Zim’s Grades For The Game: Week 17 Edition

[FinfanInBuffalo]

While I definitely was one of the guys on this site that didn’t think we deserved to be in the playoffs…..We’re now in. I’m hoping Tua, Armstead and the rest of the guys that missed today are back and that we take Josh Allen’s soul like we did in week 3. The guys today did a good job in general and got us in….So…On to the grades.

QB — The Good: Thompson was 20 of 31 for 152 yards and had a QBR of 76.3. While no one is going to mistake Skylar Thompson for Dan Marino, he did have a few nice throws. Today Thompson was the ultimate game manager and it showed in his stats.

The Bad: Thompson missed more than a few wide-open receivers today. I understand that Thompson is a rookie but he didn’t come off his first look multiple times and it definitely held us back. It seemed to me Thompson was processing really slowly. If he plays next week, hopefully, he processes a little faster and moves to a second and third progression quicker.

The Grade: C + . We didn’t win the game because of Skyler Thompson but that’s OK. He did enough managing the offense to get us the win and that’s all we needed.

RB’s — The Good: 143 yards on the ground against the Jets defense is a good day. Wilson had 72 yards and Mostert had 71. Not a bad day at all especially against the Jets defense. I do want to point out a couple great blocks by Ingold. On one of Mostert’s longer runs, Ingold destroyed a linebacker in the hole. Props to Ingold for a good day even though he didn’t show up on the stat sheet.

The Bad: Not much bad today, the RB’s did their job for the most part. Against a good defense, the running backs performed as well as could be expected.

The Grade: B . While not a perfect day they definitely pulled their own weight to help with the win. Solid B effort.

WR’s — The Good: Obviously, with your QB position in game management mode, no one’s stats are going to jump off the board. However, I thought Waddle had a very good game, even though his stats didn’t show it. I thought Hill also had a good game and again, his stats were absent. It was also nice to see EE get into a game.

The Bad: Not sure if I should ding the receivers too much even though the QB was extremely limited today. Gardner also got the best of Hill on a lot of plays today. That kid has a future.

The Grade: B - . Waddle making the Jets horse-collar him on the last drive was a huge play. I actually thought that was a bad call, but will take it.

TE’s — The Good: Gesicki Sighting!! 4 nice catches for 46 yards when we needed it most. Smythe had 3 more for 39 yards. A good day for our TE’s on the receiving end.

The Bad: as decent as the day was on the receiving end of it, the blocking end of it wasn’t so good. A couple of miscommunications and a couple missed blocks hurts this grade.

The Grade: C + . If not for the missed blocks and the miscommunication this grade is a B +. Regardless, not a bad day for this group.

OL — The Good: 162 yards rushing against the Jets is a nice day. This unit scrapped all day and it was nice to see. Mostert and Wilson had some huge holes today and it showed in the stats.

The Bad: Against the Jets athletic front, the line didn’t hold up as well as they did in the running game. The Jets were only credited for one sack but these guys gave up a lot of pressure. This unit is going to have to play a lot better next week if we hope to be competitive in that game.

The Grade: C - . These guys did a good job today, but definitely were a little too soft in the passing game. Let’s hope for more next week.


DL — The Good: Wilkins in Seiler were maniacs today. Against a banged up Jet offensive line, these two were masterful. They did it all, stopping the run, rushing the passer, handing out Gatorade and even cleaning the toilets after the game. Awesome effort. The great part about this is that every defensive Lineman was noticeable today.

The Bad: Yes, they went against a very banged up offense of line, but it doesn’t matter. There was very little that you could point to today that was bad.

The Grade: B + . When you hold a division opponent to six points, you’re doing something right. This group was a huge part of that. Well Done.

LB’s — The Good: Phillips and Chubb were in the office of backfield most of the day. Phillips has really improved as the season has gone on. I actually noticed Chubb today on more than one occasion. Baker and Roberts also contributed and this group probably had its best day of the year.

The Bad: While we applied a lot of pressure to Flacco today, it’s gonna take more than that next week against Josh Allen. That’s about all I can say bad about this group today..

