Game Recap: Take Five Steps Forward …
In the game of Giant Steps, progress is measured by where you are at the end of your turn. If the God of steps says you take three steps forward and one back, it means that you move ahead, but only by moving backwards after you’ve moved ahead. The Jets made such a move over the last few weeks moving into contention for the Super Bowl by going five steps forward. But, today, we learned the cost of our progress as the Denver Broncos made us take one step back. Back, to a contender, but one that knows now that it is not invincible.
For most of the season, knowedgeable fams have been concerned about some features of the new Jets. Third down (and fourth down) and short, has nagged at fans who have complained on this website and elsewhere about the lack of deception (and, worse still, the lack of commitment to the run game against a weak defensive front) on short yardage situations. So has the defense’s coverage on passes to tight ends and third/fourth receivers. We were simply atrocious today in both cases–worse than we’ve been in weeks and we gave up big plays besides, but don’t get me started.
We’ve been lulled into visions of sugar plums over the past few weeks. Jets are the best team in the AFC. Jets-Giants SUper Bowl.
But, we simply can not go all the way giving up five hundred yards of offense, as we have all too often this year. We can not go all the way dropping passes, as we did all too often today. We can not go all the way telegraphing our intentions to smart coaches by running empty sets with a handful of yards for a first down, as we did all too often today. We can not go all the way with the kind of play calling we had today. We can not go all the way trying to razzle dazzle our opponents with trick plays like the reverse (in the rain) with two exchanges that cost us an early touchdown. Just plain stupid. Finally, we can not throw unconscionable picks.
We’re undoubtedly a playoff team and we will probably win the division, Pittsburgh took care of that in Foxboro. But we won’t go very far with the kind of playing and coaching that the Jets exhibited this afternoon. How many times were the Broncos sitting on the first down run today? How many times were the Broncos sitting on the pass on third and short today? How often did we get pressure on Cutler today? Where is our pass rush?
I know this is supposed to be a game recap. I’ll just ask your indulgence for a brief rant against two of the league’s rules. First, the rule that a fumble can not be reviewed. Clearly, if a man is down with possession, as soon as an opposing player touches him the ball ought to be dead. But, since the rule says that a fumble can not be reviewed, the possession was never called. Dare I say that the officiating was almost as bad as the CBS team on the microphone. It was the wrong call and it’s a bad rule.
The most egregious rule that must be addressed by the competition committee in the off season is the stoppage of play while a player is down. There’s nothing wrong with the rule itself. The problem is, some coaches have conspicuoulsy exploited it and Mike Shanahan clearly coached his players to lay down whenever the Jets had momentum. They did it five times in the second half. FIVE TIMES. And, to my knowledge, each player played in the next series. You may cry all you want about the loss of momentum and the fundamentally underhanded nature of exploiting the rule, as Shanahan did, but, just like the timeout on field goals, guys like Shanahan will always take advantage of bad rules. Don’t blame Shanahan, blame the rule. While I think Shanahan is a sack of s@@t for exploiting the rule (comparisons to other sneaky little bastard coaches are appropriate), it’s up to the game to police itself. My recommendation is a three possession rule. If you go down with an injury in the second or fourth quarters, you must stay out of the game for three possessions. That should protect injured players and weed out slimy coaches.
Now, back to the game.
Actually, it was an ugly loss.
We failed to execute in so many ways that I haven’t the heart to recap it. We sucked. I’m going to skip the usual details (Bassett, maybe you have the heart) and just rant. Here’s what I have to rant about.
1) If we make the playoffs (and we should) we’re not going very far with this defense playing as it is now. It’s one thing for us to blame the Jets’ past defensive woes on playing-from-ahead or inexperience in the system, but we haven’t got the technique yet, or possibly the players yet, to win when we’re playing badly or being outplayed by another team’s offense. We almost blew the Patriots’ game and the Titans shot themselves in the foot. We’ve got to get a lot better on defense.
2) If I even see another trick play out of this offense it will be too soon. We have a hammer, on offense. One that can dominate other teams. But, we play from behind half the time by trying to be tricky at the wrong times (and failing to be deceptive when we ought to be). We must, MUST, win through superior execution. Until we learn this simple axiom, we’re just going to be out-gadgeted by some other jerk coach. We’ll never get very far in the playoffs.
3) Kris Jenkins has not played enough “A” gap to get it right yet. He’s a great player who I have lauded in this column. But, despite being a superior athlete, he was outplayed today by not knowing how to play two gaps. Hopefully, this will be a good leasson for him and we can expect better in the future. Until then, he’s a very good player who will contribute in the future, that’s all.
4) In a season where we’ve gone from doormat to the brink of the playoffs, there were probably going to be a number of games that we cringed at. The one we won, but should have lost (Kansas City). The one we survived (Patriots). The one we lost, but should have won (Raiders). The thumping of a playoff team (Titans). We’ve had them all except for one. The one where everything goes wrong. The one where we couldn’t get out of our own way and in which every break (virtually) went to the other team. That was today’s game. At least its over.
5) Thank God this didn’t happen in the playoffs. We needed a wak-up call. Good morning, sleepy head. We’re actually very lucky we had a loss so close to the playoffs. I have been sensing complacency all week. Kerry Rhodes on this tv show. Kris Jenkins on that one. Kerry saying his unit had to step up (it didn’t). I believe the Jets may have looked past the Broncos. Bad idea. Now, they can’t look past anybody. Even though they’re in the drivers’ seat, they can’t afford any more mistakes.
6) Today, for those of us inclined to drown our sorrows after a bad game but wake up the next day with a brighter prospect, we actually had a good day. Probably our hardest remaining game is now over. With the Patriots’ loss and wins by Baltimore and Indianapolis (who hold tie-breakers against them), they have hurt their chances significantly of making the playoffs. Their situation is now dire. They must win out and we still can win the division even if we lose a game (although if the loss were to Miami and they were to finish 11-5, the tie breakers would go very deep). Since Miami barely beat St. Louis, they are clearly undermanned with the loss of Camarillo and should lose another game along the way so, on the whole, it was a very good day. Despite losing like dogs.
