Link: How Good is Greene for the Gang?
WCBS’s Green Lantern blog writes that they really liked what they saw from Shonn Greene in the Raiders game.
You saw Shonn Greene. The kid is a beast and now, with a one-two punch of Thomas Jones and the rookie wrecking ball out of Iowa picking their way through an offensive line that has finally come together, the Jets appear to have an offense. Add Jerricho Cotchery and Brad Smith back into the mix at some point and — dare I say it — the Jets could be balanced offensively for the second-half run.
I’m not going to lie. If you’ve ever had even a [shred] of optimism about this team, or have been saving up the karma points for a serious cash in, you have every right to be absolutely giddy about Greene. Here is a guy who can one day win a rushing title. He appears to be, as I Tweeted last night, a combination of Frank Gore and Larry Johnson. He hits the line with a head of steam and is every bit the type of running back who can pull away from a defense that Jones isn’t anymore and Jet-era Curtis Martin never really was.
I like Shonn Greene a lot, and the way he hits the hole is very impressive, but the Raiders were playing nine-wide on the line a number of times and once the hole was open, there was tons of daylight for the young running back. I think Greene is an impressive player and will be a good contributor to this offense for the rest of this season, but it’s hard to imagine that yards will come as easy as they did the rest of the season as easily as they did for him against the Raiders.
Loved this kid coming out of Iowa and was thrilled we moved to get him as he would have never fell to us… even though some fans were furious
He is the perfect replacement for TJ next year which is now a little clouded withe the Leon injury.
I am not expecting 19 carried for 150yrds 2 TDs every week but the kid def hits the hole with speed/power and looked alot faster than his reported 40 times….
I am a fan of the Big Ten but you cant replace the grind it our running style he ran at Iowa or the fact that he was a horse that ran in cold conditions as a senior.
It was the Raiders and we were gashing them for huge chunks of yards but the kid was impressive
Bassett,
Greene’s 144 yards on Sunday was the second best rookie performance in Jets history, behind Matt Snell’s 180 yards in 1964. And, it’s not like the Jets haven’t had good RBs..Snell, Boozer, Riggins, McNeil, Leon, etc. Greene knocked Leon’s 126 (?) yards against Detroit in 2006 into 3rd place. I don’t think we were downplaying Leon’s game in 2006. What Greene did was extraordinary. The only Jet that I can remember coming close was Riggins…the power to break arm tackles and the speed to out run the secondary…also, you have to love how he runs right at the safeties/corners to deliver a blow. It was only one great game, but it was an historic Jets rookie performance.
Obviously, no one should expect Greene to do what he did against the downtrodden Raiders every week, but it looks very much like the kid will be a tough handle for anyone he faces. I love Leon Washington and the big play potential that’s there any time he touches the ball. But Greene will likely take more steam out of a defense overall, with the same number of touches, potentially acting as a force multiplier for the whole offense.
I’ve been saying all season that Miami isn’t successful in the running game because of the Wildcat, they’re successful because they have Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams running it, barreling at a defense for four quarters, knocking the wind out of it.
It should be blasphemous to put this kid’s name in the same sentence as Curtis Martin. Martin was the best running back we ever had, he broke big runs, blasted his way to the end zone and never fumbled. Before we start talking up this kid, let’s see a body of work.
That being said, i think the trio of TJ, Greene and Woodhead can be great. Even if Leon isnt in the equation, we have a great balance there and im hoping to RUN IT DOWN THE PHINS’ THROAT!!!!!!!!!!
For all worried about the wildcat….lets not forget that a inexperienced QB in Henne picked us apart on 3rd down all day……especially in the 2nd half.
I am not expecting him to play that well again but…. he did kill us
He’d better be good. The very second Leon was hurt I added Green to my fantasy roster!
Seriously though he already has performed well enough to show that he will be decent. In the games that he had touches he also looked capable to say the least.
It seems that Henne is experiencing what Sanchez did, that being Henne had initial success, but has fallen back to earth. I expect this to be a hard fought game, but with a much different result than two weels ago.
Very excited about Greene, but it was the Raiders. Just watching him though, he seems like a good downhill runner. I hate that expression because its overused, but its the only real way to describe him. Once he has the ball in his hands, he’s hitting a hole. That, in my opinion, is the most important thing an NFL runningback has to do. The second most important thing is speed. He seemed to have a good burst of speed in the open field.
There are a lot more factors going for us this game then there were on in the monday night game.
1) We have all ready seen the wildcat and should be able to make some adjustments.
2) The game is in the Meadowlands.
3) Calvin Pace is finally back to being the beast he was last year, and should be much more effective.
4) Greene is a tougher runner than Leon and should help wear down the Fins defense.
