Falcons @ Jets
Final Score: Jets 24, Falcons 16
Writer: Ryan Radel (@RadelFF on Twitter)
In this Monday night matchup, the Falcons, led by their new quarterback Marcus Mariota, headed to MetLife to take on the Jets. Both teams are in a different state of rebuild and have a lot of young talent that should be very fun to watch for the foreseeable future. The Jets are still reeling after the near-season ending injury quarterback Zach Wilson suffered in the first week of the preseason. While he isn’t lost for the season, they definitely need to figure out a plan of action for his absence. The weather was downright awful, as rain poured down all game, and surely impacted the game.
Atlanta Falcons
| Preseason Week 1 |
Quarterback
Desmond Ridder: 10/13, 143 yards
Marcus Mariota: 6/10, 132 yards, TD
Feleipe Franks: 2/6, 8 yards, 2 Sacks, Fumble (Lost) | 5 carries, 45 yards
Marcus Mariota has a the starting job basically secured at this point. Mariota scored on two of his three drives and looked comfortable running the offense. He connected with Kyle Pitts on a 52-yard deep ball on the opening drive which is something we hope to see more of come the regular season. Feleipe Franks struggled mightily, taking two sacks, one of which resulted in a fumble that the defense recovered and took to the house. In general, he has a long way to go. Desmond Ridder is making a case to supplant Mariota sooner rather than later, as he overcame penalty after penalty from his teammates to lead two scoring drives. The future looked bright for Ridder during his time on the field:
Ridder -> Bernhardt. Easy money.#ATLvsNYJ || #DirtyBirds pic.twitter.com/NrCGYTZQtc
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) August 23, 2022
Running Back
Caleb Huntley: 11 carries, 34 yards
Tyler Allgeier: 6 carries, 17 yards | 4 targets, 3 receptions, 12 yards
Qadree Ollison: 4 carries, 14 yards | 2 targets, 1 reception, -3 yards
Damien Williams: 3 carries, 5 yards
There were not many notable plays out of this group. Damien Williams was the first running back on the field but did not end up doing much of anything. Caleb Huntley and Qadree Ollison were more of the same, with neither of the three eclipsing 3.5 yards per carry. Six targets were sent to running backs which shouldn’t be surprising considering who the starting “running back” is in Atlanta. Four of those targets went to Tyler Allgeier, who was involved as early as the first series on the goal line. Allgeier was provided ten designed touches on the day. It looked like the coaches wanted a closer look at what the BYU product has to offer.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Jared Bernhardt: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 67 yards
Anthony Firkser: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 56 yards
Kyle Pitts: 1 targets, 1 reception, 52 yards
Damiere Byrd: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 32 yards
MyCole Pruittt: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 29 yards
Olamide Zaccheaus: 2 targets, 1 receptions, 13 yards, TD
KhaDarel Hodge: 1 target, 1 reception, 13 yards
Bryan Edwards: 1 target, 1 reception, 12 yards
Geronimo Allison: 1 target
Cameron Batson: 1 target, 1 reception
Parker Hesse: 1 target
Frank Darby: 2 targets
Stanley Berryhill: 2 targets
Kyle Pitts roasted coverage on his only target and caught a 52-yard bomb from Mariota on the first series for Atlanta. A lot of guys got looks today as the Falcons receiver room has to be one of the weaker groups in the NFL, especially with rookie wideout Drake London already sidelined with a knee injury. Outside of Jared Bernhardt, who brought in all three of his targets for 67 yards, no one really stood out as the game progressed. Anthony Firkser had a big gainer that set up an eventual score for Olamide Zaccheaus on a rope from Mariota from 13 yards out:
That's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, we like it.#ATLvsNYJ || #DirtyBirds pic.twitter.com/GoyZWPUJmS
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) August 23, 2022
New York Jets
| Preseason Week 1 |
Quarterback
Chris Streveler: 8/11, 119 yards, TD, INT | 6 carries, 33 yards
Mike White: 12/17, 90 yards | 1 carry, 1 yard
Chris Streveler made the most of his opportunity on the field, making plays on the ground and through the air while leading the Jets to a touchdown on his first two drives. Streveler was actually the leading rusher for the Jets for the game. He connected with Lawrence Cager for a 34-yard touchdown on his first drive, then marched downfield to set up a La’Mical Perine touchdown for the second drive. He’s certainly making a case for the roster. Mike White started as the Jets rested Joe Flacco, the presumptive starter until Zach Wilson can heal. While White had over a 70% completion rate, four of his five drives resulted in a punt and he looked uncomfortable in the pocket. His only redeeming play came on the scoring drive where he put the Jets in field goal range:
.@MikeWhiteQB & @Zel5Zelly setting us up for three before the half.#ATLvsNYJ on ESPN pic.twitter.com/gknFJdCo9f
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 23, 2022
Running Back
La’Mical Perine: 2 carries, 10 yards, TD
Zonovan Knight: 5 carries, 9 yards
Tevin Coleman: 2 carries, 8 yards
Ty Johnson: 3 carries, 8 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 3 yards
Breece Hall: 4 carries, 1 yard
First thing of note: Michael Carter rested while Breece Hall was the starter, which is typically indicative of the current state of the depth chart. Hall received four carries and did pretty much nothing with them before sitting down the rest of the game. Since quarterback Chris Streveler did most of the rushing for the Jets, there was not a lot of splash plays from this group. La’Mical Perine showed great burst as he bounced this seven yard run outside for a touchdown to take the lead in the fourth quarter:
Babe, wake up the Jets are winning.@LP_deucedeuce finds paydirt! #ATLvsNYJ on ESPN pic.twitter.com/cojmJ5fgV1
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 23, 2022
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Lawrence Cager: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 65 yards, TD
Tarik Black: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 47 yards
Denzel Mims: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 43 yards
Kenny Yeboah: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 16 yards
Garrett Wilson: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 15 yards
Irvin Charles: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 9 yards
Trevon Wesco: 1 target, 1 reception, 7 yards
Jeremy Ruckert: 1 target, 1 reception, 4 yards
Jeff Smith: 1 target
Calvin Jackson: 2 targets
With how ineffective Mike White was under center, he didn’t provide a lot of opportunity for his pass-catchers to succeed. In general, the receivers on the field with Mike White seemed to have less opportunity than those on the field with Chris Streveler. Stud rookie wideout Garrett Wilson brought in all three of his targets for 15 yards. While the yardage total isn’t great, you could see why he was drafted as high as he was. Denzel Mims brought in three of his four targets, one of which was a 27 yard gain that put the Jets into field goal range. Lawrence Cager took this short crossing route 34 yards to the house while securing three of his four targets for 65 yards:
34 YARDS TO THE CRIB @lawrencecager3 💨#ATLvsNYJ on ESPN pic.twitter.com/Bvp8VFqUuh
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 23, 2022
I hope you are as excited for fantasy football as Robert Saleh is after this play:
gotta love Coach 😂#ATLvsNYJ on ESPN pic.twitter.com/Z9Wv3f2zbi
— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 23, 2022
Thanks for reading! We are almost to the regular season. Good luck in your drafts and don’t tilt!