By the way. The game ended 34-17 Denver.
We lost. It wasn’t pretty.
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the play calling on offense and defense were horrendous today.
I say just throw this game out. Good thing we got the crappy game out of the way now. The goal now is to win the division and hope indianapolis gets the 1st wild card spot.
We can play with the physical teams (patriats, steelers and titans, ravens) We have no chance against the colts.
FIRE THE COACHES FOR THE PLAY CALLING !!!!
Pathetic officiating.
Ty Law got burned so much it made me miss Justin Miller.
The whole defense needs adjusting.
Oh,and uuuhhh…… Dre Bly SUCKS!!!! Once a lion, always a lion(no offense Damien Woody)
J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets!
We were exposed today. The constant frying of our defense by TEs and 3rd-to-4th WRs are a result of most of our OLBs (and sometimes MLBs - Bowens) being converted DEs. They wreck RBs, but get destroyed by the pass-catchers, so we’ve bought a run defense at the expense of coverage of 3rd-options or greater. (Wasn’t Ty Law supposed to help us there?!?!)
Broncos are simply a bad matchup. Let’s hope they lose in the 1st round of the playoffs. They excel at our weakness, and somehow their d-line matches up well against our o-line. (Not to mention, Dewayne “Bust” Robertson playing motivated against us.) Moving forward, I’d look to add a true OLB, rather than a converted DE.
great recap…. i was there, all of us were flipping out when the broncos defenders constantly were “injured” everytime we tried to go no-huddle.
ronnie is right on, teams with wide open offenses give us trouble…and some of that is due to vanilla schemes on defense. where is kerry rhodes?? (and poor elam…the guy has been hot….and today he was awful)
the defense was awful in the first half…but down 27-14 in the third…with 3rd and 1 just past mid-field? AND THAT MORON SCHOTT PLAY FAKES 2 TIMES IN A ROW.
i am cool with one play fake….but once it doesnt work, stop trying to re-invent the wheel you douchebag!! u have a team that ran for 200 last week, that had run for 120 that point against a team that has trouble stopping the run… and the afc’s leading rusher is on ur team. JESUS CHRIST RUN THE FREAKING BALL.
and 1st and goal at the 7 later on down 27-14…where is thomas jones?? hand off leon……then 2 passes. weak….
the brad smith pitch….UMMMM….not needed in the rain u tool….
and yeah kinda sucks that u the review rule went against us with that play…if the ball is in the guys hands tucked away, he is down the split second he is touched. why that cant be reviewed is beyond me.
we got our wake up call….lets see what happens next week.
Well I can’t say I’m surprised, I knew we were going to lose as soon as everybody starting talking about a all NY SB, I knew it would get to the Jet players head and even our heads, maybe this game will bring the jets back to Earth
nyckage
thats exactly why the giants are superior in the league. they play the way they should. AS for the jets, today was very disappointing, only good thing was the pats lost, but we can almost kiss our first round bye away….
I love the year we are having. I think at this moment the Jets are an average team and that’s why we lost today. Good teams find ways to win and not give games away. Its been a very exciting year and I wish we make the palyoff, but if we fall short ,I still feel this has been a good year. GO JETS!!!!!!
Game recap: Abram Elam has forgotten how to tackle and how to cover receivers. I call for his head.
where was the pass rush?
Favre looked OLD and got schooled by one of the worst DEFENSES in the league.
Whenever Mangini goes up against a top tier coach or a coach who won a Superbowl he looks like an amateur.
Brian Schottenheimer — there’s an opening in Cleveland. TAKE IT!
Jets fan… Come over to the dark side (Giants) we have a great team that knows how to win Super Bowls (we have 3).
Hey news flash “Big Fat Paulie,” this happens to be only Mangini’s 3rd year as a head coach! So comparing him to Mike Shanahan, Bill Billicheck, or Tom Couphlin doesn’t really make sense. Compared to those guys experience, Mangini can easily be considered an ameteur.
Everyone else…Our Jets will be just fine, we cant expect perfection, especially with bad weather, poor officiating, a team faking injuries to kill momentum, and pretty weak offensive play calling. We’ll be fine!!
amen luke….. well put. its a loss…it happens
hope they forget about this loss quickly, correct the problems, and go out to San Fran and take care of business.
disappointing loss for sure - I figured we would be able to establish our running game from the opening whistle and it just didnt materialize. I guesss I should not be suprised - it seems the worse the run d, the less our success. what happened to our ability to generate pressure on the QB, and where did our run d go?
Keller, Leon and TJ were about the only bright spots today. Oh, and Mangold’s down field block - that was nasty. Play calling was an F+
I agree with most of what is said especially the horrible officiating on that cotchery play and the even worse CBS announcing. But I will not bash them for calling that reverse because of the bad weather. If you look at the play, if Cotchery holds on to it, the play goes big and no one is complaining.
I had a bad feeling from the first 3 and out drive. I’ve been worried all week about the team reading their own press clippings even though they seemed level-headed. Obviously they weren’t. They looked asleep at the wheel all game. I guess if you look at it, its hard to ask a team to win 10 in a row which is what they would have done had they run the table. They should be focused the rest of the way and hopefully 12-4 is what we are looking at. Unfortunately the two seed is going to be a harder hill to climb. Even if they go 4-0 the Steelers need to go 2-2 for that to happen.
The Defense today, I don’t even know how to describe it. To allow this Fullback to just run over them like that, I can’t believe the tackling and the holes that opened up for this guy. Its not like he was Barry Sanders and faked them out of their cleats. He’s a damn fullback for God sakes. Like was said earlier, better now than later when it comes to a complete failure game like this. Off to San Fran to take out their frustrations on the 49ers.
sutton and schotty-horrible!!!!!!!
hey big fat paulie go take some hydroxycut and maybe u won’t have the time to come on to another teams blog and make comment because u will have a girl or a life to tend too…
fat fu**
i would love to meet some of these people in person
oh yea and u have a great team lol
players who manage to shoot themselves in a night club and lb who tries to hide the gun….
