Bryce Petty, Preseason Week 1, and the Detroit Lions

1st and 10 at NYJ 20 (14:06) B.Petty pass short left to D.Posey to NYJ 22 for 2 yards (N.Lawson).

Jets are in a 1×1 I formation set. Lions are showing a Cover-2 zone at first, but the safety comes up to the line to blitz, giving a zone-blitz read (Cover-3 with some kind of combination of intermediate coverages).

Nothing really happens here. Petty makes the right read on the pre-snap seeing the obvious blitz and releases to Devier Posey’s screen. There’s nothing either of them can do to get more out of this.

2nd and 8 at NYJ 22 (13:28) (Shotgun) B.Petty pass short middle to J.Howsare to NYJ 28 for 6 yards (T.Lewis).

Jets are n a 2×3 empty shotgun set with the Lions showing what might be a Cover-3 zone on the presnap.

This is a play that begs for the all-22. Unfortunately, that’s not available for preseason games. Petty takes a 3 step drop that might a little too slow for this play but again, it’s hard to tell. He’s forced to step up in the pocket as the RT starts to lose control of his man, loads up his arm, and then puts it back down. I actually really like seeing that, it shows some thought. Then he throws it down to his checkdown in the middle of the field, but it looks like it’s thrown behind him which makes him have to do a spinning-jumping catch. Petty bringing the ball back down might have hurt his accuracy.

1st and 10 at NYJ 20 (7:04) B.Petty pass short left to D.Posey ran ob at NYJ 26 for 6 yards.

Jets are in a 1×2 I formation set. Lions are showing cover-2 originally but the safety comes down again turning it into a potential cover-3. It looks like this actually turns into man coverage though.

I don’t know if it’s intended for Petty to drop back as normal and then fake a playaction but that’s what happens here. Petty’s feet look very uncoordinated as he reaches the apex of his drop, and he’s forced to step up due to pressure from both tackles. The LT seems to bump his man and bring his head down for just a moment taking his eyes off the defender, who’s then able to get around him freely since the LT is no longer mirroring him. Meanwhile, the RT just loses control again. Petty makes a very good throw here, hitting DeVier Posey right on the sideline underneath his man, despite being off-platform.

2nd and 4 at NYJ 26 (6:33) B.Petty pass incomplete short right to J.Kerley [K.Van Noy].

Jets are in a 1×2 set and send Jeremy Kerley in motion to line up on the wing. Lions are showing that Cover-2 zone/man hybrid with corner right up on his man at the bottom and the corner at the top sitting way back in zone. After the snap, both of them go into man.

This is a simple bootleg playaction, Petty’s going to rollout to the right side where Jeremy Kerley comes back underneath the offensive line running into the flat while the tight end lined up on the left side runs a dig route behind him, and the outside WR runs a deep vertical mostly just to clear space. If he wasn’t pressured, he would just have to decide which of the two horizontal routes were more open. The former nickel CB enters a blitzing position after Kerley leaves his coverage and will get in Petty’s face right as he’s about to throw. Petty’s able to get the throw off before he’s hit and it really should have been completed. A man in your face is not exactly an excuse to spike the ball when throwing to an open receiver in the flat. That’s Petty showing a bit of rookie panic.

3rd and 4 at NYJ 26 (6:29) (Shotgun) B.Petty pass incomplete deep left to D.Posey [Q.Diggs].

Jets are in a 2×3 empty shotgun set. Lions respond with a cover-2 zone look presnap with the outside corner at the bottom showing potential man and 6 rushers. This will end up being a zone blitz.

It looks like Bryce Petty has this play figured out in his head based on what we can see. He takes a one step dropback already looking directly at his target, not a great thing to see- but after making the throw we can see that Petty has an open man exactly in the spot he’s throwing to, although he’s unable to fit the ball in. The shortened 1-step drop doesn’t sync up with the target he’s aiming for but after Petty does finish his one step drop you can see him drifting south away from the corner blitz to give himself just a bit more time. This play looks like Petty getting overexcited and maybe feeling a bit rushed to throw. He likely should have taken the checkdown that’s built into this play on the right outside receiver.

2nd and 9 at NYJ 5 (1:15) B.Petty pass short left to W.Powell to NYJ 13 for 8 yards (N.Lawson).

Jets are in a 3×1 I formation set. Lions start in cover-2 zone with the safety moving up in position to blitz off the edge, giving this a cover-3 look. It’ll end up being neither, and turning into man with the Lions sending all 5 potential rushers at the offense.

For the first time, Bryce Petty is being asked to drop back under center. Eyes are downfield as he’s dropping for a moment as he checks the blitz and then immediately turns to the outside looking for Powell, assuming at this point he’s figured out that he’s seeing man. As soon as he’s got his feet set after his 5 steps, the throw is out and it looks like it’s on time. You have to do some imagining here, but it looks like Powell is just coming out of his break as he re-enters the frame meaning Petty would have been throwing just as he entered the break. If so, it’s a really good thing to see young QBs throw with anticipation, especially when they can get their feet synced up to the play as well.

3rd and 1 at NYJ 13 (:32) (Shotgun) B.Petty pass short right to W.Powell to NYJ 18 for 5 yards (I.Johnson).

Jets are in a 1×3 shotgun set with a wide bunch. Lions show another cover-2 zone with the bottom CB showing man and 5 potential rushers. They rush 6.

Nothing to see regarding the read, Petty takes the snap, immediately turns and throws it right to Walt Powell on the screen. The ball is placed in a good spot, throw is quick, nothing wrong here.

