Game Recap: A Bright Side? Anybody?
There was a moment in today’s game when I jumped out of my seat. Despite the awful, spiritless performance by the New York Jets that resulted in a deflating (devastating, unconscionable, humiliating?) loss to the 4-8 San Francisco 49ers, we had amazingly taken the lead. Leon Washington had done it again, run back another kickoff. But, then, there it was on the screen, FLAG. I thought to myself, ‘Another call on special teams against the Jets?’ I saw the replay and shook my head. ‘Another phantom flag on the Jets?’
Of course, it wasn’t the officials (as bad as they were and they were really bad today) who lost the game to the 49ers. It was the team I have to admit, I thought was really pretty good. I thought they had worked out their issues and were movin in the right direction. Now? Now, I don’t see much to be excited about. Our offense is helpless and predictable and our defense is worse. The 49ers deserve the playoffs more than we do.
All I saw today was a team that was outplayed and outcoached by a ragtag, motley lot missing a couple of their best players. Please, somebody tell me how to package this. Are we really this bad? Were we just outcoached by a guy who has never been a coordinator and an OC who can’t get out of his own way? Not just outcoached, embarassed. Did we just let ANOTHER journeyman quarterback rack up hundreds of yards and look more poised than our 39 year old hall of famer and our $25 million dollar offensive line?
After the San Diego game, we said we weren’t ready for their intensity and, after all, they were a playoff team. After the Oakland game, we said we’re tryin to get it together but that fitting in all the pieces would take time. After the NE game, we said we didn’t know how to step on an opponents neck when they were down. We said we didn’t know how to win. After the Broncos game, we said we were due for a letdown and Denver had a great offense. Anybody got anything to say now? I’m fresh out. Anybody?
I have been a Mangini supporter since day one. But, when this team at the most crucial part of its season, stinks up the public airwaves, I’m withdrawing my support. The offense had no rhythym, no push and no intensity. We gave up on the run after the second series only down by a TD. THE SECOND SERIES! Here are some offensive stats: 1 of 10 third downs converted. Net yards rushing: 59. Total yards: 182. Sacks allowed: 3 including a backbreaker that Alan Faneca watched from his vantage in the mezzanine blue seats–I was closer to the blitzer. Oh, and time of possession: 20:11. And, with apologies to the 49ers, that wasn’t exactly the ‘85 Bears out there. To those of you inclined to make any excuse at all: shut up!
Let’s look at the defense. SF time of possession: 39:49. Third down efficiency: 53%. S. Hill, San Francisco not-very-talented-quarterback: 28/39 for 285 and 2 TDs. He completed passes to ten different receivers! Practice squad players were catching passes. The gatorade jug was laughing at the Jets’ secondary.
As for Mangini, he’s always looking for consistency and he got it in these last two games. We are consistently terrible. The worst of it is, the players look lost out there. Did I mention we were outcoached by Mike Martz? Not only do we perform badly, we aren’t improving and we don’t look like we have a clue. The defense was caught napping so many times in critical situations that I have decided to sue for malpractice. They’re so lost I’m not certain they’ll find their way back to New Jersey (that might be a good thing). If this was a hospital and they were the staff, we’d all be dead.
How predictable was the offense? Did any long pass have even the slightest chance of being completed? Why did we abandon the run in a close game? Can our wide receivers get separation, ever? How many times do we have to see a group of defenders jumping around because they knew what was coming and stopped a Jets’ play? Actually, I’ve decided to fire the Jets’ coaching staff myself. Clean out your lockers. Can anybody tell me if Mike Martz is available for next year?
