New York Jets Report Week 7.5: Idzik Makes Low-Risk Deal for Harvin

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It’s been an interesting week for the world’s most talked about 1-6 team, the New York Jets.

Rex Ryan’s team had their losing streak extended to six in week 7 by the New England Patriots before acquiring dynamic playmaker Percy Harvin in a surprise deal with the Seattle Seahawks. They lose another game but finally gain a weapon. It’s about seven weeks too late for the Jets, who are on life support as far as NFL relevancy goes. The Jets have proven themselves a more talented team than 1-6 but also a team whose discipline and self-afflicted wounds correctly showcase why the record is what it is.

Still, the season churns on and accumulates interest with the Harvin deal. The versatile former Florida Gator, Geno Smith and the head coach are all on the hot seat as their nine game auditions begins with Buffalo on Sunday.

TAKEAWAY FROM WEEK 7 LOSS TO PATRIOTS: Patriots 27, Good Guys 25
Looking at the Jets’ most recent game in a vacuum, the result was close but the game was still incredibly disappointing. Although the source of frustration stemming from this loss was different—the Jets looked like a much more competent football team in New England than they have all season.

Perhaps that’s why this game was just as frustrating if not more so than any other loss this season. The Jets dominated most of the game yet gave literal meaning to the phrase ‘finding new ways to lose.’ For the first time in NFL history a team rushed for 200+ yards, held the ball for over forty minutes of a sixty minute game and didn’t turn the ball over once—and still lost. It’s okay, you can say it: only the Jets.

There were a ton of positives to take out of the game but the fact that New York could manage all that positivity and still lose just further proves what we already knew: this is a bad football team. Surely, dominating numbers like that would have ended up with in a victory for any good football team. Or just any other team in history.

For the Jets, the shortcomings always seem to shine through and have for this entire season. One of the more debilitating deficiencies for this Jets team in 2014 is their inability to score touchdowns on drives deep into opponents’ territory. It was no different in Foxboro, where the Jets had to settle for four field goals in the first half, failing to punch one in. The lost points would come back to haunt them as their last push for the win was just too little, too late.

I will say this: for the first time this season the Jets had an identity on offense. They stuck to the game plan of establishing the run game with Chris Ivory, who provided the ground and the pound for Rex Ryan’s club. The Jets kept Tom Brady off the field, controlling the clock and tempo of the game. Geno Smith was crisp, efficient and wasn’t asked to do too much. It’s clear that the Jets’ game plan moving forward needs to be similar: keep opposing offenses on the sidelines with long, time consuming drives created by the ground game. Let the run set up the pass for Geno, not vice versa. The Jets were supposed to be a run-first, eat up the clock type of team from the onset and we finally saw that identity take hold in Week 7.

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HARVIN TO THE JETS
Gang green may be the most talked about 1-6 team in the history of the NFL and coverage of this team was perpetuated on Friday when John Idzik made a deal with his old team ,the Seattle Seahawks to acquire dynamic playmaker Percy Harvin.

On the surface, the move is befuddling on either side you look at it. Why would the Super Bowl champions who are looking to repeat trade a game breaking talent like Harvin? Why would the Jets wait until 1-6 to make a move of this magnitude to improve the team?
We learned Harvin was expendable in Seattle’s eyes due to his disruptive spats with teammates and the difficulty of making him happy within the Seahawk offense. As for Idzik waiting until 1-6 to make a move? Well nobody can truly understand why the GM waited so long because there’s no question he fell asleep at the wheel as far as upgrading the roster goes.

Now that the deal is made, it’s hard to not like it if you’re a Jet fan. Harvin is a singular talent unlike any other in the league with his variety of skills and abilities ranging from running back to wide receiver to kick returner. He’s under contract through 2018 but is owed no guaranteed money after this season and can be cut at any time without additional cost. This gives Percy some incentive to clean up his act and stay on the Jets’ good side both on and off the field if he wants to remain under contract or work out a new deal with New York.

The outlook is simple for the Jets and their fans should share the sentiment. This team was in dire need of upgrades (and still is). Harvin provides the Jet offense with a weapon it previously missed and his integration into their offense could afford them the opportunity to open up defenses and ultimately put some points on the board. If nothing else, Harvin will draw attention while teams game plan for the Jets and will give Idzik the chance to better evaluate Geno Smith at season’s end.

STATS OF THE WEEK
28, 218 and 40:54. In order, these are the number of first downs, rushing yards and time of possession in the Jets’ loss to New England. All three totals go far and beyond anything the Jets have accomplished this season and all are related. The running game worked over the Patriots’ defense and gained the Jets’ a new set of downs consistently all night. They played keep away from the always dangerous Tom Brady and dictated the pace of the game. These numbers, although unreachable in every game, need to serve as a template for what the Jets want to do on offense moving forward for the rest of the season.

PREDICTION
Percy Harvin will contribute in his Jets debut as they continue to run the ball; this time, on the stingy Bills rush defense. Whether or not the ball is in his hands, he will draw attention away from Decker, Kerley and Amaro. Geno Smith limits his mistakes as the Jets control the tempo once again and the Las Vegas odds makers get this one right. The Jets get their second win of the season and although I’m not bubbling with confidence by any means, I’m much more optimistic than I was previously without Harvin.