Monthly Archives: November 2004
Sounds like Mr. Pennington is on the mend,
and will back up Quincy Carter this week against the Texans. Carter has
played well so far as a starter, going 2-1 in that time. At this point,
Herm wants to protect Pennington, so that he doesn't re-injure himself
by taking a hit, but at the same time, wants him to be ready if
anything happens to Carter or possibly if the game starts to go the
Texans way. Hopefully there won't be a need to play him and the Jets
will win this “must-win” game. 
Let the Signings Begin
Shaun Ellis is now earning Grant Wistrom money. The Jets Defensive
End signed a deal that will average over $6 million per year, bringing
doubt to my mind about the Jets ability to also sign John Abraham. The
other key players that the Jets have to sign are right tackle Kareem
McKenzie, running backLaMont Jordan, and defensive tackle Jason
Ferguson.
Back from Florida! After days of spending quality time with family,
I truly had no phone or Internet access and I was unable to post.
Yesterday as I was hung out in the kindgom of the rat and
sat in airports, my mind wandered and I thought about the Jets game in
Arizona and was a little nervous about the outcome. After some fun
weather delays, I made it to Logan and home by about 1:30AM. When I
woke up this morning, I checked the scores and was apprehensively
looking for the score… but cringing as I anticipated the result. This
was a must-win game and could almost already hear the season grinding
to a halt if this game didn't go the Jets way. I breathed a collective
sigh of relief when I saw the final score…
13-3, Jets
But what happened? I get the gyst of it from Mark Cannizarro's article this
morning, but don't know the dynamics of the game… were you biting
your nails the whole time? Was it as close as the score indicates?
I would be interested to see your reactions and thoughts about the game… just use the comments feature to share your thoughts.
In Other News:
I have added another writer to NY Jets Blog. Bent, a
frequent commenter and rabid Jets fan will be posting on the blog when
he likes, please take the opportunity to welcome him to the site. I
have yet to add the “by line” feature, but will figure that out
tonight. Ironic note: Bent is a Brit! I welcome his views and take on
the Jets and hope everyone will forgive him when he uses extra letters
like “u” in “colour” and “favourite” and I hope he will forgive us for
stealing the name of a sport and applying it to another sport which
doesn't involve the foot touching the ball for more than 20 seconds in
an entire game. Uhhh I think I am rambling… in any respect, I look
forward to his posts.
Looks like USA Today has run the feature about
my blog! If this is your first time to the site, welcome and thank you
for visiting. Please look around and feel free to post comments by
hitting the link at the bottom of any article where it says “comments
(X).”
I hope you find the site interesting and I will do my best to
continue to post articles and discuss the dyspeptic relationship that
is Jets fandom.
Addendum
As I will be traveling for the holidays, please remove
your shoelaces, belts and secure any sharp objects. I can't promise
consistent posting. I will do my best to post, but can't promise much
from the dank and primitive shores of Florida. Happy Gobble Gobble.
In
terms of receiving, this is slowly turning into Justin McCareins team.
With the most targets, clutch catches and some important touchdowns, he
is emerging as the Jets' best option.
Having seen some of his work last year, I was excited to hear about
the trade, but to the general public, it is becoming more clear now why
the Jets traded for him from the Titans. Watch for his continued
emergence this season, and certainly into next. Need proof of the new
king of catches? See the stats below.
What I haven't shown you in the stats is when
those targets came. From looking at targets in the Browns game, it is
clear that McCareins either tied or led in targets in the 4th Quarter,
in the red zone, and on 3rd of 4th down. In the “Year of the Tight End”
watch for the Jets to lean a little more on Chris Baker in the coming
weeks as well, or possible even start to line up the Sowell Train at
End.
