Areas for Improvement: Jets 20, Dolphins 14
I chose to name this “Areas for Improvement” and not “Areas for Concern” because it’s only Week 1. If it’s seven weeks later and these issues are still prevalent, there’s likely to be a lot more capital letters, several curse words, and the threat of death for a player or two. But, no reason to get that animated just yet.
Also, it would be pointless to list all the circumstances under which the Jets played Sunday, as many of you already have heard them ad nauseum at this point. So, take this with a grain of salt the size of the lump in your throat when Favre lofted that pass in the air.
- Penalties – 7 penalties for 40 yards, not a good start. One of the main characteristics of this team under Eric Mangini has been it’s ability to not beat itself with bad/stupid penalties. You’ve got to think this will get fixed–because if not, this is going to be a disappointing season, no matter which QB tears his ACL.
- The Disappearance of Leon – As Mr. Weiss pointed out in a post earlier this evening, the Dolphins were determined not to let Mr. Washington beat them and this very well may have been the reason they clamped down on him every time he set foot on the field. However, Leon, along with Dustin Keller, are the only real big play weapons this team has, so they must be sure to get them rolling on a weekly basis, if only to make other teams gameplan for it.
- You Let Him Get Away?! – As impressive as the pressure was today, especially for a team that got so little last year, there were numerous times the Jets were in grasp of a sack or a demonstrative hit on Pennington and he managed to get the ball off — several times for key completions. Against better quarterbacks, this will kill you. They will find a way not just to get a first down, but to get a touchdown. This must be corrected. If you’re in the backfield, you must change the play. (Note: I understand you can’t get a sack every time, I’m just saying that they can’t let the QB get away as often.)
- Seriously? – Three straight run plays in the final two and a half minutes of the fourth when all you need is a first down to keep the clock running? I know Brett’s not 100% comfortable with the playbook, but there had to be one passing play in that 75% of the plays he knew that they could have run, especially after the penalty that pushed them out of slam-dunk run distance. One timeout or not, it’s time to break out of the conservative shell this offense has been limited to in crunch time for two years.
- Safety Valve – Something has to be done opposite superstar safety (Sorry, I had to say it since apparently the mainstream media refuses to agree) Kerry Rhodes . Eric Smith’s blown coverage on the Dolphins’ first touchdown was inexcusable — he’s supposed to be the better one in coverage.
- Two Years Later And Still Can’t Stop the TE - It’s been a long time sine the Jets have been able to cover a tight end that could ably run a route and catch the ball. Sunday was a perfect example. 12 receptions, 137 yards and two TDs for Miami tight ends David Lee and Anthony Fasano. What happens when they have to face Antonio Gates, Ben Watson and Co.? These two are not Pro Bowl TEs, but somehow looked mighty capable. DC Bob Sutton and Mangini have got to figure out a way to sure up coverage on TEs.
Yes, I purposefully left off Brett, as his shortcomings are well-noted and will surely be addressed in other posts.
But those are my thoughts… What do you guys think needs to be improved for next week and the next 16?
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first thing…KICKING! im sorry,but mike nugent may have psyched himself out that he CANNOT hit a field goal.and may have even psyched himself into believing he “hurt” himself after ANOTHER chip shot MISS! if he would have hit that ONE extra point,at the end of the game,if the dolphins scored,they would have only TIED us instead of WINNING!(yes,they could have went for the two and the win,but they wouldnt have). SECOND is secondary/safety help/improvement…REVIS was AWESOME and LOWERY looked like a VETERAN! RHODES was his NORMAL AWESOME self. PACE was impressive as well as was HARRIS,BARTON,JENKINS,ELLIS,and GHOLSTON was NOWHERE to be found…NOT ONE TACKLE! he also missed a sack he SHOULD have made! i also think FAVRE may only HONESTLY know 60-65% of the playbook,although he is the LEAST of my/our worries. COLES had a BAD day….yeah,yeah,he missed the preseason but when the ball goes thru BOTH your hands,your SUPPOSED to CATCH IT! maybe the THROW was a LITTLE TO HARD!? i kinda disagree that LEON and KELLER are our “ONLY BIG PLAY WEAPONS WE HAVE”….did you not see COTCHERY’s touchdown!?..was that NOT a BIG play. also it looked as if TJ could have broken a BIG run a couple times today/yesterday also. we have ALOT of talent and are only gonna get BETTER every week! penalties were also a problem,but the upside for this team is PROMISING and they/we should definitely be happy with the win today even if it wasnt picture perfect! J-E-T-S JETS! JETS!! JETS!!!
