Final Score: Ravens 20 Jets 13
Some thoughts on the game. Add yours in the comments.
- Stay off the ledges. We knew the Patriots and Ravens would be tough sledding for the first two weeks. Things get easier for the next few weeks with Miami, Buffalo and the Giants on the slate.
- Sure Clemens held the ball longer than he should have, but the Offensive Line had a tough task on their hands and let up 4 more sacks for a total of 9 in 2 games. Sure they played a great front seven, but there were too many times the O-Line was getting tossed around like rag dolls.
- Creating QB pressure is an issue. The Jets have yet to record a sack on their oppoent. It isn’t all about sacks, but this lack of pass rush is troubling. All the same, let’s see how they do next week versus the
- Darrelle Revis had a great breakup on Derrick Mason, it’s exciting to see some sparks with what he’s going to accomplish for the Jets.
- I thought turnovers were going to be the difference in the game, and they were. The Jets got none, and gave up two interceptions. The first one set up field position for the first touchdown a few series later, and the second ended the game.
- On Clemens. Yes he had a great fourth quarter, but on first glance I thought his success was directly proportional to the number of players blitzing him. When 3 or 4 were bearing down, he did much better in the passing game. He needs to learn how to get out of trouble sooner, and scan the field better. Let’s face it, the only reason that the Jets were able to put together that TD drive was because the Ravens were in a base defense and not pressuring Clemens like they had been.
- Justin McCareins was the goat of the game. Two passes that could have been TDs went through his fingers. Folks thought he would be a big factor in the game and he was, unfortunately as an instrument of doom.
- McGahee didn’t have a great day but he did enough to help his team get by. That being said, I thought the Jets showed some promise in stopping the run.
- There’s something about the Jets kickoff coverage that isn’t working this year. Teams have learned that the wedge works well against them, which leads me to believe the unit relied last year on their speedsters to get downfield and funnel the ball carrier to a tackler. This isn’t working for the Jets this year as Yamon Figurs had a long gain on the Jets again this week, after Ellis Hobbs 108 yard return last week.
- Teams continue to pick on David Barrett and are rewarded for it. It was good to see Dyson on the field, but when can he get fully healthy?
23 Responses to Final Score: Ravens 20 Jets 13
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Nails says:
I could be wrong, but I think the Ravens were sending far more than 3 or 4 on that last drive and Clemens looked his best then.
I think the bigger problem is our defense. If we blitz five or six and still have no sacks on the year, it may be time to not blitz as much.
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P in CO says:
I like the trend 38 points in week one, 20 points in week two. The defense is finally coming to together. On the other hand, 14 points in week one, 13 points in week two is not a good sign for the offense.
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Windjammin says:
Shucks. The Ravens obviously stole signals, or somehow stole the Jets playbook. Maybe Mangenius should focus on game prep instead of motivational movies, boxing stories and alleging misdeeds by opponents.
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RAJ says:
Clemens looked exactly like I thought he would look like. He is an inaccurate passer, like so many touted college QB’s who came from a run and shoot offense. His last two throws were Nagle-esque, throwing at the feet of Coles and overthrowing the pass that Lewis intercepted. To be a playoff caliber QB requires accuracy more than arm strength. Clemens is not an accurate passer.
D’Bust gave up another sack and has now entered the rare atmosphere of other top 4 draft pick busts OT’s like Robert Gallery ( 2nd overall), Mike Williams (4th overall) and Leonard Davis (4nd overall).
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Everyone talks about the D-line, but if you remember last year (and in 3-4 defenses in general), the pressure comes from other places — where is Bryan Thomas? Where is Hobson? Where is Hollywood Rhodes? These are the guys that got it going as far as pressure last year and these guys have been invisible thus far this year.
To let that offense — coming off a 6-turnover performance on a short week and starting a rookie tackle — have a day like that is very disheartening.
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niko1677 says:
Is it just my impression or has Rhodes shown so far this year to be just a fraction of the player we are used to seeing? Aside from the fact that he doesn’t seem to be flying to the ball as he ususally does, he also seems to be caught out of position alot. Aside from the pass breakup against NE, I don’t remember his name being called once in 2 games for anything good.
In yesterday’s game I can recall 3 instances when he was beat pretty badly by Todd Heap. I’m just not sure if he is trying to do too much and is getting caught somewhere in the middle or if his head is just not in the game yet.
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Nikolas says:
I agree with R in CT, where are the Thomas, Hobson, Rhodes? Another thing that I noticed from the game is that the team seems to lack instinct. It is too mechanical, too scripted..like the players are afraid to make a mistake.
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CMGRESH36 says:
You can get on Clemens for the throw to Coles and the 2nd throw to McCareins, but the fact remains if Justin “Stone Hands” McCareins doesn’t drop the first pass Clemens doesn’t have to throw the next 2 passes.. McCareins should not have been let on the plane home after that game. Granted, the intercepted pass was thrown high, but an NFL receiver should still make that play. The ball hit him in the hands and was catchable.
Fact is, Clemens still has work to do in regards to accuracy, but I think he is the QB of the future here, and him and Cotchery are off to a great start in developing a great QB-WR rapport.