The Grade: B + . Very good Day by this group today. My only wish is that we had gotten a couple more sacks.

DB’s — The Good: After a very tough start to his day, Xavien Howard finished in style. Two great pass break ups at the end of the game help seal it. Kohou was noticeable today in a good way. This group only gave up 149 yards passing to Flacco. I’ll take that any day.

The Bad: While Howard finished the day strong, he definitely didn’t start that way. Garrett Wilson owned him for most of the day. There is little doubt Howard’s skills are declining. Hopefully, it’s just a byproduct of his injuries. We definitely need him at full strength next week.

The Grade: B . When you hold a division foe to 149 yards passing, I’d say you had a good day.

ST’s — The Good: Sanders with a clutch 50 yard kick was huge. The great news is he didn’t miss all day. Morestead was solid today as well.

The Bad: Our coverage teams weren’t good as usual. We’re going to need Sanders to kick the ball out of the end zone on every kick off next week. That is a certainty.

The Grade: B + . It was nice to see Sanders be clutch when needed. Now we have to figure out how to cover punts and kick offs, and we’ll be OK.

Coaching — The Good: I can’t believe it, but we actually saw jet sweep today. I almost fell off the couch. McDaniel had one very good series of playcalling that I can recall. I pretty much agreed with everything he called in that series. I’ll take small improvement anytime. I also like the idea of putting Hill and Waddle on the return teams.

The Bad: Unfortunately, I didn’t agree with a lot of playcalling by McDaniel today. But I can’t complain too much because we got the win. I’ll leave it at that.

The Grade: C - . Hopefully, McDaniel has saved his best coaching day for next week against Buffalo.

Conclusion: We are in the playoffs now. If the right guys get healthy, we can do some damage. I know that’s a big if but that’s my hope. And as the old saying goes crazier things have happened.

A C for Thompson? No. D- or F. He was painful to watch.

 

[fansinceGWilson]

While I definitely was one of the guys on this site that didn’t think we deserved to be in the playoffs…..We’re now in. I’m hoping Tua, Armstead and the rest of the guys that missed today are back and that we take Josh Allen’s soul like we did in week 3. The guys today did a good job in general and got us in….So…On to the grades.

QB — The Good: Thompson was 20 of 31 for 152 yards and had a QBR of 76.3. While no one is going to mistake Skylar Thompson for Dan Marino, he did have a few nice throws. Today Thompson was the ultimate game manager and it showed in his stats.

The Bad: Thompson missed more than a few wide-open receivers today. I understand that Thompson is a rookie but he didn’t come off his first look multiple times and it definitely held us back. It seemed to me Thompson was processing really slowly. If he plays next week, hopefully, he processes a little faster and moves to a second and third progression quicker.

The Grade: C + . We didn’t win the game because of Skyler Thompson but that’s OK. He did enough managing the offense to get us the win and that’s all we needed.

RB’s — The Good: 143 yards on the ground against the Jets defense is a good day. Wilson had 72 yards and Mostert had 71. Not a bad day at all especially against the Jets defense. I do want to point out a couple great blocks by Ingold. On one of Mostert’s longer runs, Ingold destroyed a linebacker in the hole. Props to Ingold for a good day even though he didn’t show up on the stat sheet.

The Bad: Not much bad today, the RB’s did their job for the most part. Against a good defense, the running backs performed as well as could be expected.

The Grade: B . While not a perfect day they definitely pulled their own weight to help with the win. Solid B effort.

WR’s — The Good: Obviously, with your QB position in game management mode, no one’s stats are going to jump off the board. However, I thought Waddle had a very good game, even though his stats didn’t show it. I thought Hill also had a good game and again, his stats were absent. It was also nice to see EE get into a game.

The Bad: Not sure if I should ding the receivers too much even though the QB was extremely limited today. Gardner also got the best of Hill on a lot of plays today. That kid has a future.