besides just getting on the PLAYERS,the PLAYCALLING needs a little WORK also!!
just read that NUGENT hurt his HAMMY on a kickoff and not the extra point MISS…..makes a LITTLE more sense. who can we get?
I almost stroked out during the 4th quarter…the only thing the prevent defense does is almost prevents you from winning! Typical DC Sutton/Mangini bend but don’t break theory! Let’s be a little bit more agressive with our offense & defense in the 4th quarter…utilize our weapons a bit so other teams don’t find us as predictible! Another week under Westoff’s belt to get the special teams buckled down, however, Nugent’s injury could have Tannenbaum on the phone… Overall, a good start…a win on the road against a revengeful Pennington. I’m sure Coles isn’t too happy taking the back seat to Cotchery…but the chemistry that Farve and Jerricho have is evident. Stuckey showed some promise for us in the slot. It will be interesting to see as the weeks go on to see this team gel…
get a naw kicker fast.
new kicker sry.
Wasn’t happy with the way the pass rush diasppeared during crunch time. Gotta find a way to get someone loose.
Jay Feely will be in a Jets uniform ready to go for week 2. Calling it.
Also, by the way, I think what makes us such a dangerous team now is that we have a few offesnive weapons. Leon, Keller, Cotchery, Coles, and id even consider brad smith and Chansi Stuckey. Little 5′7 or 5′8 Chansi Stuckey gets up on that lob to the endzone.
for me, the biggest area for improvement is chemistry between favre and coles. LC was practically nonexistent on Sunday.
Also, the playcalling – both defensively and offensively at the end of the game was baaad.
joe … i think that’s partly because they were dropping at least six players into coverage … rushing with only 4 … but you’re right, they need to generate more pressure up front.
I think I’d also call Cotchery a real big playmaker after a 56-yard TD …
You bring up a good point about Eric Smith — with Lowery playing well at the other corner spot, and the great production from the front seven, the safety spot next to Rhodes now stands out as the weakest spot on the defense. Would be good to get that sured up a bit.
And definitely cut down on the penalties, although I thought the refereeing yesterday was weak (against both teams).
Most important to me was the run game. We ran it well, and stopped them from running. This bodes very well for the season. I’ll take the win.
R, you think John Lynch might be reconsidering his decision to go to a contender, now that they may not be a contender?*
Lynch goes back on a commitment at the last minute and leaves Belichick in the lurch? The ironing would be delicious.
*not that I’m 100% convinced he would be THE answer.
Special Teams need improvement. Field position, as mentioned, was horrible and our coverage was so-so.
From the grammar irregulars comes this tidbit. My son, who is an English teacher, wants me to pass along that the correct phrase is “shore up” (as in construction) rather than “sure up” which is incorrect.
i have to say the jets look pretty silly for not having a backup who can at least kick a PAT. At least one of the guys on the team has to be able to kick an extra point if the starter goes down! cmon. Graham has been here for 3 years now! teach that mofo to kickoff and kick a PAT in case of an emergency! sheesh.
how can a pro athlete go thru camp, off season conditioning etc., and who’s only requirement is to kick a football, pull a hamstring, doing it for the first time in the season? and then have no capable backup? the entire game was played on our side of the field cuz of it. man up, mike.
If we carried two kickers on the opening day roster, ide have lost my mind. Im beginning to hate nugent, hes looking more and more like a wasted pick. Second rounder nonetheless!!! Jay Feely.
Secondary- Great
Linebackers- Eh. Stopped the run but barton had another idiotic roughing the passer penalty. Use your head buddy.
D-line- no pressure on Chad at the end. they put us in position to lose, but im gonna blame the play calling. NO MORE CONSERVATIVE BS!!!!!!! Herman Edwards coaches in KC. dont let his play calling live on please.
