I agree. I don't care if he's on our 5, if he sees the entire defense's backs running away from him and he needs 5 yards to keep possession, I say go for it.
Risky move but it was the raiders n he probably knew they were gonna fall for it. Leon was a great returner no question but J-Mill has a bit better return avg. he will do a good job again imo.
Figuring the Jets were going through punters like jock straps at one point, Weatherford sure had balls pulling that fake off not only for the position on the field but his position on the team. I thought Westhoff called it 100%. Oops...
Maybe I'm just reading a little too deep here. Westy comes out with these statements as we re-sign Miller.....I'm on Punt Return team AGAINST the Jets and now KNOW that Weatherford has license to change plays at LOS (possibly)...clear advantage Jets as at least one person will have to play man coverage on the Punter. On our Punt return team we now have a guy that was amazing for us and will most likely try to re-kindle the magic he had before. Interestingly Lowery is at #2 and Leonard a #3 , has this always been the case?? I'm thinking more high jinx from Westy in the form of Reverses..
I thought it was something like this because the Jets were not blocking. I disagree with this quote and others like it though. What if the coaches had this play in their arsenal and were saving it for a key situation? Using it on his own, may have cost us an advantage as now the opposing teams will watch for it. It reminds me of Walt Frazier. Frazier used to say that he could steal the ball from his opposing point guard any time he wanted - but only once in a game (then the opposition wouild change his dribble and prevent a steal). So Frazier just bided his time and made the steal in the 4th quarter when it mattered.
If Weatherford called that on his own he should've been cut. I don't care if no one else better is out there, the last thing you want is your punter giving the ball back to the other team on our own 25.
There's a bit more to it than just him calling it on his own though. Weatherford has and had the green light from Westhoff to do that if certain keys and alerts were true. They were and he took advantage. Westhoff said he was angry about it until Weatherford explained the situation to him and had a good understanding of the situation. He then felt like he made a good decision considering what they had discussed. Westhoff said he didn't think he'd have to explain that those alerts were out the window when they're on there own 10 yard line.
I find it pretty disturbing that we have a punter who is deciding to fake punts whenever the urge strikes him, no matter the field position. I got the feeling that he did it earlier in the season as well, someone can refresh my memory on which game because my brain is fried right now. Weatherford is a very athletic guy and he has saved us with his feet a few times, but if he isn't going to follow the lead of the best STs coach in the league, he's a problem that needs to be rectified.
The one thing to be said in Weatherford's defense is that if he called the fakes against Miami he was the main person who kept the Jets from getting blown out there. I was really annoyed at the Jet's coaching staff for over-relying on the gimmick plays to keep the offense rolling, but if it turns out that they weren't calling those plays at all then it's unclear that the Jets coaching was up to par at all during the Miami and Buffalo games. Hopefully the game last week was the beginning of a string of victories in which the team is coached and prepared well enough to win games they have to win. You cannot live and die by the gadget. Cool things will always backfire on you in the end and make you look 10x worse than you would have if you never relied on them at all. I'm hoping the defensive staff has a game plan to make Miami realize this this week by stuffing the Wildcat and consequently blowing the Fins out.
So if the coaching staff called the plays, then they were over-relying on the gimmick, but if they weren't then they weren't up to par? Damned if they do, damned if they don't I guess. I understand your point, but if Weatherford called those plays because he was told to do so in only certain situations, then isn't that really good coaching rather than over-relying on gimmick or not trying at all?
That makes sense. I didn't listen to the interview so that does have perspective. I do hope Westhoff got through to him about the field position thing though... that really was a ballsy (stupid) move to make, despite the fact that it worked.
The one blessing I can possibly imagine with Washington (and Smith) being hurt is that it forces the Jets to abandon the gadget play completely and just play straight up hard nosed football. I'd be surprised if they had Greene running out of the Seminole when he's plenty effective running right down the face of the defense. I'm honestly looking forward to a gameplan that involves a lot less gadgetry.
Yeah, the Jets need to play smashmouth football and do it very well if they want to win anything this season. It will give them control of the clock and keep what is likely a shaky run D off the field. If they start doing the 3 and out thing then the clock will turn against them and the defense will wear down with teams running at will against them in the second half. It's scary to look at but this Jets defense is probably about as porous against the run right now as any Jet defense since 1996.
I don't know if the problem with the run defense is as much about the personnel as it is about the emphasis they have on focusing on the QB. Ryan's defensive philosophy seems to revolve around taking the QB out of the game and letting the rest fall into place. The problem with the last Fins game was that Ryan went into a "Mangini D"... it's the only game this season where I watched the defense sit back and wait for the other team to make their move first... and the difference showed. Sunday Ryan can't be afraid to give up the 60 yard run... they've got come flying off the ball every time the ball is snapped and rely on their preparation and instincts to dominate the Fins. This is going to be especially important without Jenkins there to disrupt everything. This is going to be a huge test for the Jets. I also think the Jets need to come out throwing on offense... Miami's secondary is very weak right now and the Jets need a quick strike early in the game to put pressure on the Dolphins to get away from the run. Playing it close to the vest isn't going to work this week.
