NFL Week 4: New York Jets Vs. Detroit Lions Quick Hits

Sep 14, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Eric Decker (87) celebrates his touchdown catch during the first quarter of a game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

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The New York Jets met the Detroit Lions today. With a very difficult stretch of games still to come, the Jets needed this game in the worst way to get back to .500 at 2-2. Their backs were against the wall but they weren’t good enough. The Lions beat the Jets 24-17. How did they do it? Here are the quick hits:

1) Surprise Inactives – Both Jalen Saunders and Kenrick Ellis were surprise inactives, Dee Milliner was no surprise. Eric Decker played once again with his balky hamstring. Edds, Dozier, Enemkpali, and Ijalana rounded out the inactive list. David Nelson left the game in the 2nd quarter with a leg injury. Calvin Pryor left with a calf injury. Damon Harrison left with a groin injury but returned.

2) Completely conservative game plan in the 1st half – The Jets ran the ball 17 times and passed only nine times in the 1st half. A lot of those passes were slants and short passes. It seems if they handcuffed Geno Smith after his turnovers in the 1st 3 games. On the 1st drive the Jets went 14 plays 71 yards in 6:24 seconds, which only netted them a field goal. After that were five consecutive 3 and outs. The Jets couldn’t run like they used to and when Smith went to throw there was pressure and he had to scramble.

3) Defense gets gashed by big plays – For most of the half the Jets played solid defense, the Jets had 3 sacks and good pressure on Stafford but they got beaten on big plays that led to Lions points. On the 1st drive the Lions had a 3rd down conversion by Golden Tate where his yards after the catch made it a 35 yard grab and set up the Lions 51 yard field goal. Later in the 2nd quarter, a miscommunication between Antonio Allen and Calvin Pryor led to Jeremy Ross getting behind the Jet defense for a 59 yard touchdown on a 3rd and 10. Finally, a shanked punt let the Lions have the ball at midfield with under two minutes to go in the half and the Lions were able to easily go down the field and score a touchdown on Eric Ebron’s 16 yard touchdown catch where he was covered by an overmatched David Harris. In the 3rd quarter the Jets let the Lions convert 3 3rd downs on a drive that started at their own 10 and eventually became a touchdown. Wilkerson had 1.5 sacks, Richardson 1 sack, Landry, Jarrett and Pryor all had a half sack.

4) Geno Smith was terrible – Smith was 4/12 for 32 yards and averaged 2.7 yards per attempt in the 1st half. His accuracy was erratic. Smith was not helped by Eric Decker, who had 2 key drops. Geno seems to have lost his confidence and his decision-making is now hesitant. Smith threw another interception on a ball that sailed on him as he got hit. The following possession he was strip sacked as the Jets were driving again. He has regressed since halftime of the Packer game and is going to lose his job at some point this season if he doesn’t turn it around. Smith finished 17/33 for 209 yards with 1 touchdown, 1 interception and 1 fumble lost. There were 4 drops.

5) Chris Ivory was spectacular and Amaro is starting to emerge – Ivory had 79 yards rushing at halftime, including 51 on the opening scoring drive. He ran hard and violently rendering the NFL’s top defense useless. Unfortunately 1 person cannot make the offense run, unless that is the quarterback. Chris Johnson continued to show that he has less in the tank than originally thought. There is no burst to his runs and he is not getting open in the passing game. He did have a 4th quarter touchdown where he snuck through a hole and got lost in the bodies then emerged to run for the 35 yard score. Bilal Powell needs more snaps. Jace Amaro continues to see his role grow in the offense. Amaro had 5 catches for 56 yards. Eric Decker had 4 catches for 48 yards but 2 costly drops.

6) Special Teams – The coverage teams were excellent, consistently pinning the Lions inside the 20. Folk hit his field goal as usual and even Ryan Quigley had a good day with a couple of 60 yard punts. Quigley did have a shank that gave the Lions great field goal position before the half and led to a touchdown. Hakim ran one ball out of the back of the end zone to the 25. The punt returners didn’t fumble and Walter Powell has a little bit of burst and lateral quickness.

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