Gang Green Nation
As we discussed yesterday, the offensive issues on the Jets are holistic. The quarterback has drawn the bulk of the attention. There are a lot of reasons the unit is struggling.
Of course, the quarterback is the most important cog on offense. When he isn’t playing well, it has an outsized impact. The nine sacks Justin Fields took in Week 6 included some rather ugly ones in key spots where he has nobody to blame but himself.
Late in the third quarter the Jets faced a third and five from their own 41. The Broncos are loading the line of scrimmage and appear ready to send an all out blitz.
You could make the argument the Broncos got a tad too cute with their alignment. Ja’Quan McMillan is edging towards a blitz from the slot.
The thing is you know he’s probably not blitzing because that would leave a receiver uncovered. If McMillan rushes the passer, the Jets will have an uncovered wide receiver. Josh Reynolds and Garrett Wilson are on that side of the field, and only Patrick Surtain would be on that side of the field.
This is kind of a giveaway that the Broncos aren’t going to send an all out blitz. There isn’t a non-Steve Wilks defensive coordinator in the NFL who would blitz so many guys that the defense couldn’t cover every receiver. This is a signal the Broncos might back out of the blitz.
Garrett Wilson comes into motion, and Surtain drops.
Denver indeed backs out of the blitz at the snap. Surtain is actually dropping to a safety roll as the Broncos roll into a Tampa 2. You have deep players (with Surtain dropping to safety), four players in zone underneath, and a middle linebacker with a deeper drop to clog the hole between the two safeties.
Garrett Wilson comes from his motion to run a deep route down the middle of the field. This is really to stretch the field and draw defenders away. If the Broncos bust the coverage, maybe you throw it, but he’s more of a decoy on this play than anything.
The real action here is Josh Reynolds running upfield on a 10 yard route, and Mason Taylor running to the flat.
The key defender for the quarterback is McMillan, the would be slot blitzer. With Surtain dropped to safety, McMillan is the outside defender. If he drops to Reynolds, Taylor should be open in the flat. If he drives down to take away Taylor, Reynolds should be open.
Rewinding a second or two, we see a bit of veteran savvy from Reynolds, initiating contact on McMillan within the first five yards which essentially serves as a pick for Taylor.
McMillan eventually drifts up the field near Reynolds. Taylor is open, and Fields sees him.
For whatever reason, Fields just doesn’t throw the ball. He holds onto the ball and takes a sack/
Let’s move on to a third down and six in the final minute of the...
