Opinion: Don’t Jet Ahead of Yourselves
After watching a good, although hairy game from the Jets in their win over the Dolphins yesterday and the Bills dismantling the Seahawks, all while the Patriots lost their QB, there’s a tendency to think that the AFC East is now wide open. While this may be the case, let’s let the month of September play itself out first … see how good all the teams in the division look after four games before we go ahead and crown anyone’s posteriors.
In that light, it’s hard not to feel hopeful, or that there’s finally some daylight streaming into a dark room. Even so, I listened to WEEI this morning (Boston’s sister station to WFAN) and the morning guys were talking to Boomer Esiason, who I think made a lot of good points about the Patriots and not to count them out just yet. Here’s a compilation of some of what Boomer said, mashed with some of my own thoughts.
- Yes, Cassel struggled in the preseason, but that doesn’t mean much based on not actual gamplanning so much as trying to work things out. Also, consider that Cassel probably didn’t get many practice reps this past week.
- The offense still has a lot of other great players. At least half the league would trade their offense for the one the Patriots have Matt Cassel or no. With Pro-Bowlers on the line, a good running game and at two excellent receivers in Welker and Moss, this isn’t a group to be trifled with … we’re not looking at the 2000-01 Ravens Offense.
- Sure there are issues with the Patriots secondary, but the defense is good and added where they needed to most … at linebacker. The team had four sacks yesterday … so the rush can cover shaky pass defense with their pressure.
- Belichick knows how to motivate his players, and will use this injury to Brady to do so.
- This team — not just Tom Brady — did win 18 games last season. True, Brady had 50 TDs alone but they don’t need to murder teams like they did last year to still win the division
- Coaches and teammates might be even more motivated to prove that this team is still great without Brady. Those are the guys that Belichick collects, so even though morale might be low today. They’ll be ready for their visit next week to New York.
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Is Bob Sutton the Rich Kotite of this staff? With our personnel and knowledge of the Fins’ limitations (something about their QB having a pop gun arm), we should never have given up 14 points to that rag-tag outfit. Do we have to wait for the bye week for a change to be made? Does Sutton just sleep before the bye week, or is he “relieved of some of his duties” each year after the bye? Either way, we need someone more aggressive and innovative to be running this D.
After Vinnie went down and the Jets went through the Rick Mirer experiment, Ray Lucas almost got them into the plaoffs. Cassell could do the same. With the Bills looking pretty damn good and a lot of kinks that presented themselves yesterday that need to be worked out, it is way too early too get too confident. It’s a long way to go to the end of the season. Something to look very forward too, but not too confident yet. The next two weeks will be very interesting.
i’m still surprised they resigned sutton ..he is horrendous ..with the way they were blitzing yesterday imagine what they could do with a DC that has talent
RE: Sutton – It was disappointing that with the game on the line and Chad passing on about a dozen straight plays we got very little pressure. It seemed to me that we were blitzing at least some of that time. Were the blitzes called at the wrong times, poorly executed or did the fins just do a great job of blitz pickup? I hate the prevent defense but since there were some blitzes there at the end I don’t know if it was a true prevent. Any ideas? 4 sacks is pretty good but the Dline disappeared at the end, in obvious passing downs no less.
Regarding the Pats, we certainly shouldn’t write them off but if Brady is out for the year, things definitely look alot better for us in the AFC East today than they did yesterday morning.
Yes the Pats still have alot of players, blah blah blah. Their defense almost blew the game yesterday. They had an amost identical finish to the Jets. Before Brady’s injury I felt the Pats had taken a step back. Their secondary is bad, plain and simple. The OL is getting old. The Jets should be so pumped for the game with them. As long as we have our kicking game straightened out, we should win. Never want to see someone injured but now the AFC east is wide open and I think the Jets and Bills will battle each other for the top stop. An exciting outlook on the season just got alot brighter.
