The Initial Assessment: West Coast Tripping
Needless to say it has been hard on us Jets fans the past three weeks, many supporters of Gang Green have “quit” and to top it all off the Jets have lost Kris Jenkins for the season. But … despite Oakland’s upset of the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, I’m still holding out hope (the possibility of coming away with a good record say 10-6 is still there, pessimists) that the Jets will be able to go down to Oakland and finally come back home with a win but it will surely take a lot of effort and some adjustments to make it through this Sunday. Rex Ryan’s message is after the jump.
Quarterback: Barely a throught in the power rankings, Buffalo’s defense was near the end of the food chain until they received five throws from Sanchez on a cold Sunday afternoon. Granted he is a rookie and he is not accustomed to the New England weather but let’s be honest Kellen Clemens should have at least been given a shot to make some plays (or Ainge or O’Connell at that point). I know many of you have said that Ryan should bench Chez to show him that there isn’t much room for error in the NFL and that five INT’s is unacceptable. That ain’t gonna happen.
Ryan has already made it clear that Sanchez is “the guy” and he will be back where he is most comfortable: in the California heat which will hopefully allow him to rebound but it will take a lot of effort on his part if he expects to perform well in Oakland or back home for that matter.
Running Backs: This was Thomas Jones greatest performance (he would break Curtis Martin’s record of 203 yards in game and create a career high of 210 yards in a game) of the season though it was all for nothing but it is a sign that Jones might be coming around again and as Bassett wrote in an earlier post TJ could see some more yards and scores. Leon Washington also got in on some action and would add an additional 99 yards to the run game. It seems LW and TJ are getting along and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Jets lean heavily on them against a vulnerable Oakland defense and in the coming weeks.
Wide Receivers: Braylon Edwards did the best he could with what he could get from Sanchez (which wasn’t much) but nonetheless Edwards had one of his better performances this season against the Bills however I expect Nnamdi Asomugha to stick with Edwards like glue although Edwards has an inch on Nnamdi so I suppose a couple of passes wouldn’t be out of the question as long as Sanchez can make sure those passes are spot on. The loss of Jerricho Cotchery left Sanchez “dazed and confused” but that is something else he’ll have to deal with because your guy might not always be ready; case and point both Cotchery and Smith were on the field but are possible scratches for Sunday. If that’s the case Sanchez will have to make smart decisions when he does throw (i.e. utilize Woodhead, Clowney, Wallace not the defenders).
Tight Ends: Everyone did say that Dustin Keller needed a few passes thrown his way unfortunately they were either poor passes or Keller just couldn’t hang on. Ultimately he looked as bad as the rest of the offense (with the exception of TJ and LW) but again no one exactly on the ball so I suppose I can give Keller a mulligan after all his productivity decreased quickly after the first two weeks. Hopefully should Keller be called upon to help if Smith and Cotchery are sidelined (or even if they are in action) he will be able to reap some rewards against a shaky Raiders defense but I being conservative in my expectations. By the way, Ben Hartsock, you may be a good blocker but please try not to get penalized or at least catch a pass or break up a potential INT please.
Offensive Line: The line once again seemed to improve but penalties literally killed the Jets in this game and although the Jets had dropped to the bottom of the Penalty Tracker (via Tim Graham) that should not have given them the initiative to force the refs to throw the yellow flags. Although Woody has been bothered by his ankle I would expect to see some more productivity from the line (if the Jets plan on upping the run game) and less penalties (that is if they plan to keep all those valuable yards).
Defensive Line: Things just won’t be the same without Kris Jenkins after all he enabled the Jets to use various packages due to his ability to fill up two holes in front however the Jets will have to use a combination of Sione Pouha and Howard Greene to man the front lines now and it might be difficult but this defense has some strong players other than Jenkins (granted not as large). It isn’t a question of whether or not this can be a good defense but its more of a question as to when they will be able to put it together and hopefully this game will allow the Jets to get accustomed to life with out Kris.
Even on a good day Darren McFadden hasn’t been able to live up to expectations and with Run DMC already ruled out this Sunday, it could potentially make the Jets life easier in terms of defending the run. Michael Bush, Justin Fargas and Gary Russell have a combination of just two touchdowns this season for the run. This is good news for the Jets defense who shouldn’t have too much issue this week but at the same time Rex Ryan should not underestimate anyone especially without Big Jenks to cover the front.
Linebackers: David Harris and Bart Scott have been there but they have been ghosts compared to their first three games. The Jets haven’t been able to make much noise with their once “blitz happy” defense and it is clearly part of the reason as to why the Jets have been floundering the past three weeks. I’m not quite worried though if I know Scott he is still waiting to hit someone very hard and he just might get his chance with JaMarcus “WTH am I doing?” Russell under center. Calvin Pace still looked a little rusty and a little dirty (hit on T. Edwards) however he seems to be getting back to his old groove and if the Jets defense can penetrate Oakland’s offensive line early and get Russell down before he throws, the Jets defense could see a major (and much needed) boost in the power rankings.
Defensive Backs: The history between Darrelle Revis and T.O. got ugly early with some pushing and shoving as well as some penalties against Revis but after getting that out of his system it was buisness as usual for Shutdown as he would hold Owens to three catches, retribution for his Monday Night mishap in Miami. The Raiders don’t exactly have the best receiving corp but you can bet Revis will be on anyone who sees fit to try and have a big day. Lito Sheppard appears to still be aching from his injuries however if he can get back on the field he will be helpful as we saw him break a couple of passes up in Buffalo.
Donald Strickland could also return to the lineup but I would expect his action to be limited if he sees any at all not only to make sure everything holds up but it would also be a slap to the face of Dwight Lowery if he didn’t get some more oppertunities. Lowery had a nice pick off Fitzpatrick (this coming after the Jets had many chances yet missed some INT’s) additionally Lowery’s improvement has no doubt gained the attention of Rex Ryan who probably won’t try to fix what isn’t broken. Drew Coleman who also displayed some improvement will no doubt get some time while Eric Smith, Kerry Rhodes and Jim Leonhard (who was more visible defensively against the Bills) continue to make some plays in the secondary.
And, James (Ihedigbo), please don’t punch anyone else.
Special Teams: Despite the morale-killing performance, Jay Feely would break a record that is Pat Leahy’s record for the most consecutive field goals by a Jet which Feely tied and then surpassed leaving the record at 24 before missing a last minute field goal in the second quarter that would have gave the Jets the win in the end (NYJ would have been up 16-3 and with Lindell missing the final FG in regulation, NYJ would have had the game). But we can’t be too hard on Feely after all (everyone is pointing fingers to the offense) it does take some luck at times to hit it through the uprights in the Meadowlands. I suspect Feely should have no problems this weekend and hopefully Westhoff won’t try the Weatherford trickey unless it is absolutely necessary because that was just an awful fake and INT by Weatherford but his punting wasn’t bad so I suppose that could balance out…
The Bottom Line: It is a winnable game but it will take a lot of effort from both parties (offense and defense) in order to come out of Oakland with a 4-3 record. I’m sure it won’t be hard to get the Jets going anyway, the rivalry goes way back to the days of Joe Willie and after Sebastian Janikowski kicked the game winner in overtime last year, I’m sure the Jets are looking for retribution but again it will come down to whether or not they can remain in check.
Filed under: Main Page, Opinion
Good overview, just one question/issue.
In the Special Teams section: The Weatherford tricky? I’m 99% sure that wasn’t a fake. It looked like the snap was a little high and Weatherford just couldn’t get it down in time, and he just panicked.
Has there been any confirmation on this one way or another?
the jets need to BLOW OUT the raiders. not just beat them. Chez and Co. need a HUGE W to get their swagger back. I have a feeling the Defense is going to be all over Young Jeezy… I mean Jamarcus.
I believe the weatherford pass was notcalled- he just mishandled the snap and decided to throw.
Yeah I agree with Bob. From what I saw it was a decent snap that Weatherford mishandled and tried to make a play when he realized the kick was not going to happen. I mean, no one went out on receiving routes or anything so I would be surprised if that was a designed fake.
Weatherford could have punted the ball if he could think better on his feet. Anyone else agree with me??
Absolutely no reason to bench Sanchez before a start. During a game, like this past one, that is totally different and does send a message. Nothing wrong with benching a QB for a quarter if he’s losing the game for us. But no reason to bench him for his next start. They are different animals.
Woodhead fan, great idea, but you’d have to blame Westoff before Weatheford. I’m sure that’s not even something they’ve ever run before on the practice field. I’d imagine if they have, he would’ve done it.
Well, teams do run a pooch punt out of a field goal formation, but the snap goes directly to the place kicker, not the punter (holder). That would have to be a play Weatherford makes in a split second, so Westoff woudln’t be to blame. The only blame should be on Weatherford for not handling the snap.
