BGA: Jets at Dolphins

WhiteShoeWillis · Oct 1, 2010

Disclaimer: All analysis was taken from the TV coverage, so at times it may have been hard to identify players or what was happening, because I was limited by their footage. However, I have tried to be as accurate as possible and apologize for any inaccuracies or omissions (which I am happy to correct).

I’m going to continue with the same format from the first two weeks and give an extended breakdown of Sunday’s action. If you have anything else you’d like me to comment upon, please leave your requests in the comments and I’ll do a follow-up post tonight.

After the jump, catch my analysis of Sunday night’s game, including – but not limited to – comments on Matt Slauson, Kyle Wilson and Antonio Cromartie.

Playcalling

This week, I want to talk about defensive playcalling, something which hardly ever gets discussed. Things like whether or not to play zone coverage and how many pass rushers to send can be just as crucial to a team’s success as whether to run or pass and when to run a gadget play on offense.

The gameplan coming in was obviously to give their corners plenty of safety support, but still send the occasional blitz. When it became apparent early on that perhaps the secondary was a little overmatched, the amount of pressure sent reduced and they also made some adjustments to personnel, which I will discuss later.

To some extent the playcalling was reactive rather than trying to set the tone and affecting the other team’s gameplan, which seemed to be the philosophy last year. Miami left 50 backs/tight ends in to block in 53 dropbacks. Contrast this with 14 on 32 dropbacks by the Jets and you can see how Miami’s gameplan was to ensure Henne had time and that they trusted their receivers to get open, even if the Jets had dropped extra players into the secondary.

The Jets countered, not with extra defensive backs, as they did against New England, but by dropping linebackers into coverage and playing more zone. Against New England there were only 5 plays where fewer than 5 DBs were on the field for the Jets, but against Miami there were only 4 DBs in the game for 35 out of 74 plays (just under 50%). Despite the fact there were extra players in to block so often, the Jets weren’t tempted to send two many extra rushers, sending an average of 4.4 pass rushers per play. Against the Ravens, they sent 4.8 pass rushers per play. Obviously one major factor in that is Darrelle Revis.

The defensive playcalling finally paid dividends at the end, with the Jets deciding to rush just three players on the last two plays of the game and being able to prevent Miami from tying the score.

Quarterback

Once again, Mark Sanchez received glowing reports from the announcers working Sunday night’s game. He has started making plays in the red zone, which may be the biggest hurdle he must overcome consistently if he wants to make “the leap”. The other key: Ball security. It is encouraging that Sanchez hasn’t thrown an interception (or lost a fumble) yet, but he has been living dangerously, with two interceptions (correctly) overturned by the replay booth so far this season. He also almost giftwrapped one for Kendall Langford, which was at least the second one he has had dropped. Sanchez is now 10-3 in the NFL when throwing one or fewer interceptions, which underlines how important this is.

There were plenty of positives to take from his performance though. He looked comfortable in the pocket, had great chemistry with Dustin Keller in the first half and made a clutch throw to Braylon Edwards’ back shoulder on third and long. Considering how hesitant he was to get rid of the ball in the first game and a half of the season, it was great to see Edwards turn and the ball already on its way. Once again, the amount of pressure on him was reduced because he is doing a better job of getting rid of the ball and here was a fine example.

Offensive Line

On Monday, our fearless leader (Brian Bassett) said this about Matt Slauson:

The new LG looked atrocious with his three penalties, including the two holding penalties on the same drive – one of which brought back a Mark Sanchez TD scamper.

It’s true that three penalties (and 25 yards) is not a good sign, but I wasn’t certain that he “looked atrocious” so I watched him closely when reviewing the film. Sure enough, other than these three penalties he was practically flawless in pass protection and I didn’t see him miss a block that led to a failed run, or let anyone get into the backfield. There was a couple of times that he wasn’t able to make a clean block at the second level and once where he pulled and didn’t make his block, but on each of these occasions the guy he was blocking still wasn’t able to make the play. There was even some positive examples of him making some holes in the running game, although admittedly most of his run blocking assignments continue to be straightforward in nature.

Looking at the three penalties, he had one false start. Obviously there is no excuse for that, but it was his first of the year and his other linemates (apart from Mangold) have all had at least one each. The first hold was, I believe, the only time he allowed pressure all game and he actually had his man blocked, just lost leverage. It probably was a hold, but it wasn’t 100% clearcut and I don’t think it was going to be a sack even if he didn’t hold his man. Sanchez stayed in the pocket until the last possible moment because his receiver was coming open over the middle and he wouldn’t have had a passing lane if he moved right to avoid the pressure. The hold which negated a touchdown was a ticky-tack call. If you disagree with me, tell it to Rex, who was apoplectic on the sideline. Had that play stood, I’d be praising Slauson for an excellent block.