All you have to know about this game is the last two drives when it all mattered. There’s San Francisco, which has just given up a game tying touchdown with five minutes to go in the third quarter. How do they handle adversity, like a first and twenty? They convert it, easily on two plays. But, they make another mistake and get into another first and twenty in the same drive. No problem. Converted it easily. So we get the ball down by a field goal. We get a first and 20. What do we do? Pass (for one yard–they saw it coming), pass (on second and 19) fifty yards to Coles who was well covered. What? No carefully thought out play to make up half the yardage? No crafty draw or pass they weren’t expecting? Apparently not. So now its third and 19. Pass? you think? Yeah, it was a pass to Leon Washington who makes nine yards. OH, AND HOW DID WE GET INTO THIS FIRST AND 20 SITUATION. THAT’S RIGHT. PASSING. We were only down by a field goal. Our defense couldn’t stop a determined slug and we had Thomas Jones. What happened to the run?
What has happened to this team? The pass rush? Virtually non-existent. More Jets pass rushers were pushed around by solitary blockers than I’ve seen all season. our pass rush is nowhere. And, there was a time when we could stop the run. Not anymore. They got only a hundred yards but had to play a quarter and a half without Frank Gore who gashed us for five yards seemingly on every carry. And, what do we say about an offense that can’t hit its wide receivers, doesn’t know what its strengths are, can;t block when it matters the most and gives up on its best asset in the third series?
I don’t know about you, but this kind of game wears me out. It is obvious to me that we are not a very good team and I do not blame the players. We have no deep threat, while Clowney remains inactive. We have very poor coordinators neither of which can compete with the league’s best. Mangini knew this last year but made no change. We have unimaginative game plans and we are about as adaptable as a fishing sinker. I can tolerate not being good enough. But, not being smart enough just galls the hell out of me.
I know what the schedule is. We might win the next three and win the division despite having played so badly today and last week. But, to think we can compete at an elite level requires a quantity of self-deception I can not muster. We are a seriously flawed football team and no amount of rah-rahs is going to change that.
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Hey, I wonder if we’ll continue to see opponents – - like we have in the last 2 games (and the second half of the Pats game) — consistantly have mediocre receivers ten yards open on rubs and crosses underneath. I wonder if we will continue to have absolutely no threat of a deep passing game or anything outside the hashes (or anything to Coles or Cotchery at all!) like we have in the past 2 games. Is there anything more frustrating then seeing us fail to gameplan – not execute, gameplan – the same freaking problems play after play. Its a joke. This team has enough talent. Period. This team can compete with anyone in the AFC player for player. This reflects horribly on the coaching staff. The day of reckoning may be near if we don’t get the ship righted and reach the playoffs.
So… how can we save this sinking ship this year? Anyone?
okay so what was coles’ comments before the game??
AMEN
if mangini had any balls he would bench coles for mouthing off and to make a point. jets were dumb to guarantee his contract but what’s done is done. he’s not doing anything on the field and he’s a detriment to team unity. make him sit and stew, and if he doesn’t like it, cut him. he’s not good enough to open his mouth — he thinks he’s TO, when he’s half a notch better than johnny lam jones.
I can’t believe we could go away so far from the things that were working for us. The JETS know they don’t have any real burners at WR. But we got some long passes completed in past games causes we ran the ball and hit a lot of quick slants that made the defense come closer to the line of scrimmage, then we could hit them deep on a play action or something. What is the OC doing? The play calling is HORRIBLE. Guy’s I have been a JETS fan for a long time but I really feel like disassociating my self this year. I didn’t mind losing when I knew we didn’t have the talent but watching this year is turning my stomach.
Bench Coles?
He hasn’t even been on the field for the past two weeks.
He is washed up, release him.
Bench him, release him, buy him a one way ticket the hell out of here. Coles is a disgrace.
Liam/Brian
I agree..what can be done to save this thing. There are over 300 post on who and why to fire…mine included, but the question is what do the need to do..
I can tell you from my view either they are holding Farve back or he that dumb. The O is basic 101. Same plain jane week in and out. The D could not cover my sister if they had to. Did we forget the word blitz?
CLOWNEY NEEDS TO GET ON THE FIELD
As long as you have this staff and their concepts of “team”, “offense” and “defense” you have no way to improve it. They are stuck within their concept and now it is too late to escape.