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scapp says:
McCareins needs to be traded or cut. The Jets need to admit that he never panned out like they thought, and cut their losses and get someone else in there that can catch the ball. In the game thread someone said you cant blame him, he’s a scapegoat and they lost the game in the first half…etc. I don’t buy that.. I remember Parcells saying that a managers job was just to put the players in a situation where they have an opportunity to win the game.. as ugly as the first half was, they had that opportunity at the end, and McCareins blew it. Twice.
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wayne says:
I just cut McCarreins from my fantasy team as a symbolic move.
Clemens did fine once he settled down. They asked him to do too much early, resulting in the first turnover which was a huge change of field position.
Should have run more early, a few times TJ got 5 or more yards on first down, then they called a passing play on second and short. Good call with Chad, bad with a rookie QB making his debut.
I thought before the game they should pound the ball early and often, again they did not. Why did they bother signing the guy if you are not going to use him?
As for KC’s perceived innacuracy, I think his first start numbers stack up quite well vs. the other QB’s from his class, thank you. TJB, perhaps you can dig those up for us?
He will settle into the roll and his passes will become more accurate. Chad is not exactly accurate when he throws the ball more than fifteen yards.
CP remains the starter, but I saw enough yesterday to think he can be the man some day, and this from someone who had serious doubts about him going into yesterday.
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Oh, has anyone seen the screen play, that page seems to have been ripped out of Shotty’s playbook. Or for that matter the draw play?
Those usually work pretty well vs. a big blitzing team, nowhere to be found yesterday.
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Wormfather (AKA Aaron) says:
@Wayne…you had McCarins on your fantasy team? Wow. Then again, I sat Cotch and started Coles yesterday. Sniffle.
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I agree the screenplay and draw were forgotten at a time when the Ravens were sending everyone, both could have utilized Leon Washington and given pause to the all out pass rush. The Jet defense showed some stout against the run, though Vilma got shaken off by McGahee a few times. Did anyone see David Harris on the field? Clearly, our pass rush is still a problem. The OL scrambled and needs to sure up. As a whole, the team showed heart and poise behind Clemens, leading by example. Good efforts get you close, but to win you have to catch the f**kin’ ball.
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GlockNSoul says:
Can we please just cut ties with Justin McCareins now? What a wasted pick-up he was. If I hear any more about how much promise he has and what a great preseason he had….
I think I would have liked Chansi Stuckey better than McCarreins in that spot.
And by the way, how did Randy Moss look last night? I know we want solid citizens here, but I’m sick of our Boy Scouts getting pushed around like rag dolls.
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Ferragamo says:
I understand that the Jets are 0-2, but I think a lot of people are forgetting that we went against two of the best defenses in the enitre league both weeks, plus Baltimore is one of the toughest places to play. Throw in the fact that we have a second year QB, practically a rookie, making his first NFL start against again one of the best D’s in the NFL. The team looked horrible in the first 3 quarters, you can’t even blame Clemens when he has no time to throw and no pocket, but it seemed like as the game went on the O-Line started to gel and Clemens started to relax and play much better. Did people see what the Patriots did to San Diego last night? Looking back the loss to New England last week doesn’t hurt as much after watching them abuse the Chargers all night, the Pat’s really look unbeatable. On a negative note the defense is a disgrace, there is no pass rush, even with Ogden out and whenever we needed to make a big stop we couldn’t. As Bassett has mentioned David Barrett has been bad, he’s really hurting the secondary, but with no pressure on the QB, coverage is going to be very difficult for anyone. This defense has got to step up, get some pressure on the quarterback and cause some turnovers, if we want to go anywhere this year. There’s no excuse for Justin McCarins, especially after the way Cotchery and Coles played, McCarins should be ashamed of himself. I’m reserving my judgement on Thomas Jones for now, for two straight weeks the guy has had no room to run, the lines got to do a better job. No reason to pile on Chad Pennington right now, but you have to love Kellen Clemens arm, the kid’s got a cannon.
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Liam says:
Take my word for it, Kellen Clemens is the balls.
I’m a bit surprised people aren’t more excited about Clemens’ fourth quarter. Problems with accuracy? Did you see some of the throws he made yesterday? the touchdown to Baker, Coles’ catch where he got pushed out of bounds, the big passes to Cotchery in the middle of the field- all of those throws could not have been placed any better, and with the exception of the Baker TD they were all rifled down field and were throws Chad would probably not be able to make.
I saw the Qb of the future – the immediate future – yesterday afternoon. Yes, he had a rough first half and yes the Ravens backed off some pressure on the first 4th quarter (but did bring a variety of blitzes later in the quarter especially on the last drive)- but Clemens in his first start played an outstanding 4th quarter on the road against arguably the best defense in the NFL. Period. What more could anyone possibly have expected?
Thing I like best about this guy (aside from the arm) is his guts. He’s a bit of a gun slinger and at times it will no doubt leave us wringing our hands, but hes got the proverbial balls to take a chance and make the big play.
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Drack says:
R, you asked the whereabouts of defensive players. Likewise, I would like to send a search party for Leon Washington and Brad Smith.
