New York Jets Week Seven Report Card

Oct 20, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets running back Chris Ivory (33) runs with the ball during the first half of their game against the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Without wasting too much time, let’s get to the grades, coming out of the thrilling 30-27 victory yesterday over the New England Patriots.

QUARTERBACK: B+ As we said in the recap earlier, you have to give Geno Smith the utmost credit for being so resilient yesterday. He came off of the pick six unafraid, which is the trait of a quarterback that is good, and destined to get better. You must have a short memory to succeed as a quarterback in this league, and Geno has just that.

He came back and got the job done when he had to. He scored a rushing touchdown to put the Jets ahead, and put them in position to win the game when it was necessary. It doesn’t take away from his performance, the fact that he didn’t make any throws late into the overtime.

The negative that brings it to a “B+” is the pick six. He still has to make better decisions, otherwise, great job.

RUNNING BACKS: B Chris Ivory did finally get off the deck yesterday, posting his first 100 yard game as a member of the New York Jets. But it wasn’t a dominant effort, with 104 yards on 32 carries, only a 3.2 yards per carry average. It’s not a bad game, but really a “breakout” game. The Jets on a whole only averaged 3.4 yards per carry.

WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT ENDS: A- First of all, how good was Jeremy Kerley? Eight catches for 97 yards and one touchdown. It seemed like every catch he made was for a first down. Great job out of Jeremy. David Nelson was huge as well with his eight yard contribution. Don’t negate the play of Jeff Cumberland as well, although there was the one pass he should have caught, he does have a well developing relationship with Geno Smith.

OFFENSIVE LINE: B This group definitely ebbed and flowed with the momentum of the game. They were blowing Patriots off the ball for a while, and making mistakes during other sections of the game.

They gave Smith a good pocket for most of the day, but they did allow four sacks. The Jets did pop off a couple of longer runs, but they only averaged 3.4 yards per carry on the day. By the numbers, they were in the middle, but were slightly better, so they get a “B”.

Aug 17, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson (96) reacts during the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

DEFENSIVE LINE: A- First of all, hats off to our good buddy Damon Harrison for recording his first professional sack. The Jets only allowed 90 yards on the ground, a credit to the line as well. The average they allowed was 4.5 yards per carry according to the boxscore, but the running backs never looked that good. It never seemed like they were getting anything done on the ground.

Kudos for a job well done.

LINEBACKERS: B+ Nice job out of Quinton Coples, recording a sack and a forced fumble. Demario Davis played well, with four solo tackles. Calvin Pace added a sack, and almost recorded an interception if he had been a little bit faster.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: A- Although Tom Brady did complete more than 50% of his passes, they kept him out of the end zone. It’s not often that you prevent Tom Brady from throwing a TD pass, so when you do, it’s a great performance.

The performance evolves to an “A” for another reason, Antonio Allen. Antonio Allen did a wonderful job against Rob Gronkowski, despite the fact that he led the Patriots in receiving. He posted a pick six against the “Gronk”, and knocked down two passes as well. And most importantly, they kept Rob out of the end zone. That was huge.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B Nick Folk was “money” again, or should we say “still”, coming through in the clutch like he always is. Ryan Quigley had an off game, only averaging 30 yards per punt. The x-factor was Josh Cribbs, taking over for Kerley and his fair catches. He averaged over ten yards per return, which was a nice change on punt returns.

How do your grades fair?