True, but a sure-fire way of showing Zach that they trusted him and believed in him would have been saying screw the odds we believe in you Zach, take the shot if it's there. It seems like with Lazard Zach could have just thrown a high pass and let Lazard go up and get it (of course Lazard may have dropped the ball).
Spot on! It's sad that everyone can't see this, but I guess it requires less thought and is easier to just blame Zach and say that he sucks.
I agree with all, I just have one response to the bold. With regards to the bold, I may not have trusted Zach, but I hope that I would have had the presence of mind to think that even if it failed and it wound up costing us the game, the best thing for Zach and for the team moving forward might have been showing Zach that I had confidence in him and trusted him (whether I actually did or not). If it succeeded, it would have been a big boost for the confidence of the team, of Zach and for the team's confidence in Zach. Even if if had failed, unless Zach just made a horrible read/decision/or throw, I think the offense and team would have appreciated Saleh's having confidence in them, and know what the odds are in a situation like that. Of course, the flip side of that is that if Zach had tried it and failed, that might have hurt his confidence in himself, but I don't think so, and one can't worry about that. If his confidence is going to take a hit every time a play fails, then he's not cut out to be an NFL QB.
One of the major "improvements" Zach showed on Monday was in trusting and going to GW - 5 for 5, and most of them clutch plays. Last season he didn't have the trust or chemistry with Garrett. Also, the rest of the receiving corps is much more reliable and solid. Zach has way more options than he had - or believed he had - than last year, and that has to help his confidence. He can execute a pass play now and have faith that it will have a good chance of working and so he can just do it and not think about it. If this is an aspect of his development that has been solidified it bodes well for his success.
That's where the situational aspect comes in. If it was against an NFC or out of division team maybe Saleh does what you suggest, but this was a game against Buffalo that was there for the taking. Gambling and winding up losing would've been very costly. Personally, I would've given Zach the shot, but I believe in taking risks on offense more than most. Saleh is a conservative, defensive minded coach who believes in his defense. His decision didn't surprise me at all. Nor did some people saying that it was "proof" Saleh doesn't trust Zach.
Yes. Your point about it being Buffalo vs an NFC team is spot on, and definitely could be part of the reason. I think I would have given Zach the shot as well, just am not sure. I am normally more aggressive and not averse to taking calculated risks. One of the reasons I wanted Daboll or an offensive-minded HC is the very thing you mentioned in the part I bolded above. Most defensive coaches are more conservative on offense, are VERY risk averse, and think they can win with D. Overall, in spite of his horrible decision to hire MLF and the adverse affects that had on Zach and the team's success, I think that Saleh has done a very good job getting the team prepared to play each week, both physically and mentally/emotionally, and they don't quit. How long has it been since we've seen that from a Jets' HC, since Parcells? The one thing that I think that could ultimately strike a serious blow to the Jets' chances of winning a SB, is Saleh's conservatism. He is going to have to learn to open things up, and be more aggressive on offense. I think he may have done that this year with Rodgers. Hopefully, Hackett or he will realize that they need to do the same thing with Zach, and he will become more involved (in a good way) with the offense.
I obviously don't know if that will happen, but how cool would that be, if he actually started playing well. It really is consistency with him. To me, if he can consistently play as he did, in the 4th quarter of last season's win over the Bills, that would be a huge step forward. He played smart, threw some big passes, & even took a smart sack in the redzone, rather than risking an INT. He looked like things were finally starting to click. Of course, the next game was the 1st Pats game, which turned on that pick-6 that was called back... & then the collapse. But I digress... how cool if he's really gotten his head together. He seems to be having fun again, which he noted last season wasn't the case. This Dallas game is huge for Zach's psyche. I really hope Hackett & his passing game guy have put together a creative plan for the O. They have one thing going for them... they know what not to do... anything that resembles what the previous OC had in-mind... .
That's where I disagree. It proves that after AR's injury, they had a young QB who hadn't taken any practice reps, jump into the game after 4 plays. Their gameplan was for AR, not for Zach. Everyone had to settle down after the shock, & on the fly, adlib the rest of the game. I'm a taking risks wins games kinda guy, but that game called for a conservative approach, under extraordinary circumstances. That conservative approach was about a CS regrouping, & keeping the team focused... to me, it was all-around the best coached game, since Saleh moseyed into Jetsland. I want to see the same determination, & focus by the CS tomorrow, with an adequate dose of risk, by giving the offense some added juice, & not being overly conservative. As I said previously, if they go the overly conservative route, that'll show a lack of confidence in Zach, & probably put the O into desperation mode late in the game, most likely leading to a loss. .
I have a pretty good feeling about today. I think the Boys are going to be overconfident and the Jets hyped to prove this team was more than just Rodgers. I think the Jets punch ‘em in the mouth on defense and never look back. Jets 20 Cowboys 16 Zach will have about 20 pass attempts
A few promising tidbits, if Russini's 'intel' is true. Take this article for whatever it's worth, but it's an interesting read. I specifically liked the first bullet point, that they've designed half the gameplan around Zach's strengths, & they actually reviewed Zach's plays to see what works for him. OMG... an actual coaching staff doing smart stuff tailored to talent, rather than forcing a scheme down his throat... whoda thunk the article ----> https://theathletic.com/4869386/2023/09/17/jets-quarterback-zach-wilson-aaron-rodgers-plan/ Since the Athletic is subscription based, here's my copy & paste job, from a Dianna Russini article today. (If you don't have a subscription to the Athletic, you can read all their articles, if your web browser has a reader mode... just open an article, & quickly click into reader mode. Works flawlessly on most subscription sites, like the NY Post, NY Times, Wash Post, etc) Hopefully, Hackett et al can copy & paste together a successful gameplan for Zach, from his positive plays! .
