Without Brandon, Gang lost
The Snoopy Bowl stakes weren’t high enough for the Jets to risk playing Brandon Marshall on Saturday. The team’s best offensive weapon was inactive with a sore hip on a night when it seemed like Woodstock, Patty, Marcie and Pig-Pen were in the huddle for Todd Bowles’ team.
Marshall’s absence changed the complexion in the final dress rehearsal for the start of the regular season in a couple weeks.
We learned a whole lot of nothing about Chan Gailey’s first-team offense in the Jets’ 21-20 Snoopy Bowl loss to the Giants. Ryan Fitzpatrick (9 for 16, 76 yards, 1 TD, 1 redzone turnover) was out of sorts without his BFF. The offensive line had several breakdowns. Jets starters managed only 90 yards on six drives, including only their second touchdown on 11 drives this preseason. It was the kind of underwhelming performance that should cause concern if not for the fact that the first-team offense isn’t really the firstteam offense without Marshall, who “probably could” miss practice time this week before the meaningless preseason finale in Philly.
“I’ll just get him ready for opening day… and I think he’ll be there,” said Bowles, who admitted that Marshall would have played if this were a regular-season game.
Marshall’s importance for this win-now team was obvious on this night. Bowles & Co. are in a heap of trouble without their veteran Pro Bowl receiver.
“We got a lot to work on,” said Matt Forte, who made his Jets debut.
There is an undeniable ripple effect without Marshall that the Jets, frankly, cannot overcome given the current roster makeup. Dennis Rodman (aka Quincy Enunwa) didn’t play due to a concussion suffered last week in Washington, leaving Eric Decker on Decker Island.
Marshall offers a pain-in-the-posterior dimension that nobody on Mike Maccagnan’s roster can provide this season. Marshall’s presence gives teammates favorable matchups and opportunities. Even at 32, he’s still a problem.
Difference makers like that aren’t readily available.
Bowles admittedly wanted to see cohesion and chemistry in this game, fueling speculation over why Marshall was inactive. Maccagnan offered the odd explanation in a pregame interview with CBS that Bowles “just wanted to give (Marshall) the night off.”
Fitzpatrick, who missed the entire offseason due to his protracted contract impasse, needs reps with his full complement of weapons, especially his best one, but it was wise to rest Marshall to make sure he’s as close to 100 percent as possible for the season opener against the Bengals on Sept. 11.
Fitzpatrick played the first two preseason games without Forte. Last week, he was missing Pro Bowl center Nick Mangold. Now, no Marshall (and Enunwa).
“In the long run that may be something that helps us, just being able to get reps with everybody,” Fitzpatrick said. “Last year, I feel like I developed a pretty good rapport with Brandon. I was able to build on my rapport with Quincy. Deck and I have a good thing going… Even though Quincy hasn’t been out there, even though Brandon wasn’t out there today, I don’t think we’re going to take a step back in terms of where we are with our chemistry.”
Fitzpatrick & Co. predictably struggled without Marshall, whose production (102 receptions for 1,502 yards and 14 TD last season) is irreplaceable.
The offense managed four punts and a turnover in the first five drives before finding Fitzpatrick’s nice back-shoulder 22-yard touchdown pass to Decker on a short field