lineman with the Jets first two picks. In the 3^rd quarter, Forte had another nice run of 23-yards but the drive stalled. It looked like the Jets were holding Petty back not letting him stretch the field like he did in the first half.  On a 3^rd and 6 play, Buster Skrine made a terrific play wrapping up Britt after he caught a 3-yard pass.

  In a game like this with very little scoring, field position is magnified much more. This came to fruition when Rams punter Johnny Hekker got off a 78-yard punt that had the Jets start their drive at their own 15-yard line where they quietly went 3 and out.  The 78-yard punt was the 2^nd key play of the game (Petty missing Anderson the other) that helped determine the final outcome. When the Jets punted, Lac Edwards’ punt went 35-yards to the Rams 48-yard line. 78-yards to 35-yards. Do the math. The Rams then went 10 plays in 4 minutes and used their better field position to score the winning field goal.

  The game ended when Petty threw an interception after 3 straight completions to Peake and Powell twice. The interception was intended for Enunwa who looked like he might have had a chance for the catch and probably should have just prevented the INT. Three kneels by Keenum and game over.

  This was another frustrating loss! Petty looked okay in the first half and just fair in the second half. He does get the ball out quicker than Fitzpatrick when throwing to the sidelines. On a few plays he looked too unsure and tried to hold back his throw after stepping up and the ball just slipped out of his hands. His line today was 19-32, 163 yards with one TD and one INT. Not great but not awful. We need to see him some more but with the situation with the Jets pass blocking, I’m not sure the Jets can make a fair assessment of his ability. I would expect Fitzpatrick will start against the Patriots if his knee is better but we will see more of Bryce Petty this year.

Green Tidbits:

…. Take heed Jet fans, in Troy Aikman’s first start he was 17-35, 180 yards, no TDs and 2 INTs….Did Mo Wilkerson play today?....Darron Lee did not have great stats but he was active and looked good….Who would have thought the Jets linebackers might be the strongest unit on their defense….Couldn’t understand when Keenum ran two plays in a row for positive yardage…. In Peyton Manning’s first start he was 21-37, 302 yards, one TD and three INTs. He had a QB rating of 58.6….I see why CJ Spiller can’t hang on to a team. He dropped a sure pass and doesn’t look good….Poor Robby Anderson. Both Fitzpatrick and Petty have missed him on sure touchdowns…With Nick Marshall, and if the Jets had Mike Epstein, the players could form a law firm: Marshall, Marshall, Marshall & Epstein….GM is already making his list to cut players after the season. Revis, Brandon Marshall and Nick Mangold may all be on it….Here’s one more. In his first start, Fran Tarkenton was 8-24, 117 yards, no TDs and two INTs….

@GreenRewind



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