Jets-49ers film review- Very Insightful

I think article/ review will help heal some of the SOJF's...
Good article by Conor Orr of Star Ledger, which I think is always a beter read than the other media outlets.

For Full article:
http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2012/10/jets-49ers_film_review_breakin.html

Along with the 2010 Monday Night Football loss to the Patriots and the 2011 Sunday Night Football loss to the Ravens, this was one of the worst defeats suffered a Rex Ryan coached team.

The quarterback struggled, the secondary struggled, the running game struggled and the defensive line struggled. Ryan, as expected, is now dealing with questions about who his starter under center will be moving forward. He is having a two-day coaches-only meeting marathon at Florham Park to try and rapidly patch up the issues before a matchup with the Texans on Monday night.

Here is a look at the good, the bad and the ugly from that 34-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers...

TROPHY ROOM

1. Jim Harbaugh: What more can you say about that game plan? There is a reason Rex Ryan and his coaching staff spent the last two days in Florham Park retooling their offense and defense. Harbaugh took the Jets by surprise with the Colin Kaepernick wildcat formation – he had one snap prior to Sunday’s game – and was able to leverage that into opening up the field for the rest of the game. Alex Smith was kept in comfortable situations and the defense – who said they worked heavily on preparation for the wrinkle – had an answer for everything the Jets threw at them. Ryan alluded to the fact that his players need to be in better positions to succeed, or at least, he will explore this possibility first before making changes to the starting lineup.

2. Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas: They were individual plays, but at the time, their back-to-back sacks in the second quarter appeared to flip the momentum. Thomas’ sack is really a tribute to the entire secondary, who left nothing open for Smith and forced him to hold onto the ball for way too long. Thomas does a nice job of swimming the left tackle and getting to the quarterback as well. Pace’s sack can be credited to a nice rush by Demario Davis on the opposite side, flushing Smith right into Pace’s arms where he puts Smith down. Remember, after this, David Akers misses a 55-yard field goal and MetLife finally gets loud again. The Jets are only trailing 7-0 at this point.

3. Tim Tebow: At this point, it may be a stretch since – and Ryan admitted this – there wasn’t much good to take from the game. However, Tebow delivers one heck of a block on Aldon Smith on a second-and-10 with 13:26 to go in the second quarter. Mark Sanchez completes the pass to Chaz Schilens for a gain of nine yards and Tebow, lined up next to Sanchez in the slot, gets out and attacks Smith, cutting him at the knee and flipping him over his back. Smith had 14 sacks last season and is one of the elite pass rushers in football. Tebow also completed his first (and only) pass as a Jet thus far, which would have given the team the first down near midfield had Dedrick Epps not dropped the ball (Epps was seriously injured on the play, so we’re not criticizing).

FILM ROOM

1. Sanchez: On the opening drive he was calm, poised and effective against the 49ers. He converted a third-and-5 and then subsequently a third-and-15 after a holding penalty pushed them back. From there, the game seemed to slip away. Are some of these things out of his control (coverage sacks, offensive line breakdowns)? Sure. But Sanchez admitted at least two of these things that were completely in his control and that changed the complexion of this game. The first was the fumble before the half. The Jets were driving and already in field goal range when Sanchez tried to make a play on third-and-7 and scramble. The offensive line is doing a great job holding off the 49ers pass rush and Sanchez has two options (the check down and Jeremy Kerley) that were open long enough to – at the least – get the Jets an easier field goal. Bart Scott would later describe it as a turning point in the game. The second mistake was the interception on the screen pass in the third quarter. Sanchez has Shonn Greene wide open with a perfect setup down field already in place. What he fails to realize in the moment is how high Ray McDonald can jump. Austin Howard does his job by inviting the rush and then getting off his block so he can head down field, leaving the play on Sanchez’s shoulders – the responsibility being to get the ball high enough that it’s out of reach.

2. Jeff Cumberland: He gets the big yellow circle around him for the blocked punt at the end of the game. Cumberland doesn’t do much more than nudge Larry Grant before he releases, allowing Grant a free pass at Robert Malone. This is the second time in as many weeks that Cumberland's appeared in this section. Last week, Cumberland ran the wrong route on a Sanchez interception in the corner of the end zone that led to a pick. This week, it looks like Cumberland assumed Grant wasn’t rushing. Either that, or, Cumberland was supposed to have help from personal protector Tim Tebow, who was lined up next to Eric Smith on the other side of the center. As the broadcasters pointed out, the craziest part about this block is that Grant blocks this with his body and not with his hands. His jump on Cumberland was that good and the Jet's jam was that ineffective.

3. The offensive line: The final line speaks for itself – 17 carries for 45 yards (2.6 yards/carry) and a long of five yards. There is no way a team can sustain itself on these numbers. Does part of the blame fall on the running backs? Sure. But during a majority of those runs on Sunday, Greene and Bilal Powell were swallowed up before they got to the line. Justin Smith, in particular, did an excellent job of getting a push off the line and disrupting the backfield which can eliminate running lanes and force backs into unadvised changes in direction. San Francisco has one of the best fronts in football but Houston’s may be better, so fixing this on the fly will not be easy.

BY THE NUMBERS

32: Snaps taken by Powell on Sunday, including the Jets' first offensive play. That’s 14 more than Greene had on Sunday. Greene, of course, finished with more carries and more yards, but this could be an indication that Powell is a more versatile option at this point. The Jets needed to throw the ball on Sunday and Powell is a more adept pass blocker. Perhaps they thought the 49ers were not susceptible to being worn down by Greene, either. But the one thing that is clear? Powell is making a push for a bigger role each week, which he has gotten. Last week against Miami, Powell had 44 percent of the snaps and Greene had 61 (they were in together on a few plays).

17: Missed tackles by the Jets, which was Ryan’s post-film viewing estimate. This is an egregious number and a concern that the Jets have had since the beginning of the season.

22: Plays for Randy Moss on Sunday. Outside of the deep ball he was thrown in triple coverage, he didn’t have that much of a presence on film, but that just shows how scary the 49ers offense has become. Perhaps they’re saving Moss for the home stretch here, so you can imagine how much stronger they could be.

2: Of the five times Mark Sanchez was sacked (remember, two were negated by penalty) the ball was held in the pocket for more than three seconds.

3: Lingering questions on that Santonio Holmes fumble – Could it have been considered an intentional forward fumble and, thus, an illegal forward pass? Could Holmes’ play have fallen under the rule where a player clearly identifies himself as down by not attempting to advance the ball forward? Does Holmes realize what’s going on at this point? The injury appeared very painful and sometimes in the moment it’s difficult to take stock of one’s surroundings.