1st and 10 at NYJ 18 (15:00) B.Petty pass short right to W.Saxton to NYJ 22 for 4 yards (T.Mays).

Jets are in a 2×1 i formation set. Lions start off showing a cover-2 man, but the nickel takes a pass rushing position, moving the safety over the slot receiver and making this a cover-1 man.

Bryce Petty’s on another play-action rollout with a levels read on the TE and slot receiver. The play-action itself is kind of weak, not a full extension, pulls the ball out way too early. Once he’s on the move, he has Wes Saxton open in the flat to checkdown and the throw is horribly under-thrown. It’s now the second time on one of these on the move throws that he’s way under-throwing the target. Wes Saxton makes a great, smooth adjustment and even gets back up afterwards to pick up three more yards than this play should have gotten. That’s a man who wants a roster spot.

1st and 10 at NYJ 30 (12:59) B.Petty pass short right to A.Hill pushed ob at NYJ 36 for 6 yards (I.Johnson).

Jets are in a 1×1 I formation set. Lions are showing another cover-2 zone but the motion of the TE alerts that this might actually be man coverage. The post-snap makes it look like it’s man.

Playaction rollout again. Second time in a row that Petty doesn’t extend his arm fully and pulls back too early. He keeps his head down as he’s pretending to give it away though, which helps make it seem a little more like he’s taking himself out of the play. It’s another levels read, with Austin Hill entering the flat from the wing TE position and the actual TE running a dig. There’s also a slant from the far outside WR just in case.

Petty’s got the right read at first, looking down at Austin Hill but he pulls the ball back down when he sees the safety crashing down to take Hill out of the game. Second time we’ve seen him pull the ball down, but it’s the first time we can see why. It’s the right decision, especially when he’s not under any pressure to get the ball out. He looks over to the left side of the field and starts rolling back towards there, although there probably aren’t any routes over there. From the way he quickly turns back to the right side, this looks like a conscious decision he made to try and pull coverage off of the play-side. When he actually does throw the ball to Hill, it’s thrown to his inside shoulder instead of the outside which is giving the DB an opportunity to make a play on it, but luckily for Petty it still gets there. Overall, it’s an impressive display of quick thinking.

2nd and 4 at NYJ 36 (12:30) (Shotgun) B.Petty pass incomplete short middle to W.Saxton.

Jets are in a 3×1 shotgun set. Lions are showing cover-1 man in the pre-snap as the safety comes down to line up over the inside slot receiver. 5 potential rushers sit on the line of scrimmage. All 5 will come.

With a cover-1 blitz as the pre-snap read and the safety so far off inside receiver Wes Saxton running a slant this is another good pre-snap read by Petty. You can see him keeping his eyes forward as he receives the snap to make sure that the LB actually does blitz before he turns his attention to Saxton’s slant. Petty also enters his throwing motion before Saxton turns his head, so he’s trying to throw with anticipation here. However, the throw is just way, way too high. That’s likely a mechanical issue, you can see neither of Petty’s feet are again entering that side-ways stance and that his front foot isn’t even pointing at the target.

3rd and 4 at NYJ 36 (12:27) (Shotgun) B.Petty pass incomplete short right to A.Hill (Q.Diggs).

Jets are in a 3×2 empty shotgun set. Lions are showing a cover-1 man look.

I can’t tell if this is the right throw or not, but there is a small window for Petty to get this into. For the decision he made, he put the ball almost exactly where it should be, just ahead of the receiver but not far enough that the LB can make a play on it. Austin Hill can’t hold on through all the contact around him but that’s not Petty’s issue. From what can be seen, the only other potential throw would have been the slant behind Hill, which honestly looks like it would have been the better decision.

2nd and 8 at NYJ 22 (7:50) (Shotgun) B.Petty pass short left to D.Richardson to NYJ 26 for 4 yards (C.Owens).

Jets are in a 2×3 empty shotgun set. Lions are showing a cover-2 zone on the presnap but it looks like it turns into a zone blitz.

Petty’s going to take a quick two step drop, which seems like a mistake, it should either be one or three. However, he still manages to throw this ball nearly on time, entering his throwing motion just as Daryl Richardson comes out of his break. Ball is placed well too, not forcing Richardson to make any kind of extension that would open him to being hit. So far, Petty’s done a good job with saving his teammates from hard hits. One thing to note is that Petty keeps his eyes down the middle of the field all the way until the moment he enters his throwing motion, which helps keep the zone CB above Richardson from coming down earlier. Again though, it might’ve been better to take the built-in checkdown here on the right outside receiver.

3rd and 4 at NYJ 26 (7:19) (No Huddle, Shotgun) B.Petty pass incomplete short middle to A.Hill (K.Van Noy).

Jets start in a 2×3 but change to a 1×3 shotgun set. Lions are disguising their coverage with one outside CB showing zone and the other man. It’s going to be man.

After moving Daryl Richardson into the backfield, the LB takes his position right over him giving a hint that he’s manned up with Richardson. Petty takes a one step dropback that doesn’t seem to be timed up to anything. It feels like Petty hops at the end of his dropback instead of taking the extra steps he’s supposed to. He’s quick to start staring at his intended receiver, and that might be why Kyle Van Noy has no problem sitting in his throwing lane the entire time and deflecting this ball.

Next up, Week 2. Hopefully the New York Jets loosen the chain off Bryce Petty a little bit so we can see how he does when he’s actually asked to move through a read or look down the field.