Three penalties is discouraging though, so we will have to hope that this is not a pattern that continues. As for the rest of the line, there was plenty of pressure against the right side of the line. That may be partly because Cameron Wake (Miami’s best pass rusher) was lined up over there more often than not, but Woody and Moore gave up 4 or 5 pressures between them. Nick Mangold, perhaps affected by his shoulder injury, was beaten twice on plays that were stuffed in the backfield and D’Brickashaw Ferguson failed to set the edge on another run that was stopped for a loss. On the whole, you can’t argue with 5.0 yards per carry and zero sacks, but the line as a unit is still not performing to last year’s standards.

Running Backs

Through three games, Shonn Greene is averaging 3.5 yards per carry, whereas a rejuvenated LaDainian Tomlinson is averaging 5.6 yards per carry. However, it’s too early to criticize Greene too much, because he hasn’t broken a single ten yard run yet. Of course, the Jets will be hoping he can break some long runs as the season progresses, but we know he is capable of this from last season (and he has come close to breaking one on a couple of occasions). Tomlinson has broken 4 runs of 18 yards or longer and if you remove these from the equation, he has actually averaged less than 3.5 yards per carry, so if the gameplan is for Greene to pick up the tough yardage and for Tomlinson (and to some extent Brad Smith) to reepresent a change of pace, then that is paying off so far. I’d expect Greene to break a few soon and for his average to creep up.
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http://www.thejetsblog.com/2010/09/30/bga-jets-at-dolphins/#more-30820

WhiteShoeWillis · Oct 1, 2010

This is pretty much exactly the opposite of Thomas Jones and Leon Washington in the early stages of the last two seasons. Jones had not been grinding out big yardage on a play-by-play basis, but then would break a long run or two near the end of the game. Leon didn’t break a 20 yard run until Week 6 in 2009 and Week 8 in 2008, so his average started low but increased later in the season as he started to make more big plays.

On Sunday, Tomlinson was again able to break a couple of big runs to the outside and Shonn Greene picked up some tough yards over the middle. I also don’t see any reason to be concerned about Greene’s injury. If anything, that looked like a Charley Horse and he did actually re-enter the game for the final kneeldown play and even did a silly celebratory dance, which suggests he wasn’t too concerned either. He has been practicing.

After the Jets had seen more success running from three-wide formations against New England, they seemed to do better with a fullback or an extra tight end in the game this week. Tony Richardson was slightly better this week, but still didn’t noticably throw any key blocks. John Conner lit a few guys up on special teams, but in limited action at fullback he whiffed a few times on lead blocks and doesn’t seem ready for a full-time role yet. He’d benefit from a chance to play more, perhaps in garbage time. Let’s hope that comes following a Jets win.

Tight Ends and Receivers

It was tremendous performance by Dustin Keller, who followed up his 115-yard performance against the Patriots by catching six passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He was shut out in the second half, as Miami appeared to give him more safety attention, but still contributed in the running game and as a decoy. Often when an announcer singles out a tight end or a receiver for a good block, they are making a simple downfield block, but Cris Collingsworth is better than most and did single Keller out for setting the edge well and he even drove his man back at one point. I didn’t see too many failed blocks from Keller, who also graded out positively last week, either.

After sitting out the first half, Braylon Edwards came up big with a 67 yard touchdown catch midway through the third quarter. On that play, the Dolphins blitzed Vontae Davis from left corner and rolled the safeties over to that side. This meant that when Edwards slipped Jason Allen’s tackle, there was no safety on that side of the field. Edwards also had the crucial third down conversion mentioned earlier, drew a critical pass interference flag and set up a big run with a crunching block on Quentin Moses to set the edge.

Jerricho Cotchery hasn’t been statistically productive thus far, but his numbers are sure to rise once Santonio Holmes joins the fray next week. Brad Smith had a monster day, with over 200 all-purpose yards. Here’s what I said last week:

More Tigercat, please. When are they going to use that in the red zone? I’ve been calling for that since they drafted Brad Smith.

They actually went to this on 3rd down and long, just outside the redzone, but Smith took the ball inside the ten, so that counts. Smith picked up a crucial first down on that play, breaking Yeremiah Bell’s tackle on the edge. He also had a third down catch and a nine yard run from the Tigercat on the opening touchdown drive and then later ran for a big first down, not from the QB position, but on an end-around and averaged 37.5 yards on four kickoff returns for good measure.

Smith combined with David Clowney and Patrick Turner to fill in the third WR reps.

At tight end, the Jets were without Wayne Hunter, so went with more conventional two-TE formations than the usual Jumbo package. Interestingly, Matthew Mulligan got more playing time than Ben Hartsock this week and seemed to block well, so that may be a positive sign that the Jets plans to groom him as a lower-cost replacement for Hartsock are going well.

Defensive Line

The Jets run defense continues to hold up, with Miami being held to 3.7 yards per carry. However, 17 of these yards came on a draw play to Ronnie Brown against (effectively) a prevent defense late in the game. Other than that, they only allowed 3.0 yards per carry. Let’s see if CJ Spiller and the Bills can fare any better.

