In 2015, the Washington Redskins played the New York Jets in Week 6 and it wasn’t a good outing for Washington’s defense. The Jets put 221 yards on the ground (146 of which came from Pro Bowl RB Chris Ivory) and 252 yards in the air (111 of those thanks to veteran WR Brandon Marshall) and the Redskins lost 30-24.
For tonight’s second preseason game of 2016 against the Jets, things should go better for the Burgundy and gold. They are a different team with different attributes that should make a difference.
Washington will likely play its starters for a quarter or perhaps a bit more. That means that newly signed All-Pro CB Josh Norman could have an opportunity to matchup with Marshall and fellow Jets wide out Eric Decker. This bodes well for the Redskins regardless of who Marshall goes up against. Norman and rising star CB Bashaud Breeland are both excellent DBs and the two Jets receivers will have to fight for every reception.
Fortunately for the Redskins, Ivory has left the Jets for the Jacksonville Jaguars. In his place New York signed veteran Matt Forte but it is unlikely Forte will play due to a hamstring injury.
This means the defensive line, which had such a bad time with the run last season, should have better luck against Antone Smith, Bilal Powell (whose last notable year was 2013 when he rushed for 697 yards) and/or former Redskins training camp prince, Lache Seastrunk; who signed with the Jets this offseason. It will be interesting to see how much time defensive lineman Stephen Paea plays and how he does. He was injured a lot of last season but his salary dictates that he begin to show up with some consistency.
While the Jets defense is really good, with defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson wanting to build on his 2015 12-sack season and DB Darrelle Revis’ building on his five INTs and nine passes defended; Redskins QB Kirk Cousins will have lot of air support in wide outs DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garçon, Jamison Crowder and tight end Jordan Reed. As well, the QB has certainly learned a lot in the time between that first Week 6 contest and tonight’s game. Watch for him to continue with his quick pass releases and good decision-making in his progressions. The last time the two teams played, Revis just had the one interception.
The running backs will have an opportunity to show fans why GM Scot McCloughan and Head Coach Jay Gruden have such faith in them. Starter Matt Jones has been working with that sensor football to help him cure the fumbling issue he had last year and Gruden feels he is making that second year leap in understanding how to study and be a pro. The Jets have a really good run defense so this will be an excellent test.
If Jones, Chris Thompson and perhaps rookie UCFA Robert Kelley — who has moved up on the depth chart due to his good showing at training camp and against the Atlanta Falcons — can get some good looks; and the offensive line and tight ends block well, this Jets game might look a lot different from the 34-20 regular season loss from 2015. The Jets likely aren’t expecting much from this RB squad and have limited film on the rookie.
“Yeah, it could happen,” Gruden said this week about Kelley going in with the starters against the Jets. “Rob did a good job. ‘Fat Rob,’ that what is on his backpack. He did a nice job… That’s his nickname in college if you didn’t know that – ‘Fat Rob’ Kelley. But anyway, he was impressive. He’s been impressive since we got him. He’s got great vision. He’s built low to the ground and he really runs hard and that showed up against Atlanta and I’d like to see him in an expanded role, see how he does. Keith Marshall didn’t get a lot of good, real looks in the game. He had a screen pass, we wish we would have seen a little bit more, but I’d like to get him more looks. He’s shown worthy of getting more looks. Some of the explosive plays that he’s had out here in camp, we’ve got to get him the ball too. We’ve got some interesting battles there and I like to see these guys get the ball with some looks.”