This game specific crap is just that. Each game requires adjustments. These idiots think you start over each week and that gives them an advantage-way too cute.
Let’s ask the players. You better believe they don’t like it. It makes execution so difficult. How about getting good at a couple of things and blending in new things depending on the week.
TJ 10 carries!!!!!! Stupid.
LW 1 thats right 1 carry. Beyond stupid.
And how about keeping Brad Smith off the field-PERIOD. He sucks. Stuckey is, was and always be better.
Maybe we start by teaching Bob Sutton the meaning of the word pressure. No pressure on the QB means easy pickings for any semi competent NFL QB. Please send more than 3 or 4 men after the QB and not just the occasional 5. Second and Third and Long does not mean sitting back in a soft zone and allowing the QB time to pick apart the defense. Go after the QB. It’s not about sacks but forcing the QB off his timing.
I thought Westhoff was going to get ejected on the phantom flag on LW’s td.
The TE & short passes we give up need to be addressed. Potential answer – use Rhodes, our best athlete, who is doing nothing 20 yards downfield, as a guy to creep close to the line and cover these wide open dump offs
that had to be the most frustrating game ive ever seen the jets play… it didnt matter if it was 3rd and 1 or 3rd and 9… san fran did the same play over and over and over… and bob sutton just stands there on the sidelines with his stupid playcalling card that has three plays on it… 3rd down conversions, bad run defense, and blitz 7 guys who all get blocked… the only coach who has a fire under his crotch is westhoff; he was going beserk when they called the leon td back… shouting a nice expletive at one of the refs… and to think i thought ed hochuli would be good today… i dont know which is worse… the offense, the defense (pass is atrocious, run isnt doing much better) or the coaching… of any of the jets front office members had some cojones, they would start putting some pressure on these morons
and can anyone tell me how there were seemingly seven jets defenders around every guy who caught the ball today… yet no one could break up a pass. hill completed almost 72%. and it looked like every time i seen eric barton near the play he waits for the receiver to make the catch before he reacts
I have also been a Mangini supporter but, ultimately, quality control, approach, intensity and game planning falls on the HC. If you have the players to beat NE and the Titans on the road you should be able to beat a 4-8 team that switched coaches mid-season. I would love to hear him take responsibility for the lack of intensity.
Lately, the offense seems to fall apart when its first few scripted plays fail. The in-game adjustments have been atrocious. The abandonment of the pass in reaction to Favre’s INT flurry is coming back to haunt them. Opposing DCs just say, “Oh, they’ve gone back to being the old Jets, just stack the box, press the WRs and cover the middle of the field.” The WRs – LC in particular – seem out of it, frustrated, and give up on routes. Favre’s looking for what isn’t there, forcing the O-Line to have to protect too long, tiring them out and shaking their confidence. They did quit on the running game too soon, but what worries me more is they don’t seem to have anything else.
The D is taking from strength (pass rush) to shore up a weakness (coverage) and ending up with two weaknesses. The Shaun Hill roll out right, with Ellis chasing after biting on the run, for a long completion to the WR on a comeback was identical to the Cutler play last week. Identical. It’s like it’s so drilled into their heads they have to keep everything in front of them, they give up too much space and get destroyed on the comebacks and crosses.
They could drop eleven into coverage and still give up a big completion. Clearly there are issues with the 31st in the league pass D scheme. The Jets have some personnel weaknesses but there aren’t 30 teams with more talent.
What would I do differently? First of all, I’d find some way to get the team better prepared for games, even it that means the old Parcells fear of losing your job approach.
Maybe get the WRs involved early, especially the overly sensitive LC so he stays committed to routes and blocks? What happened to those short-drop fastballs from Tennessee? If not activate Clowney to stretch the field, then what about splitting Leon out and letting him run some go routes, just to shake up the D a bit. Leon is feared. No one is afraid of Coles or Cotch getting behind them. And why not get TJ and Leon in the backfield simultaneously every once in a while? That would freeze some defenders at the line.
