New York Jets Week 10: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Nov 9, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets free safety

Jaiquawn Jarrett

(37) intercepts the ball over Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver

Markus Wheaton

(11) during the third quarter at MetLife Stadium. The Jets defeated the Steelers 20-13. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

The Jets win! The Jets beat the Steelers Sunday at MetLife Stadium 20-13, in a game that wasn’t even that close, ending their eight game losing streak. This was the team we expected at the beginning of the season with a dominant defensive line, an opportunistic defense, a good ground game and making plays in the passing game off of play action. The Jets had a good game plan, played motivated, angry and with fire in their belly and the correct result followed. How did they do it? Here is the good, the bad and the ugly:

The Good

1) Jaiquawn Jarrett – Starting for Calvin Pryor, Jarrett went off to the tune of 10 tackles (seven solo) two interceptions, one fumble recovery, one sack, two quarterback hits and two pass defenses. He was all over the field on Sunday and earned his playing time. His sack came on a 3rd down play in the 1st quarter where he came off the edge on a delay blitz and held on to Roethlisberger for dear life to take him down for the sack. His first interception of the day came at the Jets goal line as Pittsburgh was driving, down 17-0 in the 2nd quarter. Jarrett caught a tipped ball by Marcus Williams on a pass intended for Markus Wheaton ,thwarting the Steelers drive. Later in the 3rd quarter, Roethlisberger tried to throw a jump ball late down the middle and Jarrett jumped the route and picked it off. These were all major plays that affected the outcome of the game.

2) Marty Mornhinweg’s 1st quarter play calling – The Jets started the game with a 14 play, near eight minute drive where they shoved the ball down Pittsburgh’s throat running for 52 yards. Then, after a Pittsburgh turnover, he called a play action bomb to TJ Graham which Vick dropped in perfectly for 67 yards and a touchdown. Following another Pittsburgh turnover, this time deep in their own territory, the Jets utilized one of their red zone targets that they should have been using all year by finding Jace Amaro in the back of the end zone to go up 17-0. Pittsburgh was back on their heels and unable to defend Chris Ivory‘s power running, Michael Vick‘s scrambling and deep ball, as well as Percy Harvin‘s running and receiving ability on 3rd downs. The Steelers decided to take away Eric Decker and rolled coverage his way and the Jets still had enough weapons to move down the field.

3) Rex Ryan’s defensive game plan – The plan was to take away the Steelers running game (Bell 11 rushes 36 yards, Pitt total 17 rushes 36 yards), limit the screen game (four plays of no gain or tackle for loss on screens, two by Calvin Pace and no big plays), take away Antonio Bryant (eight catches 74 yards two fumbles) and blitz Roethlisberger so he didn’t have time to beat the Jets deep (two sacks, seven tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits and other than the cheap late touchdown to Bryant there were few big plays). The Jets had two goal line stands that netted Pittsburgh a total of 3 points and they totally owned the line of scrimmage.

Nov 9, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Michael Vick (1) is knocked out of bounds by Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker

Lawrence Timmons

(94) during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

The Bad

1) Lack of impulse control – The Jets had nine penalties for 75 yards, which included four personal fouls (one roughing the passer on Babin that made a potential 3rd and 10 into a 1st down for Pittsburgh when he took a cheap shot at Roethlisberger after the whistle, one unsportsmanlike conduct on Vick and two consecutive unsportsmanlike conducts on Rex Ryan for foul language after a sideline scramble where Vick and Ryan both got tired of Pittsburgh’s chippy play, causing a third and 46) and two false starts for the league-leader Willie Colon, including one that stalled a drive. Antonio Allen somehow was offside on a normal kickoff. I don’t even think I’ve ever seen that happen on a kickoff that wasn’t an onside kick. Colon also completely lost it after Mike Mitchell tried to jump over the pile during the final kneel-down play and Nick Mangold back body-dropped him.

If another personal foul was called the Jets would have had to punt and given Pittsburgh a last gasp chance instead of a final kneel down. Colon needs to sit down and they need to play Dozier. Colon’s play has deteriorated to the point that his penalties are no longer tolerable and you might as well see what you have with Dozier. Babin’s play, after which he was removed from the game, shows why he was on so many losing teams because it was clear he didn’t understand that he extended the Pittsburgh drive and if he didn’t get bailed out by Jarrett’s interception he would have cost the Jets points and changed momentum in the game.

2) Mornhinweg’s play calling after the 1st quarter – After six carries for 36 yards on the opening drive for Chris Ivory, he only got two more carries before the middle of the 4th quarter. Following Jaiquawn Jarrett’s interception of Roethlisberger at the Jets 11 yard line, Mornhinweg did not stick with the hot hand and went with Chris Johnson on consecutive drives which killed Ivory’s momentum. Ivory is the kind of back that needs large numbers of carries to keep rolling and needs to be in the flow of the game. He got out of the flow and then became less of a factor as the game wore on. After the muffed punt by Brown with less than two minutes to go before halftime, Mornhinweg went run, pass, pass, with the 3rd down pass resulting in a sack.

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They didn’t net any yards following the turnover and Nick Folk uncharacteristically missed the 45 yard field goal resulting in an empty trip that gave the Steelers a short field, which led to a field goal as time expired in the half. The Jets had four runs and eight passes in the 3rd quarter with only one of those runs a traditional handoff (one wildcat to Powell, one give to Harvin and one scramble by Vick). They went run, pass, pass (sack) again to start the 4th quarter and finally started to take the air out of the ball halfway through the period. The running game was working but the Jets needed to keep at it and keep at it with Ivory and use the play action like they did on the long touchdown throw to Graham. The Jets need to keep it simple because they have enough weapons. They don’t need as much deception as before because they can win matchups. Mornhinweg needs to trust his players.

Nov 9, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Fans of the New York Jets celebrate during the first half of the New York Jets game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

The Ugly

1) Fans that fly banners over the stadium that say “Jets – rebuilding since 1969” – You have the “right” to be frustrated, the “right” to use your money to put down the team publicly instead of trying to lift them up by cheering, you have the “right” to boo and wear paper bags and “Fire Idzik” tee-shirts but I have a right to call you out. It works both ways. You got to watch Michael Vick (Idzik signing) throw to TJ Graham (Idzik signing), Eric Decker (Idzik signing), Jace Amaro (Idzik draft pick) and handoff to Chris Ivory (Idzik trade acquisition) and Chris Johnson (Idzik signing) all impact the game. Not to mention Percy Harvin (Idzik trade acquisition).

You also got to see Jaiquawn Jarrett (Idzik re-signing him), Leger Douzable (Idzik signing), Calvin Pace (Idzik re-signing), and Marcus Williams (Idzik signing). I hope you enjoyed it but knowing the kind of “fans” these are you are probably unhappy that this might affect the Jets draft pick next year instead of being happy about a win over a good team. It’s great to have a good draft pick if you aren’t going to the playoffs but it’s silly to root against your team or be unhappy about ending a losing streak.

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