The Jets actually won their first game of the season 18-17 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While it’s nice to get a win, frankly the fashion that they won in, for the most part, is something Jets fans shouldn’t get excited over.
What stood out as most alarming from the Jets week-one game was some questionable coaching from Head Coach Rex Ryan and Offensive Coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.
After Doug Martin’s run on third down to set up Ryan Lindell’s eventual go-ahead field goal, the Jets waited seven seconds before calling timeout. Knowing that if the field goal was made the Jets would have almost no time to retake the lead, Ryan should have called time out immediately when the third down play was over with.
Ryan wasn’t even the one who eventually called the time out. Mornhinweg had to sprint down the sideline to call it. How does a head coach not realize that he should call a time out immediately in that situation?
These kinds of mental mistakes are completely inexcusable coming from a head coach, whose job is to put their team in the best position to win. Here Ryan was not doing that.
The Jets only won because of an idiotic personal foul penalty on LaVonte David, which set up Nick Folk’s game-winning field goal. Had the personal foul penalty not taken place, the Jets would have attempted a hail mary to try and take the lead because they weren’t in field goal range.
Had Ryan called time out, they would have had seven more seconds to gain the yards necessary to attempt a game-winning field goal. It might seem like a small error now because they won, but Ryan should still be held accountable for his poor judgment. These are the types of errors that separate good and great coaches in the NFL.
Overall, Mornhinweg called a pretty good game and put his players in positions that would allow them to succeed. However, he favored the wildcat formation way too much.
The wildcat is a great tool that can allow an offense to get some life into it, but the way Mornhinweg used it killed any rhythm the offense had going.
Despite calling the wildcat too often, I loved how Mornhinweg used Quarterback Geno Smith. He allowed Smith to roll out of the pocket and use his athleticism to make plays. While Smith isn’t a run-first quarterback, he has enough mobility that allows him to make plays while on the move.
If Mornhinweg can cut down on the use of the wildcat formation, help Smith relax more on the field and develop a strong running game, the Jets can have a strong offense. These are big adjustments that need to be made, but they’re crucial to any success the Jets will have this season.
As for the week-two game against the Patriots tonight, I believe the Patriots will win 38-10 and Tom Brady will pick apart the Jets defense. On the offensive side of the ball for the Jets, Smith and company will struggle to do anything productive.
Going against the Patriots will reveal the true identity of the Jets, and will show what to expect of this team going forward.
Andrew Lief