Let’s examine some plays from this past week’s game where Petty was helped out by his receivers.
This is a first and ten play in the fourth quarter, and the defense is in a two deep safety look. Once again, we see the Jets use the tight end position, which has been a rarity with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Petty is working from under center on this play, and he performs a good play fake. The read on this play is the linebacker that is nearest Brandon Bostick on this play. When Brandon Marshall runs the crossing route, this linebacker is the key to this play. If the linebacker drifts backwards, then Bostick is open for the easy pass. If the linebacker isn’t drifting backwards, and it attacking the line of scrimmage, then Brandon Marshall will be open for the crossing route. It’s a pretty simple read, that is well executed by Petty. Bostick takes the short pass and makes the defender miss as he heads down the field for a good gain. This is not a complicated play, but this is a big step for Bryce Petty. First, operating under center was one of the biggest concerns with him coming out of Baylor, and therefore play action fakes (instead of read option) are another positive sign as well. He shows very good play recognition on this play, and checks down to the easy option. Bostick does most of the grunt work on this play.
This is a first down play in the fourth quarter, but the Colts have abandoned the two deep safety look for the single high safety approach here. Petty sees that they are playing off from Anderson, with a single high safety, so he correctly surmises that the comeback route will be open. This is a good example of reading the defense, because the Colts are playing off from Anderson. With only a single high safety, the corner back can’t rely heavily on safety help over the top against the speedy Anderson. There is a good chance that he will give ground with the progression of the route as he aims to protect against the deep pass, allowing ample space for the curl route here. Petty makes a good read pre-snap, and executes the play beautifully on the mental aspect, but this is a bad throw. He leads the pass too much to the outside of Anderson, who does a great job of catching this pass and securing the completion. Petty shows real progress on this play, as he seems to be grasping the mental aspect of the game better than expected.
Bryce Petty did get some help from his receivers in this game, but his ability to read defenses shined at some points of this game. As you will see in the next article, it wasn’t always the case, but he did show some flashes. The mental acumen, and ability read a defense is the biggest hurdle for Petty to become a consistent starter. He showed some flashes, and his receivers made a couple of nice plays for him in this game.
Forum Questions:
A) Why are the Jets utilizing the TE spot more now?
Please read, Petty Nation (Good Passes), Pity Petty (Let Down By Teammates), and Petty Crimes (QB Mistakes) in our film review section to get a full review of his game.