The Grade: B - . Waddle making the Jets horse-collar him on the last drive was a huge play. I actually thought that was a bad call, but will take it.

TE’s — The Good: Gesicki Sighting!! 4 nice catches for 46 yards when we needed it most. Smythe had 3 more for 39 yards. A good day for our TE’s on the receiving end.

The Bad: as decent as the day was on the receiving end of it, the blocking end of it wasn’t so good. A couple of miscommunications and a couple missed blocks hurts this grade.

The Grade: C + . If not for the missed blocks and the miscommunication this grade is a B +. Regardless, not a bad day for this group.

OL — The Good: 162 yards rushing against the Jets is a nice day. This unit scrapped all day and it was nice to see. Mostert and Wilson had some huge holes today and it showed in the stats.

The Bad: Against the Jets athletic front, the line didn’t hold up as well as they did in the running game. The Jets were only credited for one sack but these guys gave up a lot of pressure. This unit is going to have to play a lot better next week if we hope to be competitive in that game.

The Grade: C - . These guys did a good job today, but definitely were a little too soft in the passing game. Let’s hope for more next week.


DL — The Good: Wilkins in Seiler were maniacs today. Against a banged up Jet offensive line, these two were masterful. They did it all, stopping the run, rushing the passer, handing out Gatorade and even cleaning the toilets after the game. Awesome effort. The great part about this is that every defensive Lineman was noticeable today.

The Bad: Yes, they went against a very banged up offense of line, but it doesn’t matter. There was very little that you could point to today that was bad.

The Grade: B + . When you hold a division opponent to six points, you’re doing something right. This group was a huge part of that. Well Done.

LB’s — The Good: Phillips and Chubb were in the office of backfield most of the day. Phillips has really improved as the season has gone on. I actually noticed Chubb today on more than one occasion. Baker and Roberts also contributed and this group probably had its best day of the year.

The Bad: While we applied a lot of pressure to Flacco today, it’s gonna take more than that next week against Josh Allen. That’s about all I can say bad about this group today..

The Grade: B + . Very good Day by this group today. My only wish is that we had gotten a couple more sacks.

DB’s — The Good: After a very tough start to his day, Xavien Howard finished in style. Two great pass break ups at the end of the game help seal it. Kohou was noticeable today in a good way. This group only gave up 149 yards passing to Flacco. I’ll take that any day.

The Bad: While Howard finished the day strong, he definitely didn’t start that way. Garrett Wilson owned him for most of the day. There is little doubt Howard’s skills are declining. Hopefully, it’s just a byproduct of his injuries. We definitely need him at full strength next week.

The Grade: B . When you hold a division foe to 149 yards passing, I’d say you had a good day.

ST’s — The Good: Sanders with a clutch 50 yard kick was huge. The great news is he didn’t miss all day. Morestead was solid today as well.

The Bad: Our coverage teams weren’t good as usual. We’re going to need Sanders to kick the ball out of the end zone on every kick off next week. That is a certainty.

The Grade: B + . It was nice to see Sanders be clutch when needed. Now we have to figure out how to cover punts and kick offs, and we’ll be OK.

Coaching — The Good: I can’t believe it, but we actually saw jet sweep today. I almost fell off the couch. McDaniel had one very good series of playcalling that I can recall. I pretty much agreed with everything he called in that series. I’ll take small improvement anytime. I also like the idea of putting Hill and Waddle on the return teams.

The Bad: Unfortunately, I didn’t agree with a lot of playcalling by McDaniel today. But I can’t complain too much because we got the win. I’ll leave it at that.

The Grade: C - . Hopefully, McDaniel has saved his best coaching day for next week against Buffalo.

Conclusion: We are in the playoffs now. If the right guys get healthy, we can do some damage. I know that’s a big if but that’s my hope. And as the old saying goes crazier things have happened.

Good news: I saw adjustments. More than the standard 12 plays over and over. More use of the TEs. Stayed with the run game more than I expected.
Bad news: Seeing the Jets were swamping ST on almost every passing down, why did he refuse to call any quick passes? Still stayed with play calls that required ST to stand in the pocket too long. Not protecting him at all.

