Special Inside the Jet Press Film Room: Ed Reed

Nov 14, 2013; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets safety Ed Reed addresses the media at his locker at the Jets training facility. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

Look at that guy to the right. Ed Reed looks like the happiest guy in the world as a new member of the New York Jets. How nice is that to see? There was a time, many of us went through it, that nobody wanted to be caught dead with a Jets’ uniform on. It is nice that the times have finally changed.

It’s exciting too, even for us here at the site. Yes, I know that I wrote this article about the Jets not needing Reed, but that doesn’t mean I thought the idea was terrible.  He’s not Tim Tebow.  The facts are, that at such a small investment, he could add a lot of intangibles to the Jets over the second half, and maybe even a few turnovers to boot.

So, as our regular readers know, it’s time to go “Inside the Film Room”. But, this is a special edition, as we are looking at, instead of the upcoming opponent, we are looking our newest teammate, Ed Reed. We are going to look at what he brings to the table to help this defense on the field. We are going to keep it to recent Ed Reed, plays from 2012 only, since he hasn’t recorded an INT in 2013.

Let’s break down what he does, especially for some younger readers that haven’t seen as much of Reed. He is a ball-hawking safety. What does that mean? Well, it means three things: he knows where the ball is, he knows where the ball is going, and he knows how to get it.

These two plays from 2012 will explain exactly what I mean. The first is from week one:

This is from the game against the Bengals. Andy Dalton has his team in shotgun, Reed is in the circle. As best as you can, watch Reed’s eyes. See how they are into the backfield? They are watching the QB. Watch as we move forward.

See? All Ed is doing is watching the quarterback’s eyes. He knows the ball is going toward the receiver short, so he is coming in to provide help. Little does he know that he will end up with the football.

The throw is errant, so Reed makes the play……

34 yards later, it’s touchdown Ravens. The ball-hawk makes the play.

This one is from later in the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Charlie Batch is at quarterback for Pittsburgh, and you can see the prowess of Ed Reed as plain as day. Look at his eyes. Pre-snap, watching everything that Batch does.

It’s like a broken record, because Reed is still watching the quarterback’s every move.

OUt the football comes. Like I said before, Reed knows where it is, he knows where it’s going………

He shows us he can go and get it. He makes the pick in the end zone, and returns it back another 34 yards.

He is a ball-hawk. He knows where the ball is, he knows where it’s going, and he can go get it.

Why is this so important? It allows the other defensive backs to cover more aggressively. Why? They know they have Ed Reed helping behind them. They can take a few more chances, with that security blanket back there.

Don’t get me wrong, Ed Reed is 35, not 25. He won’t be out there every play, far from it. But when he IS out there, he will pay dividends.