5 Quick Hits: Jets Vs. 49ers

1.

The offense looked dismal in a blowout loss to the 49ers on their home turf at MetLife stadium. You wouldn’t know it though as the crowd seemed  to be about 70% San Francisco fans. Mark Sanchez completed less than 50% of his passes in route to a game which featured two turnovers and zero touchdowns. Sanchez was under fire all game from the 49er defense as they took him down to the turf early and often. Sanchez failed to find any rhythm with his receivers and routinely missed on crucial downs. It doesn’t look good for Sanchez or the New York Jets offense at this point and some serious coaching decisions are going to be made going forward. 13 completions for 103 yards won’t get it done in the NFL and something must spark the Gang Green offense if there’s any hope going deeper into the season.

2.

The defense played disappointingly once again. Giving up over 200 yard of rushing the New York Jets defense looked out matched, and out coached in today’s contest. The front seven was dominated by the 49er offense line, which often featured a jumbo look including defensive lineman in the backfield for extra push against the soft defensive front. With running lanes bursting wide open, the San Francisco offense only passed when they needed to, finding open receivers when it mattered while controlling the football. The Jets desperately need to strengthen their run defense as teams are starting to exploit the interior of the once dominating defense.

3.

Kyle Wilson played pretty bad, although he didn’t seem to think so. Wilson was torched on deep routes consistently, leaving opportunities for big shots down the field. The 49ers never could capitalize though as Alex Smith continually overthrew wide open receivers covered by Wilson. These plays then often features Wilson taunting and celebrating these incompletions, as if his seven yard frantic trailing of the receiver impacted the play. Wilson was beat off the line by various receivers, appearing to be slow to turn his hips and lacking catch up speed to run down vertical receivers. While the 49ers had no reason to exploit Wilson due to their running success, the film is there for upcoming opponents to game plan for the lack of coverage provided by Kyle Wilson.

4.

Stantonio Holmes appears to be seriously injured. On the first play of the fourth quarter Holmes made a 4 yard catch, falling to the turf untouched and throwing the ball away as he fell in serious pain. The injury looked quite serious as Santonio laid on the turf, eventually being carried off and carted into the locker room. No more information has been available except that it was a knee injured and Holmes would not return. Losing Holmes for a significant amount of time could spell doom for the struggling Jets offense. As the leading receiver Holmes has caught 16 balls for 243 yards in just under 4 full games. The lack of talent behind Holmes is what is really frightening NY fans, as an already injured Stephan Hill would headline a corps of receivers featuring Chad Schilens and Patrick Turner. We can only hope that the injury to Holmes isn’t serious, but only time will tell how this injury will affect the New York Jets moving forward.

5.

Tim Tebow was once again a non factor in today’s game. While Rex Ryan singaled that Tebow would be more featured in the pregame interview, that game plane failed to surface this afternoon. Tebow attempted and completed his first pass a Jet, the nine yard catch was subsequently fumbled and resulted in a turnover to the 49er defense. These nine yards would be all the Tebow accounted for, as he attempted no further passes and compiled zero yards in two carriers out of the backfield. It is puzzling that late in the game with the result decided Rex Ryan choose to keep Sanchez in the game, instead of giving Tebow the opportunity to do what he is known for, putting up points  in the fourth quarter. After today’s performance by starter Mark Sanchez the coaching staff may soon be backed into a corner with no proper excuse not to start the waiting Tim Tebow. Stayed tuned to see how the Jets coaching staff reacts to today’s loss.