 

[eMCee85]

While I definitely was one of the guys on this site that didn’t think we deserved to be in the playoffs…..We’re now in. I’m hoping Tua, Armstead and the rest of the guys that missed today are back and that we take Josh Allen’s soul like we did in week 3. The guys today did a good job in general and got us in….So…On to the grades.

QB — The Good: Thompson was 20 of 31 for 152 yards and had a QBR of 76.3. While no one is going to mistake Skylar Thompson for Dan Marino, he did have a few nice throws. Today Thompson was the ultimate game manager and it showed in his stats.

The Bad: Thompson missed more than a few wide-open receivers today. I understand that Thompson is a rookie but he didn’t come off his first look multiple times and it definitely held us back. It seemed to me Thompson was processing really slowly. If he plays next week, hopefully, he processes a little faster and moves to a second and third progression quicker.

The Grade: C + . We didn’t win the game because of Skyler Thompson but that’s OK. He did enough managing the offense to get us the win and that’s all we needed.

RB’s — The Good: 143 yards on the ground against the Jets defense is a good day. Wilson had 72 yards and Mostert had 71. Not a bad day at all especially against the Jets defense. I do want to point out a couple great blocks by Ingold. On one of Mostert’s longer runs, Ingold destroyed a linebacker in the hole. Props to Ingold for a good day even though he didn’t show up on the stat sheet.

The Bad: Not much bad today, the RB’s did their job for the most part. Against a good defense, the running backs performed as well as could be expected.

The Grade: B . While not a perfect day they definitely pulled their own weight to help with the win. Solid B effort.

WR’s — The Good: Obviously, with your QB position in game management mode, no one’s stats are going to jump off the board. However, I thought Waddle had a very good game, even though his stats didn’t show it. I thought Hill also had a good game and again, his stats were absent. It was also nice to see EE get into a game.

The Bad: Not sure if I should ding the receivers too much even though the QB was extremely limited today. Gardner also got the best of Hill on a lot of plays today. That kid has a future.

The Grade: B - . Waddle making the Jets horse-collar him on the last drive was a huge play. I actually thought that was a bad call, but will take it.

TE’s — The Good: Gesicki Sighting!! 4 nice catches for 46 yards when we needed it most. Smythe had 3 more for 39 yards. A good day for our TE’s on the receiving end.

The Bad: as decent as the day was on the receiving end of it, the blocking end of it wasn’t so good. A couple of miscommunications and a couple missed blocks hurts this grade.

The Grade: C + . If not for the missed blocks and the miscommunication this grade is a B +. Regardless, not a bad day for this group.

OL — The Good: 162 yards rushing against the Jets is a nice day. This unit scrapped all day and it was nice to see. Mostert and Wilson had some huge holes today and it showed in the stats.

The Bad: Against the Jets athletic front, the line didn’t hold up as well as they did in the running game. The Jets were only credited for one sack but these guys gave up a lot of pressure. This unit is going to have to play a lot better next week if we hope to be competitive in that game.

The Grade: C - . These guys did a good job today, but definitely were a little too soft in the passing game. Let’s hope for more next week.


DL — The Good: Wilkins in Seiler were maniacs today. Against a banged up Jet offensive line, these two were masterful. They did it all, stopping the run, rushing the passer, handing out Gatorade and even cleaning the toilets after the game. Awesome effort. The great part about this is that every defensive Lineman was noticeable today.

The Bad: Yes, they went against a very banged up offense of line, but it doesn’t matter. There was very little that you could point to today that was bad.

The Grade: B + . When you hold a division opponent to six points, you’re doing something right. This group was a huge part of that. Well Done.

LB’s — The Good: Phillips and Chubb were in the office of backfield most of the day. Phillips has really improved as the season has gone on. I actually noticed Chubb today on more than one occasion. Baker and Roberts also contributed and this group probably had its best day of the year.

