NFL Week 15 New York Jets Vs. Tennessee Titans Quick Hits

Dec 14, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; New York Jets quarterback

(7) passes against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at LP Field. Mandatory Credit:

-USA TODAY Sports

The Jets won their 1st road game of the year beating the Titans 16-11 to go to 3-11. The Jets took themselves out of the running for the top pick in draft with the victory but as Herm Edwards said, “you play to win the game”. Geno Smith played a mistake-free game and the Jets held the Titans out of the end zone to cement the victory.

1) Geno Smith leads a game-winning touchdown drive – For the 2nd straight week Geno Smith was able to take the Jets down the field and get points when the game was on the line. Last week Smith was able to get the Jets into position for the tying field goal and this week he led them down the field for the go ahead touchdown with just under 3 minutes remaining in the game. The drive was aided by a taunting penalty that gave the Jets a 1st down when they would have been forced to punt otherwise. The Titans were also called for pass interference in the end zone on a 3rd and goal that set the Jets up for the Chris Ivory 1 yard run. The key play in the drive was a 37 yard run by Chris Johnson out of the Wildcat formation.

2) The Jets shot themselves in the foot with key penalties – The Jets had two big plays called back because of penalties. A 43 yard pass and run by Zach Sudfeld was wiped out by a holding call against Breno Giacomini and a successful screen pass to Chris Johnson was wiped out by an offensive pass interference call against Chris Ivory. Geno Smith was called for intentional grounding while trying to avoid a sack in the end zone which resulted in a safety. They also had a false start penalty that cost them a touchdown in the 4th quarter. They later scored a touchdown on that drive, however.

3) Philip Adams got abused consistently but so did everybody who tried to cover Nate Washington – Adams got burned on 3 key 3rd downs in the 1st half not being able to cover Nate Washington. Adams fell down on a scramble play on a 3rd and 14 that resulted in a Tennessee 1st down and was beaten badly in man coverage on multiple other occasions. Washington finished with 5 carries for 79 yards.

4) IK Enemkpali played well – Enemkpali showed some promise by getting some pressure on the quarterback and knocking two balls down at the line of scrimmage. It’s a shame that it took until Week 15 for him to get consistent playing time but he made the most of the time he got in Week 15.

5) CJ not ok until…- In what was supposed to be a revenge game for Johnson he ran lethargically and was ineffective running for only 11 yards on 6 carries in the 1st half. He had what could have been a nice gain on a screen pass that was nullified by penalty. He was a non-factor in the 2nd half until a Wildcat play late in the 4th quarter that went for 37 yards and set the Jets up in a position to take the lead. Johnson finished with 55 yards on 10 carries (37 on that 1 run).

6) Geno Smith did something he hasn’t done before – Smith threw a beautiful ball to Eric Decker that went for an apparent touchdown (Decker stepped out at the 33 yard line) where Smith threw Decker open which is something Smith has not excelled at as a quarterback in the NFL so far. Usually the receiver needs to be open before Smith will look his way but this time Smith trusted the receiver (and himself) and made a terrific throw. Smith also threw a beautiful back shoulder throw to Decker that hit Decker in the chest. Decker dropped it, however. If only he made those throws more consistently then Geno Smith would have a brighter future.

7) Mangold left the game injured but returned – Nick Mangold left the game with 5 minutes left to go in the 4th quarter with an arm injury. Mangold had made every snap for the Jets this season. He was replaced by Dalton Freeman. Mangold returned to the game later in the drive.