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Jets Passing Offense Film Review – Week 6 (Cardinals) Geno Smith
Geno Smith replaced Ryan Fitzpatrick in the game against the Cardinals, playing for one series, before the opposition ran out the clock. Geno showed some promise, but also made a couple of bad plays during his one series at the helm. Let’s see how he did:
Good Geno:
1) 
This is the first pass of the year for Geno and it shows excellent pre-snap read and good throw. The Cardinals are in a single high safety, but as highlighted in the previous film review articles for this week, a shallow crossing route with defenders playing off the line of scrimmage is likely to be open. What’s great about this throw is the progression on this play. Geno starts out looking towards Marshall and Peake, and then goes to Quincy Enunwa on the play for the completion. One of the biggest gripes with Ryan Fitzpatrick is his inability to go through progressions, so this is a welcome change. It’s a good pass and catch by the QB and WR.
2) 
Another good pre-snap read by Geno operating in the hurry up offense. The Cardinals have their defenders back with Charone Peake and Brandon Marshall to the right side of the formation. Geno knows the route tree of the called play, so he rightfully theorizes that Peake should be open, and happens to be correct. This is a good throw by him, hitting Peake in the hands, albeit this is a very good tackle as well. There is nothing amazing about this play, but this is taking what the defense is giving, which Fitzpatrick had trouble doing earlier in the game.
3) 
This is a 3rd and 4 play for the Jets, and Geno makes a good throw to Powell here. The Cardinals changed their defensive scheme on this play by having the defenders come up to the line of scrimmage, except for Brandon Marshall, who is double teamed with the corner back ready to jump an underneath route with safety help over the top. Geno makes a good throw to Powell here, as he lunges for the first down, but is marked a yard short.
4) 
Once the first down was converted, the Cardinals revert back to more familiar defenses. Again, notice the amount of space given to Jet plays to the right side of the formation, and how Geno turns to that side (even though his No. 1 WR is on the opposite end) to take advantage. He sees Anderson break open on an inside curl route and makes a nice throw. This is another good pre-snap read by Geno Smith, as he seems to be much better at reading defenses and realizing where the mismatches are.
Assistant Failure:
1) 
This is a play where Geno makes the right pre-snap read, by recognizing where the defense was weak (left of the formation) but makes the wrong decision in throwing the ball. Geno has an easier throw to Brandon Marshall, but opts for the harder pass to Charone Peake. However, it’s still a good throw and this is a ball that hits Peake right in the hands. It’s a pass that has to be caught, especially for a young receiver facing competition with Devin Smith returning soon.
Bad Geno:
1) 
When there are mobile QBs, you always hear the phrase “He runs with his head looking down the field” because he wants to pass down the field if it’s available. This is an example of that not being the case. This play is bizarre for a couple of reasons. The Cardinals trick Geno in this play, by showing him the same look as before, but dropping the LB into zone coverage. Geno reads this at the line as if Robby Anderson should be open but there is a LB in the path of the ball. At this point, Smith looks towards Charone Peake but fails to pull the trigger, and decides to bail the pocket to the left of the formation. However, he does not keep his eyes down the field because the safety came away from Brandon Marshall to tackle Geno Smith and Marshall is running free down the field. This is an easy TD if Geno looks up field, but he fails to do so. The second aspect of this play is that Geno has an angle to at least try for a first down, but gives up rather early with this slide. This might be a function of the score and not wanting to injure himself. Either way, this is a bad play for Geno although the net result of this was positive.
2) 
This is purely the function of a bad pre-snap read on a long developing play. First, it’s a horrible play by the right tackle as the defender runs right by him, and second Brandon Marshall slips coming out of his break. The pre-snap read on this indicates that Peterson is playing well off Marshall, so a double move route should be successful. If the LB drops far into coverage, there is an underneath route from Peake coming around that should be an easy completion. The plan goes awry when the Cardinals drop both LBs into coverage, taking away the out route from Marshall. Since Peterson knows the out route is covered, he doesn’t bite nearly as hard on the double move, meaning this would have been a contested pass had Geno decided to throw to Marshall. This of course goes for naught since the defender is there before the route develops and the ball is knocked free. This is more of a bad play on the right tackle but Geno has to take care of the ball here.
3) 
A desperation play foiled by a great player in Tyrann Mathieu. This is a fourth down play for the Jets with four receivers and a running back. The Cardinals blitz from the left of the formation, forcing Geno Smith to run to the right side of the formation. While on the run, he sees a slight opening for Peake near the first down marker and decides to take the shot, and fails. It’s not a terrible throw, but Mathieu makes a great read on this play and jumps the passing lane. Geno can’t get as much on the throw because he’s on the run, which delays the arrival of this pass. This is really just a great interception by the defender, showing elite closing speed.
Conclusion:
Geno Smith looked mediocre against the Cardinals, coming in relief of Ryan Fitzpatrick. He showed off some skills with his pre-snap reads, which seem to have improved from two years ago. However, he did make careless mistakes with the football, and missed a wide open Brandon Marshall. It needs to be scene the relationship between Marshall and Geno, because Geno ignored Marshall twice when he was open. There could be some animosity from Marshall openly endorsing Ryan Fitzpatrick, so it might be something to note in the future. Overall, Geno looked better than Ryan Fitzpatrick, but the game was already out of hand by the time Geno came in, so it’s hard to judge.
Geno Grade: C-
Forum Questions:
A) What do you think of the relationship between Geno and Marshall?
B) Who benefits more from this move? Peake or Anderson?
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