[follow_me]
1st and 10 at NYJ 35 (14:02) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass incomplete short left to C.Johnson.
Cover-1 Man
Bad Mechanics, Bad Touch
Chris Johnson should catch this. There’s no reason for him not to. That doesn’t mean that Smith couldn’t have thrown him a better and easier pass to catch. One of the biggest themes in Smith’s lacking body of work is his touch. Here’s a pretty good example, Smith’s throwing to a wide open target with absolutely no one around him and instead of giving him an easy pass that will fall into his hands while leading him up the field, he forces Johnson to make the catch at his waist. This throw should have just been a light loft up in the air ahead of Johnson, giving him a running start up the field and letting the ball fall softly into his hands.
3rd and 4 at NYJ 41 (13:14) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass short middle to Z.Sudfeld to CHI 44 for 15 yards (J.Bostic).
Cover-2 Zone
Smith could throw this ball a bit more ahead, but it’s ticky tacky to fault this one. The play design beats the coverage on this one.
2nd and 6 at CHI 40 (12:08) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass short right to G.Salas pushed ob at CHI 35 for 5 yards (T.Jennings).
Anticipation
Cover-3 Zone
The ball leaves Smith’s hand just as Salas is turning around and it’s placed very well in a spot that allows him to catch it comfortably. Unfortunately, the placement is a bit too low and forces Salas to come back down far enough that it’s short of a first down. Good on Salas for the adjustment to the ball.
3rd and 6 at CHI 40 (11:42) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass short right to J.Amaro pushed ob at CHI 32 for 8 yards (I.Frey) [J.Allen].
Hanging In The Pocket, Sloppy Movement
Cover-2 Zone
As the pressure reaches Smith from RG Colon he seems obviously frazzled as he’s taking his steps to the left, they’re kind of jumpy and it doesn’t seem like he’s in control at all. He keeps his eyes downfield at least and doesn’t opt to just run out, so it’s promising that his mentality is to keep it within the system and not bail yet.
1st and 10 at CHI 32 (11:14) G.Smith pass short middle to J.Kerley to CHI 25 for 7 yards (D.Williams).
Cover-3 Zone
Jets ran a similar play earlier. Again, Smith puts on a good play action and it forces D.J. Williams to take a step towards Johnson’s direction before having to quickly back into his zone, trying to make up for wasted steps by turning his back to the QB. Kerley’s able to get right underneath him and Smith hits him right on. Smith should have thrown this ball to the other shoulder, but it’s another ticky-tacky thing.
3rd and 2 at CHI 24 (10:02) G.Smith pass incomplete short left to J.Cumberland (J.Bostic) [J.Allen].
Bad Decision
This throw just doesn’t make sense again. It’s a designed rollout that Smith cuts short. Whether it’s because he thinks he can’t out run Allen or because he thinks he sees a throwing lane, it doesn’t matter. If he thinks he can’t outrun Allen then he should stop and throw it away. If he thinks he sees a throwing lane he needs to get to an optometrist. The likely scenario is that Geno is startled by the pressure and throws the ball to the spot where the ball is ‘supposed’ to go without looking. This is a horrible thing to do. This isn’t something Geno does incredibly often, he’s a lot better dealing with pressure than he is in this situation so this seems like an outlier in his list of issues, in that regard- but it’s also a clue into a bigger issue.
1st and 10 at NYJ 20 (3:10) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass incomplete short middle to D.Nelson (J.Bostic) [J.Allen].
Bad Decision
Cover-3 Zone
The line will completely fail to create a pocket here. That’s going to be the catalyst for this throw but the act of making this throw is it’s own set of problems. It seems like Smith just looks and throws without reading, knowing that the way the play is designed that route should be open if the LB Jon Bostic follows Jeremy Kerley on his post route. Instead, Bostic only takes a few steps before settling back into his zone and Smith just makes this throw without confirming the field. It’s a lot better to just take the sack than to throw blindly. It’s made even worse since this is on first down.
