Week 7 Jets Report Card
Detroit-24 NYJets-31
by Joe Grinwis
Quaterback: B+
Pennington (16-22, 189 yards, TD, INT)
If you take away Pennington’s lone over-thrown pass intended for a wide open Chris Baker which was picked off by Terrrence Holt, Chad had a great day. His best pass of the day was on the 44 yard play action touchdown pass to Justin McCareins, the type of play (play action) that Chad likes to run the most.
Running Back: A
Washington (20 carries, 129 yards, 2 TDs)
Barlow (12 carries, 49 yards, TD)
The running game got in a big way without Shaun Rogers anchoring the Detroit defensive line. Washington had his best day as a pro, Barlow broke a few nice runs and a couple of nice reverses by Brad Smith and Laveranues Coles added to the Jets’ best rushing day yet.
Wide Receivers: B+
Cotchery (7 receptions, 79 yards)
McCareins (1 reception, 44 yards, TD)
Coles (4 receptions, 29 yards)
McCareins caught a beautifully thrown ball by Pennington in the first quarter and Cotchery took advantage of the Lions double teaming Coles for most of the afternoon.
Tight Ends: C+
Baker (1 reception, 16 yards)
Ryan (1 receptions, 9 yards)
Ryan had a nice 1st down reception as did Baker. Offensive Coordinator Brian Shottenheimer is finally starting to break in the tight ends into the game plan.
Offensive Line: B+
A couple of sacks allowed but only one was a blown assignment. The running game had its best day of the year thanks to the line opening up holes for the shifty Washington and the bruising Barlow.
Defensive Line: B
Better pressure than usual and aside from a couple of nice runs by Kevin Jones, they held the third year back in check. Dewayne Robertson had his best day of the year with 6 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
Linebackers: B
Jonathan Vilma made some noticeable plays with 11 tackles and an interception and once again Victor Hobson was in on a lot of plays whether it was against the run (6 tackles) or getting pressure on Kitna.
Secondary: C-
Once again the Jets’ secondary was their weakest link, especially when the Lions were running the hurry up offense. Kerry Rhodes picked up his second interception of the season and Andre Dyson did a good job containing the NFL’s leading receiver, Roy Williams (2 receptions, 29 yards, TD), throughout.
Special Teams: A-
Nugent hits his only field goal attempt (33 yards) and also got a touchback, a rarity for the second year kicker. Ben Graham once again with another great day punting the football and Justin Miller came close twice to turning kickoff returns into touchdowns.
Coaching: B
Loved the play calling all around on offense but on defense they have got to find a way to stop teams when they turn into the hurry up offense. The defense looks lost and confused out there at times and it’s up to Defensive Coordinator Bob Sutton to turn this around.
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