Four thoughts:
1) The Pats had trouble beating KC under Herm. Let’s see how well they fare against a real offense and defense. In spite of Sutton and Mangini’s cowardice, one has to admit that with Lowery now at CB and Jenkins at NT and perhaps Pace at LB, we have a real Defense. And Favre can make an offense look good all by himself.
2) We had trouble with the formerly 1-15 Fish. I think Big Bill had them ready but as Bassett wrote, we will know more after September. If we are not 3-1 before the bye, we can put away dreams of January. Were the Fish that improved or are we not that much better?
3) It is great to hear the whining of Pat fans. NY fans may be obnoxious (at least the ones who did not escape to Vermont). But after all those SB to finally have an injury at a key position and to actually complain about it. You would think they never heard about Namath, VT, or a host of other injuries.
4) I have never understood how the Bills could be good. Crowell and their LT out. Losing their stud CB. A cheap payroll. Yet they slammed the Seahawks — a well coached team with a solid QB. They have to be the favorites to win the AFCE now until someone proves otherwise.
harlan
Let’s not forget a LOT of the blame for this tight game belongs to douchebag Shottenheimer who is more conservative than Sean Hannity!
He’s got Brett F**ing Favre and he keeps dialing up draw plays!! One more first down and they seal the win but he calls 3 running plays even after Woody’s penalty made it 3rd and 7!
When you have a Ferrari get on the road and use it instead of driving it in your driveway!
I know a lot of people were down on the pass rush in the 4th quarter, but remember it was over 100 degrees and humid on that field — there’s a reason why Miami is historically very tough at home in September. Other teams are not conditioned like that, and after three quarters of bringing pressure, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just ran out of gas.
The second week in the NFL is always the toughest to predict — some teams that look like world beaters come crashing back to earth and teams that look lost suddenly figure it out. Remember back in the season the Pats had their first super bowl run, they lost 31-0 to the Bills on Opening Day.
Still a lot of football to be played.
Why is every absolutely certain that Brady is done for the year? Its a possibility, maybe even a strong one, but as I wrote in response to Bent’s post last night, it is not official yet and as far as I can tell the MRI has not even been taken yet. I’m just saying lets not get ahead of ourselves, nothing is official.
A few points
1. R in Ct is absolutley correct, the playging conditions were very difficult, and in the end the Jets didn’t let up.
2. The patriots only won because the Cheifs let them, they had that pass where Harding (sp) just couldn’t make it in to the endzone, and then the 1st and goal at the 4 that they couldn’t score on, not to mention the drop that DeWayne Bowe had in the endzone. Give me the Jets offense with Favre instead of Huard and the Jets are in OT in that game.
3. The bright spot about the pass rush and it’s lack there-of in the 4th quarter is that it came to the coaches attention, as well as the coaches play call. They saw how un-affective some plays were in situations against the Dolphins so I’d bet my money we wont see a 3rd and 7 run against the Pats
I agree with R in CT….it was well over 100 degrees on the field yesterday (at least the heat index was), and that along with the Prevent Offense we decided to play almost the entire 4th quarter, it’s a wonder those guys were able to stand upright by the time that last Dolphins drive started.
I can’t fault Sutton for the defensive calls. We all know Chad very well. He’s a methodical QB that marches his team down the field, eats clock and has to work the middle of the field more than the sidelines. So, with a lead, why blitz and allow Chad to throw deep with the chance (even remote) that the Fins get a quick score? Fourth quarter in the blazing sun, with 100 degree-like temperature on the field, Sutton did the right thing. Kudos to Chad for making a good 4th down throw and a nice throw to Ricky Williams. But, did you notice that Drew Coleman should have had an INT, Ronnie Brown was stopped in bounds, but got a nice home call and, when Chad had to finally go to his WR, Revis got the game-saving INT.
As for the offense being conservative with a lead why take chances when your 4th quarter field position was at the 14, 2 and 18? Again, knowing Chad, why not rely on the defense which, up to the 4th quarter, had bottled Chad up. And, as I’ve posted before, the game would’ve been over if Nugent hit the chip shot he missed and was available for the PAT. More than the alleged “conservative” play calling, I’m more concerned about our kicker and the OL’s tendency to pick up dumb penalties (the Woody penalty on 3rd and 2 under 2 minutes was nearly a game-changer).
