Ups and Downs: Week 2 @ Baltimore Ravens
A look at who’s up and who’s down from the Jets’ 20-13 loss to the Ravens:
Up
- Jericho Cotchery — The physical Cotch matched up well against the Ravens secondary, and I was beaming on his long run. The kid continues to turn heads. The Jets now truly have to legit threats at WR.
- Mike Nugent — Yes he missed a long one, but he has become a solid kicker. He gets in the up list for throwing himself in the way of Yamon Figurs to save the TD on the return.
- Kellen Clemens — His first career start was a doozy, threw some ill advised balls, held onto some that he should have long chucked away, and threw two picks. It might have looked ugly, but you have to credit the youngster for his pluck, going up against one of the most fearsome defenses in the league looking for a rebound in their home opener. Some of the passes that he was able to get zip on. Clemens also had some nice arced throws to the back corner of the endzone. Like I’ve been saying all along, the kid could be special, but give him time.
- Darrelle Revis — Revis’ one standout play that I remembered was his breakup of a pass to Derrick Mason. He might have been picked on some, but you can easily see the promise already materializing that has just never happened with Justin Miller at corner.
Down
- Justin McCareins — Clemens throw was a little hard, but McCareins had a sure TD to
wintie the game. - Thomas Jones – You have to give him credit for one of the best plays of the game. On broken a broken pass play Jones, scampered 21 yards on a reception, where he first blocked a blitzer then worked with KC to get the ball upfield. Beyond that, his 2.8 YPC was not good, nor his fumble (recovered).
- Leon Washington — Not contributing much to the return game, Washington didn’t even carry against another physical 3-4 team. Which the Jets have now seen two in a row. Hope that Miami, a team where he has had success (17 Attempts 84 Yards) and some of the other teams up next will get him more involved over the next month.
- Offensive Line – Was it an improvement from last week? It’s hard to tell as bodies littered the field. Hopefully facing two of the most fearsome front sevens in the league two weeks running will provide some battlefield experience for the lads.
- David Barrett — Another day, and another chance for me to wish him off the field. Barrett was involved in a large number of tackles, because they picked on him all day.
Add yours in the comments.
18 Responses to Ups and Downs: Week 2 @ Baltimore Ravens
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Ferragamo says:
Add our entire kick coverage unit to the DOWN list. I don’t know what happened to this group which was one of our biggest strength’s last year? Other then Nugent our special teams have been very dissapointing. Also it’s hard to knock Washington and Jones for our garbage running game when there’s no room to run. Whenever Jones was given a little room he made the most of it, he really earned every yard he got, can’t excuse the fumble though, luckily it didn’t cost us. The D-Line has got to get more pressure, no sacks and barely any pressure in two weeks is pretty, pretty bad.
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I thought in terms of the run game, Robertson actually had a decent game — I remember one running play in particular that he blew up behind the line of scrimmage. I don’t think when you’re pointing fingers at the defense, you can point at him. He’s been pretty solid for the most part. It’s not his job to pressure the QB, but to clog up things so others can.
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wallycls says:
“Justin McCareins — Clemens throw was a little hard, but McCareins had a sure TD to win the game.”
I believe you meant: “to tie the game.” Overall it was great watching 70K+ Ravens’ fans gasping for air as the Jets threatened to take the game to overtime. Wish we could have started the 4th quarter heroics earlier.
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Bernie says:
How about putting the entire defense on the DOWN list? Or did you watch a different game than I did? This team has 0 sacks in two games – ZERO – and this one against a line missing Jonathan Ogden, and with an immobile QB in Boller. This is a sad sad d-line.