The Bad: While we applied a lot of pressure to Flacco today, it’s gonna take more than that next week against Josh Allen. That’s about all I can say bad about this group today..

The Grade: B + . Very good Day by this group today. My only wish is that we had gotten a couple more sacks.

DB’s — The Good: After a very tough start to his day, Xavien Howard finished in style. Two great pass break ups at the end of the game help seal it. Kohou was noticeable today in a good way. This group only gave up 149 yards passing to Flacco. I’ll take that any day.

The Bad: While Howard finished the day strong, he definitely didn’t start that way. Garrett Wilson owned him for most of the day. There is little doubt Howard’s skills are declining. Hopefully, it’s just a byproduct of his injuries. We definitely need him at full strength next week.

The Grade: B . When you hold a division foe to 149 yards passing, I’d say you had a good day.

ST’s — The Good: Sanders with a clutch 50 yard kick was huge. The great news is he didn’t miss all day. Morestead was solid today as well.

The Bad: Our coverage teams weren’t good as usual. We’re going to need Sanders to kick the ball out of the end zone on every kick off next week. That is a certainty.

The Grade: B + . It was nice to see Sanders be clutch when needed. Now we have to figure out how to cover punts and kick offs, and we’ll be OK.

Coaching — The Good: I can’t believe it, but we actually saw jet sweep today. I almost fell off the couch. McDaniel had one very good series of playcalling that I can recall. I pretty much agreed with everything he called in that series. I’ll take small improvement anytime. I also like the idea of putting Hill and Waddle on the return teams.

The Bad: Unfortunately, I didn’t agree with a lot of playcalling by McDaniel today. But I can’t complain too much because we got the win. I’ll leave it at that.

The Grade: C - . Hopefully, McDaniel has saved his best coaching day for next week against Buffalo.

Conclusion: We are in the playoffs now. If the right guys get healthy, we can do some damage. I know that’s a big if but that’s my hope. And as the old saying goes crazier things have happened.

The things I would disagree with would be the d line. Yes we got lots of pressure but not one sack against an o line full of backups?? Not good at all. I would put their grade at a D.

Coaching. Yup, mcd finally ran the ball more. Most likely because Skylar was playing but.. he didn't do that last time so good for him. The problem is the penalties and the Damn playcalling getting into the QB. Why is this still an issue? Very sloppy football. We will see how this plays our next year but that has to be cleaned up.

Yes Skyler had a bad game but I don't think he sucked as much as ppl are giving him crap around here for. He didn't make any huge mistakes which is what we ask for! Good for him.

 

[royalshank]

Well, did patriots deserve it anymore than miami? I didn't think so. I think miami deserved it more than patriots. We were down to 3rd string. Patriots have a tough defense, but their starting qb is not that good and their offense has been limited. Patriots needed pts given to them by teddy last week and skylar to win because of their inept offense from macorckle. And steelers have been playing better and won vs browns at end. But miami did beat them earlier this season. So out of the 3, I feel miami was more deserving than pats, and steelers, tho miami hasn't looked too good

That’s how I looked at it. We were / are better and more deserving than NE and Pitt

 

[royalshank]

The things I would disagree with would be the d line. Yes we got lots of pressure but not one sack against an o line full of backups?? Not good at all. I would put their grade at a D.

Coaching. Yup, mcd finally ran the ball more. Most likely because Skylar was playing but.. he didn't do that last time so good for him. The problem is the penalties and the Damn playcalling getting into the QB. Why is this still an issue? Very sloppy football. We will see how this plays our next year but that has to be cleaned up.

Yes Skyler had a bad game but I don't think he sucked as much as ppl are giving him crap around here for. He didn't make any huge mistakes which is what we ask for! Good for him.

Agree on the d line pass rush but they were awesome against the run and kept Flaccid in 3rd and longs. I think the Jets long run of the day was 4 yards. Domination at the POA on run plays

 

[utahphinsfan]

I wish I could argue that point because this game was hideous

Hideous is being nice.