First off, we should all be happy that we have a winning record. We havent been up in the win column since 2006 so that is an improvement.
The dolphins are improved, its an away game, and its a divisional game. Plus, we couldnt game plan for the dolphins because we have nothing to look at. This is a new team with new plays, and a new system. Very tough to game plan.
Bottom line, the jets are 1-0 this year so we should all be happy that we are headed in the right direction.
Play calling was conservative and i think that we should have taken more shots downfield given the success that we had early. That play call on 3rd and 7 drove me nuts. I think the plan was to be conservative and make Miami waste their final time out.
Our D is vastly improved. We should have had more than 1 interception. I think there were 2 dropped balls that should have been picked. Our d line was getting good pressure early in the game but I think it was part of the game plan to let Chad beat us at the end.
Chad is known for throwing the 4th quarter interception so I think that we were just waiting for that to happen and it worked out. When push comes to shove and Chad has to make a play, he will throw the INT and lose the game.
IMO, Jets will only get better. They will continue to gel and kepp improving. I would like to see Dustin Keller get more involved but I guess that will come with time.
I hate the Pats and they got what they deserved.
It’s possible the dolphins were playing the pass heavy, so they took the chance and ran the ball. HOWEVER, running when its 3rd and 7 and you can end the game with a first down, is going to come back to bite you in the end!
Get the first down, keep the ball. A better team would have beat the jets yesterday, but we got the win and thats all that matters. Hopefully they’ll react differently in the future.
I agree that we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves, but, let’s face it, the division, and the AFC, look a lot more open than they did at this time yesterday. The four consensus elite AFC teams – Colts, Jags, Chargers and Patriots – all either lost or, in the Pats case, appear to have lost their best player. The Jets certainly weren’t world-beaters yesterday, but they did what they had to do to win – something that the Jags, Colts and Chargers, the latter two at home, couldn’t do – under difficult circumstances.
There’s a very long way to go, R in CT is absolutely right that the second week is historically a weird week, and I’m not predicting anything, one way or another. But we’ve gone from a situation where we were all but conceding the division – c’mon, was there anybody who honestly felt that the Jets were going to beat the Patriots before yesterday? – to one where not only is the division title much more attainable, but where the AFC as a whole may not be where we thought. Overconfidence? Nope. Optimism? Absolutely, and, I think, with good reason.
One thought about this Sunday… We are in a lose lose situation because if we beat the Pats, everyone is going to say that we only beat them because they didnt have Tom Brady.
Personally, I would ahve rather played them with Tom Brady because I felt that we had a legitmate team this year to contend with the Pats.
A win is a win but it will not have the same impact. Maybe we ll get some respect if we beat the Chargers on Monday night.
Hindsight, unless you are ready to change professions and prove otherwise, is a great place to make a call. Anybody thinking these are idiots running the show hasn’t been paying attention to the money involved at this level. This is not chump change and nobody is getting a pass because of their looks.
It’s not a lose lose situation – it’s a win or lose (maybe tie but doubtful). I don’t think the Jets players, coaches or any real fans care who plays QB for the Pats – if we win the game then on to the next one at 2-0. Sure it would be great to beat Tom Brady and the Pats but oh well. Let’s beat the Pats and when Tom Brady is on the field again let’s try and beat them again. I agree with the concern over the conservative defense – if you have 2 quality cornerbacks as the Jets appear to have then you need to gamble with more heavy blitzing. Sure you will get burned a few times (against Pennington this should not even be a consideration) but in the end your 3-4 linebackers and Kerry Rhodes should make a lot more plays (sacks & turnovers) than you give up, a lot more. I don’t know if it is Sutton or Mangini’s direction to Sutton, either way with Jenkins in the middle and Pace and Thomas bringing heat from the edges it is time for the defense to become much more aggressive and make positive things happen.
