Geno Smith entered the game after Ryan Fitzpatrick hurt his hand on a scramble. Not seeing action in a competitive football game since 12/28/14, Geno took a bit of time to fall into rhythm and eventually started to continue down the path of growth he was already at just a season ago. We’re going to look at some plays from all three “phases” of Geno Smith in this game.

Stats

Geno Smith – 27/42 (64.3%) for 265 Yards, 6.31 YPA, 2 TDs, 1 INT

Passing Chart

Outside Left Numbers Left Middle Numbers Right Outside Right 30+ 0/1 INT 0/1 0/1 0/1, 1B 20-29 0/1, 1N 0/1, 1B 1/3, 1 DPI 1/1 10-19 0/1 2/3, 1B 2/2 2/4, 1TD, 1B, 1 DPI 1-9 2/4, 1PD 6/6, 1TD 1/2, 1B 6/6, 1B Behind LOS 2/2 1/1 1/1

B = Bad Pass

PD = Pass Defensed

N = WR Fault

Geno Smith Enters the Game

Geno Smith enters the game on the Jets first drive, immediately after Ryan Fitzpatrick becomes injured. With only time spent playing with the scout team, the QB shows some obvious signs of lacking chemistry and timing as he works on getting into rhythm.

3rd and 6 at NYJ 47 (9:31 – 1st) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass short middle to J.Kerley to OAK 30 for 23 yards (C.Woodson)

Geno Smith’s first pass of the game comes two plays after entering the game. Facing a 5 man rush with a cover-1 man look on 3rd down, Geno drops back looking to his right immediately. Generally, he should keep his eyes downfield while dropping back but with both inside linebackers no longer in the middle of the field- the need to hold your gaze downfield isn’t as important when you’re not planning to go deep.

Geno is reading the three receivers who are running (from left to right) a corner route, dig route, and another dig route. With the blitz coming the shorter routes become the focus of this play. Kenbrell Thompkins at the outside spot is the safer throw of the two, but Geno chooses to go inside on Kerley where he has an opening as well.

The throw is slightly late but is thrown to the exact spot it has to be- high and away from the corner, giving him no play on the ball despite having a decent amount of coverage on Kerley. The in-stride throw allows Kerley to continue upfield.

2nd and 9 at NYJ 36 (1:13 – 1st) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass incomplete short left to B.Marshall

Geno’s third throw of the game shows the lack of familiarity with his offenses timing. Facing a delayed 5 man rush against another cover-1 man look, Geno drops back and takes a peek at the left side of his line, checking the blitz. With Cumberland not winning his route on the left side, Marshall becomes the target but Geno isn’t aware of where he’ll be breaking and throws the ball into an uncatchable area for him.

3rd and 9 at NYJ 36 (1:01 – 1st) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass short middle to K.Thompkins to NYJ 40 for 4 yards (C.Woodson)

Facing third down, the Raiders play a cover-3 against the Jets four WR set. Geno will end up throwing this behind Thompkins, a decision that looks correct but let’s examine everything leading to this throw.

As Geno drops back, he checks the left side and looks back to the right immediately. This look to the right results in Brandon Marshall being open on his out route that he shouldn’t be open on at all- if Geno’s eyes stay downfield the ILB dropping near Marshall’s zone would have stayed on him. This is important because if that were to happen, Thompkins would have had a better chance of taking this catch upfield (if the ball was thrown in stride). What’s also important is that Geno is settling for an underneath throw to a player who has nearly no chance of getting this first down (even if you can argue that he’s purposely throwing behind him to lead him to the open space), despite having a clean enough pocket to potentially go through his reads to see Marshall.

3rd and 3 at NYJ 27 (8:03 – 2nd) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass incomplete deep right to E.Decker

3rd and 3, Jets have 4 WRs out. The Raiders are playing either a cover-2 man or cover-1 with #42 Larry Asante double teaming Marshall.

The Jets have a pre-snap motion built into the play with Jeremy Kerley coming down from his outside spot. Geno looks over to that side just before the snap (you can see this a lot better in the EZ view), so he doesn’t see the adjustment of the bottom CB backing away from Thompkins on his short dig route.

At the snap, Geno checks the left side for a blitz (the Raiders blitz the nickel a few times this game) and comes back to the right side. Kerley falls down on his route, so the decision is made at that point to throw at Decker.

The throw is misplaced too far to the outside and Decker’s unable to get it as a result. If Geno had thrown this further down the field, this ball might actually be completed given Decker’s leverage on both DBs.

1st and 10 at NYJ 20 (5:02 – 2nd) G.Smith pass deep left intended for B.Marshall INTERCEPTED by C.Woodson at OAK 35. C.Woodson ran ob at OAK 35 for no gain.

1st down, Jets show a run look against what’s looking like cover-3. Both Jets outside receivers are going deep with the only other option on this play being a delayed vertical route from tight end Jeff Cumberland.

Geno will look to his right while dropping back, where Decker has absolutely no leverage on his man. With both routes heading deep, it’s likely intentional that he’s doing this in an attempt to get FS Charles Woodson to move to that side. Woodson however, doesn’t fall for it at all and stays in the middle. When Geno hits his backstep, he turns to Marshall and lets the ball go with just one gather step. It’s underthrown and Woodson’s able to grab it. For some reason, announcer Rich Gannon called this a stare-down during the live broadcast.

Geno Smith Gets Into Rhythm

Following the interception, Geno Smith begins playing on point. Although the timing doesn’t ever get resolved in this game, his accuracy and decision making does as he begins to get into the groove of playing. Geno even has a stretch of 8 straight completions, which ends on a tough throw and drop.