WEEK 11 TARGETS:
————–
…………….Targ..Rec…YD..TD
Becht, A………..2….0…..0…0
Chrebet, W………2….0…..0…0
Jordan, L……….1….1….11…0
McCareins, J…….7….6….71…1
Moss, S…………5….2….25…0
Sowell, J……….3….2…..9…0
TOTAL 2004 TARGETS
————–
…………….Targ..Rec…YD..TD
Baker,.C……….24…15…149…3
Becht,.A……….20…10….80…0
Carter,.J……….7….4…124…1
Chrebet,.W……..34…20…262…1
Cotchery,.J……..3….2….12…0
Jordan,.L……….7….7….75…0
Martin,.C………33…27…124…1
McCareins,.J……52…32…446…3
Moss,.S………..41…25…547…1
Sowell,.J………37…29…188…1
A few notes…
Chad is on the mend, but a long way from bringing himself and the team back to full health.
- See Herm's answers to questions on some of the decisions that probably had you (like me) either totally disconsolate or screaming at my TV set on Sunday.
- With the Jets playing a number of Cover-2 teams, the Tight
End is a crucial position to take pressure of the WRs. Unfortunately,
the Jets have one Tight End known for his hands of stone and the other
with an actual excuse, a broken hand. This will be a problem for the Jets moving since the third stringer, Dearth, is not much consolation.
It was a win, and that's about all you can say about it, apparently most of the New York Media agrees, starting with Ken Berger.
In short, the Jets won because the of Phil Dawson's two botched (he
hadn't missed since last October) kicks, LaMont Jordan stepping up when
Martin went for an MRI and was limited the rest of the way, and
Carter's clutch throws.
In short, the Jets almost lost because of a blocked Doug Brien kick in the first drive, the offensive line looking terrible in the first half, and Carter's ineffectiveness against the blitz.
It might not have looked pretty,
but in their typical fashion, as Herm always talks about, they were
hanging in there, waiting for their chance, which finally came late in
the fourth quarter when Justin McCareins took an 11 yard pass to the
endzone. Again, this might have been a paper-bag game, but the Jets
won, a game they desperately needed if they want to keep their playoff
hopes alive, since they face the toughest schedule of all teams in their final four weeks.
For lack of a better word Ken Berger's article detailing NFL Films coverage of
what happened on the sidelines during last weeks loss to the Ravens is
stunning, and not in a good way, but in a “I am already feeling sick
and now I just drank a quart of milk that has been expired for two
weeks” kind of way… utterly unbelievable. Here are a few quotes to
make your hair gray, stand on end, curl THEN fall out of your head.
Just
before the Jordan play was run with a 14-0 Jets lead, Edwards said to
running backs coach Bishop Harris: “LaMont knows to throw it out of
bounds here, right? If it's covered? Because we're in field-goal
range.” Harris nodded.After Quincy Carter ran 9 yards for a first down on third-and-6 from the Ravens' 13, Mawae is shown shouting, “Huddle up!”
As the game clock wound from 50 seconds to 18 before the next snap, guard Pete Kendall said, “Why aren't we taking a timeout?”
On the sideline, injured quarterback Chad Pennington said to
Edwards, “Herm, call timeout after this play.” “Yeah, I will,” Edwards
replied, and the Jets did, with 14 seconds left after Jordan
gained a yard.
First off, Mr. Pennington is out likely 4 weeks, at least. I knew it… I had said when he talked about his injury it didn't sound good…
Found an interesting page full of stats on NFL for every game. Here is the one for the Jets-Browns game.
From taking a sweep at the numbers, Cleveland has played well against
both the run and the pass but has had problems with turnovers. The
defenses will be the difference, with the Jets holding their opponents
to 53 fewer points in the past 5 games.
From looking at the Browns win/loss record, they have only won when they have held their opponents to 17 points or lower, while the Jets are averaging 22.4 PPG. Watch out for this number, it will be interesting to see if it holds true.
Hopping over to Huggy Bear's NFL Online Betting
site for the latest juice, I see that the Jets are a “pick em” on the
road to the Browns… to the Browns!!! Here is HB's appropriate
comment:
“That a 6-3 team is a pick vs a 3-6 team speaks volumes as to parity in the NFL today”
As
indignant as I was to see the lack of a spread, in truth the Jets are
on the road and reeling without their usual Quarterback to lead them.