3rd and 3 at NYJ 27 (2:42) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass incomplete short left to J.Kerley.
Bad Decision
Cover-2 Zone
I don’t really see how this throw was going to be a completion under any circumstance. Even if this ball is thrown on target instead of wide, #31 Isaiah Frey is in position to undercut and take this int. This is just bad decision making.
4th and 3 at NYJ 27 (2:39) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass short right to J.Amaro to NYJ 30 for 3 yards (J.Bostic). Chicago challenged the first down ruling, and the play was Upheld. The ruling on the field stands. (Timeout #1.)
Cover-3 Zone
No issue on Smith’s part here, he makes the read off of Amaro’s route and gives him an outside throw. Amaro should have taken this route deeper into the middle and deeper down the field by at least a yard so there would have been no question of whether he got the first down and it would have forced Bostic to turn the other direction. Amaro’s just running his route too much like it’s drawn up and not playing the field.
2nd and 4 at NYJ 36 (2:00) (Shotgun) G.Smith sacked ob at NYJ 34 for -2 yards (W.Young).
Good Decision
Cover-2 Man
This is a good decision by Smith. It’s 4th down territory, the field is covered and you’re on the move. You just take the down and go to the next play. Only thing is that Smith should realize that he’s not past the line of scrimmage and throw it away.
3rd and 11 at NYJ 29 (1:52) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass deep left to G.Salas pushed ob at CHI 20 for 51 yards (B.Vereen). CHI-D.McCray was injured during the play.
Bad Placement, Moving the Defense
Cover-2 Zone
This is a great adjustment by Salas but it’s a poor throw by Smith. He throws this well behind Salas and a little too low but manages to haul it in. What he does do well here though, is move that Linebacker under Salas route out of the way by giving that little pump fake towards Cumberland in the flat.
1st and 10 at CHI 20 (1:41) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass short left to B.Powell to CHI 19 for 1 yard (K.Fuller).
Bad Placement
Cover-3 Zone
Very simple play here, Smith’s going to read the curl on the left side. If it’s open he takes it, if not he goes underneath to Powell. He makes the right read but then throws it behind Powell.
2nd and 9 at CHI 19 (1:34) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass incomplete short right. PENALTY on CHI-J.Bostic, Defensive Holding, 5 yards, enforced at CHI 19 - No Play.
Good Decision
Cover-4 Zone
Again, Smith knows what’s going on, he knows the situation he’s in and he knows he doesn’t have any reason to force this throw anywhere. He tries to extend the play but realizes that it’s over and moves on.
1st and 10 at CHI 14 (1:26) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass incomplete short left to G.Salas (K.Fuller).
Extending Plays, Bad Decision
Cover-4 Zone
Another situation where you can’t figure out what Smith thinks he sees here. There’s no throwing lane, there’s no opening. Smith goes back to feeling that because he extended the play, he has to make something happen. Just a throw that has nowhere to go.
2nd and 10 at CHI 14 (1:17) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass short middle to B.Powell to CHI 9 for 5 yards (D.Williams, J.Allen) [L.Houston].
Cover-2 Zone
There hasn’t been enough checking down in the previous plays. It’s nothing special, but it’s a good conservative play to just get further down the field.
3rd and 5 at CHI 9 (1:08) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass incomplete short left to D.Nelson.
Cover-1 Man
This throw looks pre-determined to me and given that, it’s placed decently enough that only Nelson has a chance on it, even if that chance is low. It’s a good play from the CB.
4th and 5 at CHI 9 (1:04) (Shotgun) G.Smith pass incomplete short left to J.Kerley.
Bad Placement, Bad Decision, Late Throw
Cover-1 Man
Geno takes an extra step forward before throwing this off his back foot. That’s why this throw has to be thrown so closed to the boundary, because it’s late. To end the game on this is really unfortunate.