On D, I would forget about complicated coverage schemes, play more man, and rush like you’re escaping a burning house with 4, 5 and 6, frequently. What have you got to lose? If you can’t cover anyway, at least take time from the QB.
I don’t know if Mangini has any last-ditch, season saving ideas up his sleeve, but now would be a good time to shake them out.
Mangenious OUT, Brad Smith OUT, Ty Law OUT, Gholston in same basket with Jonny Mitchel, Dorian Boose ….. goes on and on. JOKE !!
If mangenious continues to only rush 3 guys the jets will lose every game for the rest of the season… WHY WHY WHY, do they insist on rushing only 3 guys? It’s not like the extra guy is helping our coverage out. when a quarterback has all day to throw the ball, he is going to find an open guy no matter how many guys are back there covering receivers. Am I the only one who sees this? Even in the games when we were winning, we would get the lead and the jets would start only rushing 3 people and we would start giving up points..
I’m a 49er fan from California lurking on the blogosphere.
1) That was a well written rant by the author
2) Those of us watching (all 49ers fans) couldn’t understand why the Jets weren’t running the ball more. Especially after Jones ran that touchdown, everyone was like here we go again. I think had there been a mentality on the jets that Thomas Jones was gonna get 120 yards, things may have been different.
3) No play action? Because 49ers safties bite the run like a shark and Nate Clements (by far the best 49ers cover man) was out.
4) The Martz offense sucks against constant blitzes so the three and four man rush was surprising.
5) At least the Jets are still in contention. I’m just glad the 49ers are better than the Raiders. I hate them and their clown makeup wearing fans.
AW, there was a surreal moment while I was reading your post where I thought, “this is incredible, these were verbatim the exact thoughts going though my mind while watching this game.”
The predictable playcalling was just unbearable. This was an un-bearable game to watch. The guys look deflated.
i like subwayfare’s take.
What does Eric Barton and Drew Coleman equal, a completed pass. How many times was Coleman beat on the same play. Where the hell is the pass rush? Where the hell is TJ, Schott, he had friggin 5.6 ypc in the game, and Favre keeps chuckin it to covered WR ’s down the field? Clowney or Stuckey downfield anyone?
That flag on Leons return was BS. One word for this game, DISGUSTED.
I believe that the officials had more to do with determining the outcome of the game than you think. When you refer to plays where “the defense was caught napping” you are referring to plays where the officials allowed the Mike Martz offense consistently to get away with offensive pass interference. One or two receivers run down field and pick or actually go through the action of blocking the player or players trying to cover the receiver who veers off toward the sideline wide open to catch the pass.
I didn’t see the game yet, but perhaps somebody could explain to me when every play seemed to be a dump off pass for a ten yard gain how sending more than 3 guys would have helped? Were they getting in each other’s way in coverage or something?
We don’t have any deep threats. That’s not news. This team was not built with Favre in mind.
I wonder if Mangini is thinking about trying Stuckey at DB again. Could he do any worse than what’s happening right now? It does seem that things have got worse since Ty Law was signed.
The hardest thing to believe is that we don’t give the ball to TJones more. He averaged more than 5 yards a carry and we INSIST on throwing the ball all the time. ALL THE TIME! 10 Carries???? We were in this game until there were 5 minutes left! This crap has been going on all year. RUN THE FRIGGIN’ BALL JETS. RUN THE BALL!!!!
This is why I love being a football fan! Two weeks ago, everyone had the Jets sitting on top of the world, the team, coaches, front office, everyone was brilliant! Now, two losses later….fire them all!, fire the coaches!, fire the GM!, cut everybody!, bring back Parcells!
The last two weeks have sucked and I’m not happy about them, but there are three games left and the Jets are still in the drivers seat for the division.
Now if they lose next week….. DOH!
