NYJ Week 2 Post Game Press Conference

by k1ngm0j1 | 4 years ago | 0 Comments

That was a gritty win right there!!! What a wild ride that game was huh? There is so much to dissect after that game. I really don't even know where to start.

I am really proud of these guys, and that may be silly so early on, but you can see there is no quit in this team.  We started this game off with a pick 6 after both teams went 3 & out.  Then we got absolutely dominated for almost the rest of the half. After capping off 2 nice drives to end the half we are somehow up 21-14 despite allowing them to run for 100 yards & 2tds in the first half.  They score in the 3rd to tie it.  We trade field goals & then they go up by 3 with just 2:27 to go in the game.  That drive the boys put together there at the end was nothing short of Brilliant! Sam was methodical & made throw after throw. Some big catches by Crowder & Perriman & Griffen set us up.  After the strike to Griffen around the 50 second mark, which was such an impressive diving catch with a LB on his back, we had it 1st & goal from the 4 as time ticked down.  I said lets run this here, they may not be ready.  So we rushed the jumbo unit out there, Perriman wide right & let Lev get to work.  It was probably his best run of the day, we did not have a ton of success on the ground against a really stout front.  You could see they were late rushing onto the field with their goaline defense.  We ran a simple power left & Lev made a gorgeous cut back to the inside to walk into the endzone.  It was so well done.

The defense came up big too. San Fran had 2 timeouts & 38 seconds to work.  Kittle burnt us a couple of times & they ended up with 1 play to win it, down 4 with about 10 seconds left.  They were about 30 yards out & we were able to pressure Jimmy a little to throw it before he wanted too. Earl made a great play on the ball & was able to come up with the pick in the endzone to seal it for us. 

Man that game was wild, I have to give Sam a lot of credit, I thought he was lights out for most of this game.  He faced a furious pass rush, that was in his face all day. He faced a hell of a secondary & a great LB core.  The kid was just terrific. Even his pick I dont really blame on him, I thought the LB got there early & hit crowder before he had the ball & took it away from him.  Such a bang bang play as you're throwing out of a sack, I will take our chances on that. Usually Jameson is coming away with that ball.  Sam went 22/35 (62%) for 295 yards 2tds & the pick.  He really carried us today. We dropped a lot of passes, especially early on. Our guys made up for it in the 2nd half however.  I thought the pass to Mims for a touchdown with 4 seconds left in the 1st half was absolutely perfect, he could not have thrown that ball any better.  Denzel did a great job of beating his guy off the press & securing that catch over his shoulder as he fell down with the cb on his back for his first career touchdown. What a great moment! We were really fired up heading into the half.

The film from this game wont be pretty to watch though.  There are a LOT of concerns about how we played against the run.  I thought we were glued to those lineman in the first half. To allow that many yards in a half is unacceptable, we got bullied up & down the field for a majority of this game.  We have to get that sorted out. We did get to Jimmy a decent amount when he dropped back, couldn't get the sack but we hit him plenty to force bad throws on 3rd downs or to force the two picks we did have.  Quincy Wilson made a nice play on the pick 6 early on, Wake hit JG on the throw & it looked like there were two Niners there to make a play but Wilson quickly attacked the ball & went. Man did we need that.  I thought Crowder was massive for us today, 7 catches for 111 yards & the touchdown. Perriman was also good adding in 83 yards. We wanted him to get more, I know he had a big goal this week of breaking 100 again. But when he went down late in the 3rd with the stinger we did not want to risk it.  We kept him out there as more of a decoy then a real threat.  He will be fine for next week in Indy.  

We were able to get C Conor McGovern back this week. His presence in the middle of the line was severely missed.  Team doctors are hopeful that TE Chris Herndon & RB La'Mical Perine will both be clear to play next week as well, but both will be game time decisions more then likely.  Also LB Jordan Jenkins has suffered what appears to be a torn labrum. Early indications are he will miss about a month with the injury. With that I will open this up to questions. 

It seems Sam is really starting to turn it on right now. After a rough preseason & camp is this the Darnold you expecting coming in?