Mexi-melt should be able to get back his swagger playing in sunny california and this will hopefully end our west coast debacles.
The blog refers to some Jet fans as pessimists. The more accurate description is “realists”.
I’ll stick with my original 9-7 record – missing the playoffs again.
I saw we lose 2 more games, that being the Pats, and colts
Frankly, we shouldn’t be disappointed if it turn out we end the season with a winning record but miss the playoffs…
I think the first 3 weeks kinda got us all worked up and excited, but the reality is we DO have a Rookie QB and Rookie Head Coach — we should give them a least a year to go through some growing pains.
Even if we somehow DO make the playoffs this year, unless Sanchez completely shakes off his rookie tendencies and plays at a veteran pace, it’s not likely we’ll go all the way with him — this year.
I have no doubt however that this will be a very good to great team in the years ahead… it will NOT be the “SOJ”…
The Kid will get better, our coach will learn, our D will adjust…
Let’s give the kid his first season to take his lumps… he’s 22 after all, but a fast-learning 22yr old, and I’m quite confident that he’ll be much improved once he’s got the first year under his belt.
As he gets older, he’ll gain confidence, lose some of the boyhood naivete`, and develop into the Pro-Bowl caliber QB we’ve been lookin’ for….
or not… ;-)
But even with all the mistakes, I think we’ve seen glimmers of potential with this kid — those glimmers will only get brighter with time, eventually causing opponents to wince in the glare of the shine that is our Sanchize…
I don’t think we have to worry about Ihedigbo punching anyone this week seeing as how he isn’t even making the trip.
Also worth noting that Lowrey is going home where he had tons of success. I see him having a big game.
I have to disagree with anyone calling for a blowout and implying that nothing less is a failure. Blowout essentially implies that we need to score a lot. Im looking for them to control the clock and run the ball more than I am for TDs at this point. We can win with solid defense and some field goals. Add the fact that we are traveling out west and now I am BEGGING for them to just run the ball. Give Sanchez no more than 15-20 throws ALL game.
NJETS-
Agreed. We need to look at, as Rex said this week, the Big Ben/Pitt model his rookie season. Stifling D, relentless running game, only passing to keep that 8th guy out of the box.
If we don’t rely too much on Sanchez he’ll be ok. Unfortunately, that’s up to our notoriously over-analytic OC.
I’d be happy with TJ and LW getting 15+ rushing attempts each, with Shonn Greene getting at least 5-10. Sanchez slings maybe 20 passes, mostly off PA.
IMO this is a critical game. It is going to show that this is not the SOJ, something they have not done yet. So far this year the Jets have been pretty much the same as last year—we beat some good teams and lost to teams that on paper we should have beaten. I am hoping that Rex has learned from the last two losses and has the team focused. That the defense returns to the intensity we saw in the first three games. That the offense is going to be designed for a rookie QB who has shown that he is prone to errors. And lastly that the penalties have to be dramatically reduced. I am not much of a x’s and o’s guy (I’ll leave that to the bloggers who know what they are talking about)—but I sure as hell can tell if a team is playing well–and at the end of last year and the last two games they have not been. If they don’t change that this week—we are in for a long season.
If Pitts model of Big Ben’s rookie season is what we are emulating then can someone please, please tell it to Scotty right away…On an upnote, Bill Walsh maintained that players and coaches learn much more from a heartbreaking loss than a win. Well, at least he did. Hopefully Rex and Sanchez will do too. Jets 5-11 but forever hope….
We started off the season with a whole lot of unexpected success, which went against the majority of what the analyst’s were expecting of the JETS. I think everyone got over confident again (this happened last year when everyone thought we were SB bound) before the season even reached its midpoint. This game is crucial that we win, I wouldn’t say it would be a blowout (that would be nice) but I definitely hope they win with the basic fundamentals of a strong D to cause turnovers and lots of ground pound rushing (occasional TJ or LW burst of +20 yds). They need to gain their confidence back before they play the Fins (if the Saints stop them there will be good film for Rex and the DC to use). If we can pull off a victory against the Fins it’ll be a good way to go into the bye week. As all the critics said about the JETS when they were 3-0 ‘it’s too early in the season” us JETS fans still have to keep in mind that “it’s too early” to think that we’re out of the picture to make the playoffs, there is still a lot of games left. LET’S GO JETS!
Blowout?! [*in a Jim Mora voice*] You’re talking about a blowout?!!