Class A people you got on that squad
vernon gholston is a train wreck of a ball player every time he was on the field he looked lost and when he had a chance at cutler he didnt attack him instead he gets faked out then gives him a little push this guys is gonna be a HUGE BUST
sutton is so terrible i cant handle it he is ultra conservative i mean you would figure it would light a fire under him that his job was almost lost last offseason its terrible and schotty is also terrible with his play calling today like RUN THE ROCK MORE STOP WITH THE TRICK PLAYS
Terrible play-calling, bad breaks and no pass rush. Sooner or later not having David Harris was going to hurt. Well, today the Broncos let Jenkins penetrate and sealed him off with a double team. With Harris, that results in a tackle for no gain. I guess running on short yardage against the Broncos wasn’t in the game plan. Why? Gadget plays in the rain? Why? Sitting back with 5-6 DBs and not blitzing? Why? VG not running right into Cutler’s face? Why? Also, 14 points on turnovers to 3 for the Jets. The Cotchery fumble was a gift, but Favre was picked in deep Denver territory. The defense had no answers.
I say this every week. An early lead, especially in bad weather conditions, virtually guarantees a win. The Broncos got the early lead and the Jets couldn’t play catch up. Look at how the 49ers beat the Bills. It happens. Let’s just hope that this was an isolated “bad day at the office” and not the start of a harrowing slide.
I agree with a lot of what was said here. bad matchup all around. I’ve been saying for a while how our OLBs are killing us in coverage…Pace, Thomas, (and Bowens in that Buffallo game) just don’t have the wherewithall to cover in the flats, and our DBs just weren’t getting any breaks today.
Football turns a lot on a couple lucky plays, and today they just didn’t go our way. Cutler’s pass in the 3rd quarter (I think) on that 3rd down, rolling out of the pocket with Gohlston (hi, 1st round pick!) in his face…that pass was a MILISECOND from being swatted down by Elam. That pass gets knocked down, it’s still early in the game, and we’ve got field position. BUT it gets completed, they march down the field and put up more points. That was the end, in my opinion.
All we can do is hope that they beat down weak SF and Seahawks teams, then take one from the Bills or the Phins.
Am I alone in the sentiment that this team plays exactly the same on the road and at home!?
..and this is gonna sound sore-losery, but COME ON with the shin-injuries. Every time we got some momentum, a Bronco stubbed his toe, then magically reapperaed in the next series. GMAFB.
The most depressing thing to me was dropping 5-6 DBs and still leaving someone wide open for thirty yard completions. I’d rather send everyone on blitzes if they can’t cover anyway. The pass rush really hasn’t been there consistently since early in the season. The D Linemen and LBs, or whomever they send on rushes, have to work together better to create blitzing lanes. See Pittsburgh for a clinic in this technique. And what happened to Pace and BT coming around the edge?
No one designs run blocking schemes better than Shanahan and they trapped Jenkins and got great initial bursts by yet another RB no one ever heard of. As soon as that happened the D looked surprised and rattled like Mike Tyson when Holyfield came out and went toe to toe with him at the opening bell. Once the D started worrying about getting run on they got softer against the pass. And Cutler, with his deep roll outs, dramatically extended the portion of the field those big LBs had to cover.
I know the Favre detractors will focus on his one pick but, as I’ve mentioned on another thread, you have to be able to try a deep, sideline go route to your number one WR when you get him in single coverage. I don’t know if LC gave up on the route, or if they miscommunicated, or if Favre just overestimated his speed, or whatever, but it was not a terrible decision. Especially since it was downed at the Denver 32. Favre didn’t play exceptionally well but he didn’t play awfully, either. There were some drops, too. LC didn’t look right to me, today, but neither did a lot of the team. They seemed to still be in a bit of a turkey - tryptophan daze, ready to cry about having to go out in the rain. I hope that was the primary problem. A little lazy from the holiday and overconfident from two huge wins, playing a team eager to bounce back from an embarrassing loss at home. Bad combo.
SackDance99.
“I say this every week. An early lead, especially in bad weather conditions, virtually guarantees a win.”
I’ll say this every week… Come to the darkside and become SackDance92. We have the record for sacks in a season 22.5 The last one being a gift from your LOUSY QB!
Now go get your shine box!
(BFP), love the comeback, is that all you Giants fans got. WOW! haha
The trick plays and the lack of a pass rush hurt. The fake injuries and the piss poor officiating really stung. But Mangini punting with 7 plus minutes left was crazy.
On the plus side I hope we take it out on SF next Sunday.
GO JETS!!!!!
VG played? I didn’t notice.
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worst games of football i have watched ever…. it was never exciting to watch and i felt like crying
I also agree with the analysis of the game and the current state of the Jets but I think most of them are still too optimistic. The deficiencies in the defense and the coaching show that the playoffs are far from a sure thing. All the remaining opponents are also sure to try to exploit all the weaknesses. I’m just not convinced that the coaching can adjust fast enough to change the game plan if things don’t follow the script they prepared for during the week. Did the coaching staff panic by going for it on 4th down often too early in the game? The offense can be good but the difficulty scoring from short yardage is alarming. It also couldn’t play catch up when the defense allows the other team score a lot first.
I’m still confident that the Jets will make the playoffs, but there are no “easy” games from here on in. The Dolphins and the Bills have beaten the Jets enough times to make those games scary.
It was a bad game and a loss, nothing more, nothing less. The Jets are still alone in 1st place with the opportunity to write their own ticket to the playoffs. If you believed in this team after last week, and were confident in where they were headed after beating the Titans, nothing should changed based on one lousy performance - unless of course you didn’t/don’t truly believe in this team. This was a bad game, it happens to every team. This is not the “same old Jets”. I am fully confident of that. Go Green!