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subwayfare says:
i thought clemens improved significantly in his reads, vision and reactions as the game progressed, impressive for a rookie thrown to wolves like the ravens d. he’s obviously got strong physical skills so his mental adjustments and increased poise were very encouraging. i also thought the o-line and backs got better at picking up blitzes as the game went on. it would be nice to see a game in which the jets weren’t quickly down by two scores and facing a big pass rush on every down. until then it will be hard to see what kind of progress can be made in the running game. also, why no screens to get leon out in space against blitzes? i also though the d-line play against the run was better but they just aren’t a group that can be counted on to bring pressure. that will have to come from better linebacker play, or perhaps better schemes to get them to the quarterback. don’t think you can totally let the coaching staff off the hook on that. as for the secondary, barrett continues to be an enigma – some very good plays and some godawful ones. revis looks like he could be everything advertised and, though i got the feeling kerry rhodes had been reading too much of his own press and not enough of the playbook and scouting reports, i think he’ll get stronger as the season goes on. going 0-2 is tough but i think there were a lot of positive signs to take from the game.
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Harry says:
I’m starting to think I’m not going to watch any more. They had a tremendous pass rush, and on third down you think they would have thrown one screen pass. The offense is predictable and boring. That and the fact that they threw a hand full of passes down the field the whole game. Why not run the ball up the middle on second and long against a fast defense? Not one run back on a punt or kick off for more than 10 yards? Man-dummy and his coaching staff are no better than any other conservative idiots we have had. I’m so sick of watching the Jets run up the middle on 2nd and long – it’s just annoying. And look we took a really good back and made him look like Blair Thomas. How about them fake reverses? Can it be possible that ownership is so stupid they they can’t see the lack-luster play calling? The strategic failures in play calling? Why were they throwing the ball in to he end zone with more than a minute left and 2 time outs in the red zone? Anyone who has watch a winning team knows that without the best defense conservative and predictable offensive play calling is a recipe for failure. Get rid of that gimpy non athletic Pennington while you’re at it. Does he have crap in the seat of his pants or is it just me?
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Harlan Lachman says:
For the biggest down, how about the conservative, inept play calling by lil Shott. On seven first half first downs he called runs against one of the leagues better defenses. On the other two, he called a pass behind the line of scrimmage and short slant in to Cotchery that went incomplete.
Our offensive game plan ensured we had no chance to win this game and just a macuseless chance to tie it.
Obviously, Mangini doesn’t learn from history. The last time we played the Ravens, Herm played Quincy Carter and gave him no chance to win because of an inept conservative game plan. This time, Eric plays Kellen and does him dirty the same way.
I had to turn this sh_t off it was so bad.
Harlan
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SackDance99 says:
Okay, I’m going to stick up for the OL. The Jets had more total yards, both rushing and passing, than the Bengals, a far superior offensive team had on their home field. 3 of the 4 Baltimore sacks came on DB blitzes where the Ravens overwhelmed a side of the Jets line…a gamble that the Ravens took because they had a lead and the Jets were in a hole and had to pass (also, only an idiot would continually blitz Carson Palmer with Housh and Chad). The OL is coming along. The Ravens make every OL look bad, but the OL opened some holes in the running game and picked up lots of blitzes effectively. A couple of sacks were KC’s fault (or Schott’s) for not having a play where he got the ball out quickly. Brandon Moore decleated a Ravens LB…best hit by a Jet this season. Also, a lot of fans have said that the Ravens eased up on their blitzes in the 4th quarter. Yeah, for 2 reasons. First, the OL began to pick it up. Second, as the game wore on, Clemens started to make the Ravens pay for blitzing.
Now, I’ll stick up for the DL. This DL is far better against the run than last season’s version. Let’s not expect miracles from a 3-man line. There are 5 OL and 3 DL. The DL at the point of attack is always double-teamed and the NT is usually double-teamed. Despite that, all of the D-linemen made plays yesterday and D-Rob, in particular, played very well. Also, as the game went on, the DL continued to play the run well. Part of the reason the Jets were able to come back was because the Ravens couldn’t salt away the game on the ground, with the Jets nemesis, McGahee. I thought the DL was the best part of the D.