Vegas always seems to know about this stuff, certainly a lot better
than I ever do. I am a terrible better, but this weekend I would take
the Jets and the Over (37.5) though that .5 makes me a little skiddish.
Read game preview on the Cleveland Plain Dealer's website, and see the paper's predictions of the game (and others) as well.
News from the “Blind Squirrel Finding a Nut” Department….
Although I am still suprised, this website might be mentioned in a
certain, nationally distributed newspaper coming up around
Thanksgiving… more information as it becomes available… keep your
fingers (and toes) crossed!!!
Here are some links to articles in the news today to keep you busy.
- Herm Gives a History Lesson – Cannizzaro, NY Post
- Herm States Jets are Ready to Play - Cannizzaro. NY Post
- Jets Plan is Plain & Simple – Cimini, NY Daliy News
- Using Remote Control to Stop a Stadium - Roberts, NY Times (Free Sign in Required)
Upon reading the Cleveland Plain Dealer today, I saw this interesting article
about the Jets. Read my letter to the writer, Mr. Tony Grossi. If you
would like to send him a letter as well, feel free to do so!
—– Original Message —–
From: Brian A. Bassett
To: tgrossi@plaind.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 1:12 PM
Subject: Open Letter to a Cleveland Meathead
Mr. Grossi-
As a Jets fan who ravenously consumes all news that I can about the
team, I went to your paper's website today and found your article “Same
old sad Jets do it again” about the Jets to be laughable. Having taken
a few journalism classes in my college years, I was amused by your
“inverted pyramid” of information. Most of the article you write is
irrefutable evidence of collapse and despair of the organization, but I
did notice one particular barb in your stunning piece of “journalism”
you reported on speculation in your third paragraph stating
“their ticket base is said to be mostly composed of fans who can't get tickets to Giants games.”
As a Jets fan, and a person who interracts with Jets fans often, we
have an active fan base that not only fills the Meadowlands but also is
in other locations and even travels, (see Jason Taylor's statement
about the Jets and their cheers in Miami earlier this year). Hell,
beyond that… people are actually PAYING to be on a waiting list…
does this happen in Cleveland? I guess not…
As for our hopes being grounded until we have a new stadium, that
is nonsense. You see, unlike you Football Philistines in Cleveland, the
New York Area can (and does) have enough resources and population to
support two teams. And no, not two franchises of the same name with
years seperating their existence linked by a team wearing purple and
black in Baltimore. You see, in a large city, we actually have a choice
of football teams locally to choose from! Any Jets fan could have
chosen the path of least resistance and become a mindless Giants fan,
but for some reason we have chosen to identify with the Jets… we like
being the underdogs… maybe it is the 26 World Champions some of us
take pride in as Yankees fans.
Regardless, I have posted a link to your article on a message board
for other folks to read and encouraged them to reply similarly. Maybe I
am misunderstanding your article, or maybe as a Browns backer, your
history of ignomy helps you to identify more with the Jets than you
would actually like to let on. I do hope you read this, and would
relish your response, though I am sure you are quite busy fabricating
“facts” for your next article.
Sincerely,
Brian Bassett
Jets Fan & Blogger
nyjetsblog.blogspot.com
Rich Cimini muses about the good old days of the Jets, and reminds us of one of the most painful series of events in recent Jets history, the infamous “Fake Spike” game leading to the hiring of everyone's favorite coach, Rich Kotite.
To a man, the Jets say there won't be any lingering
psychological effects by the time they take the field Sunday in
Cleveland. Of course, they said the same thing in '94, and look what
happened.“I'll never forget that as long as I live,” Esiason said yesterday
in a phone interview. “It was monumental. It had an overwhelmingly
negative effect on the entire franchise. Obviously, it had an effect on
Leon Hess. Why the hell else would he hire Rich Kotite?”
