Jets Fall to Panthers in Third Preseason Game

businessinsider.com

Jets vs Panthers Post Game Recap 8/26

The New York Jets lost their third game of the preseason to the Carolina Panthers by a score of 17-12, as the Jets weren’t able to score a touchdown yet again.

Mark Sanchez was unable to get the Jets a touchdown this preseason, as he wont be playing in the fourth game. Sanchez did look ok against the Panthers though passing for 123 yards on 11 for 18 with an interception that bounced of the hands of Stephen Hill. Sanchez also was let down by Santonio Holmes who dropped a pass that would have netted a nice gain.

Tim Tebow didn’t look very good throwing the football on Sunday night, as he threw for 55 yards on 4 for 14 passing with a head scratching interception that hit Reggie Smith in the numbers. Tebow did show that great running ability that he has rushing for 45 yards on 5 carries including a 20 yard rush that got the crowd excited.

The Jets rushing offense continued to struggle, as Shonn Greene only rushed for 47 yards on 13 carries for a mere 3.6 yards a carry. Backup running back Bilal Powell didn’t have much success either rushing 8 times for 29 yards also only 3.6 yards a carry.

The Jets receiving core was at full strength against the Panthers with Santonio Holmes, and Jeremy Kerley back in the lineup. In his first game of the preseason Holmes caught 1 pass for 8 yards, and had one bad drop. Stephen Hill was targeted the most out of the Jets wide receivers making 5 catches for 68 yards with one 32 yard catch. Hill did however had a costly drop that hit off his hands right and bounced right to the Panthers for a interception. Dustin Keller did start the game with a nice catch for 24 yards but came up hobbling with a hamstring injury and week 1 is in question for him.

The offensive line did look much better protecting the quarterback as Austin Howard was impressive not allowing any sacks, and doing a very good job on a good defensive end in Charles Johnson. Wayne Hunter did get some playing time with the second unit, and proceeded to allow Tebow to be sacked.

The Jets defense did look very good again holding one of the bright young stars in the NFL in Cam Newton to a sub-par game. Cam was only 6 for 15 with 60 yards passing, and rushed twice for 16 yards. LaRon Landry had another nice game for the Jets showing that if he can stay healthy and on the field he will be a great add. Landry had his 2^nd interception of the preseason, and had 4 tackles. Bart Scott also looked good recovering a fumble, and had 3 tackles. Jets rookie Quinton Coples seems to have a knack for getting to the quarterback, as he was able to get another sack against the Panthers.

Jets special teams was pretty solid as Nick Folk won the kicking job going 3 for 3 on his kicks, and Josh Brown who went 1 for 2 was let go on Monday. T.J Conley was able to bounce back from a tough game against the Giants with 2 punts for 113 yards for a whopping 56.5 yards per punt. Joe McKnight continued his last season kick returning success returning 3 kicks for 98 yards including a 42 yard return.

The Jets will be playing their final preseason game of the season as they look to score a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday.

Jets Trade Wayne Hunter to Rams

jetlifebeats.com

Jets Trade Wayne Hunter

The New York Jets have decided to trade recently benched, and struggling right tackle to the St. Louis Rams for former 1st round pick tackle Jason Smith.

Wayne Hunter was benched a couple days before the Carolina game for Austin Howard who certainly played better than Hunter in the starting spot. Hunter also allowed a sack with the back up unit in the 4^th quarter of the Carolina game.

Jason Smith has also like Hunter seen his struggles as the former 2^nd overall pick in the 2009 draft was benched by the Rams. Smith has battled poor play and injuries with a few concussions, and the Rams felt it was time to move on. Smith has played in 29 games with 26 starts in his three seasons with the Rams.

The starting right tackle spot should be safe for Austin Howard after the Carolina game, but a trade for Smith will provide some depth to right tackle spot in case Howard struggles moving forward. Jets fans will be happy to see Hunter gone after his poor play last season, and this preseason.

Wayne Hunter gets Benched

newsday.com

Wayne Hunter gets Benched

The New York Jets and head coach Rex Ryan finally benched Wayne Hunter, and will be starting Austin Howard at right tackle in Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers.

Wayne Hunter was by far the Jets worst offensive lineman last year, and with allowing 2 ½ sacks in his first preseason game against the Giants it showed that he is clearly not a starting lineman.

Rex Ryan said "We're gonna give Austin Howard a shot to be with this first group. I thought he earned that right. He played extremely well against Cincinnati, did OK against the Giants, but really played well against Cincinnati, and this is what I wanna do. I'm gonna put him in that situation, and we'll see how he does this week."

Austin Howard was signed by the Jets last November from the Ravens practice squad, and has played in 4 games in the NFL with the Eagles in 2010.

The Jets will hope Howard is the answer at right tackle, but in all likelihood the Jets will be having problems at the position all year unless they can make a move of some sort.

Jets Post Game Recap

nypost.com

New York Jets Post Game Recap 8/18

The Jets were hammered by the defending Superbowl champion New York Giants losing by a score of 26-3, as the Jets offense for the second game straight was unable to score a touchdown.

The Jets offense is a mess, and quarterback Mark Sanchez entering his 4th season is still making dumb mistakes that have fueled fans to want him replaced. Sanchez threw an awful interception trying to get the ball to Patrick Turner on a crossing pattern, with the pass well behind a well covered Turner and it was picked off for a touchdown by rookie Jayron Hosley. Sanchez was 9 for 11 with 59 yards passing, but the interception in scoring territory was a big blow to the Jets leading to a possible 10-14 point swing.

