After starting the season with wins over the
Browns and Colts, the Jets were looking to return home to MetLife Stadium and
treat their fans to a 3-0 start against an Eagles team that looked listless in
their first two games, particularly on offense. Instead, Philadelphia came in
and took it to New York, opening an early 24-0 lead on its way to a 24-17 win.
The Jets’ defense recovered after a tough
start, but it was their offense that held them back on this day. Without Eric
Decker and Chris Ivory, who was active but didn’t play a snap, the Jets’
offense started and ended with Brandon Marshall, who suffered a few drops and a
bone-headed lateral attempt despite an impressive 10-catch, 109-yard statline.
Regardless of who was hurt and who struggled, the
real issue with the Jets’ offense was an ability to stretch the field. Despite
the return of second-round pick Devin Smith, a vertical playmaker with 4.4
speed, New York couldn’t push the ball deep successfully. Ryan Fitzpatrick was
just 3 for 9 targeting Smith, but 32 for 49 targeting his other receivers. And
none of those three completions went for more than 16 yards.
The Eagles understood Fitzpatrick’s limitations
coming into the game, as they stacked the box even with the Jets starting Bilal
Powell at running back. The following screenshot from the game’s first play
shows eight Eagles defenders in the box, with the Jets having just seven
players to block them, one of whom was slot receiver Jeremy Kerley.
Predictably, the play gained just three yards. Two short passes later, and the
Jets were forced to punt.
The Jets repeated the same formula for
three-and-out on their following drive, but did dink-and-dunk their way to a
first down late in the opening quarter. On their first play of the second quarter
with Zac Stacy in the backfield, this is what the Eagles’ defense looked like.
Again, eight Eagles defenders in the box
against seven Jets. The play went for two yards. Philadelphia had such little
respect for the Jets’ passing game that they loaded up to stop the run on first
down, hoping to force the Jets into second-and-long situations that their
offense struggles with.
The response to stacked boxes in the NFL is
play-action passes and taking deep shots down the field. Unfortunately, the
Jets didn’t throw a pass over 15 yards beyond the line of scrimmage until they
were facing a 24-point deficit with just over a minute left in the second
quarter. Fitzpatrick completed the pass to Quincy Enunwa for 26 yards over the
middle, but it wasn’t pretty.
Enunwa was breaking from left to right on the
screen, but Fitzpatrick’s pass was woefully behind his man, and Enunwa did a
great job to reach back and make the play before going to the ground and
rolling for extra yardage. Fitzpatrick didn’t have the opportunity to lead
Enunwa, as that would’ve taken him into the defenders to the right of the
screen, but he didn’t anticipate the throw early enough to hit him in stride,
either.
Fitzpatrick still hadn’t attempted a pass that
traveled over 20 yards in the air until the second-to-last offensive play of
the half, when he had Devin Smith open in the endzone for an easy touchdown. In
the screenshot below, Smith is moving towards the vacant middle of the endzone
as Fitzpatrick releases the pass from the 19-yard line. In the shot after, you
can see where the ball ends up.
Another pass thrown well behind the receiver,
and one that kept points off the board. Fitzpatrick did hit Marshall in the
front of the endzone for a 16-yard score on the next play from scrimmage,
giving the Jets their first points of the game heading into the half.
In the third quarter, Fitzpatrick attempted his
second pass of the game over 20 yards. The result was an airmailed pass to
Enunwa, a 6-2 wide receiver who couldn’t come close to getting a hand on the
pass.
On the ensuing third-and-10, Fitzpatrick tried
to find Smith deep down the left side, but the ball was underthrown and broken
up by Eric Rowe. After another deep incompletion to Marshall on the next drive,
Fitzpatrick threw a back-breaking interception deep in Philadelphia territory
on, you guessed it, an attempted deep ball. Looking for Smith again in tight
coverage, the pass was short and easily intercepted by Rowe.
If you’re counting, that’s zero completions for
Fitzpatrick on five attempts over 20 yards down the field. On his next deep
attempt, again to Smith, Fitzpatrick actually gives the two Eagles defenders a
better chance to make a play on the ball than he does Smith. Luckily for the
veteran, the interception was dropped.
Out of a whopping 58 pass attempts in a game
the Jets were trailing by multiple possessions most of the way, Fitzpatrick
tried to push the ball 20 yards downfield just six times. He completed zero of
those attempts, and none of them were particularly close.
The Jets are likely to get Ivory back for a
Week 4 matchup with the Dolphins in London, but Decker is still uncertain to
play. Having Ivory back will help the running game, as he’s talented enough to
take care of the extra defender in the box, either with a quick cut or by
lowering his shoulder and running through the tackle. As useful as Powell is as
a do-it-all backup, he doesn’t possess that kind of physical talent.
Although having Ivory back will help, the Jets
need to be able to open up the playbook and take shots downfield, especially
with Smith healthy. The lack of chemistry between Fitzpatrick and his rookie
receiver was evident, as Smith was injured well before Fitzpatrick took the
reins from Geno Smith and missed valuable practice time.
Even with chemistry, though, the question
remains as to whether Fitzpatrick has the arm to stretch the field. Even when
he had receivers open, he was a beat late with his throws, which is not the way
to make up for a lack of arm strength. Fitzpatrick needs to be able to
anticipate these throws to make them work, but that’s not something he’s ever
been capable of in his first nine NFL seasons. You can’t teach an old dog new
tricks.
With Fitzpatrick at the helm, the only way the
Jets can win games is by building an early lead and controlling the game
script, something they did in the first two weeks thanks to 10 forced turnovers
from their defense. The Eagles took care of the ball and scored points early,
which looks to be the blueprint to beat this year’s Jets with Fitzpatrick under
center.
It’s a flawed formula, but one that can work
against below-average teams without standout quarterbacks. The Jets’ schedule
isn’t too daunting from here on out, as the only top-10 quarterbacks they face
are Tom Brady (twice) and Tony Romo, if he’s back in time for a Week 15 matchup
with the Cowboys. Besides the Pats and Cowboys, the Bills and Raiders are the
only teams left on the Jets' schedule who currently have more than one win.
If the Jets’ offense falls flat again in London
this weekend thanks to an inability to stretch the field, Todd Bowles will have
a big decision on his hands. With Geno Smith healthy and possessing the arm
strength necessary to challenge defenses deep, would Smith give the Jets a
better chance to win? The coaching staff threw all of its support behind Smith
this offseason even after the Fitzpatrick trade, which seems to imply they
believe he gives their offense the greatest upside. They had no choice but to
throw their full confidence behind Fitzpatrick once Smith broke his jaw, and
Bowles may find himself in another spot where he is forced to make a move.
Fitzpatrick is a career backup and a game
manager, and he’s made one heck of a career playing that role. He’s always been
stretched as a starter, however, and another loss may mean it’s time for the
Jets to give Smith one last chance. Smith has seen the team’s gameplan for
success from the sidelines, and if he gets another opportunity, the only
question remains: “Can he play within that blueprint while adding the deep ball
to the Jets’ offense?” If Fitzpatrick falters again in Week 4, we may find out.
