Jets vs. Redskins Recap: Five Takeaways on the Starters, Bryce Petty, Robby Anderson, and Ross Martin

Here are five takeaways I had from last night's preseason loss to the Washington.

1. The starters looked bad: It was a testament to Washington's mistakes and some fortunate breaks that the starting defense did not give up a score last night because the unit was not good as a whole in the least. Washington had 8 first downs in 2 series and controlled the ball for around 13:00 in the first quarter. The 'Skins had a touchdown taken off the board by a penalty. On the other side, the offense couldn't get much going and was shut out.

2. It isn't cause for any alarm: This was not a good performance, but I can't get too crazy about it. Remember, this is preseason. The Jets were not gameplanning for this opponent, and they probably were keeping their scheme pretty basic. You also have to remember the starters were not playing for very long. There will be games where the Jets have a rough beginning to the game, but the team will recover and play well. In the preseason, the starters get pulled so games like this are called bad performances. In the regular season, they are called slow starts. Now if the starters look like this in next week's dress rehearsal, I will be a little more concerned.

3. Bryce Petty might be playing his way into the number two quarterback spot: Petty played an excellent second half. He did show a bit of erratic play missing on some throws he should hit, but he still threw for 242 yards and 2 touchdowns on 26 attempts. There were lots of right on the money throws. Coupled with a rough night from Geno Smith, the door might be open to Petty grabbing the backup quarterback job. I still would put my money on Smith. I think one bad game by Petty or one stellar outing by Smith probably puts this away for Geno. Last night was the first time where it felt like a legitimate possibility Petty could win it, though.

4. There is a new rookie receiver making a roster push: Through camp, there has been plenty of buzz around Jalin Marshall and Charone Peake. Last night, rookie undrafted free agent Robby Anderson made his case for a roster spot with a stellar 6 catch, 131 yard night that included a 50 yard TD from Petty. You really had a to like how he ran his routes, and that TD was a beautiful catch on a contested ball. It was thrown in the perfect spot, and the catch was great. The execution had to be superb for that to work, and it was on both ends. Again, Anderson has to do more to make the team, but this was a big statement.

5. If it wasn't already, the kicking competition is now over: Ross Martin's misses last week left Nick Folk in the driver's seat. It was still plausible the rookie could bounce back and make some big kicks while the veteran could falter. Martin ended any doubt by missing an extra point.