Thank you TimNC for showing some reason on this blog! I’m reluctant to fire coaches unless they’ve completely lost the team. It’s not Mangini’s fault Coleman could not cover at all yesterday (though I don’t understand why he and not Revis was on Bruce all day). But this whole thing about abandoning the run- I think the issue was more them going 3 and out on every possession. There may have been times when they called just one run and two passes, but I bet if those drives had kept going they would have run it more. I think time of possession was probably the biggest factor in this game more than anything.
The Jets coaches did a terrible job this game. There’s no argument here.
But the idea that the Jets gave up o the run is a bit misleading.
Jones was intergral on the last scoring drive of the 1st half. At that point he had about 8 carries for 26 yards,
Jones didn’t get the ball and the Jets did nothing on the next drive.
Jones got the ball after the INT and had 3 more carries for 30 yards.
Jets decided to run a screen to Jones on 1st down of the next drive (down 17-14 early in the 4th quarter) not a terrible decision. THey got a holding penalty, 1st and 20, not really an opportunity to run the ball.
The next time they got the ball they were down 24-14 with 6 minutes to play and the ball at their own 1. Not really an opportunity to run the ball.
Again, I’m not excusing the coaches. The defense gets burned by the same damn play every week. The WRs can’t get off the line at all, and the game planning simply sucks. But, I’m not sure what the Jets could have done about getting Jones the ball more in the 2nd half.
I’ll tell you what they could have done to get Jones the ball more. How about not wasting our second downs with bombs down the sideline to a well covered Jericho Cotchery and RUN THE BALL!
The papers and radioheads are all saying that Coles’ comments were taken completey out of context and that the media was irresponsible.
Ok so I wont call for everyone’s head. I like Tanny and Westhoff. Schotty has had some decent performances but SUTTON has to go. WAY TOO much talent on this D to be so bad.
They all lost the game. Clever play calling could have saved us. How do they fumble 5 times and we get one? Second week in a row Jenkins has been minimized. Jones would have had a big day IF WE COULD HAVE GOTTEN THEM OFF THE F’N FIELD!!!! I thought we had a good run D. Where did that go? Why did we get killed in time of possession again? Agree with Trujetfan that we wasted too many second downs having Favre show off he can throw deep. I hate the west.
Bent-
It’s not just no rush. If they are going to throw quick 10 yard throws, you can play up at the line and manhandle the receivers there. You’ve got 8 guys back there to cover 4 or 5 at most so if someone gets off the line after getting smashed at the line there is someone else.
This is just unbelievable.
There is just no aggression in this team.
While I’m at it-As I have said over and over this team plays tight. They are terrified of any penalty, any mistake etc. There is a middle ground between this kind of coaching and out of control play. One bad drive or two and the wheels come off.
For the first time in about 8 weeks Rhodes came up to the line and he came off the corner to tackle the RB for a 1 yard gain. EARTH TO SUTTON: THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO WITH ONE OF YOUR BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYERS!!!!!! NOT JUST TWICE A SEASON!!!!
Bent, on December 8th, 2008 at 7:41 am Said: I didn’t see the game yet, but perhaps somebody could explain to me when every play seemed to be a dump off pass for a ten yard gain how sending more than 3 guys would have helped? Were they getting in each other’s way in coverage or something?
I’ll give it a try. My take is that the Jets are getting no pressure early in the game with the four or three-man rush, allowing the QB to see the patterns develop just like they drew up in practice, giving him confidence with some short completions. When the Jets then try to answer with the blitz – which seems like it could find a blocker in a dark tunnel – the QB is already in such a rhythm he easily finds his hot read behind the rush. And the answer to your last question is, in a word, yes. They were getting in each others’ way. The more people they drop in coverage, the more traffic the WRs seem to be able to get lost in.
Ever been to a restaurant, dropped your fork, and asked a passing waiter for a new one only to be told, “sorry this isn’t my section?” That sums up what the Jets coverage schemes look like to me of late.
