All good points, but two (my opinion):

4: Thomas Jones and Leon Washington didn’t pick up Jesse Chatman’s slack when he was suspended. Rather, he was on the roster as Jones’ back up. So, the comparison to Pace, a fisrt stringer, is a lil’ off.

That said, I do think we have good depth with Trusnik and Murrell… maybe Gholston?

6. The loss of Coles hurts, because we have no wide receivers. Shonn Greene’s seems to be an excelent value draft… only we’ve got Jones and Leon. Therefore, it weakens the offensive for the immediate future.

Making analysis on paper is worth about as much as the paper it is written on. Team chemistry is the unknown, and guys like Lewis, and Reed are worth more than their actual playing ability (See B Scott trying to become a leader on our team). I also think that Ngata and Jenkins are equal, w/Ngata being more athletic, and Pace will not be playing for the 1st 4 games.
As a fan for 40 years I used to get upset by these type of articles which always downgrade the Jets.
Football is played on turf, not Paper… Only time will tell, but at least it is fun to debate about.

Bent makes some good points, but I think the biggest problem that we will face this year is the lack of quality depth at O Line, and a subpar receiving team which will put pressure on the Oline, RB’s , and QB’s.

Also, in the NFL as they say “On any given Sunday” so the schedule thing is not what we should be looking at. Who knows who will be good, and who will be this season?

RDE- Trevor Pryce Vs. Shaun Ellis Edge- Jets
NT-Haloti Ngata Vs. Kris Jenkins Edge- Jets
LDE- Kelly Gregg Vs. Marques Douglas Edge- Ravens
ROLB- Terell Suggs Vs. Bryan Thomas Edge- Ravens
RILB- Tavares Gooden Vs. Bart Scott Edge- Jets
LILB- Ray Lewis Vs. David Harris Edge- Push
LOLB- Jarret Johnson Vs. Calvin Pace Edge- Jets
LCB- Domonique Foxworth Vs Darelle Revis Edge- Jets
RCB- Fabian Washington Vs. Lito Sheppard Edge- Push
SS- Dawan Landry Vs. Jim Leonhard Edge- Ravens
FS- Ed Reed Vs. Kerry Rhodes Edge- Ravens

“1. The easy schedule (4 wins) you refer to last year, we actually lost to three teams that were supposed to be the EASY part of our schedule. Oakland, San Francisco, and Seattle.”

True, but maybe if they lost to those three teams, they weren’t as good as their 9-7 record.

“3. As far as injuries go they are a part of the game and considered acts of God.”

Yes, but they can cause a team to fall back. Nobody is suggesting Belichick should resign after the Pats won 8 fewer games last season (18-1 to 10-6), because the reason for that was (as you say) an act of God and therefore completely out of his control.

“4. Jesse Chatman was suspended for four games last year and it did not affect our running game. Jones and Washington picked up the slack on their own same can be said with Gholston, Trusnik, Murrell, Scott, Harris, and Thomas.”

When he was in the line-up, Chatman touched the ball 7 times last year and gained 13 yards. The loss of Pace is obviously a much bigger blow. Hopefully those guys do pick it up though.

“5. Assuming Jenkins is going to “hit a wall” earlier this year is a REACH. If anything Ryan’s strength is supposed to maximize each player’s abilities.”

The guy is a year older and recovering from a herniated disk. That’s not something Ryan has any control over.

“6. Are you saying that the loss of Coles is greater than the gain of Shonn Greene? Fans in the TJB that support Tannenbaum agree that Coles was not that important to making the offense better this year and swear Greene is more valuable than Thomas Jones. ”

I do not speak for fans in the TJB, but I consider Favre, Coles, Baker and an extra year of tread on the tires of Faneca, Woody and Jones to be a bigger loss than Sanchez and Greene, at least in the short term. Losing those players was still a smart move though because it gave them the cap room to add to the defense.

The message I’m trying to get across is that I don’t know what will happen, but I like the a lot of the moves they have made and IF they do fall back next season, it likely won’t be because they are a bad team, but moreso because they had bad luck, or didn’t reach their full potential immediately.

I am not negative, I am behind the team 100% and excited about the future. I wasn’t trying to over-analyze everything, just pointing out that there might be many reasons for a team’s record to slip from year to year other than the coach. I have reservations about next year, because I think it’s a tough schedule and a new regime, so I am not sure how the year will go, but I am excited to see what happens.

Somehow, Fonzie seems to think I am driving the Ryan/Sanchez bandwagon and Harvlis thinks I’m on suicide watch. Just looking forward to the season and what will happen, guys.

1) am i alone in my thinking that too many are making too big a deal about the departure of coles? he dropped so many passes last year and was no where near as good as he’s been in the past.

2) not enough is being made about the departure of mangina. he was god awful a big chunk of last season.

3) our defense looked elite at times last season when mangini acatually put his foot on the gas. this year we have more talent and ryan is going to attack the opposing qbs like crazy

go ahead and sleep on the jets. our defense will be more than happy to give you a wakeup call!

- We may not have the potential this year at QB to hit the level that Favre was when he was playing his best (ie Pats/Titans)… but it would be impossible for even a rookie to be that reckless with the ball. 22 Ints is one thing, but I bet like 12, 13 of those were just reckless, bonehead decisions that Sanchez/Clemens won’t be in a position to do.

- Offensive Line was pretty darn good last year, even in that game.

- Chansi Stuckey had 3 straight catches on 3 straight plays… just sayin.

- Kerry Rhodes actually blitzed (from the line of scrimmage not 15 yrs away) and disrupted the entire play.

- Thomas Jones did not look good.

- Leon Washington did

- We threw the ball WAAAY too much in short yardage.

- Favre’s INT’s cost us at least 7 pts and probably 14, hence… the game.

Ryan MUST meet at least the same expectations as last years record in order to be accordered some type of success. And here is why;

1. The easy schedule (4 wins) you refer to last year, we actually lost to three teams that were supposed to be the EASY part of our schedule. Oakland, San Francisco, and Seattle.

2. The QB situation cannot be any weaker this year because FARVE was the catalyst for us to lose 4 out of the last five games and THANK THE LORD HE IS GONE!!!

3. As far as injuries go they are a part of the game and considered acts of God.

4. Jesse Chatman was suspended for four games last year and it did not affect our running game. Jones and Washington picked up the slack on their own same can be said with Gholston, Trusnik, Murrell, Scott, Harris, and Thomas.

5. Assuming Jenkins is going to “hit a wall” earlier this year is a REACH. If anything Ryan’s strength is supposed to maximize each player’s abilities.

6. Are you saying that the loss of Coles is greater than the gain of Shonn Greene? Fans in the TJB that support Tannenbaum agree that Coles was not that important to making the offense better this year and swear Greene is more valuable than Thomas Jones.

All the analysts and fans are holding the lack of a true number receiver for jets as the major downfall of their offense with the mistakes of the quarterback (whoever he is) coming in second. However, if these fans and analysts saw how Tannenbaum (who the fans admire) didn’t put too much value into Coles then why should they be worrying? Coles must have not been that great of a number one receiver to be let go for zero compensation even with his limitations. To answer your last question is as follows:

The contradiction exists in the image as it is being projected from the front office and the jet fans where they are claiming nfl dominating defense and images of an impending superbowl (see Rex) while emphasizing that we may NOT show it on our record.