It would be great to have a win against anybody. We dont make the schedule or control injuries. My point was a win vs the Pats without Tom Brady is not the same as a win vs Pats w/Tom Brady.
Each game will count the same but I am just saying. It will not have the same impact around the league as far as respect goes for the Jets.
I guess I’m the only one that on 3rd and 7 at the Jets 21 yard line with two minutes left would’ve been screaming at the TV “NOOOOOOO” if Favre had thrown a pass. An incompletion would’ve stopped the clock and allowed the Fins to preserve their final TO. Chad’s a smart QB and he couldn’t hit his WRs all game. The extra time would’ve allowed him to keep going to his backs and TEs. Under 2 minutes with the lead, you run the ball. Period.
I think the reluctance of Sutton blitzing on the last drive were for several reasons. He can’t trust Smith back there who got burned several times during the game. It was hot and humid all day the heat index was 100 at some points, plus the Fins had no timeouts so the substituting was minimal if at all. Why give the Chad the option of hitting a receiver past 20 yards when the Jets DB’S were fantastic all day. The Jets were getting a good push with 4 rushers, so it wasnt like Chad had all day to throw.
Bring on the Pats, the Jets have to definitely sharpen some aspects of there game (penalties, kicking game, covering a TE), and if they do, the Jets should come away with a win.
also keep in mind that brady missed the preseason dealing with injuries and the pats didn’t seem none too concerned.
obviously they have confidence in cassel because otherwise they would have brought in a veteran qb for a look just in case.
now cassel is no bady. he’ll have trouble in things like recognizing defenses. but the pats with a decent game manager can still get to 10-6, 11-5 with their schedule.
and there will be alot more injuries to come for everyone.
but a sunday win would change the dynamic and put the pressure on the pats. i think the jets have enough veterans to be able to handle early success and not let down.
redd5, a better team playing another team without a placekicker and at home should win. The Jets were on the road, without a placekicker, got the lead and won the game against an HOF football genius in Parcells. And, they played their former franchise QB, who had extra incentive to beat his former team. Everything was set up for a loss that didn’t happen. Do the Jets need to get better? Yes (fewer OL miscues, better D on the TE, and a reliable placekicker), but the Jets played under very adverse conditions and came away with a 6-point victory. Let’s enjoy it today.
SackDance99, couldn’t agree more. Lets enjoy this. Our team won. Lots of new faces on a team coming off a 4-12 season. Starting off with a victory was crucial and they accomplished that. Nope, yesterday wasn’t always pretty, and yep, like any other team there are areas to improve, but the #1 in the Wins column, accompanied by a zero in the loss column today is!
SACKDANCE,
Agreed, I was not upset one bit about the 3rd and 7 play considering that there was a penalty which brought us back another 5 yards. Definitely at that point, yes, #1 priority is to get the first, but #2 and #3 is to keep the clock moving, and avoid a turnover.. Good call and shows Mangini had trust in his D’…
You guys don’t actually think that Mangini doesn’t remember all those games Chad couldn’t win for us do you?
Jets need to remain focused and not let distractions, or outcomes create a mindset of complacency.
Sure, Brady may be done, the Chargers looked shoddy at times yesterday but the Jets still must treat their next two opponents as very serious games and stepping stones in a long road ahead.
Belichick will clearly have his team ready, so the Jets need to do the same.
The pass protection needs to improve by a ton, we need to cover the middle of the field better and the play calling has to become a lot more aggressive. You can’t have Brett Favre and not get to 200 yds passing, especially when almost 60 yds came on one play.
This is a long road ahead and I am personally disappointed with the showing yesterday based on the optimism but the Jets need to get stronger, grow and win on Sunday.
Bassett -
I usually agree with much of your posting, but I think this particular post is misguided. How exactly does saying the division is wide open equate to crowning anyone? When I told my boss after the Brady injury that I thought the division was up for grabs, I was putting the Patriots in as one of the potential winners as well..
