As the New York Jets get set to take on the Indianapolis Colts on “Monday Night Football,” the tall task of halting No. 12 remains.
By Robby Sabo
Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills managed to do it in Week 1. Can Todd Bowles and the New York Jets do it tonight?
We’re of course discussing the possibility of shutting down Andrew Luck.
This is the question that’ll remain up until kickoff of Week 2’s Monday Night Football contest between Luck’s Indianapolis Colts and the previously mentioned Jets.
Bowles understands exactly who he’s dealing with, via Seth Walder of New York Daily News:
“He can beat you with his brain, he can beat you with his arm, he can beat you with his feet,” Todd Bowles said. “He’s just a hell of a quarterback. Probably one of the best in the league, easily one of the best in the league.”
“He can buy time with his feet. When he gets on the run he’s still an elite quarterback,” Skrine said of Luck. “Some quarterbacks go on the run, they get foggy. When he’s on the run, he might chuck it 60 yards.”
What makes Luck so dangerous is his ability to throw the deep ball. Not only is it his accuracy that scares the living daylights out of defenses, but his willingness to go deep.
In today’s NFL, with the way the rules play to the offense, an elite quarterback can literally throw 10-yards and under on every play and succeed with flying colors. All of the screens, rub-routes and pick plays allow it to play possible.
Take a look at Tom Brady. Does the guy ever throw over 20-yards these days? Whether the defense is playing a Cover 1 or even zero, Brady can take advantage of matchups and deliver pinpoint accuracy to allow phenomenal catch after run numbers.
Luck, on the other hand, actually looks to go deep on every play.
His vision is programmed in his head to find the deep route first, then trickle down to his second and third reads underneath. He does all while having eyes in the back of his head within the pocket.
Even though the Colts offensive line is hardly anything to write home about, Luck was only sacked 29 times all of 2014. This is a direct attribute of his pocket presence.
So how did Ryan and the Bills knock out the Colts in Week 1, limiting them to just 14 points and Luck to a 63.6 QB Rating?
Well, simply put, they bullied them.
This Indy offensive line is horrid. Instead of building the team the right way, general manager Ryan Grigson did the exact opposite during the offseason. He acquired aging veterans such as Frank Gore, Andre Johnson and Trent Cole without fully addressing his offensive and defensive line.
They simply get beat down.
Muhammad Wilkerson, Leonard Williams and Damon Harrison will need to take advantage of that on Monday night if the Jets have realistic designs of winning. An interior push in the pocket against Luck will need to be there.
Additionally, Quinton Coples and Trevor Reilly along the edge need to stay disciplined and not allow Luck out of the pocket. It’s not the three-step timing patterns that Luck kills defenses with, it’s the designed deep routes and scramble drills that do them in.
What’s interesting is to already assume the Jets have already shut down the Colts run game and will still have issues with Luck. That’s just a testament to how good the fourth-year pro out of Stanford actually is.
If the Jets defensive line owns the game and the offense controls time of possession, the Jets will improve to 2-0 on the 2015 season.
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