ZW is always proving himself so it seems...but guess what? : unless you are A Rogers Mahomes or Tom Brady ALL QBs know the world is keeping score So to your point and NCs Zach has to gain confidence and imo show the maturity of the job>>>>being an NFL QB
I'm super excited for this game. I really hope all the Zach Wilson truthers are right and he throws 3 or 4 TD's.
The point is that they didn’t gain anything really clock-wise by running the ball. Allen still had plenty of time and a timeout. The game was over if they gained a first down and they didn’t realistically try to do that. A lot of the other stuff are fluff words. Determination, confidence, settling down after shock. They still had to play the football game. They didn’t just witness a plane crash, it was an injury.
You're right, but consider that the Jets - at least LaFleur - did not have any confidence in Zach from the beginning. No surprise since based on the highly complicated offense that MLF insisted upon installing was almost sure to fail with a rookie QB, no matter who that rookie was. But rather than accept the reality of Zach and his natural strengths/weaknesses, LaFleur kept insisting on trying to make that offense work, as though his reputation depended upon it instead of making sure the Jets overall #2 QB worked out which would've done far more for reputation. And Saleh, being a defensive guy, took a hands off approach the whole time, letting MLF have free rein, a terrible decision. To his credit, Zach never complained about any of it, or demanded a trade, he tried to rework his entire game to suit LaFleur, but the reality was that MLF's offense required much more experience to run than Zach had, and which is why when Flacco and White were put in, having had a few more years experience, they had better success. On top of all that were the mismanagement of building a solid OL, and getting enough skill position talent to take some of the load off Zach. We saw a glimpse of how important that is/was last year before Breece went out and they compiled a 5-1 record because Zach didn't have to try to carry the team. And we just saw again how important that is on Monday when Zach didn't have to do most of the heavy lifting. Having gotten rid of MLF and his unrealistic offense, getting an experienced OC in Hackett, getting Rodgers in to mentor Zach, and getting Breece back and adding other veteran weapons, this is the first year where it can be said that the Jets did anything right in developing a young QB. The only thing they didn't do was ensure that OL was at least solid, and that bit them in the ass 4 plays into the game on Monday. Yes, Zach now needs to prove that he can be the guy they thought they drafted, but that's not going necessarily happen this week or even in a couple weeks. The plan was for him to sit and learn from AR for the season. But shit happens, and now he has to step up. If he can't then the Jets need to start looking for a better option. I'm hoping he can, because he's the best option at this point.
I was told the Jets do not have any plans to reach out to Tom Brady, Joe Flacco, Philip Rivers, Blake Bortles or Ben Roethlisberger. Oh thank you Jesus, they finally learned!!
Thanks for sharing this article. It's encouraging, and gives me a little more faith and trust in the CS. I'm not surprised, but it's unfathomable that any Jets fan would want Kirk Cousins here. He's been on a great Minnesota teams with plenty of weapons and a very good D for years and they've gone nowhere, largely due to his level of play. He's a stat compiler, but not a leader or a winner. Even if he would be a clear upgrade, I seriously doubt that the Jets would be able to fit him under the cap even if Minnesota would trade him, and I doubt that they'd trade their starting QB. Jets fans. SMH
I hope we're right, too! Throwing 3 or 4 TDs would be awesome, but even I don't think that will happen. That would be a LOT to expect. I'm just hoping that he'll play a very solid, strong game, showing that he has learned and grown a lot, that he's poised, confident and comfortable in the offense, makes few mistakes, completes somewhere north of 60-65% of his passes, and if he throws two TD passes and leads a couple of other scoring drives, I'll be very happy if not ecstatic. Baby steps.
I have to disagree with the bold. I don't think that's true at all. If they didn't have any confidence in Zach, they wouldn't have said that he was the starter as soon as he was drafted. JD would have gone out and gotten a veteran QB to start. Saleh was very confident in Zach and effusive with his praise. MLF also admitted about 6 games or so into Zach's rookie season, that he had made the mistake of trying to exploit weaknesses in opposing defenses early in games earlier in the season. That is something that no OC should do with a rookie QB, and I don't think that even MLF would have if he didn't think Zach could do it. I think the problem was that they all expected too much from Zach day one. They put too much on his plate and too much pressure, and Zach clearly wasn't ready for it. Saleh obviously didn't have a clue how complex the WCO is, especially the version that MLF wanted to run, or understand that Zach didn't have the righ mechanics. I think JD was in the same boat. I think they all expected that Zach would perform at a very high level from day one, even while experiencing some rookie struggles and adjusting to the speed of the NFL and complexity of NFL defenses. I think your sentence that I've italicized and the rest of your post is spot on. MLF claimed that he was going to adapt his scheme to Zach's strengths and the talents of the rest of the players on offense, but he clearly never did, as Zach regressed, and Moore and MIms became very unhappy, Moore didn't play up to his potential, and both requested a trade. Mims either was not up to the task of playing in the NFL or MLF's and WR Coache's handling of him ruined him. MLF was also said to be very negative, and most people don't perform well with negative leadership. Once MLF realized that Zach wasn't ready to do all they had wanted him to, all he knew how to do was to try to re-make Zach, which isn't smart thing to do while a player is having to start each week. If he had instead, been more flexible, found what Zach was comfortable with, what he could do well, gone with that, and then called plays early in games to get him in sync/rhythm and build his confidence, things might be very different now. MLF might be good with Xs and Os, but he clearly doesn't understand the first thing about being a coach, developing a QB, helping them, or putting them into a position where they can succeed. I agree that Saleh took a hands off approach with the offense, both because he didn't want to offend his friend MLF or be a micro-managing type HC, but I also think it was because he knew little about offense and how complex the WCO is.
You cannot “ground and pound “, or do much of anything, when your offensive line blows. And our offensive line blows
