Jets Dig Into Bag of Tricks Against Miami, But Only For the First Half
When the 3-9 Jets took the field on Sunday against the Dolphins, they played like they had nothing to lose in the first half.
New York resorted to seven trick plays in the first two quarters that kept Miami effectively off-balance.
There was a little bit of everything.
There was an end around to wide receiver, Braxton Berrios. Then, there was a pitch to Berrios, who looked like he was going to throw it for a split second, before he ran it into the end zone instead.
The trickery increased from there. Quarterback Zach Wilson pitched the football to wide receiver Keelan Cole, before Cole stopped dead in his tracks and attempted to throw it back to Wilson by the end zone.
On another play, Wilson pitched the ball to Berrios, and Berrios threw it back to Wilson, who scrambled around, before he completed it downfield to tight end Ryan Griffin.
Everyone's head was spinning, most of all Miami's as Jets' offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur had somehow become magician Harry Houdini and Wilson had slipped into a phone booth and become Superman just as his head coach, Robert Saleh had likened him to at the beginning of this month.
Then it happened...
Wilson threw to wide receiver Jamison Crowder downfield, who then (would you believe) turned and threw a backward pass over by the sideline to a wide open Berrios who then sprinted downfield.
Even the television announcer was reeling, saying he had never seen anything like it.
Then the clock struck halftime with the Jets holding onto a 17-10 lead.
Just when fans might have thought this team might be turning the corner and finding their offensive identity, they performed their greatest trick of all and they made the excitement disappear.
The Jets offense put their bag of tricks away and became the predictable, inconsistent and discombobulated unit that has their offense ranked 22nd in the league that everybody is far more accustomed to seeing.
The difference in the Jets between the first half and the second half was astonishing.
In the third and fourth quarters, Wilson went back to running for his life as he was getting blitzed and sacked and he was under-throwing and over-throwing most everything in sight.
The star for the Jets in the second half was their punter, Braden Mann.
The Jets' second half woes were best summarized on their last ditch feeble attempt on fourth and 10 with time running out. Wilson completed a pass to Cole, but Cole did not run the route to the sticks and instead he ended up being short of a first down and that was it.
The trick plays worked well in the first half to compensate for Wilson's season-long inconsistencies leading a traditional NFL offense. LaFluer had flirted with some offensive trickery when quarterback Mike White had led the offense when Wilson was out with an injury, but nothing like this.
It is almost like LaFleur went back and read my time and date stamped pre-draft scouting report on Wilson:
Daniel Kelly
At BYU, Wilson tended to be at his best on game film, when he was running around and improvising. If the Jets are indeed committed to Wilson long-term, Sunday was a classic example of how the Jets are going to need to adjust to Wilson and what he does best—not the other way around.
The first and second half against Miami proved it.
MORE:
- Jets' Elijah Riley 'Checked Out Fine' After Scary Neck Injury
- Jets Squander Strong Start With Second Half Collapse in Loss to Dolphins
- Should the Jets Re-Sign Mike White After This Season?
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