Just a Sanchez lover not embracing how Mark doesn't give us the best chance to win anymore. To some of them, this will be a hard pill to swallow. His headband looked impressingly emo tonight though.
It's a nice gesture, premature and IMO unnecessary. First, it's too early to proclaim Geno to be NFL starter. The judgement is still out. Keep in mind that this was first time an NFL defense saw him play. The same goes for Jets O-line. As season progresses, defenses will be more prepared. Second, the play calling for limited, targeted to minimize mistakes. Lets see what happens when play book opens up. Third, at least in my case, I don't feel guilty questioning Geno. My doubt were based on his performance and I don't think require apology.
His attitude was the most pleasant surprise for me. Any QB can make plays here and there. Geno in addition to making some key ones at critical moments, looked calm and calculative. I'm very hopeful for this kid.
Mezz, nice post again as always. I was not a Smith fan but he really impressed me. He was so calm in the pocket while there was chaos all around him. He showed poise under pressure, decisiveness and the ability to extend plays. He also showed patience, intelligence and the willingness to throw the ball away and come back the next play. What I loved about Smith's smart play was it kept drives alive that otherwise would have ended in punts. He only had 3-4 bad plays all night. He was not asked to do a lot but he kept doing his part play after play. Smith pretty much carried the offense by himself. It has been a long time since a Jet QB has done that. He did this all under a tremendous amount of pressure. The line especially in the 2nd half was giving him no time. I know Tampa's line is very good and we had no running game but it looked like we really were missing Slauson and Moore. Can he show up again on a short week against NE? I am not sold yet. There will be some rough games with many stretches of plays like we saw in the 2nd quarter today. But this kid today showed the types of qualities that make a great QB. Good decision making, patience, poise, ability to extend plays and just that utter cool calmness under tremendous pressure. I can't wait to watch him progress and see what he is in a years time. As a fan base we are so deserving of a true franchise QB. After barely missing out on so many QBs like Marino, Favre, Manning and Russel Wilson hopefully this will be our turn to strike it rich on a QB. I just hope we protect him better than we did today or he will not last long. The kid took a beating today.
To think that this guy had zero run game, and was under pressure all game, and he still played well is really a great sign. And to add to it, Buccs defense is no joke, but he still managed to make plays. Protection was so bad that they had to make plays where he's running to the side as the ball is snapped. He had a good game, and IMO he carried this offense.
This is a classy post. It's a long season. Lets hope Smith continues to improve and develop. I think it shows that you just can't put much stock on he preseason because you don't really know what the coaches are trying to do or whether the offense or defense are playing as if it were the regular season. We also need to realize that this was just one game. Way too much emphasis is put on the first game of the season. It was encouraging and Smith handled adversity very well. He showed why he was named the starter. And absent injuries or a complete collapse, Sanchez is not likely to take another snap as a Jets starter.
They didn't protect him that much. He threw 38 passes, which is about 50% more than expected. I expected about 25 passes.
Hypothetical scenario IF at the end of the season Geno looks like a potential franchise QB. THIS is a guy you can say that all he needs is a set of weapons. Geno appears to have the mind for the game to go along with his physical abilities. The fact that MM said back in May that Geno didn't look ready, then in training camp he improved on everything MM said he needed to work on. Then he has a bad game against the Giants in pre season, then in his first start looks like he improved on the things he needed to work from the PS game. This guy studies and watches film and seems to learn very quickly. I'm very excited about Geno's potential, but like I said before I'm taking it one game at a time.
When I was taking about opening the play book I didn't mean number of passes but rather complexity of plays.
Pump the brakes.....I seem to remember a rookie QB named Mark Sanchez going 18-31 with 272 yards ....1 TD and 1 Int ....on the road ...
Well, we ran a ton of screens . . . but screens are an integral part of MM's offense. We also ran a few roll-out plays designed for Geno to only have to read half of the field. Other than that, I didn't think they went out of their way to protect him.
Yeah, but all we have heard since the a jets drafted Smith from the media and manyt Jets fans was how Smith was a bust and was not ready etc. that's not what I saw today.
Well done Geno. Good poise and a nice recovery after a horrid fumble and INT. He stayed positive and confident, and played really well down the stretch. There will be growing pains, but it was a Hell of a lot better than I expected. There's potential there! Is it just me or does he stand a lot taller in the pocket than Sanchez? Sanchez plays like he's 5'10" and Geno seems like he's 6"4" back there.
Glad you liked what you saw! Let's give a him a few weeks before he's proved anything, though. If he goes in the shitter you'll have to make another apology thread to apologize for this apology thread.
For those that thought this was a premature thread let me explain. I'm only apologizing for clearly not giving the man a chance. It's not to say that I've changed my thoughts on Simms either. I think he's going to be something in this league...just maybe not on the Jets. I think the base skills that I was assuming Geno didn't have are actually there. I understand this is going to be a process and there will be learning pains. But, from what I saw today we have the capability to make the playoffs this year. If we can maintain a receiving corps that is. But that's not Geno's problem. As a QB for this offense I think he has displayed certain traits...and definitely the "IT" factor. Someone made a very strong, but very interesting, statement in the comparison between what we've had and what we had: He DOES appear "larger" back there. Interesting...can't wait for Thursday at this point!