I certainly don’t think it’s between the Jets and the Bills, and I haven’t seen anyone say anything like that, so I don’t get the need to remind us that the Patriots are still a good team.
First off, I could care less about respect. Just win baby.
What I’m concerned about more than anything is-
Do we have a kicker?
Is Nugent still on this team?
If yes my next question is why?
I’m with SD99. Especially after seeing how tired Favre looked in the 4th quarter and his quote about just winging it and saying, “same play” a few times because he’s still behind in learning the offense. IMO Favre was the difference due to manufacturing 2 TDs Chad would never have gotten, but when he does make mistakes it’s when he’s tired and trying to do too much. Why take a chance giving Miami the ball back when you’ve been running effectively on them and your defense has played well?
As for the defensive play calls, a failed blitz is exactly the play Chad can beat you on. If he gets the ball out quickly to a Ginn or Ricky Williams, players that run well in space, with no D in the middle of the field, it could be over. The play Chad has the least ability to beat you on is the deep ball to a WR, as evidenced by the game winning Revis interception.
subwayfare,
What “same play” quote are you reffering to?
All the Jets last offensive plays were running plays.
All the Dolphins last offensive plays were passing plays. The Jets are going to have to do better than this on the offensive and defensive play calling.
Hey Jet fans, a win is a win! Having seen Brett play for 16 years, I actually agree with the 3rd down call. It was an oven on the field, and I think the coaches rightfully were worried that Brett would be tired. He made two incredible plays on the first half that should keep you all happy. He is magical, and the 4th down pass was not a ‘Hail Mary’ pass. He saw a Jet player there and basically threw a punt. GB fans should be sick.
I’ll back the play calling all day long. The Jets proved they could run the ball and stop the Fish from running. Passing was all the Dolfins had. The Jets D was rush four and keep all pass plays in front of them. Now you may not like sitting on the edge of your seat while CP completes ten yard passes down the field, but you HAD to know the Jets would pick off one of them. You just didn’t know which one.
Now everybody and their uncle over at ESPN is picking the Bills to run away with the division, after one solid game.
SD99 –
I’m with you 100%. The clock was on the Jets side yesterday, especially going against Chad and his dinking and dunking. Mangini knew he wasn’t going to be able to bust one long, so keep the clock running and let him try to get down the field with a weak offense against a defense that was playing very well (if tired).
Like you said earlier, he played it by the book — and there’s a reason why there is “a book” — because most times, it works. And it did work yesterday.
Calvin Pace,
That is the respect factor that I am talking about.
What have the bills done recently? Why is everyone saying that Bills are giong to win the division!! Why not us…
We get no damn respect in this league…
Najy-
From Favre’s post game press conference.
“A couple of times I just winged it and told the guys “same play” and then I said, “OK,ready, break.” That’s the good thing about having a veteran team. We were able to overcome some of those things. I don’t want to do that week in or week out, but sometimes you just have to overcome.”
And this: “I’d be lying if I stood here and told you that I feel real confident in the passing offense right now.”
http://www.newyorkjets.com/news/articles/show/2436-favre-postgame-news-conference
Everyone who wanted to see Favre just rifling the ball down the field and running up the score in the 4th quarter should just slow down. This is a work in progress. Fortunately, his innate football ability is so superior he managed to throw two TDs that made the difference, but there was no reason to force the issue in the final minutes given the circumstances.
Thanks… Nice piece of reading. I guess the coaches were trying to protect him from himself. The running game was working and they new he had to be tired.
Brett probably didnt care that he was tired because he is such a competitor but I think the coaches just tried to protect him from himself and the crazy heat. They figured we can lean on our revamped D. Not a bad choice because the got the turn over at the end.
Coaches might have a different mentality in the middle of October. Brett should be in great phyical shape by then and shouldnt hold anything back.