Oline- great.
RB- T Jones was great, Leon had a tough day.
Wideouts- LC needs to practice with Favre
QB- Brett Favre. Do i need to say more?
Our kicking game and safety spot next to Rhodes are still the biggest concerns, they have to bring in another kicker this week. Nugent was limping pretty bad after he decided he was okay to kick the Jets final TD extra point. The other concerns should work themselves out. This win was by no means perfect, but the defense came up big when it had to, can you say shut down corner, Darelle Revis, grant it, it was only Ginn but still that is what a #1 CB does, shut down the other teams #1 WR. How about BT with 2 sacks?
Does anyone really have confidence in Nugent? I mean, if the game was on the line late in the season and it was up to Nugent to kick a tie or game winner, from 40 yards, do you really think he could pull it off? I for one, do not.
This Nugent injury may be just what the Jets need to close the door and bring in a new kicker.
Other than kicking, I would like to see less o-line penalties and more aggressive play-calling in the 4th quarter. I thought Herm had returned to coach the Jets in the 4th quarter. The ‘Phins came way too close to winning that game.
Considering all the new players, I think 7 new starters yesterday and a QB with only three weeks under his belt in a new system, we need to be patient. Time is needed for them to gel.
We stopped the run, our corners shut down the WRs. That forced the ball into the middle to the TEs, of which Pennington made some good throws to them. Sutton’s soft defense and Shotty’s conservative plays on the last two O&D series made us sweat this out.
We’ll improve in all areas over time…except maybe Safety.
The coaching is what needs to be worked on for next week. The Offense underachieved, in my opinion. When we had the opportunity to push the run game and punish their defense — we passed. I am not against the pass but, if we ran the ball down their throats, they would have stacked the line and the passing game would have been wide open.
Has Favre always telegraphed his handoffs the way he did on Sunday. I understand that he could pull it back in and have a play action pass but — holding the ball out there, the way he did, looked dangerous and very obvious.
All in all, the coaching staff looked insecure. I am sure that as their confidence builds, they will loosen up. With all the talent on our team, it is just a matter of time until it all comes together. The next three games will be very tough. It will be a learning experience but, I see us coming out of the bye week as a team not to be messed with. This will be a very exciting year of Jet football. I just hope that my heart can hold out. Go Jets.
Something dosen’t make sense with the whole Nugent thing. Supposedly he hurt his leg on the opening kickoff, but was still able to make the PAT after the first TD. Then he missed the first field goal attempt horribly, but was seen on the sideline practicing FG’s. We did not bring him out for a FG on the 4th and 13 situation, but instead went for it and miracously made the TD. We still did not bring him out for the PAT, but went for the 2pt conversion, which failed. For Mangini not to try the PAT, Nugent must have really hurt himself, but then why was he practicing FG’s all day on the sideline?
I don’t think he was really that hurt, I think Mangini lost all confidence in him after the missed FG, and if that is the case then Nugent is done as a Jet. If we bring in another kicker that confirms that Mangini is done with Nugent.
Nuge could lose his job. Can’t stop that and can can’t say I care too much, but lets put this in perspective. Someone above said they don’t trust him in the clutch. He has made every overtime attempt he has ever had and I can’t remember losing any games just because of missed kicks. Though some were close. He had a bad start againt the Titans in 2006 too. Did he miss a field goal after that game? if he did not many. So before we burn him in effigy lets keep it in context. If you were a kicker and hurt your leg how easy do you think your job is?
Mangini made the right call on 4th and 13 if you think your kicker is too busted to put the game on his shoulders then don’t.
A few things –
In the chat yesterday, I raised the point that they might not have had a proper holder for Graham — remember, he kicks left-footed, so the entire set up, including the snap, would have to go the opposite way. Mangini may have decided to rather try the two than go that way.
Also, with Miami’s offense as bad as it was, I don’t blame Mangini for playing it conservatively down the stretch. Why be overly aggressive when they had shown almost no ability to move the ball and your defense had just stopped them? Lots of times in the NFL teams, teams don’t win as much as other teams make mistakes and lose.