If it serves as a wake up call and they go on to win their last four, the loss was well worth it. The effort just wasn’t there and was reflected in the poor tackling. Felt along, one of these type of games was going to creep but thought it would probably be the Bill game. Almost every team gets one of these in the season even this year’s Giants. See their game versus the Browns earlier this season.
neuro…u are 100% right on the coaching.
BUT i dont think it was a “panic” move to go on 4th in the 3rd qtr there. the offense was actually in rhythem, and it was 3rd and 1 from the denver 48 i believe….and we play faked. FINE…but then if ur gonna go for it on 4th…they had to run the ball.
says alot about ur offensive coordinator when both play fakes dont work….means the D knew it was coming.
one week after schotts game plan was almost perfect against the titans…he tried to re-invent the wheel again.
and yes a previous post was right when he said cotchery holds onto the pitch he has a big gain coming…but running that play in that weather is too much of a risk.
the faking injuries needs to be looked at by the league.
this is from the recap…
The Broncos had players injured — Spencer Larsen, Ebenezer Ekuban and Dre’ Bly — on consecutive catch-and-runs by Leon Washington on one scoring drive, and a few others also went down during other drives. The fans booed, apparently thinking Denver was purposely trying to stop New York’s momentum.
“We took it personal,” Marshall said. “If not for the fans, the outcome might have been different. We thank the Jets fans for booing when our guys were down.”
what a loser….ur team plays in the worst division in football….shut ur mouth…
Two plays stuck out for obvious reasons.
I am a 19 year old jet fan. Never in my life have a seen an individual make as terrible a play as i saw jerricho cotchery make. I mean that was just atrocious
Almost as atrocious was Abram Elam’s terrible play when he jumped over Royal and tried to get that pick, in no way attempting to make a tackle and letting his man walk to the end zone because he was selfishly looking for an into instead of just getting his hand in there and following with his body.
Also, Mangini is just not a very good coach. We need to realize that. Shanahan made him look like a pee wee coach. In no punt territory how do you throw the ball on 3rd and 4th with a yard to go? REALLY mangini? You dont have faith in Thomas Jones to get a yard on 2 runs? Mangini appears not only not that good, but incompetent at times.
Also Mangini, would it kill you to keep tony richardson in when you put Leon in for Jones. Seriously, if its third and short and richardson and jones go out and and you put Leon in and I KNOW that its gonna be a screen, what do you think Mike Shanahan is thinking?
Mangini is painfully scripted. He cannot change his coaching styles in gametime situations. Ive said after every close game, patriots, chiefs etc. I have a ton of convfidence in these players, and very little to no confidence in this coach
Can someone please explain to me the rationale for not being able to review a recovered fumble?
Dont worry I firmly believe that Eric Mangini allowed some of this to happen. He underestimated Shannahan and his gameplan before the game. He let his coaches and players come into the game flatfooted and lackadasical. Shannahan caught him this time but it is true we match up poorly to the broncos especially when Shannahan attacks ouur weaknesses relentlessly like he did Sunday. What we can take from this game is that this team needs more time to work and improve. This is why we need players like Faneca, Jenkins, Woody, Revis, and Rhodes to lean on so that the recovery can be that much faster. We didn’t lose anything than what we had gained coming into Sunday don’t be mistaken. We had the same weaknesses and we were prone to have sloppy performances. There is still time to exceed our expectations and this day, this week’s preparation is crucial.
How weirdly awkward and uncomfortable did Vernon Gholston make everyone feel while he “chased” down Cutler and Cutler completed that ridiculous pass? It was almost like he had never played football before.
We can second guess the offensive play calling…bash the officials for bad calls…hammer Cotch and Smith for the game changing bad exchange…trash the receiving corps for the dropsies…but you know what…
We will not win a playoff game…heck…we might not even make the playoffs with our pass defense the way it is right now.
Now I have always contended that no matter how bad we (the fans) think a coach is…he is still smarter then us. I am going to abandon that contention for a moment…
Ty Law being brought in to start at the 2nd corner position is the worst coaching mistake made by the defensive staff all year. I did not say bringing him in was a bad move…I thought it was a great move. It filled what I thought was our biggest weakness…someone to cover tight ends. Follow me for a moment. Our linebacking corps is made up of DE’s…great for stopping the run…not so great for pass coverage. Ty Law is a physical DB that has lost some of his speed…who better to cover a tight end. Let’s face it…the Broncos TEs are not world beaters.
The only thing the coaching staff is doing with the Law experiment is taking our 3rd best DB (Lowery) off the field. We seem to emply a lot of nickle and dime coverages. Put Law in as a third “safety” over the TE.
That’s my coaching rant.
I hope this game serves as a wake up call to the personel and the coaches on the defensive side of the ball. The offense will be fine when we can stick to the game plan. Jones…Jones…Leon…Jones…and a hint of Favre.
I am making the cross country trek to San Fran this weekend for the game. I hope the Jets show up before I do.
Wow, that was a fun game… Maybe we won’t get any more morons talking about a subway superbowl anymore at least. The whole ‘favorite’ thing with the Jets always makes me nervous anyway, best we expect them to lose from the outset so we cannot be disappointed.
Yeah, and I almost threw the remote through the television set on those pathetic Bronco injuries… So pathetic…
Also, did anybody else notice how despite the “huge” defense the Jets have (therefore incapable of defending the pass) they also seemed to give up like seventeen yards every time the Broncos tried to run the ball. Weird.
very fitting quote for the Jets this year…”you are never as good or as bad as people say you are”…
1) the Jets have a different game plan every week for every opponent. some weeks its good, some weeks its bad..this week it was bad…the difference in good or average coaching versus great coaching is the ability to adjust during the game…the one thing the Jets coaching doesn’t do is adjust to a game plan that is not working…just look at most of the losses this year…
2) adjustments require the ability to use different personel…our LB’s are mostly (except Barton) poor pass covering LB’s and stoudt againt the run and we have only one good man to man DB…that leaves you with little room to adjust…
3) I have been saying it all year… Vernon Gholston does not look like he even has an ounce of “football player” in him…he plays like a kid that rather be working out in the gym all day, than chasing QB’s…his heart does not seem to be in the game…if we find out after the season, that he has some personal / family issues, depression or wants to quit football, I wouldn’t be at all suprised.