Where were these guys the first two weeks?! Weren’t Leon and Brad supposed to be bigger pieces in the Jets offensive puzzle? Same with Baker. Outside his TD pass, I can’t remember Schott calling his number too many times. Is he just a blocker now? Maybe Baker’s just not getting open.
Nikolas, I echo your comments regarding the team mind set. While I can’t put my finger on the exact problem, the team just doesn’t seem…sharp. The Jets lost games to superior teams last year (NE, CHI, IND come to mind), but they looked far better doing so. It’s almost as if the Jets game plans these past two weeks were reactive in nature rather than proactive taking THEIR game to NE & BAL.
Thankfully, this tough schedule stretch is over. Next up, fellow “O-fers”: the Dolphins, Bills and Giants. This is the Jets opportunity to right their ship.
On another note, it wouldn’t surprise me if Romeo Crennel became the Jets DC next year. His status as the CLE head coach is tenuous, and he and Mangini have a good relationship.
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Agree with Liam, although not ready to call Clemens “the balls.” In so doing, respectfully disagree with RAJ on the accuracy thing. The ball to Coles was low but should have been caught. The throw in the endzone was about as accurate as you can get. You want to argue that he was trying to thread the needle a bit too much in a risky part of the field, that’s fine. But he basically put the ball over one defender and between another onto McCarreins’s hands. It was an impressive throw.
Also a good call by Drack on Smith. Thinking the same thing. Along similar lines, can Baker just not get open outside the redzone or do we simply choose to ignore him and/or not call any plays for him anywhere else?
I would go into a longer diatribe about Clemens, but I already have here if anyone cares to read it here and would welcome comments. http://legendofcecilioguante.blogspot.com/2007/09/monday-morning-wrapclemens-kellen.html
Bassett and crew, great job as always.
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D- I would take Crennel in a heart beat.
W- Yes I had McCarreins, not active but in reserve. Draft was early and he had a great preseason. Thought he might be a nice weekly play if C or C got hurt. Big mistake.
Now he is gone, as he should be from the Jets. Should have traded him off his preseason when he had a little value.
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Lafflin says:
Everyone should keep their heads up, LT couldn’t run aginst the Pats, and judging from the score, the Chargers D didn’t make brady sweat much either. The Pats are unstoppable period. Looking ahead to our wild card, we need win only ten games, and we will. between now and the bye week we should go 6-1. We do have to play both philly and Cinci, but philly -not as good as projected, Cinci not as good as they look. We’ll run the ball and controll the clock. Washington will be a one dimensional offense that will try to run the ball down our throats, we’ll find a way to outscore them. If we loose two more before the bye then we can afford to loose two games between Pits,NE,Dal and Ten assuming that we take our gimme’s The games against Ten and Pits will be important because they’ll be wild card contenders (PIT may win their div) But there I said it Oucho Sinco and co will miss the playoffs at eight and eight! Ofcourse we’ll loose some we shouldn’t but at the same time we’ll win some we shouldn’t. 9-7 at worst, 10-6 at best. We’ll be in for another interesting December for sure. And is that not the way we like it? Is that not why being a Jets fan is so great? Do we not love to root for the dog? If we were a dominant team we would have to change our names or something. We’re the team that sneaks in the back door, that wins ugly, that is always doubted. if that’s not your thing then perhaps you might want to find another team, cause the Jets will always be the Jets, and we’ll always love them for that! We’re going to be just fine! I do hope that we get someone big and mean and physical on either our O or D line before the trade deadline though!
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Oh yeah, and play Stuckey already. Everyonbe drops a pass, I can’t fault him, but two in a row just means that you suck under pressure!
And Yes KC was good and will be great, but Pennington is Great. This is not Penningtons last injury, KC will come in as a starter when the time is right, but that will not be this year.
Pennington’s arm is strong enough. His strength is his ability to read the defense quickly and find the open man. KC played as good as we could have asked, but if pennington is playing we win this game from the first quarter! We would have gotten Leon and TJ involved with screen passes keeping the Ravens defense a bit more honest. And he would have gotten rid of the ball quicker even with his slow release. I think that his short passes give the illusion that his arm is weakler than it is, when the truth is that short passes are a neccesity more due to the fact that his line doesn’t buy him alot of time more so than he can’t throw the ball down the field. Why we didn’t throw the screen a few times with KC will always be a mystery.
I’m really glad Chad didn’t go in against this defense we might have lost him for the year. I’ll take the loss of a game over the loss of our QB.
Look for chad to have a career season this year even behind a weak line.
Look for our O-line to look much better protecting against the pass rush after having the experience of going against the two best defenses in the game. There are no longer any rookies on that line.
That however doesn’t change the fact that they aren’t getting any push in the running game, that comes from power more than experience. Running game will be average at best. -
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I thought the Jets played well given the situation they were in (a still ‘green’ QB, developing OL). Clemens showed a lot of promise though… that was a good comeback effort against a stout D especially for a first time starter.
What else can I say other than our problems start and end with the lines? OL and DL have been struggling. And our runners have not been able to get going as a result of this.
Pats just drummed the chargers 38-14. Makes me feel not so bad about last week. This week though, we had a good chance of winning it.