Thomas Jones Leads the Offense
Coming at you live from the Fairfield, NJ Crowne Plaza … I went to a wedding yesterday here in Jersey and it was your typical 300+ guest affair … there were every kind of food stations imaginable during the cocktail hour .. I was running around like a kid at a carnival … heading back home today, so won’t be posting too much ..
Thomas Jones led the Jets (that alone tells you what kind of a day it was) to a win, and in the process had his first multi-touchdown day that I can remember as a Jet, but a slow internet connection won’t let me check. Brett Favre kept things in perspective, letting us know that it feels just as sweet to end a day with a win, however it looked to outside observers.
“It wasn’t our best performance on offense, but it was a win. We did some good things. … Thomas Jones, he had one of those days. I don’t believe in ugly wins. I believe a win’s win. That one felt as good as any win I’ve been a part of in recent memory.”
That the Jets struggled so much offensively has me puzzled, but I guess that the Jets weren’t the only team who have had a tough time with the Bengals … the Cowboys (who are not looking impressive lately) and the Giants (who are) to name a few were teams that narrowly escaped with wins against the Bengals. Hats off to their team, I thought they could be a playoff contender last year, and I see a lot of similarities to their team and the Jets last season in that there’s a lot of things going wrong right now, but overall, I think they have the core to bounce back quickly.
My rule of thumb though is always that you can oversimplify a game and look and who scored more or less than 20, and determine how the game was played. So that Favre had three turnovers and the team still scored 24, while the defense held the offense to just 7 points (not counting the Favre fumble) is pretty impressive.
Filed under: Main Page
Peter King should expect a torrent of angry, Jet fan email for his MMQB column. He ranks Arizona, a team they put up 56 points on, ahead of them and his only comment about the Jets this week is “don’t get too excited,” after beating a team the Giants and Cowboys struggled with? They not only beat them but overcame 3 Favre turnovers to still score 24 points. The defense gave up only 7 points, 171 yards (just 43 on the ground) and had five sacks. Sure it was against a back-up but nothing about the typically improved, post-bye, Mangini defense?
Any word on Cotchery’s injury?
With this franchise who knows? I have been looking, but haven’t seen anything. Hope he is ok.
I would not call the victory over the Bengals impressive. Ugly or sloppy are probably much better words considering the Bengals were without their starting QB and have no running game. 42-7 would have been impressive.
As to Thomas Jones, he scored 3 TDs yesterday and had two in his previous 20 games as a JET including only 1 in 2007.
And I am still mystified that the JETS did not call timeouts before each of Bengals QBs sneaks late in the 1st half. The looked disorganized and clearly weren’t ready. Does Mangini’s rule about not speaking to press also apply to his “D” not being able to call timeouts?? And where was the brilliant coaching staff????
It is clear at this point to me that Westhof is the best coach on this staff.
At least the defense looked decent. But I would say this team still has a long way to go before we start sizing up potential playoff opponents.
Hey Bassett,
Is it possible for you to find out this stat? I think it would be very telling about how the defense DOESN’T play agressive enough.
In 3rd and LONG situations (7-10 yards) how many times did the Jets rush only 3?
A sloppy win is better than a valiant loss. We did win by 12 points in that sloppy win it isn’t like we won by a last second field goal.
A freind of mine is a Dolphins fan and anyone watching CBS probably watched them lose yesterday. After Schaub ran it in, which of course he hated, I wondered why he wasn’t more upset considering what 3-2 means in this division currently and he said something that was brilliant in its simplicity. “How many games last year did we blow a lead in th final seconds?” “How many wins did we have?”
We have already reached 3/4 of last years win total. Last year we lost these games. We should take some joy in being over 500 for the first time since 2006. That said, I hope we stomp the Raiders.
All Things NY-
I can’t find the stat again but I read somewhere a week or so ago that the Jets led the league in yards given up on blitzes. I’ll have to look at the tape again but I’m fairly certain the lone Bengals scoring drive featured some big gainers against pressure. The problem with blitzing is that if it’s picked up, the secondary is at a major disadvantage. And, after Revis, the cover corner skills drop off significantly. Lowery’s coming along nicely but he’s a rookie and lacks pure speed. The second safety spot after Rhodes is also a liability in man coverage. And the bigger size upfront, leading to an improvement in the pass rush and run D, may also have resulted in weaker underneath pass coverage against backs and TEs. Some people complain about Jenkins coming out on 3rd downs but, not only has Ellis had success with his quickness against centers and guards as a pass rusher, but can also occasionally drop into coverage, something no one wants to see Jenkins doing.