4) the downside of the Brad Smith’s gadget plays is either a first down or a disaster…for coaches who play the odds all the time (ie: prevent defense) they are not practicing what they preach or miscalculating the odds…secondly, they should be using him, not LC on the quick hits at the line of scrimage…every time he catches the ball, he gets YAC
5) this team was believing the press clipplings and looked past the broncos…they were all asleep at the wheel and did not seem motivated
oK, so today we lost; agree this is good as a building block, and glad it didn’t happne in the playoffs. But for anyone who was in the stands, realize the enthusiasm was there, and we were in it up until start of 4thQ (although at times it didn’t feel like it).
Also, on a day with wind and rain (i.e., a very slippery ball) we simply lost out to lady luck with more turnovers at inopportune times, and dropped balls.
In short, this is still the very strong team it was prior to yesterday, and it has been well coached.
WE NEED TO REPLACE SUTTON. THAT IS WHY WE TRIED TO SIGN ONE OF THE RYAN BROTHERS IN THE OFFSEASON. I THOUGHT MANGINI WAS A DEFENSIVE GURU BUT HE CAN’T SCHEME ANYTHING LIKE BELI CHEAT! LET’S SEND SOME BLITZES AND NOT LET THE QUARTERBACK SIT BACK THERE ALL DAY. OUR DEFENSE NEEDS TO GET THEIR SHI! TOGETHER!
To me the Bronco “injuries” are no worse than running the hurry-up in the first place, trying to catch defenses with 12 men on the field on substitutions, or anything else within the rules as written. I give Shanahan credit for combating trickery with more trickery. I think the rules committee needs to look at it but yesterday Shanahan just outcoached Mangini within the parameters of what’s allowed today. If Mangini’s going to grow into the coach a lot of people believe he has the potential to be, he won’t whine about it but learn from it.
I think the Jets just had a bad day yesterday and have the ability to play better from the HC all the way down. Thank God the Pats lost and the Jets can still control their own destiny. The only thing that truly worries me is the pass defense, and that includes getting pressure on a mobile QB. I hope some better scheming can overcome the personnel shortcomings there. It didn’t surprise me to see VG get meaningful minutes because at least he’s got speed. His hesitation on the Cutler rundown, though, exposed his inexperience and lack of technique.
gholston was terrible gets suck in on a face and later can’t chase down cutler,bust.time to play murrell
This game came down to Manigini’s famous Quote from last year about the game being won or lost by a “handfull of plays”. The game was coached well on both sides. Its not the coaches fault that elam went to knock the ball out instead of make the tackle on the long touchdown pass, and its not the coaches fault that elam didn’t know who to cover on denvers last touchdown, and if you look at cotchery’s fumble…its not the coaches fault he dropped the ball. That was a great play call cause if cotchery got the ball cleanly he was gonna go for at least a 20 or 30 yard gain. The whole left side of the field was walled off for a huge play. Those 3 plays put 21 denver points on the board. Without that we probably would have won even with how poorly we were playing.
Chris long 5 sacks, Vernon Gholston “0″ sacks. Every time i see him in the game I hope he can bust through for a big play to maybe get his confidence going, and yesterday when he finally got kind of close to the quartback Cutler threw a duck pass for 30 yards that was caught. Dustin Keller led the Jets in receiving yards again and lowery got his first pick. At least some rookies are coming through for the jets.
They just had a bad game. Even Cotchery had a bad game: the fumble on the gadget play, a drop on fourth down that he normally catches, etc. The offense seemed out of synch. The officiating was ridiculous and Denver’s faking of injuries was infuriating, but I’m not using that as an excuse. Despite all that the Jets still could and should have won the game. (They came back and tied it right after the “unchallengeable” fumble return, and they had ample opportuinites to make it a one-score game in the third quarter.) They just didn’t execute well when they had to. But to look at the glass half full, I was thinking SF or Seattle may be trap games, but after this loss, I’d bet the ranch on the Jets being very focused now.
The coaches really need to figure out how to defend against TEs. We’ll be toast if we don’t take care of this. (Playoff possibilities: Manning-Clark? Flacco-Heap?)
And I reaaaaally hope Schotty gets a HC job somewhere. We’ve all had enough of his cutesy stuff. Let’s just pound their faces in, like we know we can from the TEN game.
subwayfare
Your right that gaming is part of any game. Still, faking injuries is hardly comparable to playing the hurry-up. The one is strategic, the other premeditatedly untruthful.
What really bothers me about this, and should bother all football fans, is that it takes away something from the game that is one of its main attractions: offensive momentum. Every football fan can enjoy a beautiful rhythm drive even if its not your own team. It’s part of the appeal of the sport. To see it interfered with by players faking injuries goes beyond the effect on the immediate outcome. It hurts the game and cheapens the victory.
subwayfare
Excellent points.
All
Don’t underestimate how much the loss to Pittsburgh hurt the Patriots’ chances of going to the playoffs. They now need to win out AND have Baltimore lose two or Indy lose two or us lose two with four games to go.
We got a badly needed facial. The Pats will now have a very hard time making the playoffs. See? Every cloud does have a silver lining.
Andrew-
Trust me, I don’t like the “injury” slow down and hope the rules committee addresses it the way they did in the final two minutes of games. I’m just saying it is what it is within the current rules and you have to adjust to it as in, “Okay, they’re going to take the hurry up away, what else have I got?” The Jets, playing from behind with time slipping away, also got the benefit of clock stoppages on those “injuries” which might have made them a wash. Unfortunately, they didn’t come out with better plays to make the free timeouts pay off.
