Geno's Struggles really started when teams got tape on him. We could not use the entire playbook so he became easy to defend. When Geno or the coaches or both realized what teams where doing his running was the X factor. Geno has a long way to go and I doubt he will have a long leash with a pro-bowl QB sitting behind him. Geno will have to be good and good early to keep his job.
I don't really think that teams acquiring tape was the real problem - he had 3 interceptions Week 2, just 4 days after the very first game of the year, and he had arguably his worst game of the year relatively early on, Week 4 against the Titans. His real problems started when he had to play tough teams on the road while his main offensive weapons were hurt- it's not a very shameful problem to have.
Yes, and now the entire league has a whole season of film and an off season to identify any key weaknesses and game plan against them. All it takes is one coach to identify something and put it on tape and the rest of the league will follow suit until he fixes the problem.
I'm not arguing that stretch didn't exist, I'm arguing the reason that it happened. It wasn't because teams accumulated tape, it was because of other factors like lack of weapons, his ineptness on the road (which needs to change) and a very conservative gameplan in that stretch. He only completed 8 passes against New Orleans, so can you just label it as a bad game? No. The Jets manhandled the Saints in the trenches that week, so he wasn't called upon to complete double digit passes, so he did what he was asked to do. If acquiring tape is your concern, then I'd be a lot more worried about its implications for this year than its effect on last year, which was minimal. In the last 4 games, Geno discovered the style of play which makes him the most effective, one in which he moves around and escapes the pocket to create plays with his legs; something that he was not doing in the earlier portions of last season. Now that teams see that, they can adapt and make an effort to contain him to within the pocket, where he has proven mostly mediocre. I just don't see how you can say that teams getting tape on him was what slowed him down when he didn't start playing well until after his worst stretch of games.
This doesn't make as much sense as you seem to think it does. First of all Smith's worst stretch of the season came AFTER some games where he played better than in that stretch. The fact that he had some bad games early on as well, which I would tend to concede probably had less to do with opposing DC's having tape on him and countering him, does NOT mean that opponents' strategies were a non-factor in that middle stretch of awfulness. The last four games are touted here by Smith's performers as an indication that some light went off in him. I don't dispute that the results were somewhat better, but think those were more a combination of weak opponents and the CS putting a more conservative passing attack in there coupled with Smith occasionally taking off. Clever coaching, it minimized turnovers and produced some nice gains on runs. Having said that, I have no doubt whatsoever that opposing DC's in the coming season will look at that game film from those last four games. Of course they will. And that one of them is likely to come up with something that will contain Smith. The big picture is DC's are supposed to come up with ways that make your Qb less effective. And your OC's job is to then come up with something that counters that. I doubt Marty himself thinks he's solved the question of how to game plan using Smith in a way that opponents will not be able to counter. No reason we should.
Smith needs to learn how to take snaps under center. This is something not many opponents have tape on.
So improving his fundamentals won't make him better? He took less than 100 snaps under center that's pretty bad
I agree. This explains why Geno went 0-4 the last four games of the season. DC's had 12 whole games to study up on him and found ways to stop him in all phases of his game. Makes sense to me. /dumbass
You hear this a lot. Can somebody explain why they feel this is so important? I'm not arguing it isn't, I just don't really get the significance. Tom Brady takes a majority of his snaps out of the shotgun, and its not like it telegraphs an automatic pass play anymore.
It's because of the systems. Lately, the Pats have been playing a spread hybrid that is designed for a lot of bubble screens, sweeps and misdirection. The Jets have Marty M running his classic WCO, a system that is based mainly in dropping back from under center, and is limited in terms of shotgun versatility. It's confusing why they took Geno at all, since the skills he needs to run this offense effectively were mainly never developed in college. Of course there are offensive systems that Geno could excel in with the skills he developed in college, but WCO is a total mismatch. Hell, I think we ran out of the shotgun more in 2013 than he took snaps from under center. Hard to believe they'll continue to have that success from the ground by handing the ball off 8 yards deep into the backfield to compensate for a QB that can't drop back and make reads simultaneously.
That is really your argument? Did i miss Geno playing like an allpro the last four games? What I saw was the ultimate game manager and some of the most conservative play calling I have seen in the NFL last season. We need Geno to be more than that and he did prove that in has last four games where he was forced to change because DC figured him out. When he changed to one read run he played better but that is sustainable as an NFL Qb. .
But that would prevent him from getting all the clicks from Flashy Headline --> Buttfumble --> LOL crowd.
He looks so much more comfortable in the shotgun and he actually throws a nice deep ball too. He plays his best when they aren't trying to make him something that he's not - - an under center, drop back and read WCO QB. It is puzzling that they paired him up with Morningweg. At some point this season they will hit the point of no return: he's either got to get better at that or they have to scrap it and play to his strengths. (or they could switch to Vick)
Hey, you never know, maybe Marty is willing to depart from the rigid system he has been coaching for years, he seemed pretty willing to ground and pound a lot last year when he had been known to abandon the run in years previous, and the trend for offenses that are effective these days is to draw from many influences. I don't think he'll ever depart from the annoyingly complex terminology of WCO, and that kind of sucks, but maybe the playcalling will surprise us.
Wait....so DCs had game film to stop 'Geno the gun slinger' but not 'Geno the game manager'? Thanks for clearing that up.
I guess you didn't see how the O was changed in the last four games. It might help your posts here if you turned the tv on.