If you want to complain about the pass rush, then point fingers at the LBs and DBs. The Jets just don’t have an OLB that can rush the passer effectively and consistently. BT is really a DE. We need a guy who lines up in a 2-point stance and gets to the QB. From what I’ve seen, such an OLB is not on the Jets roster…I had high hopes for Bowens, but he hasn’t helped.Here’s my 6 key plays of the game: First, Nugent misses the 53 yarder. Yes, it was a long FG, but the Jets drafted him to make long FGs and he made a 51 yarder. It was a big miss because with the good field position the Ravens scored. Second, Rhodes lets Heap beat him for the TD. Sorry, but Pro Bowlers don’t let the other team’s Pro Bowler beat them. Third, Brad Smith bobbles and drops a perfect onsides kick. Fourth, McCareins drops a certain TD. Fifth, Coles drops a certain TD pass. Sixth, McCareins tips up a catchable pass in the endzone.
Also, Jericho getting injured late probably cost the Jets a chance at the tie and Thomas Jones ran hard against a great run defense. I can’t fault him for not breaking a 100 yards. I’m also pining away for a stud TE. Watching Heap, Gates and Watson the past 2 weeks has driven home the point that a TE is a great redzone weapon. I like Baker, but he’s not good enough. Maybe Herm would trade Gonzo for Chad (just joking…I think).
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Let’s face it. The Jets have many good players, but no great ones. No playmakers on offense (except perhaps C and C) or defense (except perhaps Revis). A good, solid team. Nothing else. In the AFC that translates into 7-9, 8-8 or 9-7 at best. And, everything begings with the lines–O and D. In that regard we are mediocre at best.
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wayne says:
SD, I too believe much progress was made. Like you stated, the Bengals struggled against this same D a week earlier at HOME.
I also agree Coles is getting off way too easily, that throw, while not perfect was very catchable. He was WIDE open, needs to find a way to catch that ball. I know Chrebet would have.
Ditto the run defense. Everyone, after two games the run defense is allowing a yard less per carry than last year. And these are the good teams on the schedule.
As I noted earlier, the schedule lightens up mightily from here on in. The win streak begins this week.
As for your keys, I would add the overturned incompletion at the end of the first half. I dont care, looked at it again, there is not sufficient evidence to overturn the call made on the field by two separate officials. Homer call.
I would also add the first INT, a bad play call at that point. Asking KC to do too much too early. Cost them important field position at a crucial part of the game.
Anyway, I stand by my 11-5 prediction.
Just not impressed with any of the remaining teams on the schedule, except of course the Pats and probably the Steelers.
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Could the reason for the inept kickoff coverage be an unintended consequence of Nugent kicking further?
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How can anyone get on the play calling when we had three very good opportunities to tie the score at the end of the game? If some players ( McCarins or Coles) could step up and make a freakin catch, maybe we would be talking about a nice comeback win today.
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Rob says:
In perspective, we did play the best team in the NFL the first week and a 12 game winner this week. The next 7 games are against middle of the road opponents if not less. We can look to go 5-2 in the next 7 or even 6-1 and right the ship heading into the bye.
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Wayne, the Heap TD was a homer call, but if Rhodes was on him and was able to hit him, that catch is not made. Heap was juggling the ball and setting his feet at the same time, even a love tap would’ve nullified the play. So, I put the TD on “Hollywood” who has not lived up to his billing yet this season.
I almost put KC’s bad execution on the bomb to McCareins that was wide open in the first half (?) on the list, but maybe J-Mac’s double move was to blame and, in any event, butterfingers would’ve missed it anyhow.
Also, what’s up with David Harris? I don’t think he’s the answer to the pass rush, but I’d like to see him play. There must be something that he’s doing wrong in practice. As for the disappointing special teams play, I wish the Jets had kept Ventrone, he was like Vince Papale during the pre-season.
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will says:
SD99 – good call re Rhodes. It was a miserable effort and miserable coverage. He didnt even try to cover Heap. He just let him have the corner.
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Howard Tish says:
Mangini could play Joe Namath or Joe Montana or any combination of the two at QB and it would be irrelevant. Given the quality of play by the OL, we may see Brad Smith at QB by the 4th week since he is the only Jet QB capable of successfully running for his life.
“Justin McCareins — Clemens throw was a little hard, but McCareins had a sure TD to win the game.” — Twice