Honestly, he can be even better. I think the world of Sam Darnold & I don't want to spend the whole press conference gushing over how much I love my QB but for a 23 year old to have stones like he showed today, man that is special.  He is the reason we won this game today, he made some really great throws.  That scramble left throw across his body as Crowder adjusted his route because he ran out of room was a top notch, Rodgers like throw.  That is just a play you can't teach.  I think as Sam & the offense plays more & gets used to each other, they will keep getting better and better. I wish we could start scoring some first quarter touchdowns on offense, but we will get there.

The Defense struggled a lot for almost 3 quarters. Then in the 4th you were able to bend but don't break & hold them to two fieldgoals which allowed you to score the field goal & touchdown in the 4th to win.  What do you think was the biggest change from the first 3 quarters?

Going into the 4th tied at 21 our guys knew it was do or die time. They knew the impact a win like this would have on our season. I think they just wanted it more honestly.  We did a great job of shuffling guys in & out a little more to keep the dline fresh. I think the secondary played great & I think we caught onto the tendencies the Niners had.  They stuck to their game plan & it really did not change. That allowed us to anticipate things a little more & start making some more plays.  I think the Dline started eating up more double teams which allowed Mosley & Avery & Cash to go make more tackles. Once we started playing more selfless along the dline & those guys were okay not getting tackles & just clogging things up so the LB's could work, we were much better off.  We were never really threatened by their passing game. Sure we made sure we knew where Kittle was at all times & he had a great day for them, but outside of that we really were not worried. The run had our attention & we said if Jimmy beats us, he beats us. Luckily for us, he did not beat us.

This team seems to have a really nice mix of young players who are making an impact & veterans who you can lean on. How important is that balance to have on a roster?
Yeah that is really how this roster is built. There are a lot of guys under 25 on this roster who still have so much to learn. Key players like Becton, Mims, Cash, Davis, Herndon & Sam to name a few.  But these guys all start & play all game long. They are all super talented but there are times they need help & that comes with growing in this league. Having guys with a wealth of knowledge to lean on & ask questions or talk you through what they are seeing is just so valuable to a team. It gives these young guys a really great safety blanket to lean on. Guys like Le'veon Bell, Mosley, Avery, ETIII, Peters, Crowder etc. These guys are in there every play & give that calming presence to the team.  I know that last drive Sam had these guys ready to go but Lev was also helping calm everyone down.  He was on the sideline walking up and down just so confident saying we got this, we got this.  Then the boys went out & sure enough he capped it off to win. Having that kind of presence is so helpful you really cant put a price on it or put it into words, but without guys like that the whole thing crumbles.  I love where this team is at right now. Being 2-0 is great and we have a lot of work to do, a LOT of work.  This team is full of fight and they wont quit. I ask for nothing more as a coach. 

Next week you face off with a very very familiar foe, coach Chapstick & those Colts. With your rivalry being as long & colorful as it is, how does that impact your preparation for next week.

Coach Chapstick is a great coach, he honestly has been my biggest rival here in RZ. He is such a dynamic coach & does things differently its really hard to prepare for. His teams always run it well, they pass well, the defense is sharp. Its just a chess match the whole way. How many games have we had vs each other that came down to the last possession? Its a ton thats for sure.  I look at me & Ricky as like one of those iconic rivalries that you know it will be good when these two guys go to battle. Your  Manning-Brady matchup or Tiger & Phil.  Crosby & Ovechkin, Hart vs HBK or Jon Jones & DC.  Iron sharpening Iron & two guys who have been here for a similar length of time who always seem to get matched up and put on an absolute banger.  I am really looking forward to the next chapter.  You have two teams who came into the season as polar opposites. Guys picked the Colts to win the whole thing & be a dominant force all cycle & then the "lowly" Jets, who have no prayer this season.  One expert said this team had "no redeeming qualities, outside of possibly Darnold"  That was the breakdown of us this season. One expert picked us to go 0-7 to start....0-7, if you think our guys didn't read this shit all offseason you're wrong. We heard all the noise. We had like 1 or 2 guys that believed in us. Well here we are at 2-0 & we were big underdogs in both & now we face ol Ricky. I know there is a lot of work for us to do still on the season but Im looking forward to this challenge, that is a fantastic team & the praise of the Colts was spot on.  I hope everyone keeps sleeping on us though, things certainly looking up here in Gotham. See you guys in Indy