JEFFDOLINI: Agreed 100%.
Also agree with the blogger who mentioned the fact that both Pace and Thomas are converted DE’s.
Where are all the people who were sending Thomas to the probowl? This guy has been a phantom.
After sitting through 4 hours of misery at the stadium, I returned home and watched sports center and watched how Pitt beat the Pats. THEY PRESSURED CASSELL.
Gholston did look COMPLETELY lost on some of the plays he has been in on but he is also the only person in the last two weeks to actually chase a QB out of the pocket.
Sutton’s schemes are terrible. At least he didnt send Rhodes on a 5 second delayed blitz from 20 yards of the line of scrimmage yesterday.
I feel like there are a # of D coordinators in this league who can take guys like Pace and Thomas and make them destroy QBs.
With Revis playing man all day why dont we have Rhodes come up on the TE the same way Pitt does with their safeties?
We all know Elam is slow and not a great coverage guy, so why is he the ONLY person deep on the play to Stokely. If you are going to leave someone back there, make it RHODES.
We could have won that game. 14 points off turnovers and up until Elam gives up his 2nd long touchdown of the day we are in the game. Is it just me or is Lowery better than Law these days? Even if he too got burnt like toast sometimes. Maybe we should give him Elam’s spot. Favre had a rough day too. It all depends what we do from here. We have weaknesses, but not every team will be able to capitalize on them the way Denver and New England did. Can’t take anything away from Cutler he played a great game. That QB hurry VG (does he have a killer instinct at all or was he just afraid hed get a penalty?) had that led to the Scheffler 20yd catch WTF? We had 5 Jets there 3 of them could have plucked that ball out of the air. Not to sound like Fonzie but wtf Rhodes. We needed him this week. Histackles helped, but he wasn’t the Kerry Rhodes we needed him to be.
Bad perfomance on a bad day….plain and simple.
Let’s not lose sight of the fact that this same team won 5 in a row and 7 or thier last 8.
We have a solid team that had a bad day.
Look what happened the last time we had a bad game (@ Oakland).
Hopefully this loss will serve as a wake up call and set us up for another long win streak. The 49ers, Bills, Seahawks and Fins are not nearly as potent as the Broncos are, from an offensive perspective.
We’ll right this ship. 12-4 and AFC East Champs!!
Go Jets
we control our own fate….im being extremely optimistic but this loss may bring some of the jets down to earth and light a fire under them like the loss to oakland did….just in time for the playoffs..
we have a good team…coaching was bad and so was the play on the field…
but i think this team bounces back well and i hope mangini rips our secondary….
and for the first time i am gettin a little frustrated with rhodes…i dont like the way he tackles he almost lets them get and extra one or two yards after point of contact….
the only highlight of our secondary was lowery making a nice int in the back of the endzone….only if our receivers were able to use their hands like he did
our team better bounce back and rip san francisco a new @$$ hole
I am obviously not happy today. This loss belongs to the coaching staff. Team looked unprepared. With that said, having come off 2 huge emotional victories, it is difficult to sustain that level of play. Bottom line we are still alone in first place. Hopefully the team has the right reaction to this loss and realizes they have to have very strong focus the rest of the way.
Everyone keeps talking about one bad loss, how this team won 5 out of 7, how we have a good team, how most teams cant exploit us like the Broncos and Pats and just wants to forget about this loss. HELLOOO!!!! ANYBODY HOME?
I think they win out but the bottom line is that we are probably going to see DENVER or NE in the playoffs and that obviously does not bode well for this team.
With the talent on this team it should be wreaking havoc on opposing QBs and receivers.
STUDY WHAT THE STEELERS DO to marginalize these teams.
Charleyjet:
Whether a fumbled ball has or has not been recovered is not reviewable (imagine trying to review that in a pile-up of players). However, down by contact IS reviewable and Stevie Wonder could have seen that Cotchery had possession of the ball before contact was made. Atrocious call by the on-field officials and a dumb interpretation of the rules. Maybe the league thought they owed the Broncos one because of the Hochuli fiasco, but how is that fair to the Jets? When Royal fell onto the bobbled kickoff, Wallace Wright should have pummelled him into the endzone just to prove a point, unnecessary roughness penalty or not. See if you can hold onto that…
The way I saw it, the rookie Gholston made a decent play. Good discipline on the edge to not bite on the fake and prevent Cutler from making a clean rollout. You seriously want him to charge aimlessly towards Cutler in slippery conditions, so Cutler can just side-step out of the way and have all day to make a throw while Gholston wipes out half of the flight crew? He narrowed the angle and closed on Cutler (which I’m sure is exactly how he was coached), forcing him to complete what even the announcers called a crazy pass, which in less slippery conditions, one of the DBs might have been able to break on and return for a score. Does he look comfortable yet? No way, but I can’t see how it helps to over-react to everything the guy does.
Again, I note all the calls for better pass rushing, but every time the Jets rushed, Cutler threw a quick pass and when they didn’t he sat back and waited for a guy to get open. They were getting gashed either way, why make it easier for them? The Jets need to win one-on-one matchups to get pressure and, right now, they aren’t doing that. Thomas and Pace have both been quiet for the last several weeks.
Elam used to make one mistake a game, this year, he’s obviously piling all his mistakes into one game. We know he’s aggressive and that’s why he is more popular amongst the fans than Eric Smith or David Barrett, who give up yards by playing it too safe. In the wet, Elam was always likely to overpursue and the Broncos capitalized. You can’t fault the effort, but you have to be smarter than that.
I hate to say I told you so, but I did say before the draft that Peyton Hillis had excellent pro potential. I still can’t fathom how he lasted until the seventh round.
Let’s throw this one out. It was always going to be difficult to come back in the rain. In those conditions, either team could have won and as other posters have noted, the game hinged on a few plays.