SD99 – I agree 100% with you about the play calling. Making sure that the clock doesn’t stop was huge. I suppose they could have run a super conservative dump off pass but i doubt the chances of that getting the 1st down would be any better than the draw they ran. The conservative D was a gamble that paid off. If we blitz and get beat, everyone criticizes that. It actually looked to me like we did blitz a couple of times at the end and that those blitzes were picked up. Everyone who wanted more blitzing is assuming that that would equal automatic sack, but if the blitzes aren’t working it can come back to haunt you. Maybe Mangini and Sutton saw that they weren’t working at the end and that influenced their decision to play more conservative (knowing that Chad needs time to orchestrate a scoring drive).
I don’t agree with all the Nugent haters out there. He has been an effective, reliable kicker for us the last few years and if he is out for an extended period, it could be a big problem for us as any journeyman kicker they bring in is a journeyman for a reason – because they aren’t that good. It sucks that he got hurt but some of you are acting like it happened because he’s a bad kicker or wasn’t conditioned properly, which is ridiculous. It seems to me that many of you can’t get over the fact that Bradway made a mistake and drafted Nuge too early. I agree that 2nd round is too early to draft a kicker but you know what? Don’t blame Nugent! If you were a kicker and got signed in the 2nd round, would that be YOUR fault?? He may have been drafted too early but he is unquestionably (look at his FG % and also his kickoff range was acceptable last year) a good kicker, which we need on this team. All of you who are wishing we get rid of him, be careful what you hope for because if we do, we could end up with Jay Feely, who couldn’t stick with the team we beat yesterday.
Did we get rid of Nugent yet?
What I’m concerned about more than anything is-
Do we have a kicker?
Is Nugent still on this team?
If yes my next question is why?
Look, if the 3rd and 7 play was in the Fins’ territory, then maybe you think about passing (although, I wouldn’t), but at the Jets 21 yard line? That would’ve been an incredibly risky play. I read Mike Vaccaro in the NY Post also complain about the 3rd and 7 play. I’m sure if it failed and the Fins kept their TO and won the game, Mike would’ve sung a different tune and the loss would’ve been pinned squarely on Favre.
In fact, given how well Jones was running in the second half, I now think it was a mistake for Favre to pass at all…remember, he fumbled on a pass play on the Fins 24 yard line on first down at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. You milk a lead by running the ball and the Jets were starting to dominate the LOS.
NYC Parking Expert, it’s not fair, but I just see Nugent’s name and associate him with that ridiculous draft under Harmway. Instead of taking Heath Miller, we get Jolley, Justin Miller and Nugent. Justin Miller, who is a great KO returner, never quite made it as a CB and has been replaced by a 4th rounder, Jolley is long gone and Heath Miller is probably the most under-rated complete TE in the NFL. I hated those moves and I just never agreed with the knee jerk reaction after the Doug Brien fiasco to draft a placekicker in the 2nd round. I’ll remind all Jets fans that two of the most pressure-packed FGs in Jets history were made by Raul Allegre, who was picked up the week before that last game of 1991 against Miami that put the Jets in the playoffs…and he made 3 FGs, including the game winner and a last second one to force OT!!! Placekickers are the most fungible players in the NFL and taking one in the 2nd round is just nuts.
SackDance99 — I recorded my opposition to Mangini’s going to a run-first offense at the very opening of the second half — Isolating the 3rd and 7 play does not do justice to Mangini’s sitting on a 13 point lead for the entire second half — Yes, the Dolphins are not a great team — Mangini’s playcalling kept them in the game — If Mangini does the same thing against the good teams on our schedule then we will lose games we otherwise could win — We probably have just the one year with Favre — Let’s not squander it by playing scared to lose –
Sorry — We were up 13-7 at halftime –
SD99 – I agree 100%with your assessment of Harmway’s draft and of the folly of drafting a kicker in the 2nd round, but all of these things are moot points NOW. At this time, Nugent is a very, very good kicker with an 88.9 FG % (2 of 3 from 50+) and 100 PAT% (based on ‘07 season stats). As bad as bradway was (man that jolley move made me sick), it doesn’t equate to Nuge being a bad kicker. No reason to cut off your nose to spite your face.