I think the way the Jets are trying to be aggressive is in mixing coverage and pressure in such a way as to keep O’s guessing and off balance. Hopefully, the LB’s, safeties and Nickels improve in coverage and more blitzes hit their target as the season progresses.
wins a win…a grind it out take care of business win just like i precicted twice on this site….put it behind us and get ready for oakland…
looking at 5-2 when we face the bills
F Peter King — he knew if he wrote about the Jets, he’d have to admit that Favre singlehandedly kept the Bengals in the game with his fumble and bad interceptions. The Jets won yesterday in spite of the quarterback, not because of him, something that they haven’t done much of the past few years.
And after watching the Phins and Redskins go down to two previously winless teams yesterday, I agree with Favre — any win is a good win.
subwayfare — I heard or read somewhere that Cotchery only had the wind knocked out of him and that he was okay afterward.
A COMMENT ABOUT JET FANS THAT ATTEND GAMES:
I was at the game yesterday, dont have the funds to go to many, but i feel that Jets fans that attend the games aren’t the best fans! I’m specifically talking about making noise when were on defense to disrupt or make it tough for the opposing teams offense to hear the snap count or the audibles! The defensive players like kerry rhodes, was at times trying to get the fans loud, and the noise got up their to a degree at times, but nothing too loud and other times barely getting loud. And then a couple of times after making some noise, and the jets not stopping the bengals, we just went silent. Thats when the defense really needs the fans to continue to stay loud, be confident in our defense, to try to be disruptive to the bengals. And then their is firefighter Eddy, who at times when we were starting our offense, he was doing the Jets chants, which was probably bothersome to our offense! Other times when he was leading the Jets chant, it was just embarrassing how the stadium was not roaring during the chant! I feel when i watch games on tv of other stadiums and their crowds, so many other teams fans become really loud and disruptive to the visiting team. —– ANY COMMENTS?
The two most important thing I take away from this game are:
In a 6 point ballgame, late in the 4th quarter, the Jets were able to put together a 10 play, 6+ minute drive, run the ball effectively and cash in a TD.
Resiliency to overcome losing the turnover battle and still win the game.
Sure, the Bengals are decimated and disorganized, but the Jets got the job done, with bright spots. If Favre is gonna have a bad game, get it over with in this case. 42-7 would’ve been nice, but I’m content saving big O performances for the Bills or Pats.
I agree with the comment on Peter King column, but maybe it’s better to fly under the radar. I thought that the Jets offense was fine except for the Favre misques, but they still won handily. As a long time Brett fan, you have to take the interceptions along with the incredible passes he makes.
The Pack, for example, played against a third string QB and a Seattle team that was weaker than the Bengals. The Jets are slowly building a team and that is what is important. I really think that if the Jets make the playoffs and Brett’s not hurt, he will be back next year.
I am not so upset with the two INT. by Favre because both did pin the bengals back inside their 10 yard line. I dont think favre should throw a toss up to franks on the run ever again; if a toss up is going to be thrown to a TE on the run by the sideline it should be to keller or baker! It was foolish on favre’s part, it was second down and we were inside the 25yard line. The one to cotchery, he forced it into double coverage, but at least this one was 3rd and long, and probably on the border line of Feeley’s FG kicking ability to make it from that distance consistantly. Much rather take a chance down field for a big play and pin them back at their 8 yard line than have feeley miss a 45 yard FG, giving the bengals good field position.
Also to note, listening to Boomer and Carton this morning, and carton stated that Coles was battling through the flu the last few days, and spitting up blood during the game at times. Got to applaud Coles on fighting and showing heart. Believe he had a drop or two during the game, and im sure if he was healthy they would of been caught!
- SUBWAYFARE
I agree with you on the most part, but when I watch other teams, I see that they can be successful even without the best coverage unit.
