Hurry Up Already, Jets
A typical Jets offensive snap ends with a referee placing the ball down to start the 40-second play clock to get the next one off. Gang Green’s “operation” from there has been an absolute joke.
A few players run on and off to change the personnel package. Todd Downing, who replaced Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as the Jets play caller, alerts quarterback Aaron Rodgers as to the next play through headsets.
According to a story earlier in the season from NFL Network, Rodgers is given three options. How many he communicates to his teammates in the huddle is unknown, but even if it’s just one, it must include oodles of information. From my cursory observations, the Jets break the huddle with an average of about 15 seconds remaining on the play clock, which happens to be when the headsets are supposed to be cut off.
Despite the pressure of the ticking clock, the Jets don’t exactly show any urgency in getting lined up. Rodgers spends a few seconds reading the defense, looking for clues as to blitzes and coverages. Sometimes he audibles out of a play call using hand signals to adjust to what he diagnoses. New York ranks near the bottom of the league in motion usage due to Rodgers’ reported disdain, but the most recent stats I’ve seen suggests it’s still around half the offensive snaps. Those take additional time to complete and get everyone set.
Three, two, one….
The Jets have been flagged with the second-most delay of game fouls in the league this season with six, per NFLpenatlies.com, but that doesn’t include the countless times they’ve had to burn timeouts to avoid the five-yard walk-backs. In Sunday’s devastating 25-22 defeat at New England, New York wasted all three of its first-half timeouts by the 12-minute mark. On their opening possession, the Jets faced a 4th-and-3 from the Patriots 40-yard line, a situation that begged for going on fourth down. Except Rodgers couldn’t get the snap off in time and the flags flied, leading to a punt. You could sense Rodgers’ frustration as he walked off the field.
In the fourth quarter, the Jets couldn’t get a two-point conversion off in time, resulting in another penalty. Rodgers’ pass on the try from the seven-yard line didn’t even reach the end zone. Legions of Jets fans dropped their heads in their hands in utter disgust.
There’s no valid reason for why this keeps happening. Are the Jets trying to reinvent the wheel? It’s not like it’s early in the season where some kinks still need to be ironed out--we’re heading to Week 9, the midpoint.
And the head coaching change had nothing to do with it. It was as much a problem in the first five weeks under Robert Saleh as it is now with Jeff Ulbrich.
In a prior post, I wondered whether it would be simpler if Rodgers just called the plays himself, but NFL analyst Warren Sharp laid out the reasons on Tuesday why, at minimum, the Jets should experiment with a no-huddle offense. It turns out that their efficiency in terms of expected points added per play, success rate, and yards per play is near the top of the league in the hurry-up and in the bottom quartile at the slower tempo. The numbers don’t change much when you take out fourth quarters that can skew things because defenses might concede yardage when playing with leads.
Whatever changes are made are probably all too late, as the Jets (2-6) would need to go on an unforeseen run to get back into the playoff picture. Facing Houston (6-2), even with star wide receiver Stefon Diggs now out for the year with an ACL injury, on a short week will not be an easy task. The Texans might have payback from last December’s 30-6 pasting that saw then Jets QB Zach Wilson throw for over 300 yards on their minds.
The tortured MetLife Stadium faithful will be in a foul mood if New York again stumbles out of the gate on Thursday night (they’ve totaled three points on their first possessions all season). So how about opening up out of the no-huddle? Instead of constantly changing personnel, stick with 11--Breece Hall at running back, Tyler Conklin at tight end, and Garrett Wilson, Davante Adams, and Mike Williams (or Allen Lazard if healthy) at wide receiver.
It’s not like running out of the heavier 12 personnel (two tight ends) has helped in way with establishing a physical identity—the normal extra tight end Jeremy Ruckert has been graded at No. 45 among the 48 tight ends in the league with at least 100 run block snaps by ProFootballFocus.com this season. Conklin is 43rd.
I’m not sure this can be done all of a sudden for 60 minutes. Rodgers is 40 and banged up in his lower body, praying that the Thomas Morstead Cayenne pepper and water remedy works wonders against the pain to make him more mobile this week, and the two tackles are each a fragile 33.
Still, why not try it? Anything that takes responsibility away from this wretched coaching staff can’t be a bad thing.
Prediction: Texans 31 Jets 17
Wasn’t there a time, not long ago, where the Jets would choreograph their first 10 plays?