 

[gofins60]

OL — The Good: 162 yards rushing against the Jets is a nice day. This unit scrapped all day and it was nice to see. Mostert and Wilson had some huge holes today and it showed in the stats.

The Bad: Against the Jets athletic front, the line didn’t hold up as well as they did in the running game. The Jets were only credited for one sack but these guys gave up a lot of pressure. This unit is going to have to play a lot better next week if we hope to be competitive in that game.

The Grade: C - . These guys did a good job today, but definitely were a little too soft in the passing game. Let’s hope for more next week.

First, I love your write-ups every week... thanks! Second, I think you should have mentioned that sky-high snap by Williams. I did hear the commentators say that he had a good block on a play, but I'm getting sick and tired of seeing those high snaps. IMO, they need to move him to Guard and get a real Center.

 

[Avigatorx]

Good news: I saw adjustments. More than the standard 12 plays over and over. More use of the TEs. Stayed with the run game more than I expected.
Bad news: Seeing the Jets were swamping ST on almost every passing down, why did he refuse to call any quick passes? Still stayed with play calls that required ST to stand in the pocket too long. Not protecting him at all.

Its hard to distinguish what was called from what actually played out. Without access to the actual call, we have no idea if it was the play, or ST's inability to make the throw it was designed for.

 

[fansinceGWilson]

Its hard to distinguish what was called from what actually played out. Without access to the actual call, we have no idea if it was the play, or ST's inability to make the throw it was designed for.

Maybe I misunderstand. My comment was "Seeing the Jets were swamping ST on almost every passing down, why did he refuse to call any quick passes?"
I don't quite see what connection there is between calling quick passes and Sky's "inability to make the throw."

 

[FinfanInBuffalo]

Good news: I saw adjustments. More than the standard 12 plays over and over. More use of the TEs. Stayed with the run game more than I expected.
Bad news: Seeing the Jets were swamping ST on almost every passing down, why did he refuse to call any quick passes? Still stayed with play calls that required ST to stand in the pocket too long. Not protecting him at all.

I think there were opportunities but Thompson is too slow to process.

 

[fansinceGWilson]

I think there were opportunities but Thompson is too slow to process.

I agree with that. However, we've all seen backups come in and the OC 'protects them' with flat passes, quick passes . . . plays that focus on getting the ball to playmakers. It ppeared to me the play calls were for TT 2.0 - drop back, anticipate, quick release. Particularly with a fierce pass rush.

 

[Avigatorx]

Maybe I misunderstand. My comment was "Seeing the Jets were swamping ST on almost every passing down, why did he refuse to call any quick passes?"
I don't quite see what connection there is between calling quick passes and Sky's "inability to make the throw."

The receiver may have been covered on his first look, or sklyar may not have even looked that way, hard to tell without knowing the playcall.

 

[fansinceGWilson]

The receiver may have been covered on his first look, or sklyar may not have even looked that way, hard to tell without knowing the playcall.

Agree with that. Fans don't know the progression. If TH is covered on 1st look, every QB moves to 2nd in progression. If TH later becomes open . . . too late. Looks wide open in the replay, but replays don't show progressions. I still think Sky doesn't have the anticipation and is a sometimes TOO quick to leave a read.

 

[Avigatorx]

Agree with that. Fans don't know the progression. If TH is covered on 1st look, every QB moves to 2nd in progression. If TH later becomes open . . . too late. Looks wide open in the replay, but replays don't show progressions. I still think Sky doesn't have the anticipation and is a sometimes TOO quick to leave a read.

You will also still see alot of deeper route designs, even if the intended receiver is actually a screen, dumpoff, or flat. The idea is to clear out the zone where that receiver will be designed to be open. If you keep Waddle and Hill short, it congests the passing lanes.

 

[Lionstone]

I have looked at multiple film breakdowns of the Jets game. I thought Skylar was receiving more blame than he should. Now I know he was not the primary problem. The main culprit is Liam Eichenberg. I have never seen such a weak performance by a starting guard!!! Start Jones for the majority of the game, and we have at least 17 points instead of 9.