As a very disappointing first two weeks has surpassed, the Jets must put it in their back pocket and prepare for a matchup in Indianapolis at primetime today against newly signed QB Phillip Rivers and the Colts. This matchup will also feature the first time the Jets have played in front of fans as Indy is able to have 25% capacity at their home games. The Jets may just have to show up for what could be one of the few times they're under the spotlight with fans at the game.
The Jets have had lots of controversy over the start of this season, directly regarding HC Adam Gase. If things don't change soon, there is good reason to believe he will be out of a job before the season's end. The energy hasn't been present in either of the first two games, and QB Sam Darnold has struggled especially in these games. In order to see this change, the Jets must play with more of a purpose. The way they've displayed in the past two weeks gives many fans no reason to believe why they could beat anyone, but it isn't too late for change.
Again without RB Le'veon Bell available this week, RB Frank Gore will get the nod. The offensive line must block for him in order to help his YPC average this week which was a low 3 YPC last week on 21 carries. In order for Gore to be more effective this week, the blocking HAS TO BE better!!! It's as simple as this: if they don't block, the Jets run game is eliminated and it forces Darnold to have to find plays downfield and be under constant pressure. Last I checked, no football team wins when you can't protect your QB and RB well.
As for the Colts, QB Phillip Rivers has been solid so far, and the emergence of RB Jonathan Taylor has proven a weapon for them early on. Along with WR and league veteran TY Hilton, they also feature two quality TE's in Jack Doyle and Mo Allie-Cox. The Jets LB's and Secondary must be ready to go, even if they're on the field too much from a lackluster offense to compete today. The Colts have one of the top offensive lines in the league as well, so the defensive front four are going to have their hands full as well, but must be ready for Jonathan Taylor to get a lot of carries.
Defensively, the three main guys to pay attention to on the Colts' defense are DE DeForest Buckner, DE Justin Houston, and LB Darius Leonard. These are three guys that will disrupt and put a lot of pressure on the Jets O-Line, as their secondary is not nearly as strong as their D-Line and LB's. If Darnold is able to get passes off today, the Jets will succeed as long as he is blocked for well. The Colts' secondary is young and inexperienced, and this gives players like WR Braxton Berrios, WR Chris Hogan and TE Chris Herndon opportunities to have good games today. The Jets will be without WR's Jamison Crowder and Breshad Perriman as well as rookie Denzel Mims. Although thin, this will still be a chance for the Jets to finally get into the end zone and execute with some points.
Although being on the road is never easy in the NFL, today proves to be a big game for HC Adam Gase. If the Jets lose today, the likelihood of Gase not being back by next Thursday's matchup might be pretty high. Overall, my confidence level in the Jets has been going down, and if they play the way they've been playing, I see no reason why they would march into Indy and beat the Colts today. I'll take the Colts to win this one 24-7.
-Miles Chamberlain
 |
| The matchup of the two QB's today in Indianapolis Phillip Rivers (Left) and Sam Darnold (Right) |
Comments
Post a Comment