Jets at Falcons: In-depth analysis - Special teams
We've been breaking down the second preseason game. Earlier, we broke down the offense and defense. Now we wrap up with a look at the special teams.
Let's review the key contributions...
Kicking game - Taylor's adrift
Kicker Taylor Bertolet finds his head on the chopping block as he missed two of his three extra points. He did make a 49-yard field goal and had three touchbacks and one short kickoff that was stopped at the 22.
At punter, Matt Darr actually started and Lachlan Edwards punted in the second half, but we probably shouldn't read too much into that at this stage. For what it's worth, Edwards served as the holder on all four placekick attempts.
Darr and Edwards each landed two of their three punts inside the 20 but Edwards' numbers were significantly superior and Darr put one in the end zone from the 45.
As he did a couple of times last season, Henry Anderson contributed with a field goal block in the first quarter.
Return game - Cannon Busters
Trenton Cannon remains as the primary kickoff return option and he burst to the outside for 34 yards on the opening kickoff, behind good blocks from Trevon Wesco and Eric Tomlinson.
Cannon's only other return saw him break a tackle, but he only got back to the 25-yard line on that one.
On punt returns, Greg Dortch made nine yards on his only return of the day. There was also a punt that he allowed to bounce. Tim White had a seven-yard return on his only opportunity and JJ Jones was stopped for no gain on his only one.
Other than on the opening kickoff, the blocking wasn't great. Frankie Luvu and Josh Bellamy had missed blocks and Cannon got beaten twice by the gunner. Montrel Meander also had a penalty for an illegal block in the back.
Kick coverage - Love is the Doug
In an interesting experiment, the Jets opted not to use their usual primary gunners, Cannon and Charone Peake, perhaps in an effort to see how they would cope without either of them. Bellamy, Deontay Burnett, Deonte Thompson and Dee Delaney all got reps in that role instead, helping to hold the Falcons to 18 return yards on six punts.
Doug Middleton had a productive day in coverage as he was credited with being in on three special teams tackles. Bellamy, James Burgess, Anthony Wint and Godwin Igwebuike were all also in on tackles, while Tarell Basham and Alex Brown each drew penalties.
Meander, Basham and Daniel Brown also had missed tackles and Igwebuike was flagged for going out of bounds illegally.
That's it for this week's game. If you'd like us to cover anything in more detail during the week, please let us know.