(Image credit Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports)
Written by: Nicholas Mullick
Week 5 of the NFL season kicked off where the New York Jets lost against the Atlanta Falcons in London, England at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium 27-20. It was a tough loss for the team but let's be honest here. If there was one word to describe the New York Jets in this game it was “unprepared”. This team was completely unprepared on offense, defense, and coaching. Is it just me or is it every week coming out of the gate that the Jets have looked unprepared? I swear there has not been one game that the Jets have looked well at the beginning of games all season. In fact, I don't even think this team has scored 1 point at all in the 1st quarter this season. At least this team performed well in the 2nd half of this game and kept it closer than what it should have been. They can’t heavily rely on having a strong performance later in the game. In future performances, I would like to see this team immediately look prepared and have a strong 1st half as that is what puts them at a huge advantage. That should be the goal set by the coaching staff and they should work on achieving that goal as the Jets next week will be on bye. The Jets will have a total of 14 days to fully prepare for their Week 7 matchup against the New England Patriots. Now that that was said in this game against the Falcons there were players that impressed me and others that were disappointing. In this list, I will go through five players that both were impressive and disappointing.
1. Players Who Impressed - OL George Fant
The offensive line performed well in this game and there were two standout performers on the Jets offensive line in this game. The first is OL George Fant who had a strong game. He has heavily improved from his earlier performances in the season. Fant has done a solid job as a pass protector and was not terrible as a run blocker. Fant did not get overpowered in this game (Then again it is the Falcons Defense). He has improved his footwork when moving in and out of the pocket. I hope he can keep this up for the rest of the season.
2. Player Who Disappointed - QB Zach Wilson
Zach Wilson had a terrible performance in this game. He threw for 192 yards and threw a terrible interception to Falcons Safety Jaylinn Hawkins. Let's get to the interception because he completely overthrew the football right into the hands of Hawkins. Wilson needs to be more consistent when throwing the ball. There would be moments where he would make amazing throws and many moments where he would overthrow or underthrow the football. Wilson also must do better in the first half as that is where most of his struggles occur. He did have a solid second-half performance but if Wilson cleans up his accuracy and plays more consistently then Wilson should be a lot better. That should absolutely be something that the coaching staff should work on during the Week 6 bye week.
3. Players Who Impressed - OL Alijah Vera-Tucker
The second player on the Jets offensive line that heavily impressed me was Alijah Vera-Tucker. Every game that passes the more Vera-Tucker continues to improve on the offensive line. He has had a tremendous impact on this team especially in this game against the Falcons as he was opening holes for Ty Johnson and Michael Carter to score both of their touchdowns. Vera-Tucker did a great job as a pass protector as he did not allow a sack or pressure to Zack Wilson in this game. Vera-Tucker’s performances are making me love both the trade-up and selection of him 14th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. If he keeps this up then Vera Tucker should be a long-term option for the Jets offensive line..
4. Player Who Disappointed - TE Ryan Griffin
Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, nothing changes with the Tight End core on this team too. Tyler Kroft is once again injured and did not play against the Falcons. Daniel Brown was mainly seen on special teams. The Tight End that played the most snaps was Ryan Griffin and he was dreadful all game missing blocks and even fumbled the ball once in this game. Which he was lucky to have recovered. Since we are talking about the Tight Ends I got to ask, Where in the heck was Kenny Yeboah? This guy was called up to the active roster recently due to Kroft being injured (and other teams were reported to try and sign him), and he was a player that heavily impressed in the preseason. I barely saw him on the field in this game. Due to how abysmal this Tight End core is I'd rather have Yeboah take snaps than Ryan Griffin. Especially to the player (Kenny Yeboah) that oh by the way this team had a 4th round grade when scouting him for the 2021 NFL Draft. Griffin is completely garbage and has heavily regressed to the point where he should be cut.
5. Players Who Impressed - LB Jamien Sherwood
Finally, one of the Experimental Players showed up and impressed in the regular season. Hamsah is currently dealing with an injury and Sherwood was dealing with an ankle injury. Sherwood is healthy and he impressed me with how he performed in this game. He has a strong tackling ability and is extremely aware when he is making tackles. Sherwood did look like he was still dealing with a nagging injury but overall a great performance by Sherwood. Hopefully week 7 he is completely healthy when he plays.
6. Player Who Disappointed - DT Nathan Shepherd
Not a good performance at all for Nathan Shepherd. Remember last week when I said “If there was one word to describe Shepherd in this game it would be Penalized’’. Well, he lived up to that label in this game as well. He had multiple terrible penalties especially on third down getting called for defensive holding and roughing the passer. This has become a habit for Shepherd as he has done this many times throughout his football career. He was a liability as a run stopper and did nothing to provide pressure to the quarterback.
7. Players Who Impressed - LB CJ Mosley
CJ Mosley has finally had a weekly performance in the NFL after he Tore his ACL during the 2019 season and opted out of the 2020 season due to the pandemic. He performed as he did as a Baltimore Raven. He has made a tremendous impact on this defense and is the best player on this defense. He made 8 tackles in this game but what impresses me is how he forced fumbles from offensive players with how hard he hits. Look at that Hayden Hurst fumble that was all CJ Mosley who hit him very hard and was recovered by the Jets defense.
8. Player Who Disappointed - CB Michael Carter II
Remember weeks ago when Michael Carter II was one of the best players in this secondary. Well not this week as Michael Carter II was completely terrible in this game. He was terrible in allowing both Olamide Zaccheaus and Kyle Pitts to expose him in coverage. Zaccheaus should have had more catches than he did but he dropped the ball on many occasions. Carter was completely terrible in this game and hopefully, he improves during the bye week.
9. Players Who Impressed - CB Bryce Hall
Bryce Hall is getting better and performances like against the Falcons show how well his development is going. Especially as he was all over the place making plays in coverage and tackling very well. He even had 2 solid pass deflections in this game. Bryce Hall's awareness is very solid, especially when reading Quarterback Matt Ryan and he is right where he needs to be when preventing long throws. I hope he continues to play this well throughout the season.
10. Player Who Disappointed - S Jarrod Wilson
Not a good performance for Safety Jarrod Wilson. He was completely terrible all game in coverage and missed tackles all game. Wilson even had poor footwork all game. He was so terrible that he was replaced by a beaten-up Ashtyn Davis who performed a lot better than he did. I would not be shocked If I hear the news that he has been released or placed on the New York Jets practice squad.