There wasn’t a ton of pressure from the defensive line this week, but Sione Pouha did collapse the pocket to set up a Shaun Ellis sack, which was good to see. The Jets countered Miami’s running game with mostly three-man fronts in the first half and more four man fronts in the second half.

Howard Green was surprisingly in for 31 plays and responded with a forced fumble and a QB hit. Vernon Gholston was in on 20 plays this week and after last week’s solid display, he was a little underwhelming this week. He didn’t make any mistakes and the defense did not underperform with him in the game, but he didn’t really beat anyone or make an impact this week, other than shedding a block to stop Ronnie Brown for a modest gain to force a third and short in the redzone (on the play before Brandon Marshall’s touchdown.)

Linebackers

Jason Taylor had a particularly strong game, although Bryan Thomas did get some pressure and had a crucial tackle on Chad Henne in the redzone, on a play that would have been a sack, had Henne not fallen forward for a short gain. On the inside, David Harris led the team with seven tackles. He had a poor game in Miami last year, so he did a much better job of not getting washed out in traffic, although this inevitably happened a few times. His hit on Ronnie Brown in the backfield shows just how effective he can be when they are able to keep him in space. Bart Scott was not statistically productive, but tangled with Lousaka Polite all afternoon.

The Jets also used James Ihedigbo as a run-blitzing outside linebacker to counter the wildcat. Overall, this worked well, as he drew a hold, came off the edge to made a tackle in the backfield and helped force a big loss on an end-around. He did overpursue and miss a tackle once, though.

It sounds like Calvin Pace will return this week, so it remains to be seen whether they will continue to send as much pressure. This week, they sent more than last week, but less than in week one (and certainly less in the second half than in the first). Here’s how it breaks down:

Fewer than 4 pass rushers: 6
Four: 21
Five: 13
More than five: 10

Defensive Backs

Clearly, without Darrelle Revis, this unit had its struggles. Kyle Wilson started, but was victimized early (although one of Davone Bess’ catches shouldn’t have counted) and was soon basically relegated to the number three corner, as the Jets instead used Dwight Lowery on the outside and employed Wilson in zone coverage or in the slot. In the second half, Drew Coleman, who hasn’t played in the first half of any game so far this season, replaced Lowery. Lowery had mainly been used as a free safety in the first two games and did get beaten a few times here.

Coleman lost his footing and missed an important tackle on Polite, but responded with an important hit on Ronnie Brown on the final series and the clinching interception (although since it was fourth down, I’d have preferred him to knock it down rather than make a juggling catch with a receiver right next to him). If he does start on Sunday, as rumored, don’t be surprised to see him and Dwight Lowery get a half each.

Although Brandon Marshall made two big plays in the second half to finish up with 166 yards on 10 catches, Antonio Cromartie was (by my count) thrown at 14 times and only gave up 8 receptions, so he didn’t fare as badly as you might think. However, he did get burned deep and didn’t do a very good job of recovering or contesting the long ball. Also, he missed a tackle, which is suicide against a player like Marshall. Finally, he still isn’t getting his head turned consistently, although he has improved since week one and is doing better than Wilson at this.

Special Teams

Steve Weatherford had another solid game punting, downing two of his four kicks inside the twenty and hitting a 61 yarder. If Nick Folk had made the 61 yard field goal before halftime, I wonder how the game would have played out. We can’t really complain about that – or anything else Folk has done so far. On the coverage unit, Marquice Cole had a huge day, with four good tackles and a punt downed inside the five. Credit Matt Kroul with a great block to spring Brad Smith’s 54 yard kickoff return too. Finally, Eric Smith blocked a punt and if the ball hadn’t caromed off Brandon Fields’ standing leg, it probably would have been a David Clowney touchdown.

PFF Analysis

I’m told the analysis from ProFootballFocus.com will not be ready until Friday, so I’ll make a separate post then.

Conclusions

It’s always nice to come away from Miami with the win, but the Jets shouldn’t overlook Buffalo, who ran each of the Jets last two opponents close. If Darrelle Revis doesn’t play, the Jets secondary will have to up its game, but if they can continue to stop the run, that will make things tough for the Bills. I think the jury is still out on exactly how strong the four AFC East teams are, but this week will provide more food for thought.
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yem · Oct 1, 2010

Thanks, I like reading these.

I like the use of James Ihedigbo in obvious running situations. He fills holes nicely and is an underrated member of this "D".

vilmatic · Oct 1, 2010

awesome stuff.

Hobbes3259 · Oct 1, 2010

Great Post WSW.....

WhiteShoeWillis · Oct 1, 2010

Hobbes3259 said: ↑

Great Post WSW.....
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I didn't write this, I just copied and pasted it from TJB.

gustoonarmy · Oct 1, 2010

Nice concise write up, thanks

BGA: Jets at Dolphins

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