Guarantee you next week against a much better opponent — even without Brady — the playcalling will be more aggressive.
they need to have a plan in place, though, if the main kicker goes down! not to kick 40+ yarders..but PATs?? jet coaching staff looked very poor on this one..i can’t remember ever seeing this sort of thing happen in the past. someone else on the roster should be able to at least try a PAT. it almost cost us the game!
But we won, so I won’t let it get me down. Im sure Mangini will be on top of it..and we move on to play the PATS.
As I have said many times before, The Coaching is mediocre.
Offensively we could have put the game away in the 1st half, T Jones should have gotten 6-10 more touches. I hate the play calling, we got luck on the Favre throw away.
Defensively not bad, cannot let a team back in the 4the qtr, but I put that on the offense, see above.
Special Teams, NUGENT might be the worst pick of any Jet in the past 20 years. The fact that we wasted a pick on a kicker, ugh!
Good coverage, return game needs some tweaking.
Damn, I can’t believe I forgot special teams. My mistake folks, I had it written down on my notes, but Just forgot it in the post.
#1 – Yes there were too many penalties and you don’t want that to become a trend but this is week #1 and there are many new starters and they won the game so I am not going to get worried about this yet.
#2 – Yes Leon did not have a great game but that is partly due to the Dolphins commitment to not letting him beat them as well as play calling. He got one pass in the flat where he shook off the Dolphins DB which is what Leon does best but there not any other plays where he had an opportunity to create. As the #2 RB on a day when #1 RB was running well you can’t always have everything. Another factor is Favre learning to use Leon which may take some time
#3 – For the most part I think the Jets D did a good job of not letting Pennington get away. Sure he was able to get off some passes when they were pressuring him but that is what happens in the NFL, you don’t sack the QB every time you pressure him. I think they did do well in sacking him 4 times, if anything they should have been able to strip the ball especially on one of the Bryan Thomas sacks where he basically tossed Pennington to the ground.
#5 – As I said in a previous post and I agree – Eric Smith can not cover. A free safety is supposed to be much better at picking up receivers and tight ends and Smith continues to show a lack of ability to do so. Elam or another DB should get a shot as Smith is the weakest link on the D right now.
#6 – Yeah this is not a good trend with TEs especially with Ben Watson and Antonio Gates coming up. I don’t know if it is the scheme or personnel issues (aside from the obvious struggles of Eric Smith in pass coverage) but they need to figure this out quick because if not other teams will not exploit the hell out of it, especially in the red zone. As nice as it was to see Pace apply some pressure and Bryan Thomas appear to return to form I wonder if these 2 can play pass coverage adequately, Gholston is clearly not ready to do so. You could have Rhodes lock in on the #1 TE but that takes his blitzes away and limits the defense and leaves the aforementioned crappy Free Safety out there. I hope Mangini & co. can figure it out.
I forgot to address #4:
Yeah they were a bit too conservative but I think the coaches (rightfully so) were confident with the Jets D vs. the Miami O, running the clock down and leaving them with no timeouts. Sure the Dolphins got way too close but how many times have we seen Pennington do the same in green & white? In retrospect on 3rd & 7 you probably should go for a pass to get the first down and seal the game but I have no problem with putting the emphasis on the Jets Defense, they just have to be more aggressive and blitz a little, Pennington had too much time to pick out a nice underneath route and chew up chunks of yardage. If they pressure him on the last drive more they either get a turnover quickly or the Dolphins probably stall on downs. No reason to be worried about a long strike and even if there was some kind of miracle long play where they score a touchdown we all know Brett Favre is proficient at leading a 2 minute drill. Perhaps Mangini and Schottenheimer forgot #10 was playing for the other team and they could actually mount a late game comeback drive if needed.
Seriously, how can anyone fault the Jets for running the ball with a little over 2 minutes left? Gregg Easterbrook, of ESPN.com’s TMQ, always makes the point that by merely running the ball and keeping the clock running, 9 out of ten times the winning team can just run out the clock, or leave the opposing team with too little time to score (btw, Easterbrook also hates blitzing because of the potential for a big play…scoring TDs is hard, most drives fail, so why help the offense in any way?). With Miami only having 1 TO, running the ball was the proper strategy. On 3rd and 7, if Favre has an incompletion, which would have stopped the clock, or, even worse, a sack, fumble or INT, the Jets would’ve placed Miami in a much better situation. Chad did a great job getting the Fins down the field to stress us all out, but I find it really hard to fault the coaching staff at the end. They went by the book, and the book worked.
