The New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles played each other in their last preseason game of 2016. While now many fans will look towards Week One of the regular season, there is still a lot left to do for the Jets front office. The roster must be trimmed from 75 players to 53 players and this last preseason game was make-or-break for many roster hopefuls. While decisions are based off the entire preseason, this was the last time to impress for many of the men looking to crack the final roster. The following are the Jets’ preseason Week Four takeaways.
New York Jets Preseason Week Four Takeaways
Hackenberg Proved He is a Work in Progress
Prior to this game, head coach Todd Bowles said he would only be playing Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg. Petty did play in the game, but not for long. After going 4-for-6 with 87 yards and a 44-yard touchdown pass to Robby Anderson, Petty came out of the game with a shoulder injury after being tackled.
Hackenberg then inherited Petty’s playing time along with his own. It was said that Hackenberg would be a project and that was proven in this contest. He struggled throughout the game and finished the night by going 11-for-31 with 54 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was acquired with the Jets’ second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, he would probably be on the chopping block right now. As for now, it appears the Jets may keep all four quarterbacks. It will be known for sure in a few days, but at this point if anything else happens it would be surprising.
Robby Anderson Has Done Everything He Can
The Jets wide receivers had a quiet night, but Robby Anderson stood out yet again. The only Jets wideout with any positive receiving yards aside from Anderson was Jalin Marshall, who had one reception for 17 yards. Anderson finished the night with two receptions for 61 yards. One reception was for 17 yards, and the other was for a 44-yard touchdown.
If it was only one game that Anderson did well in, then it would be taken with a grain of salt. After all, he came in as an undrafted free agent into one of the deepest wide receiver depth charts in the NFL. It wasn’t just one game, however. Anderson has played well in three of the four preseason games. He has finished preseason with 13 receptions for a NFL-leading 264 yards and three touchdowns.
It’s not like Anderson has to unseat Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker, or Quincy Enunwa to make the roster. All he has to do is prove he can contribute to the team more than some of the lower-ranked wide receivers. There is a lot of competition however.
The Jets have incumbent Kenbrell Thompkins, seventh-round pick Charone Peake, Chandler Worthy, Kyle Williams, Jalin Marshall, and Jeremy Ross all vying for a spot. While the latter two may get a spot on special teams, there is still a lot of jockeying for position going on. Anderson has clearly outdone each one of those players and now the Jets front office must decide if that is good enough.
The Defense Caused Many Turnovers
Whether you peg it on a good Jets defense or a sloppy Eagles offense, five turnovers is still five turnovers. The Jets put enough pressure on the offense to generate the takeaways. They had two interceptions and two forced fumbles. The fifth turnover was a forced fumble from punter Lachlan Edwards. They may have only had one sack, but in the end the Eagles didn’t score off them at all. Their first touchdown came off Jets special teams as Paul Turner returned the ball 71 yards. The other touchdown came when the offense was on the field after Hackenberg threw an interception that was returned for 90 yards.
Can’t Complain About the Offensive Line
The offensive line did their job. The Eagles managed only one sack on Jets quarterbacks the whole night, which was on Hackenberg. While that play was the result of poor protection by the offensive line, Hackenberg didn’t help with poor decision-making himself. The running game was still poor for the Jets, but that can be blamed more on the running backs themselves. In the end, they weren’t the best group of the game, but they certainly weren’t the worst group.
Special Teams Stumbled
It wasn’t the best preseason game for special teams. It actually looked more like last year’s sub-par special teams. While this can be blamed on many different players, the kickers are not a part of this group. Neither Nick Folk nor Ross Martin got any scoring chances as the Jets went for a two-point conversion after their first touchdown. Jalin Marshall only had two punt returns for an average of five yards. He did have one kickoff return for 32 yards, but that was the highlight of the returns. As mentioned before, special teams also couldn’t tackle Paul Turner as he returned a punt for a 71-yard touchdown.
Punter Lachlan Edwards perhaps had the best night on special teams although the box score won’t show it. He finished with 12 punts for an average of only 37.1 yards, but some of his kicks were great. At one point he had a 59-yard punt and then he outdid himself later on with a 60-yarder.
The Running Game Will Rely on Matt Forte
If there was anything learned through preseason, it was how important Matt Forte will be for this team. He hasn’t played much, and the Jets in turn haven’t run much in general. While Bilal Powell is a good number two back and Khiry Robinson is a good number three, neither have proven that they can carry the running game. Powell didn’t play today, but Robinson did. He finished second on the Jets in rushing yards with 25 yards on 13 attempts. Antone Smith rushed 10 times for 27 yards.
Main Photo:
