Remember last week’s Simms Spotlight where Phil said, ‘if the Jets don’t win this weekend, it’s over?’ Well, they didn’t win, but Phil thinks at least showed some life.
“Let me just say this about the Jets: I thought their offense was expanded more, had more plays, against the Patriots, and I thought Aaron Rodgers played well, as did Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, a lot of good stuff there,” Simms told Boomer & Gio Wednesday. “They did everything to help their team win…and then the most fearful defense in the NFL, what’s gonna take us to the Super Bowl, it lets them down on the last drive. They made a lot of mistakes and gave up big plays.”
The kicking game was also bad, so it wasn’t just one facet of the game failing, but is the defense struggling perhaps because it was their coordinator who was elevated to replace Robert Saleh?
“I don't know, but I can't imagine it really is affecting him that much. In other words, there’s a lot more to do as a head coach, but I still think there would be plenty of time left, and there's many coaches that he can get ready to have the defensive game plan, have it set and everything like that,” Simms said. “It was there for them last week, big time, but when it counted on that last drive, they made mistakes and gave up plays they shouldn't have.”
And back to the offense: what’s up with Garrett Wilson losing his feet every time he makes a catch?
“I don't know the reason. I think a couple of times I would just say his first thought is to really just to make sure and secure the catch, so he gives everything up to get both hands, both arms, and just to be careful not to drop it,” Simms said. “A few of those throws you think he could have just ran through the pass and maybe picked up a lot of extra yards, but I think that's what it is: just trying to just secure the catch and not worry about catching and running.”
Boomer needs to see more of that from Wilson, as a 1A receiver, and Simms agrees, but again, it wasn’t necessarily the offense that let the team down on Sunday.
“Garrett Wilson had five catches for 113 yards, and this is what my sheet says: ‘could have and should have been more,’” Phil agreed. “I don’t know about the Jets; they got the offense going, and Aaron Rodgers made a lot of great throws, and you wish New England scored a little earlier because he was definitely going to get them down there to try at least get a field goal.”
And now, the Jets are FAVORED Thursday against the Texans?
“Stef Diggs is out, and Nico Collins is out, and it’s not what it was last year,” Simms said of the Texans. “They're trying to find their way and have a lot of injuries – their depth chart is just red with people that are hurt – and CJ Stroud is taking more hits, throwing the football under much more pressure than I saw him under last year. So I can understand why the Jets are favored Thursday night, at their place against a team that's beat up and really struggling more than we saw last year.”
Take a listen to the entire Simms Spotlight above, as Phil also discusses the Giants’ woes and the future for Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen!