Greetings all you gofers of the Gang Green gaggle. It’s been awhile since I posted something at TJB, primarily because my main shtick is looking at matchups that do NOT include our boys and analyzing how such games affect potential playoff berths. But after reading Dan Shipper’s intuitive pieces on the paranoid vs optimistic Jets fan in all of us, I’ve realized that exploring postseason expectations so early on may make our readers heads’ explode.

And we can’t have that. So let’s take it easy for starters by looking at this week’s preseason games and noting which ones may be worth following and why…

Patriots vs Eagles

All eyes are, obviously, going to be on Brady, who is apparently aiming to take more than just a few snaps. But then there’s the addition of Fred Taylor and Joey Galloway to an already prolific offense, which will meet an Eagles defense that didn’t re-sign perennial leader Brain Dawkins, scratched stud linebacker Stewart Bradley due to injury, and recently lost its defensive coordinator. It looks like the setup for a massacre of Patriots points against their Super Bowl XXXIX foes, but perhaps Andy Reid’s squad will reveal some chinks in the armor?

Injuries to Eagles offensive lineman Shawn Andrews and Jason Peters are haunting their camp as well, which may make for a field day for Vince Wilfork, Richard Seymour and newcomer Derrick Burgess. TJB has written extensively about concerns over the lack of depth at our offensive line, and both Damien Woody and Nick Mangold have been hurt this week, so let’s hope this decimated o-line matchup against a scary d-line not only gives insight in stopping the Pats defensive front, but encourages the Jets coaching staff to reevaluate the strength of our offensive line as we head into the season.

Cowboys vs Raiders

Watching last year’s game against the Raiders was like a slow motion chase scene in a horror flick, you knew something horrible was going to happen and it wasn’t going to be over with quickly. This year will hopefully be much different, in that we hopefully won’t have a QB throwing ducks in the air for the Oakland D to takeaway. But last year’s Raiders defense was better at stopping the pass than the run, so let’s hope to see a multi-prong rush attack from Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice as a preview of what TJ?, Leon, Shonn Greene and maybe Danny Woodhead can do. Meanwhile, attention must be paid to Nmadi Asomugha covering a T.O-less receiver corps. Tony Romo’s not the greatest QB in the NFL and, to be fair, neither are Clemens or Sanchez (yet), so how #21 in silver and black affects the Cowboys pass attack is worth checking.

As for our defense, it allowed Jamarcus Russell to throw a touchdown pass against them last year, which was kind of embarrassing. This year it may be a more seasoned QB in Jeff Garcia, joined by now-veteran Darren McFadden and potential rookie stand out Darius Heyward-Bey. Needless to say the Jets defense upgraded as much, if not more than, the Raiders offense. Will Oakland’s offense show promise of being a legitimate come week seven?

Vikings vs Colts
Remember that time in 2006 when the Jets were oh so close to beating what would eventually be that season’s Super Bowl champ? Seeing them almost take down the Colts early in the season was painful, yet encouraging in that it showed Gang Green holding its own against a perennial contender. We’re facing them again this season, and as much as Peyton Manning may be getting older and no longer has his boyfriend Marvin Harrison, the real story for our 2009 matchup will be the Colts offense versus the Jets defense.

So let’s move beyond the obvious there and see what Adrian Peterson can teach us about the Colts run defense because, let’s face it, even if the Vikings did land Favre their passing attack can’t be THAT threatening (or maybe I’m bitter?). During that same 2006 season in which we ALMOST took down the Colts, Indianapolis’ run defense was their greatest weakness all season long, yet when the playoffs came around they completely shutdown Larry Johnson who was in the middle of a crazy season of yardage. The Colts D has always been an enigma stuck in the shadow of Manning. It’s time to give them close attention because outscoring the always threatening Colts offense may be a key to victory in December.

Bengals vs Saints
The Bengals were horrendous last year, and we almost lost to them. Yet there’s talk around the league and in fantasy pools that this will be a big comeback year for Carson Palmer. But the real story when we face Cincinnati will be that of Laveranues Coles’ first game against his original team since he was with the Redskins in 2003. Fortunately, the defensive schemes LC was familiar with have been changed under Rex Ryan, but both he and Chad OchoCinco create a legitimate passing threat, and they’ll be looking to pick holes in a weak Saints secondary. Will Lav still have it and be worth concern come our final game of the season? Is #85 going to come back with a vengeance? This preseason game may tell.

Meanwhile, the Saints offense is more than dangerous (especially when we’ll be without Calvin Pace) and the Bengals defense traditionally has been a joke. So it’s safe to assume, IMHO, that Brees, Bush and company will run amok on the Bengals D, making the Saints defense the important element to watch in this game. Along the same lines of the above analysis of the Colts, getting a gauge of how easy (or not) it will be to score on New Orleans is most important in this matchup with the Bengals.

Texans vs Chiefs
If only this were 2006 and we were playing the David Carr-led Texans in the Northeast in December with all of our defensive players on the field. But in 2009 it’ll be with Matt Schaub, warm weather, and riled up Houston fans and without Shaun Ellis and Calvin PAce  in the first week of the season. Jitters, jitters and more jitters.

The Texans have shown flashes of offensive brilliance as their defense continues to improve year after year. I think what will be important to check out in this game is how Steve Slaton plays. He was a decent impact player last year but was it beginner’s luck? Between Revis, Rhodes, Shepard and Leonard, we can have confidence in our secondary hindering the Texans’ pass attack, IMHO, but lacking Ellis and Pace on the corners could make a dangerous matchup against the run. Let’s hope the Chiefs defense helps reveal whether Houston is a one-dimensional offense or not.

Buccaneers vs Titans

The Jets were brilliant against the Titans last year, but this is a new season. As we saw in the Hall of Fame game last week, Kerry Collins, though old, knows how to play good football. And if former-fatty Lendale White has lost weight and gained speed, when joined by the speedy Chris Johnson, the Titans offense may be more of a threat than it’s mighty defense (though without Haynesworth this year).

The Bucs running game is likely an important element to watch here, as it may size up how the Jets rushing attack will fair against the Titans in addition to previewing what kind of playbook rookie coach Raheem Morris may throw at the Jets, with our without rookie QB Josh Freeman. Running for the Bucs is Derrick Ward, who ran all over Gang Green in 2007 (after getting cut by the Jets), and you can bet he’d like to have a big day against us again. How will he fair against the Titans’ D and will that foreshadow our meeting with him in December?

Bears vs Bills

The Bills didn’t look too menacing last week against the Titans and with T.O. injuring his toe, Marshawn Lynch out for the first few weeks, and Trent Edwards, IMHO, being overrated, they may not seen like a big offensive threat right now. With the Bears having a tradition of a tough defense, let’s hope Chicago reiterates this belief.

But what will be important is the testing of the Bills defense by a QB who is better than Kerry Collins (that bastard Cutler) and the very crafty RB that is Matt Forte. Oh yeah, some guy named Hester may burn some holes in the secondary as well. But since we are not 100% sold on our QBs just yet, I think we should see how the Bears running game takes on the Bills defense. Am I wrong?

Jaguars vs Dolphins

Last year’s biggest surprise faces one of last year’s biggest disappointments, and we face both of them this year in a bye-week sandwich. When it comes to the Jaguars, it will be interesting to see if Maurice Jones-Drew is truly the top fantasy pick some experts are labeling him to be, and if the addition of Torry Holt will make David Garrard an above-average QB like he was in 2007. Meanwhile, that Jaguars defense has been hit or miss over the past few years (always my backup D in fantasy, yet always a disappointment when I need them). Hopefully we’ll see them miss plenty against the Dolphins (during the preseason game anyway).

And what can we say about the Dolphins? I guess we should keep an eye on how much (if any) Wildcat they’ll run, if reports of Pennington’s arm getting stronger than ever are true, and if Channing Crowder is as much walk as he is talk. To be honest, I don’t want to write much about what to look for in the Dolphins because: A. I hate them and B. it’s nearly impossible to predict the outcome of any Jets vs Dolphins game. The inter-division rivalry here always makes the victory up for grabs, no matter how bad one team may be. I was at the Jets vs Phins game in 2007 and we almost lost the game, which would have only been the second win for Miami that whole season.

Of course, these are all preseason games. So there will not be much playing time to actually analyze. Still, it’s fun to watch any game if you can add a Jets angle to it. What else should we look for this week in preseason?

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