SUTTON HAS TO GO!! simple as that.
When Gholston (Our star rookie- ha) Bull rushes he forces his blocker out of position. He might not be a stellar pass rusher (or player), but why aren’t we using his gorilla strength to push his blocker in a direction that creates a gap and lets Harris or Bowens run through that gap and hopefully kill (in a non fatal, career ending way) the opposing QB. They are not maximizing their resources. What happened to all the confusing movement they used to do before snaps?
Anyone have any answers for me? Other than that we are the Jets.
How can you have, Spencer, Trusnik, Pouha, Coleman, Gholston and Lowery on the Field at the same time?
SUTTON MUST GO!
BRING BACK DONNIE HENDERSON!
Bent- I don’t think Law has hurt us as much as we have been exposed and we are relying on him. Does anyone think that they will ever let Lowery just play the game? Does anyone else get all the calls he does for the little tricks that everyother db does.
Heres a bright side. Thomas Jones set a Jets record. He had 2 TDs last year and this year sets a Jets record with 14. That is a good thing.
JustAGreenGuy -
That’s tempered because for some reason THE GUY ONLY GOT TEN CARRIES. Said this before, but if anybody should be complaining about not getting touches, it’s TJ. Say what you will about Herm, but at least he knew never to stray far from his bread-and-butter (Curtis).
He would have got the ball more if we kept our hands on the ball. He was running strong.
So yes, Jones is a HUGE bright spot for this team. Now if we only relied on him to open up the passing game, we might be able to control the clock and the game.
Seems like if we had kept Pennington all along, we wouldn’t be relying on our passing game so deeply. Anybody worried about that last game of the season yet and what it means to have Chad show up with the division on the line? Talk about Jet folklore. This is a nightmare waiting to happen.
How many carries would he have gotten? 15? TJ should get 20+ carries EVERY SINGLE GAME.
mangini is not stupid, but he is stubborn. The jets have got to go to strengths and stay true to it vs trying to be a jack of all trades team on both offense and defense. mangini needs to run the ball at least 25 times a game on offense. The defense needs to stop run and be much more aggressive in rushing the passer! the “read and react” method IS NOT WORKING! HELLO! SEVERAL ROOKIE QBS HAVE FEASTED ON THIS DEFENSE! mangini better adjust or he will be getting coffee for belicheck in the near future again.
4 things to be happy about—1 We are still in 1st place and control our destiny–considering we were 4-12 last year thats good. 2–We have the Bills next with ?JP Loserman at qb 3- David Harris is back 4– We didn’t suffer any injuries. Having said that the way to beat us has been documented by Bellichek and perfected by the last two teams. Can we make adjustments? I have no idea what to do.
Sean: Trusnik was inactive – how did he get on the field? Donnie Henderson? Wow.
Subwayfare/Jas: Thanks guys. Taking into account what you both said, it seems that they need to be aggressive from the outset and not let the QB get into the rhythm. Once he is into that rhythm though, it is pointless to blitz more because that often plays into the QB’s hands.
I constantly defended Pennington’s reluctance to go downfield by cautioning that the receivers are unable to get open. Judging by the comments above, yesterday was more evidence that I may have been right.
Alot of blame to go around but the lions share belongs to the Defense. More specifically Sutton. He has shown us 3 seasons worth of his abilities. And the results are poor. Mangini took over the D the first 2 years with great results. I can only guess that he did not do it this year because the team was playing very well. Mangini needs to take over the D to get the Jets into the playoffs, and then finally replace Sutton with someone more competent next year. This has been a really bad job by the coaching staff the last 2 weeks. They have gone from a top AFC team to unwatchable. Personnally, I am not going to waste another Sunday watching them. If they make the playoffs, wake me up.
Bent: Sorry take Trusnik out of the grouping and you still cant justify having these guys on the field at the same time (which I beleive happened last week).