The team has proven they can beat anyone, but hasn’t yet proven they can beat everyone. That puts them right in the middle of a very small group. Let’s see them win out West now.
Bent-
I was not a huge fan of the pick but actually felt relatively encouraged by that VG play. I thought he closed rapidly, changing direction sharply on slippery turf. I just thought he hesitated a split second at the end, as though he were afraid the ball would be dropped over his head to a back. Another year of experience and he’d have known that he was already too committed to worry about anything but drilling Cutler.
The bad part about the Gholston play was that he did not take charge. He could have taken the outside away and forced Cutler to make an inside move. That would’ve taken the sideline pass away and he probably would have sacked him. Or, he could have gone right at Cutler, which would’ve broken Cutler’s downfield concentration. Also, what about an arm up?What Bent and subwayfare saw as good “discipline” I saw as being tentative and lacking football savvy.
Tentative, yes. But it was slippery and he probably didn’t want to make a mistake.
Lack of football savvy, yes. But then we knew that when they drafted him. All in good time, perhaps?
The “good discipline” part of the play I refer to (and the part of the play which I was encouraged by) was before that when he did not bite on the fake and maintained contain to flush Cutler out of the pocket. That cannot be denied. THEN he went after him, albeit tentatively, but then in the conditions, maybe that was a sensible approach.
He must be making some progress, otherwise we wouldn’t see him out there.
Bent, did you also predict Terrell Davis, Mike Anderson, Olandis Gary, Tatum and the other Bell, Reuben Droughns etc.? Did you predict Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward and Bradshaw.
These guys are all talented athletes and obviously pretty decent football players but all of them have been successful because the Denver O-line and the current Giants’ O line are probably the best in NFL history. Kris Jenkins could run for 1200 per year behind these guys.
Tell me you predicted Joe Flacco’s success and I might be impressed. But predicting the success of a Denver RB is like predicting that the sun will come up.
Sutton should be fired. Schemes have been terrible most of the year.
Having said that, maybe Shanahan just said to Cutler “if you see 56 lined up on the strongside, just run a fake and rollout to his side. In the unlikely event that he doesn’t bite on the fake, just run backward ten yards out to the sideline because he’ll come after you tentatively and it’s unlikely he’ll put his hands up because of his lack of football savvy so you should be able to throw back across the field…especially if 27 is covering Scheffler”
Bent, stopping and starting on wet turf probably increases the chances of a slip. VG was indecisive and he had a golden opportunity to use that vaunted speed to his advantage and did not. And, if we’re doing the predictions game, I have one name to say: Matt Ryan. And, all the regulars here will know what I mean.
SacDance99: I beleive the FO tried to move up for him and DMAC and were unable to.
I’m an idiot. Ok. I am not privy to information regarding the FO draft day strategies but an only going off what I read.
You’re an @SS. Do us all a favor and listen to Big Fat Paulie and become a Giants fan. This site does not need your condescending BS.
Hey, somebody stole my screen name. I’ve been on this site for a long time now and I rarely get into ad hominem attacks. Bent and/or Bassett, please kick this other clown. Thanks.
Bottom line is we continue to be outcoached on defense week in and week out. MEMO TO THE FRONT OFFICE: BE AGGRESSIVE AND GO AFTER THE QUARTERBACK, THEY ARE SCORING POINTS ON US ANYWAY WHY NOT PRESSURE THEM INTO SOME MISTAKES. I AGREE WITH EVERYONE WHO BRINGS UP THE STEELERS. MANGINI, SINCE YOU CAN’T PUT A GAME PLAN TOGETHER ON DEFENSE JUST WATCH STEELER FILM AND STEAL THAT. OUR DEFENSE SHOULD BE KILLING PEOPLE. THE PROBLEM IS OBVIOUSLY IN THE COACHING!
The pressure couldn’t get near Cutler and the secondary, other than Revis, was napping. Watching tape of the Steelers wont help much. We dominated an 11-1 football team, was that because we had no game plan? Come on people. You can’t make players play and the secondary didn’t play. Elam alone gave up 14 points.
Just a GreenGuy:
Kerry Collins is no Jay Cutler and the not one of the Titan’s receivers could start on Denver.
We simply cannot stop high powered offenses and Sutton has to shoulder the blame. Pittsburgh’s corners arent great but their ability to pressure the QB with an aggressive style allows them to pummel the pats.
How long has Pittsburgh’s system been in place? Didn’t we beat them last year when our team was a joke? Every player is different you can’t just look at the Steelers and go oh they run a 3-4 we can be just like them. We needed our O to win the game. Their secodn corner is better than ours and their other safety didn’t give up 14 points.
Oh and Cutler has a long way to go before you can say how great he is over Collins. Collins was in an NFC Championship game in his 2nd year. Cutler wouldn’t even be on his way to the playoffs this year if it weren’t for Norv Turner and a host of late San Diego losses. Their strength was our weakness.
And what of ad baculum and ad verecundiam?
Elam can not handle a wide receiver by himself and he had a bad game but he wasn’t the only one. He’s always been a better run guy than a pass guy. Some might ask what is he doing out in single coverage on that blitz? Only Sutton can answer that.
Every team has weaknesses. We had a bad matchup that came at a bad time and we played badly. So did New England and it probably knocked them out of the playoffs. We’re still in first place. Let’s not get out of proportion and personal attacks do not belong on this site.
Our defensive schemes suck! What about the New England game when we played prevent the whole second half? I blame Mangini and Sutton for this poor play calling………You come on man, aren’t we sick of losing every year. We have the players lets start a tradition of winning and it starts with the coaches.
All - Just to confirm, that WASN’T Sackdance99 that called the other guy an idiot (and the follow-up insult was the same guy). Consider him banned.
Sean - I know anyone can be successful in Denver, my point was that some were moaning that some scrub tore us up when I actually feel like Hillis is a talented player.