Also, for the folks who are dissing the Fins, this is a Bill Parcells team. As we know when the Jets went from 1-15 to 9-7 under Parcells, Miami will come to play and try to execute a winning game plan. The only time a Parcells team in his first year didn’t win one of its first 2 games was when he first coached the Pats, and that team won its last 4 games to go 5-11. He’s good at what he does.
Since I’ve been on this blog, I’ve said over and over that Chad needs TEs and Harm gave him stone hands Becht for almost his whole Jets career. Look what he did with Fasano and Martin. With Ricky or Brown out of the backfield and the TEs, Chad has the guys to work the middle of the field, something he never had under Harm or Mangini. To me, that’s just a small indication of how Parcells is maximizing the talent of his players. Right now, I’m glad that Week 17 game is at home and should be in the cold because if Chad is healthy for all 16 games, there’s nothing he’d like more than knocking the Jets out of the playoff hunt and I expect the Fins to much better by week 17…Merling and Langford look like studs, Ferguson looks rejuvenated. I’m not discounting this win.
If u look at the new prediction for our AFC East now that it seems the Patriots will be without Brady, the Bills are predicted to be the winners! You know why, because they blew out a good team in Seatle. Never letting up and playing hard all game. The Jets on the other hand played well and hard for the first 3 quarters but then played safe and conservative which resulted in a nail biter for us and did not show the league that we are a dominant team! The conservative play calling has to go!
I said in previous post before yesterdays game after observing the preseason that our weakest spots are Free Safety with Smith/ Elam and Kicking- Mike Nugent and this really showed yesterday!
Lowery looks like another stud, unfortunately the TE got great position on him and CP threw a perfect throw.
Run defense did its job, and run offense looked pretty good too. The phins O-line and D-line were the areas they improved the most on this offseason and we seemed to still dominate both!
Was not too impressed with Barton or Harris yesterday! Couldn’t believe Harris let that guy get around him and out of bounds in that last drive. Another time in an under throw by CP the WR jumped in the air and Barton was off him by a few yards and just waited for this guy to land and waited for this WR to make a move to get the Firstdown rather than attacking/closing when he was in the air to prevent the first down!
Brad, given how the Seahawks played, do you think Miami would’ve stolen a win if they played the Seahawks instead of the Jets? How do you think a West Coast team would fare going into steamy South Florida for a 1 pm game? Bottom line, when you’re on the road and hold the home team to 14 points, you’ll win most games. This isn’t college football where you roll up points to improve your ranking. Let’s see what shakes out after the Bills face a Jacksonville team on the road that is smarting from a tough opening divisional loss and after the Jets face the Pats.
The biggest concern by far –
Is Nugent still on this team?
if yes
Then the question must be why?
Im sitting here watching the Minnesota Green Bay game and thnking. How can you defend something you cannot do? If you cant pass how do you defend the pass? Minnesota cant do it or defend it. Maybe that is why they wanted Brett?
Now that we have Brett we can practice on how to defend it. We can now prepare for the better QBs of the NFL by practicing with Brett Favre!!!
Main necessary improvement? A healthy kicker.
Re point 2: I think Cotch may qualify as a “big play weapon.”
Re point 3: Chad is already one of the “better quarterbacks” in the league. You always want to make each opportunity for a sack pay off, but I think the defense can pat itself on the back for holding him off in the final seconds.
SackDance99 — “How do you think a West Coast team would fare going into steamy South Florida for a 1 pm?” — Raiders 35 Dolphins 17 — Sept. 30th, 2007, 1pm –
SackDance99 — “if Chad is healthy for all 16 games” — ahahahahahahahahaha –
[...] a furious comeback by deposed former Jet Quarterback Chad Pennington, and Favremania. Lots of room for improvement on this squad, though. Some guy named Will Leitch comments that the conservative Mangenious style [...]