what were chad’s stats before we went into this prevent guard the sidelines umbrella type defense that gave chad the middle of the field with no pass rush to work with… they probably weren’t to good…in fact the phins weren’t able to do anything until we went prevent…and thats why an aggressive defense from begining to end is the only way to play a game… unless your up by 30 and even then i would think twice before i go prevent…and thats the reason why chad was able to come back and almost win the game…it was sutton sitting in his rocking chair thinking the game was over with around 10 mintues to play…and i didn’t like downshifting the offense either…this type of thinking needs to stop period…just my thoughts…
Johnny, I disagree. The run first offense got a TD in the 3rd quarter and, like I said, if the Jets had run on first and 10 at the 24, maybe the Jets would have had 2 3rd quarter TDs. Also, running keeps the clock running and allows the defense to get more rest, which is crucial in blazing South Florida heat. Like I’ve said before, if Nugent had been healthy and made his kicks and kickoffs, the game would not have been close. I think that the Jets want to have a smash mouth intensity and, judging from the beat downs that the Titans (close score, but they beat up the Jags), Falcons, Steelers and Bears delivered yesterday, a dominant running game still works pretty well in the NFL.
dakar, if you blitz there’s a likelihood that a safety (like Mr. Smith) could be locked up in single coverage with a TE or 3rd WR…making Chad work to get a TD is a lot better than giving up the big play and runs the clock. We’re on Sutton for devising a defense that stopped the running game and allowed Chad to complete short passes to the TEs and backs? The Fins only scored 14 points at home. Sure the game was close at the end, but more because of Nugent and the lousy 4th quarter field position. The defense was fine and, as much as I know it’s hard to give him credit, a healthy Chad Pennington is a good NFL QB. Chad was good yesterday, but as we’ve all seen, his inability to hit his WRs on deep outs ultimately caught up to him. And, Chad, the smart QB as he is, found the weak spot (TE coverage by Smith and whoever David Barrett was covering) and kept picking at it. But, he took up 3 1/2 minutes on a drive that started at midfield to score the second TD and, if Woody doesn’t false start, the Jets run out the clock. Bottom line, the Jets won under adverse conditions and we’ll only know how adverse until we see the Dolphins play other teams. I think they’ll win 5 or 6 games this year and be in a lot of games until the end.
IT DIDN’T BOTHER ME TO SEE CHAD INSIDE THE 20 (RED ZONE). IT WOULD’VE BOTHERED ME IF THEY WOULD’VE CHANGED THE QB INSIDE THE 20. SOMETHING THAT I WISHED THEY WOULD’VE DONE WHEN HE WAS A JET. HE HAS NO ARM INSIDE THE 20. I WAS ALSO AFRAID OF A BROKEN TACKLE FOR A TD. CHAD HAS VERY LITTLE OPTIONS INSIDE THE 20. EXCEPT 20 YRD HAIL MARY’S.
THERE IS A SEASON INSIDE A SEASON. THE GETTING INTO SEASON SHAPE. THE PRESEASON GAMES DO NOT PREPARE YOU FOR THE SEASON’S STAMINA. IF THE JETS STAY HEALTHY ON THE O AND D LINE LOOK OUT. THERE AREN’T MANY TEAMS THAT WILL BE ABLE TO BEAT THEM. INCLUDING THE NEW AND IMPROVED BILLS. WHOEVER RUNS THE BALL BETTER BETWEEN THE JETS AND THE BILLS WILL WIN THE GAME.
Is it just me or didn’t the dropped passes make this game look closer too? I mean it could have been at least one extra TD.
That will get better with time too hopefully because if it doesn’t they are missing opportunities that they can ill afford to miss.
sackdance99 I wont argue with your logic to run the ball, the fins saw it too, perhaps though loading up receivers to show the pass and then a delayed hand off to TJ, or leon would have been more effective, at least we could have felt better about it, we did have more to lose if the pass was incomplete, I was was thinking play action initially myself.