New York Jets at Detroit Lions Second Half Recap

First off check out our very own Scott Salmon's first half thoughts here: SS's First Half Thoughts.

So let's briefly recap the 2nd half here: Jets were down by 13 at the half. Jets got the ball first with Geno at the helm. Unfortunately for Jets fans (but a total boom for heart doctors), Geno Smith only made a brief appearance in the second half succumbing to what looked like an ankle injury. So from there, Greg McElroy came in and led a few drives for scores, but ultimately the Jets succumbed to the Lions. The Jets did outscore the Lions 10-6 in the 2nd half, for whatever that is worth.

So time to recap this half.

The Good:

Greg McElroy: McElroy gets the top headline. Don't read into this too much. He played against a bunch of third stringers and racked up some big numbers against guys who frankly aren't that good. I get the temptation is to say he can start, and should start because Sanchez. But let's be honest here: on a few plays he nearly killed WR's with slow passes in the middle of the field, horribly under threw a sure TD (but was dropped anyway) and took a few sacks/big hits that I thought a good QB would avoid.

So why is he in the good you ask? Because he did a great job leading the offense down the field using a lot of crossing routes to rack up some chunks of yardage. He didn't make any highlight reel throws Check that, he did throw one over the top of a defender perfectly but....the pass was dropped. He also hit guys that were wide open, which is great to see him find them.

Honestly, I know you didn't ask for it but FWIW, I see him as a good number three right now that can be a career backup. I know it's not a totally popular opinion but hey, that's what I saw tonight. He did great against a bunch of scrubs.

Marty's play calling in the 2nd half: I can say that after Geno went down, all of the sudden the playbook looked great. Tons of little passes that were gaining 6-7 yards, a couple of real nice screen calls, and even the running game started to churn a few yards. Quite a change from last year. Still, makes you wonder why Geno didn't get to pass the ball too much.

Ben Obamanu: Once again, against the scrubs he did a nice job. He didn't make a lot of catches that were too difficult, nor did he break any highlight reel YAC plays. However, he did a great job of catching the ball and getting a few yards here and there. Honestly, he did show some promise of being that 4th or 5th WR and specialist guy. Nothing to flashy but can make a catch here or there.

Danny Lansanah: I have no idea who this guy is or what he really is about. That being said, he made two plays I wrote down were good, one on specials. He gets some kudos for that.

Isaiah Trufant: This guy seems to be on the bubble every year,but keeps making plays. Once again, he was out there making some plays against the third stringers. He's a guy that keeps making plays when given chances, so I expect him to stick again.

Nick Folk: Nice FG. That is all.

Neutrals:

Geno Smith: He got only a handful of plays in the second half so he gets the big sideways arrow here. I'm only doing for the second half, so don't say he was great early because we have another thread for that.

2nd and 3rd D: Look they weren't great, jumped offside a few times but didn't break when it came down to it. They get points for holding the Lions to field goals late in the game.

Bad:

Penalties: Let's be honest here. That was ugly first 4 minutes. They had 4 penalties for about 30 yards. That's not making a good impression. Those guys may become role players so stuff like that needs to be ironed out by next week.

Injuries: Geno Smith's scared everyone but I think he will be ok. Am I a doctor? No. Can I give an opinion? Sure. So there's my opinion on Geno's injury. Other than that, Griffin (backup RB) went down, and frankly it did not look good. What makes it worse was that the injury occurred on an illegal tackle, reminiscent of TO's injury with the Eagles. Being preseason and all, I don't expect Goodell to fine the guy, but in the regular season, whoever made that tackle would be losing part of a paycheck. Spadola also hobbled off the field, which sucks, cause he had the hype train going.

Back Up RB's: Yeah, sure they got some nice runs in, but neither really struck me as a guy I'd want to see on the field on Sunday. Spann came in as the hot name, but after one run John B wondered who put cement in the cleats. I concur, he looked slow on a few runs. He got one nice one, but yeah not good enough. As for Madu, he wasn't awful but didn't really impress me either. Griffin's injury brings this group down to bad.

Ugly:

The WR's outside of Obamanu: Holy hell, I thought Stephen Hill cloned himself out there. A ton of drops killed a few drives. With the Jets lacking any kind of WR corps or depth, you think one WR would go out there and set himself apart in a good way. Frankly, none did. A few made routine catches, but all and all, none had any kind of play that would make me interested in seeing them again.

Braylon Edwards/Kellen Winslow: They look old and slow. It's fun to remember what they were like in their prime, but they really don't have anything tonight. Winslow made the nice run, but frankly otherwise looked slow. B.E. looked slow out of the routes and also in the one catch and run. Frankly, I hope they have something more left, but I doubt it.

KR/PR/ST: I saw nothing out of any of our special teams that made me happy in the return game. No real good moves to shake a tackle and a lot of 5-6 yard returns. I wasn't too happy with any of the guys returning it and I can't wait for Mcknight to get back.

Michael Campbell Ugly:

Zach Rogers: You might wonder why a player gets his own designation. Well two years ago during the preseason, one player on the bubble dropped a perfect TD pass that would have won the game for the Jets. Something similar happened tonight. Come on and accept your award Mr. Zach Rogers. Dropping a pass while no defender is around you will set you apart from the rest of the ugly crowd. That being said, he did have two catches, so he wasn't a total bomb. Still though, gotta make that catch.