Sack - Ryan has been great, but I never said he wouldn’t be. I just didn’t want them to draft him because of the financial risk (and didn’t want them to trade for Favre for the same reason, but hopefully that risk will pay off). It’s amazing how good a QB can be when they have a decent OL. *cough* Chad *cough*
Forgive me, I only skimmed the rant and this is the first I’ve seen your blog so I dont know your views. How was Favre not mentioned in your rant? The guy is awful. I also think you are nitpicking on Jenkins.
Has Favre completed a deep ball since week 1 to Cotchery who was WIDE OPEN and underthrown. I can’t recall one good deep ball. They are all underthrown to guys who are not open. So, it is not only a bad decision, but also a bad throw.
Re: This being the game where everything goes wrong.
The previous eleven games were games where everything went right. The Hail Mary in Miami. Escaping KC. NE sleepwalking for a half, the Jets getting a sweet penalty call at the end, and then winning the toss. I would also add Leon running kicks back for TDs as semi luck. Yes, there is skill involved there, but you can’t count on that happening. One could make the argument that TEN had the game when everything goes wrong against the Jets last week. Their receivers didnt catch a thing.
The Jets were lucky to be 8-3. At best, they will win one playoff game. Better not rain on Brett or we are toast.
Take away outstanding D (good D still would have lost the DEN game), kick returns for TDs, fortuitous penalties, and other assorted breaks (NE snapping a ball over the QBs head for a 20 yard loss) and it is apparent how lucky the Jets have been.
http://www.brettfavreblows.blogspot.com
BB
It’s hard to see your points when they’re presented in such a puerile and disparaging package. You’re welcome to your opinion about Favre but the way you express it, which I assume you mean to be funny, is anything but. It just makes you look infantile and stupid. Writing isn’t like talking. Say what you want to your friends but in a public forum show some recognition that the audience represents opposing points of view.
Favre wasn’t included in my rant because I didn’t think he did that much to lose the game. That’s debatable. But, whether you like it or not, the Jets offense, over the past three weeks going into the Denver game, has been virtually unstoppable and much of that has been due to the balance provided by the short passing of Brett Favre. If you think just any quarterback could make the throws he’s been making with 70% accuracy catching receiver after receiver in perfect stride and avoding coverage, you don’t know anything about football. And, a lot of those completions have come on plays where his ability to slip in the pocket has bought enough time for receivers to get open.
He’s brought a winning attitude and a sense of fun that this team needed with a coach who can be way too buttoned up and dry. If you’re a Jet fan you know that last year was pretty difficult for the players. There were evident signs of strain. Mangini, like Belichick, does not instill love or friendship or even a sense of play in his players. He is respected, but most agree he is not easy to play for. He has to win to be admired and that, he does with a businesslike efficiency that can wear in adversity. Favre makes playing fun. Don’t underestimate that.
As for their results being due to luck, your evidence is that if we deduct defense and special teams’ play there’s nothing left but luck. Nonsense. Who engineered those five minute-and-longer drives we’ve become accustomed to? But, while I’m on the subject, whose success isn’t due to luck? Coughlin picks a little known assistant to be his DC and he strikes gold and wins a Super Bowl. He picked Spagnuolo’s predecessor Tim Lewis also and fired him in less than two years.
Every season has its share of pluses and minuses. there’s a reason ‘it all evens out’ is a cliche.
Andrew, I think that there’s something about the QB position that both engenders great fan loyalty and venom. Every season it’s “Chad sucks” or “Clemens sucks” and now it’s “Favre sucks.” Under any objective criteria, Favre is in the middle of one of the greatest seasons by a Jets QB. But, we’ll continue to see people post “Chad could’ve done the same thing” or similar nonsense. My position on this is akin to yours, Favre’s veteran leadership and HOF aura has as great a psychological effect on the team as his cannon arm has had on the offense. Favre is lacking a crucial weapon — a legitimate deep threat — but he’s still doing what he does best, kill teams with slants and seam passes to the TE (I’ve said this before, but 3 different TEs made the Pro Bowl while Favre was in GB and only one, an over-the-hill Keith Jackson, was an upper echelon NFL player). There’s so much to be hopeful about this team and I for one hope that Brett plays another season. But, there’s no way to stop the naysayers.
Bent, the money that Ryan ultimately received as an untested rookie QB was ridiculous. But, it’s worth it for a franchise QB. And, I think that’s where we parted ways. I thought Ryan was the best QB prospect since Carson Palmer and on a par with Big Ben. I think most folks on this blog questioned my sanity (among other less savory things) for saying that. As it turned out, the Falcons were hell-bent on drafting Ryan, so the Jets would’ve had to offer the farm to the Rams for the second pick. But, like I said at the time, sooner or later, the fact that the Jets had the opportunity to draft a top QB prospect and did not (from 2006-2008) might catch up to them. Obviously, trading for no. 4 and allowing KC and Ratliff to battle it out might work out in the end, but it didn’t look that way, to me at least, before this year’s draft, when the Hobson’s (and I don’t mean Victor) choice was between Chad and KC.
Sack
As you know, Ryan’s contract was a function of his draft position, not a referendum on his potential. He would have gotten that money regardless of his position, although QBs get a premium.
With the CBA expired after next season, most owners will opt for a rookie cap, like in basketball. LeBron had to accept it for the first few years. The shoe comanies reward sensational rookies anyhow. The idea that Gholston, or any unproven rookie, can learn on-the-job and cash million dollar checks is absurd. That money should go to guys who have proven their mettle time and again in the NFL.
Sack,
Yeah, that’s where our views differed. I think I am just more risk-averse than you. I would worry about a deal like that no matter how amazing I thought the QB would be (in Ryan’s case I wasn’t as confident as you, but I did expect him to be good - perhaps not this fast though) just because an injury or some other non-football act could leave you stuck for years. In fact, that could even happen this weekend and the Falcons would be in trouble.
The “Clemens sucks” guy was you, anyway!
I agree about the rookie cap, AW.