Thursday night was a glorious one for New York Jets fans, as they were treated to a quarterback performance that was arguably unlike any they have ever seen.
Aaron Rodgers played like 2021 Aaron Rodgers. The four-time MVP led the Jets up and down the field with ease, distributing the ball to numerous receivers and converting third downs at will. In a promising development, his mobility made a return, as he created plays not only in structure but also out of structure. With that part of his game back into the mix, his ceiling rises to a level that should excite the fanbase.
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That’s not photoshopped. The Jets have a QB who ranks third in EPA per play through the first three weeks of the 2024 season (per RBSDM). It is a remarkable sight for Jets fans who are into analytics and have been used to scrolling to the very bottom of the page to see their QB over the past few years.
Make no mistake: While this says a lot about Rodgers, it also shows that the offense has been extremely successful as an overall unit.
Let’s get into the film.
Aaron Rodgers/Jets Offense Film vs. Patriots
This is an RPO that Rodgers predetermines before the snap. Rodgers identifies that more likely than not, a handoff would run into the heavy box of 8 Pats defenders. He sees the DB playing soft, so he knows he can throw the bubble screen to Allen Lazard. Lazard does a great job making the first guy miss and finishing through the safety for the TD. He’s playing with a lot of juice in 2024. The chemistry with Rodgers is evident, and it’s been a big part of the offense’s success.
3rd and 6. Impressive feel in the pocket from Rodgers to break away from the pressure. You cannot emphasize enough how important it is for Rodgers to show that he is able to escape the pocket and not take a sack here. Lazard does a great job of getting in Rodgers’ vision. He makes the grab and gets 21 yards after the catch; again, Lazard is showing a lot of juice this year.
Subtle Rodgers brilliance here. He keeps his helmet pointed to the flat to ensure the safety coming down to Breece Hall vacates the area of the slant for Garrett Wilson. Good tempo in his drop to match the tempo of Garrett’s route, and good ball placement as well. Nice catch in traffic by Garrett, who was covered well by Gonzalez.
The Pats’ coverage is shaded to Wilson (which happened a lot this game), as he gets doubled with a safety. Rodgers sees it right away and gets to his second read in the progression, Tyler Conklin, who is one-on-one with a LB. Beautiful shake by Conklin on the choice route, and Rodgers hits him in stride for 22 yards on 2nd and 17. It felt like a big Conklin day was coming after a quiet start to the year, and it arrived, as Conklin led the Jets with 93 receiving yards.
Once again, Rodgers sees Wilson get bracketed post-snap. Quickly, Rodgers gets his eyes and feet from Wilson to Conklin up the seam and throws a strike for the third down conversion. The ability Rodgers has to get through his progressions at an extremely fast pace is wild to watch back on film. This is high-level QB play.
On 2nd and 9, Rodgers feels the pressure from his blindside and wisely gets out of the pocket. It should be noted that it looks like he gets through his reads here for the most part and then feels his internal clock going off, prompting him to get out of the pocket. You also love to see Wilson recognizing Rodgers’ scramble and rerouting himself to get in his vision for a possible completion.
Interesting call by Nathaniel Hackett here to get into a mesh concept on 3rd and 1 in 13 personnel (1 RB, 3 TE, 1 WR). Jeremy Ruckert is probably the last pure progression on this play, but the Pats get pressure, forcing Rodgers out of the pocket. He throws a laser on the run to Ruckert on his back shoulder, where only he can catch it, and gets a completion. When nothing is there or you get out of the pocket in the NFL, you need to be able to improvise. Rodgers did that all night.
On 3rd and 3, the Pats show man pre-snap but get to a 3 over 2 under fire zone coverage to the trips side. Rodgers quickly gets through his progressions and doesn’t see anything he likes, so he escapes the pocket. You can’t say enough about how good this is from Conklin to see Rodgers escaping and to run with him. Chemistry is gained on scramble drills like this, and it’s great to see it early in the season. Another third down conversion.
It’s an RPO look, with the entire line run-blocking. Wilson runs an out route from the slot against man coverage. Rodgers double clutches, which could mean doom for a lot of QBs throwing late on an out route. Gonzalez thinks he’s able to undercut this for a PBU/INT, but Rodgers shows that incredible arm talent and ball placement, throwing it to Wilson’s outside shoulder where only he can get it for the TD. As good of a throw as you’ll see all year in the NFL.
Once again, the Pats do a great job changing things post-snap, as pre-snap, they showed a man coverage look, and post-snap, they have a combo coverage look (man on one side, zone on the other). Rodgers does scramble out of a relatively clean pocket, but he again does a great job of keeping his eyes downfield. Rodgers hits Conklin for another 3rd down conversion. Another elite job by Conklin of getting in Rodgers’ vision on the scramble drill and sitting in an advantageous spot. Not a bad throw from Rodgers across his body while getting hit, either.
Another 3rd down conversion, this one to Mike Williams. One-on-one coverage pre-snap and post-snap is too easy for Rodgers. Helluva catch by Williams here, too. He is the contested-catch king and has shown it multiple times now for the Jets. Fans should be excited for what’s to come with him in this offense as he gets more healthy.