5) We get Cotchery and Smith back.
6) Will Allen is out, so the Jets will be going up against TWO rookie corners.
7) The Jets O-line is finally playing like we hoped they would.
The loss of Kris Jenkins is tough against Miami, but even with him the Jets weren’t doing anything to stop Ricky and Ronnie. Rex needs to come up with a more successful scheme in order to limit the wildcats success. I think the Jets will use more four man fronts with Gholston (who has been good against the run) at DE. Calvin Pace is in football mode now and should be much more successful sealing the outside. The Jets will probably throw the ball more than 15 times, since they have a healthy receiving corp, and they are facing two rookie CB’s. As long as the Jets don’t turn the ball over more than the Dolphins, they should win the game.
Shonn’s running style will work on any team, not just the Raiders. I hate when people downplay a performance based on the opponent. The Raiders defense isn’t considered its weakness. They have a pretty strong line that got manhandled by ours and Shonn just exploded through those holes. He can and will do that against the better teams. At this point if Thomas can do it, so can Shonn. This combo is going to be better than the Leon and Thomas combo on the ground. Leon could do a lot more elsewhere, but we were preaching ground and pound, not ground and speed. We finally have a one-two punch, not a punch and a jab.
why is everyone saying Henne had a bad game? did anyone watch it? he had like 7 dropped passes from his receivers (1 in the endzone). the pick by Sharper was a perfect throw to Ginn and it bounced right off his hands. Henne is cool and calm in the pocket i would be worried. It is going to be his first road start of his career though.
Henne was good because of the wildcat. He wasn’t throwing out of it, but because they were running the ball so well and running even from traditional formations Henne was helped big time by play action and roll outs.
The few times we got pressure on him, he made bad throws. But when given the time, he was throwing darts or a deep ball to ted stone hands ginn.
But on 3rd and 10 from inside the red zone last drive of the game, we let the kid, in an obvious passing situation, roll to his right and throw for a huge first down.
AKA Drew — Henne’s success the first time we played them was partly due to how well the Wildcat was working for them, and also partly due to the fact that it was his first game as a starter, so our coaches had less film to work with [however, there's still no denying Ryan clearly didn't seem to prepare for that game as he should have --- he may have gotten a bit too arrogant and was thinking too fondly of the last time his team -- the Ravens -- played Miami... as filthy as that game was to watch for Jets fan, it may have force-fed Ryan some much-needed humble pie, which can only work to our benefit going into our 2nd meeting, this time at Home... one would expect Ryan to certainly be prepared the 2nd time around...]
Henne will NOT have that same success AWAY from home, in colder conditions, with more film available for other teams to study his tendencies, etc.
In fact, unless I’m mistaken, I believe this will be Henne’s FIRST game away from the comfort of his home stadium — that’s a crucial factor that should not be discounted [in the last 3 weeks, Miami had 2 home games and a bye]…. I’m sure the crowd will make it very uncomfortable for him and his teammates
AKA, I’ve been saying that about the first Miami game to anyone who will listen. Yes, the wildcat hurt us in that game, but we lost the game because Henne made some great plays when he had to in the 4th quarter, and our D made none. I’m sure they were tired but we lost that game because of Henne, not the wildcat. We out rushed Miami in that game, and I expect to do it again.
Calling shonn green a blend of gore/lj after one game is typical jets fan…..same old jets (fans)….wait till he has a bad day and the same people want to cut him
Vurtual, go back and look at those game situations again. We did a good job against the wildcat in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. And even though the D was gassed, they kept putting miami in third and long situations in that 4th quarter. Henne simply made the plays and our D, which is supposed to be tailor made for 3rd and long, made none.
Having Strickland back will help. Henne’s biggest plays against the Jets – the Ginn bomb notwithstanding – came against Lowery and Coleman. Those final drive, 3rd down passes against the pressure were the game winners. I also expect Rex to scheme better for Henne’s hot-read passing this time around.
Everyone vote for Shonn Greene!
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how could the wildcat be helping Henne? when they run the wildcat Henne isnt even involved. when they run the ball out of a regular formation it helps Henne not the wildcat. when ronnie is behind center you know whats coming and it not Henne
Pete — Henne certainly made some great plays, particularly in the 4th quarter, but I still maintain that part of his success was the constant threat of the Wildcat, even though the Jets D managed the Wildcat better in the 2nd Half.
The other factor though was that Ryan was simply outcoached that game — Miami’s coaching staff prepared better, anticipating certain plays by Ryan’s D and adjusted accordingly, whereas Ryan simply ASSUMED we would stop them while making minimal [if any] adjustments.
It is my feeling that Ryan will not let himself get fooled again in such a fashion.