1st and 15 at NYJ 37 (2:03 – 2nd) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass short middle to B.Marshall to 50 for 13 yards (M.Edwards)

The Jets send out Chris Ivory to the slot, a regular part of the offense but the Raiders respond by keeping a LB on him instead of moving everyone down one man. The pre-snap favors looking at Marshall’s side with the slant, given that his man is about 8 yards deep against him, which is just about the depth of his break.

When Geno takes the snap against this cover-1 man look, he again checks the corner blitz to the left side before returning to the right. Geno’s timing on this play is off as his footwork doesn’t sync up at all with the break of Brandon Marshall’s slant but he still manages to fit this through a tight window behind a linebacker.

2nd and 5 at OAK 39 (1:30 – 2nd) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass short middle to E.Decker to OAK 25 for 14 yards (M.Smith)

Another cover-1 man, the Raiders bring 5 rushers up to the line, but will replace the ILB (who will drop to cover Decker) for the nickel CB at the bottom. The pre-snap has one player stand out, Decker is uncovered in the slot receiver spot closest to the line of scrimmage on the right side.

When Geno takes the snap, he checks for the corner blitz (as he has been) and it finally comes. Rather than take the hot read of Marshall, Geno’s composed enough to take advantage of Decker’s favorable situation where a dropping linebacker is in coverage and get the ball out quickly to him. The throw is slightly low but still in stride.

3rd and 5 at OAK 20 (0:44 – 2nd) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass incomplete deep middle to B.Marshall (T.Carrie).

Facing 3rd and 5 at the Raiders red zone, the Raiders are showing cover-2 man at the pre-snap that doesn’t favor any particular player. However, after the snap, Charles Woodson (the left safety) will come down into robber coverage turning this into cover-1 man.

When Geno drops back, he can see that the coverage has changed and Woodson has vacated his deep spot, placing a wide open area to throw to behind him because the other safety is heavily favoring the opposite side. Geno throws the ball right on time allowing Marshall to get past Woodson and Carrie (the corner covering him) but has the ball a bit too far to the outside, allowing Carrie a chance to make a play on the ball. The ball is still well thrown, but sub-optimal since a throw further inside gives Marshall the ability to catch this without any competition.

There’s also going to be Jeremy Kerley coming wide open in the middle of the field on this play but- being familar with the Jets offense- that is definitely Kerley improvising upon seeing the open space. If Woodson hadn’t vacated the deep spot, the ball may have reached Kerley.

1st and 10 at NYJ 34 (10:28 – 3rd) (No Huddle, Shotgun) G.Smith scrambles right end to NYJ 39 for 5 yards (M.Edwards)

Raiders bring 6 potential blitzers up to the line of scrimmage and show a pre-snap that looks like anything between cover-1 man or cover-3, or cover-4. The pre-snap favors Marshall’s out route at the top and Thompkins checkdown dig route at the bottom of the screen.

At the snap, Geno looks at his left first, allowing him to take in the blitz as well as see the coverage on Marshall, who’s had one of the potential rushers drop into his area on what could’ve been an easy out. Smith turns back to the right side to check on Kerley’s dig and immediately finds Khalil Mack about to enter the pocket. He then turns his shoulder momentarily with the intention to throw towards Thompkins but doesn’t have the time to actually make the throw. He steps up and evades the rushers, scrambling for 5 yards.

2nd and 7 at 50 (8:37 – 3rd) (No Huddle, Shotgun) G.Smith pass deep right to B.Marshall pushed ob at OAK 22 for 28 yards (D.Amerson).

Raiders rush only four and show cover-2 man on the pre-snap. The pre-snap favors Thompkins at the top of the screen on his quick snag route, but the post-snap shows another good opportunity to go deep for Marshall as the Raiders switch to cover-1 man with Woodson again dropping into the middle of the field.

Geno takes the snap and recognizes the rotating safeties, he’s quick to drop, set, and throw in order to hit Marshall right on the sideline, placing the ball nearly perfectly on him. This ball might’ve been able to be kept in bounds if thrown a little further inside for Marshall to run for YAC but his route is heading towards the sideline the entire time. This throw is in no way bad, but improvement is still possible.

1st and 10 at OAK 22 (8:18 – 3rd) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass short middle to E.Decker to OAK 13 for 9 yards (D.Amerson)

Raiders bring 4 rushers and sit in cover-1 man. The pre-snap favors looking at Kerley’s slot out route at the top of the screen where the CB is playing very far off and Decker’s slant at the bottom where the DB is shading outside.

Noting the position of the ILB to the right and the positioning of the rest of the defense, it becomes safe to assume that he’s manned up against Chris Ivory in the backfield. When he leaves the space he’s in, he opens up a throwing lane to throw to Decker that Geno takes and places perfectly for the stuation- far enough ahead of the CB trailing him but also behind just enough to keep the ball from the ILB as well as protect him from a potential hit from the linebacker, if he wasn’t choosing to try and cut the throwing lane.

However, this throw has to be made that way because Geno’s timing is still off within this offense, leading to him being slower on his dropbacks than the routes. He’s still able to make up for that with his accuracy and placement though.

1st and 10 at NYJ 35 (4:42 – 3rd) (No Huddle, Shotgun) G.Smith pass incomplete deep middle to J.Kerley

Raiders rush four but give the impression of a five man rush. The pre-snap shows a cover-2 man weighted towards to the left side. The right side of the field is favored on the pre-snap.

At the snap, Woodson remains in the middle of the field and neither safety is respecting Kerley’s vertical up the seam. As a result, Kerley has an open lane to throw into. Geno looks down the field momentarily as he drops and sees the coverage, and opts to take advantage of an open deep man. He throws a nearly perfect pass ahead and high of Kerley, completely out of the CB D.J. Hayden’s reach but forcing Kerley to attempt an athletic grab on it.

Continue to the next page to see more of Geno Smith’s game against the Raiders.