My perspective is that if you can make the qb rush the throw, even 1 second earlier, I believe it has a higher percentage of being incomplete or not enough for a first down rather than automatically dropping everyone but 3 into a zone coverage scheme.
I know that you have to be balanced and you cant blitz every 3rd and long, but my thing is, they don’t even bluff a blitz, which signals to quarterbacks they have time to make their reads.
I just don’t like waiting for the opposition to mess up, I’d rather have my team attempt to force that issue.
I also did not mind the 2 Favre picks — in both cases he actually correctly identified a 1 on 1 matchup on the outside and our guy just didn’t win the battle — the first ball may have been underthrown and the second one was only intercepted because of the tipped ball — the safety actually got there late. In the future I’d much rather he throw the jump ball to Keller as opposed to our WRs though because they’re just too short. I think as time goes on he’ll realize he doesn’t have the 2004 Javon Walker or even Greg Jennings to throw those jump balls to and that overthrowing is better than underthrowing the ball in some cases.
ATNY-
I’m basically with you. Again, I don’t think they rushed only three all that often and likely tried to disguise it some before the snap. Maybe just not that effectively. Teams that have been playing this D for many years, NE, Pitt. et al., maybe do it better but I think it’s because they’re more experienced in blitz coverage schemes and maybe make their blitzes count more often.
In this NFL, it is so hard to get a win. How can anyone complain about yesterday’s win? Last year, we would’ve loved to have won a few more of those types of games. The defense gave up only one TD, we had 5 sacks, many 3 and outs. When we had to, we had a nice drive in the 4th quarter to seal the game. What more do people want?
We’re 3-2, and right smack in the middle of it. If we continue to win the games we should, it’ll be a fun season.
This was a game we actually were supposed to win, so that is good, but……………………………………………………..In crunch time (weeks 10-16) if we are not able to run the ball it will be ugly. Faneca does not look like an all pro, Mangold has his best year during his rookie season, and Moore is less.
Mangini is probably as boring and bland (Has to bring in Teddy Atlas to fire up the team) a coach as I have seen in a long time, and he has a knack of keeping games close when we should put a boot on the neck of the opponent and put the game away. (terrible game management)
Oh, I forgot to mention the kicking game, or lack thereof.
I would be surprised with more than 8-9 wins, at least we do not have to give Green Bay a high pick for our 1 year w/Favre.
j, anything about the Jets that you like? Wow, I’ve never seen such pessimism after a WIN. The kicking game was very good yesterday, by the way. Our new punter did well,and Feely was on the money, what game did you watch?
Many positives from yesterday: After the Favre fumble, TD, our offense came right down the field and got those points back. Defense gave up only 1 drive all day. Even against a backup QB that’s good. Our offense controlled the ball the entire game. Once the 2nd half got underway, you could tell the Jets had control of the game. Even though Favre threw 2 picks, they weren’t costly ones, and he marched the team downfield in the 4Q, taking almost all the time off the clock and putting the decisive score. I agree it’s too early to be discussing playoffs, but this team is progressing nicely. The Jets have shown they can win in a variety of ways: in a shootout, in a grind it out ball control way, etc. That has not been the case in the last couple of years, and on top of that, there is no doubt that the defense is much improved.
I have two huge concerns. The offense is not one of them. It seems to be a trait of this club to sag in the secondary when ahead and give late scores or momentum changing scores. Thank god Palmer did not play, i would not have liked our chances. Also, Feeley scares me, any news on Nugent? What week does he return?
All Things NY-
I just looked at the Bengals scoring drive at the end of the half. The Jets rushed five or more on virtually every single completion. The play that began the drive went for 15 with a 5 man rush. The next big completion had Rhodes blitzing from from the right but picked up by the back. On at least two plays, the Jets brought the house, including the 4th and 2 that kept the drive alive. They had five rushing on the controversial catch/bobble on the ground.
Perhaps the CS could be criticized for not teaching good enough blitzing technique, or for poor spacing, for the blitzers not having their hands up to knock down passes, for whomever is left in coverage not picking up the hot read, but not lack of aggressiveness. At least not on the one drive on which the Bengals scored.
Pete57,
I am just watching a team that has trouble puting anyone away, it was a 3 pt game in the 4th qtr.
By the way I like the NY Jets Cheerleaders!