Also, I got back to what I said earlier: let’s see Henne repeat that performance the 2nd time around, away from Miami, in NY, with a Jets D that will be far more prepared…
This is an extremely high compliment for Greene. Suggesting a future rushing title and comparing him to Gore and Johnson is definitely high praise. I dont care if it was against the Raiders, Greene showed what type of runner he is and I think it will translate against any defense.
As far as the Miami game, it seemed like the Jets brought absolutely no pressure gaainst Henne, a guy who has only started a handful of games. I know the Jets play cautiously against the wildcat, but I hope to see a lot more pressure this Sunday.
if the weather is anything like it was against Buffalo then the Jets Have no chance of winning sunday
My recollection of the Miami game was that some of Henne’s best plays were against pressure. I think, without enough tape on him, the Jets underestimated his ability to hit hot reads against the blitz. I expect, with more available game footage, they’ll study his tendencies and play those lanes a lot better, both on the rush and in coverage.
every time the jets blitzed in miami, they countered with max protection. the pass rush scheme needs to make adjustments. calvin pace needs to play like an animal. chad henne has looked great but the phins receivers do not scare me. ginn has regressed and i like our DBs chances vs anyone. contain the wildcat, pressure henne and the D should be fine
The last two weeks ground blitz was 90% about the line, and the opponents.
We will find out this week if it is for real.
I like Shonn, but as usual the media is jumping to conclusions off one big game.
A lot of backs have had one big game in the NFL, the keys to being great are consistancy, holding onto the football and staying healthy, all of which made Martin, and TJ to a lessor extent, special.
Shonn, at least in college, has had trouble with the last part.
Fresh-Temperature in the upper 50’s, wind at 9MPH, partly cloudy. Think the weather will be perfect for football and the Jets. It will be a tough game though. The key will be how Rex decides to defend the Wildcat.
I’m waiting for the calls to trade Greene — for maybe a fourth or fifth round pick — while he stills has some value! Maybe folks are busy elsewhere today… Still, it seems quiet…
That said, it is NOT either/or. Both were true. Yes, Greene had a superb breakout day, and he looks to be that good of a running back. That’s really exciting. AND. Yes, the Raiders (normally good) sucked that badly all day — after their QB gave the game away in the first five minutes and put anvils on everyone’s backs. Look at the recap videos, and you’ll again hear Dan Dierdorff dogging the Raider D repeatedly for rolling over and playing dead. This game was over at 14-0.
When Henne was under pressure, Miami handled it superbly. I hated that more than anything else about that game. Rex threw the kitchen at Miami, and the Phins’ coaches just took it and made meatloaf with a pleasing pepper sauce with everything Rex brought to the table. The prototypical play was that accursed, gorgeous screen where half of Florham Park came pouring through, Henne went to a 7-step drop and just plopped it over the heads of this herd of Green to Ronnie Brown right behind the line of scrimmage, and off he galloped to the left behind a wall of orange jerseys for a big chunk of Florida real estate. Big play. At a critical juncture. That kind of thing happened all night. Just smart, disciplined football, dammit.
Henne may have had no more field experience than Sanchez that night, but he still had the benefit of a year to sit and watch Chad, who stills rates as one of the coolest field generals of the modern era, despite his other flaws. So, when Henne was called on, he was ready.
I still wish Mark could have had that year to decompress in the NFL, despite his obvious talents.
I’m looking forward to seeing if Rex (and by extension, the team) keeps his cool, stays disciplined, and returns the battering we took down there. The Wildcat is just a play. Like any other play, you have to figure out how to stop it. Big deal. Go back to the board and draw up a play that will stop their play. It’s called football. Nothing has changed since leather helmets.
Oops. Make that “Yes, the Raiders <> (normally good) sucked that badly all day” in the post above.
Ahhhh, curses! Foiled again!
OK, let’s try it again:
Oops. Make that “Yes, the Raiders ‘D’ (normally good) sucked that badly all day” in the post above.
GANG GREENE!!!
The Raiders were demoralized by the time Green started to heat up, anyone could have ran the ball.
The Jets Beat the raiders, lets not get too ahead of ourselves, they lost to Buffalo and Miami. I have no idea what to make of this team now I really don’t. I’m loosing faith in Sanchez very quickly. I wanted to see him start for his intangibles, but soon I think if he can’t learn to not lock onto receivers, and pass the ball effectively then we should hand it over to Clemens. There’s a lot of worse QB’s in this league than Clemens. Besides, we don’t really know how good he is cause we never gave him a real chance.
I like Sanchez, I’m just saying if he doesn’t improve very soon than we should put Clemens in instead of throwing our season away.