The Jets are an abysmal 2-12-1 lifetime going to play the Raiders on the West Coast, including an horrid 16-13 OT loss last year when TJ ran for 150 yards (sound familiar?). Remember last year when they went 0-4 on the West Coast — this team still has a lot of those players, plus a rookie QB and HC. They are also a ridiculous 1-10 in their last 11 games that haven’t been at 1 on a Sunday.
The Raiders just beat a decent Philly team last week, and will give the Jets more than they can handle. Sadly, as I said might happen last week, I can easily see another stomach-turning loss.
As always, I hope I’m wrong, but I think there’s going to be a few more bumps along the way this year. Still sticking to my prediction of 8-8 or 9-7, with the team and Sanchez coming on down the stretch and being that team no one wants to play. Then next year, look out!
RinCT:
Franchez must not turn the ball over for the Jets to win. There is no way Oakland will let us run 40 to 50 times, which means Franchez must throw and protect the ball.
This game now is more critical for our QB than for the Jets. He is back to his enviroment, his family his friends and he needs to NOT give the game away !!
If he does, I think it can do some serious damage to his confidence !!
Oakland really struggles to score points and Russell alternates between terrible and horrible. But, the Raiders’ defense is tough and they can win ugly…in both wins they scored just 13 points in each. Like every opposing defense so far, the Raiders will put 8 men in the box and challenge Sanchez. But, if the Jets get a lead, the Raiders have to rely on their passing game, which is awful. So, this game will boil down to which team can score TDs. If the Jets can score 21 or more points, Oakland will have a very tough time.
The Jets are facing a perfect storm of a need to rely less on Sanchez’ arm and a big fresh hole in their run defense with the loss of Jenkins. For MS’s rehab from last week’s debacle, you’d hope to run early and often, play a field position game, and let the superior defense win a low scoring contest. But what if the D is not so superior without KJ? If the Raiders are able to run it up the gut, Russell will get into good passing situations and gain some confidence. If the Raiders get an early lead at home the day could begin to go very badly for the Jets. Sanchez may well have to put it up and it’s anyone’s guess how he’ll respond.
The biggest key to the game will be how well Ryan can scheme against the run and which players step up in KJ’s absence. If the Jets can stop the run, by hook or by crook, I like their chances.
Our biggest hurdle will be the PLAYCALLING of Schittenheimer.
Otherwise I think Rex will have the team ready.
Jets 17
raiders 9
Go Jets!!!!!!!
1 September 14 7:15pm PDT San Diego Chargers † L 20-24 0-1 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum ESPN Recap
2 September 20 10am PDT at Kansas City Chiefs W 13-10 1-1 Arrowhead Stadium CBS Recap
3 September 27 1:15pm PDT Denver Broncos L 3-23 1-2 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum CBS
4 October 4 10am PDT at Houston Texans L 6-29 1-3 Reliant Stadium CBS
5 October 11 10am PDT at New York Giants L 7-44 1-4 Giants Stadium CBS
6 October 18 1:05pm PDT Philadelphia Eagles W13-9 2-4 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Fox
I hope once again the Jets dont take this game too lightly and go in expecting to win this game.The Raiders can play defense and seem to be able to establish a pretty good ground game.Russell is the key to the Jets victory..IF we can rattle him early and get him out of his game he plays very poorly…If the Jets cant stop the running game and Russell has time to go through his Raiders team can and will hog the time of possession and grind out low scoring games…The Raiders are another Jeckle and Hyde team like the Jets catch them on the right day and they can play stiffling football caught them on the wrong day and they can be blown out…Hoping we catch them on their off day and we hang 30 on them…We need another solid rushing game to do that because if we fall behind early and the Raiders can pin their ears back with the secondary Sanchez is in for another long day….
Jets are 0-3, if they take anyone lightly the coach should be fired.
I was going to try and make the case the jets are throwing too much, but comparison to Flacco’s rookie year took me by surprise.
Average game Comp-Attem- yds per att- Tot Td-Int
Flacco 08 16-26-6.9yds-14-12
Sanchez 09 14-28-6.3yds- 5-10
So either;
A) Sanchez sucks or
B) Its the system.
I vote B.
Two years in a row our QB’s have needed the system “scaled back”.
One was at the end of a HOF career, the other a highly rated rookie.
The constant, Lil’ Schott’s very complicated system
Clemens, consdiered bright and promising at one time, also struggled at times with it.
Only the Rhodes Scholar quality mind of the veteran Chad Pennington seemed to get it.
Its a case of too much too soon for the kid.
Schotty gotta go. Fire him after the season.
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