Tim Tebow started the half out pretty good making some nice sideline throws, but after under throwing a wide open Stephen Hill in the end zone the wheels came off for the second team offense. The offensive line really went down hill quick after the first drive with Tebow, as they allowed him to get sacked 4 times. Tebow ended up finishing going 5 for 14 with 69 yards passing, and 2 rushes for 5 yards.

The ground and pound didn’t see much success against the Giants, as starter Shonn Greene ran 11 times for 36 yards. Despite a good game against Cincinnati for Joe McKnight it seems that Bilal Powell is the backup running back getting more carries than McKnight. Powell ran 6 times for 21 yards, and McKnight only got 3 rushes for 3 yards.

The Jets receiver core is certainly lacking right now with no Santonio Holmes or Jeremy Kerley. Jordan White was the leading receiver against Giants catching 3 balls for 28 yards. Rookie Stephen Hill did look good with Tebow catching 2 passes for 21 yards, and was able to get wide open in the end zone but Tebow under threw him costing the Jets a touchdown.

The Jets main problem has to be the offensive line, and in particular Wayne Hunter.  Hunter allowed 2 sacks to Jason Pierre Paul, and very allowed another sack but it was nullified by an offside’s penalty from the other end of Giants line. The Jets as a team gave up 7 sacks, and run blocking wasn’t very good either, as the Jets had 24 rushes for only 65 yards.

The Jets first team defense did look good only allowing 6 points to a very good Giants offense. Their was a few bright spots as safety LaRon Landry was able to intercept Eli Manning on a overthrow, and lay a big hit on Victor Cruz. Mike Devito was able to cause some disruption up the middle getting into the backfield. Bart Scott lead the team in tackles with 5, and just missed a sack on Eli Manning. First round pick Quinton Coples looked good again, and was able to rack in his second sack of the preseason.

T.J Conley may have just opened up a new completion in Jets camp after shanking two punts in the game. There is currently no other punter on the team but that maybe changing after his performance. Punter is going to be an important position for the Jets, as he will be used a lot due to a sub-par offense.

The Jets will look to work on getting the offense fixed before facing Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Jeff Otah Trade Voided

nj.com

Jeff Otah Trade Voided

The New York Jets attempt to get a right tackle to possibly start over Wayne Hunter failed as Jeff Otah was unable to pass his physical sending him back to the Carolina Panthers.

General Manager Mike Tannenbaum said "He did everything we asked for the past week and the terms of the trade weren't met so he's going back to Carolina,"

This is sad news for Otah as the former first round pick has had lots of injury problems barely playing in the last few years, and doesn’t appear to be ready to anytime soon.

For the Jets they cant be satisfied going into the season with Wayne Hunter as the starter, and Tannenbaum will probably be back out looking for another right tackle to compete for starting job with Hunter.

Jets Trade for Jeff Otah

panthers.com

Jets Trade for Jeff Otah

The New York Jets were able to acquire Right Tackle Jeff Otah from the Carolina Panthers, by sending an undisclosed conditional draft pick for the 26 year old Otah.

Otah will be competing for a job with last years starter Wayne Hunter who is coming off a very bad season, as he was a glaring weakness on the line all season allowing 8 ½ sacks, and 11 penalties.

The trade for Otah will instantly start a competition for the starting spot, as the trade for Otah shows that the front office doesn’t have much faith in Hunter. Hunter does however have one supporter as offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo has given Hunter a vote of confidence.

"This guy is the starting right tackle," DeGuglielmo said at the time. "Until they tell me otherwise, until they ship him out of this building or until they shoot me dead in my office, that son of a gun is going to be the starting right tackle. And he's going to play well."

Jeff Otah does come with a big question mark about his health as he has missed 31 of the last 35 games due to knee injuries. Otah has also recently tweaked the same knee that cost him to miss so much time in OTAs, but a MRI showed no damage.

New York Jets Draft Preview: Offensive Line

The New York Jets offensive line was one of the biggest disappointments last season and is the biggest question going into the 2012 season, mainly the right tackle position currently filled by Wayne Hunter. If the Jets want to get back to their ground and pound offense, and also utilize Tim Tebow in the wildcat offense, it all starts with the offensive line. 

Rumors have been spreading that the Jets might trade up to the third pick and possibly draft Trent Richardson. I do not know who the Jets are willing to give up or what picks they will give up, but Richardson could be an upgrade from Greene. Now if the Jets make this move, the Jets should focus on finding a solid tackle in the third or fourth round to help rectify the run game for gang green. 

Jeff Allen out of Illionis is a solid pick if the Jets could get him in the third round. The 6 foot 4, 307 pounder has good quickness and is strong in the run game. He is projected to go in the second or third round, and if he is still on the board in the third round, the Jets should snatch him. 

The Jets next best option would be Mitchell Schwartz from the University of California. Schwartz is 6 foot 5 and weighs 318 pounds. He is great at getting to the second level, and is also strong in the run game. Mitchell is projected to go in the third round. 

There are plenty of options for the Jets in the draft, but the Jets need to draft players that will help fill the holes that are on their depth chart, especially the line.