Abstract Matchups: Dolphins Week
Braylon & Cotch vs. Fresh Meat– A lot has been made of the Dolphins rookie corners starting this week, what with Will Allen out of the lineup. Braylon had a great game against the Dolphins the first time around, and he did so without the help of Jerricho Cotchery, who was mostly limited in the previous game. Cotchery’s ability to play in this game could be critical to how comfortable Sanchez is against the Dolphins.
Jake Grove vs. Whoever’s Lined Up Against Him — Jake Grove has played well on the line for the Dolphins, and with Jenkins out of the lineup, that matchup is going to be crucial in seeing how much yardage the ‘Cat can scarf up on first and second downs. The Jets need to hold this point of attack to win the game.
Chad Henne vs. Standing Upright — The Jets got almost no pressure on the Dolphins in the game last time, Bart Scott has expressed his wish to get Henne out of the game … and that would be a good step for the Jets, since he torched them in their last game. Henne though is coming off a bad performance against the Saints, and the Jets are coming off back to back performances where they’ve knocked the opposing starting QB out of the game in one form or fashion.
Shonn Greene vs. Unrealistic Expectations — After his brilliant performance last weekend, some of the moonbat contingent think that the Jets are better off using him over Washington. Bite your tongue! Greene is a very promising rookie, and might be the running back that the team can base their future around, but he’s more similar to Thomas Jones running style than Washington, which means that the Jets offense won’t be as effective without a third down back like Leon available for the game.
We’ll have more real player versus player stuff up this weekend. For now add (and discuss) the matchups you are going to be paying attention to in the comments.
Bassett-
Even though he’s no Leon, Shonn Greene is faster through the line than TJ.
Also, the third down back who might be able to fill in for Leon is Woodhead.
Danny W might be especially useful against the Dolphins in the slot liningup with JCo and Braylon, or out of the backfield on a screen.
Would also like to see what DW can do on a reverse or double reverse with Brad S.
for all the breakdowns and analysis, remember it almost always comes down to the same thing, …. turn the ball over you lose, don’t turn the ball over win.
Woodhead isn’t the play Leon is, but I think he could help in replacing some of what Leon can do. Woodhead might be the fastest player on Offense (4.33, 40 time) so he should be able to stretch the field a little bit and present match up problems with the dolphins LBs.
a third down back, by definition, is someone that hasn’t played 1st and 2nd down and has fresh legs. Shonn Greene is our 3rd down back. He’s no Leon, so don’t compare them. They are two different backs. But, he is quicker than TJ and can change the pace of the game when brought in to spell. I can’t believe Rex hasn’t used Green more this year, eventhough the seems to be not enough reps for everybody. Leon is out for the season, now we get to see what Shonn is made of. I bet the trade up proves to be pay dirt
Calvin Pace vs. not being rusty :-)
I think we need to hop off the Woodhead Wagon. Guys on here were BEGGING for Clowney over the summer, and now you got em. We have Edwards, JCo, and Clowney in the slot. Plus Keller. We don’t need a pass catching RB really, we just need to rock the run, and TJ and Greene will get it done.
I don’t think Woodhead should play 30 snaps during the game, but he can catch some screen passes and give the Dolphins a different look.
He can still be a Weapon
OL vs. DL.
Period.
In both directions.
The outcome rests there.
I agree with Juan, the area where Woodhead can pick up the slack is the screen passing game. He’s fast in space, and he’s got better hands than either Greene or Jones.
About Shonn Greene. Really nice player. Great start.
But since we’re talking about Oakland, we can easily weight the data.
We’d be pretty well in the ballpark to say that Shonn’s 144 yds would equal roughly… 70-75 to 80 yds. against an NFL defense, without the Raider fluff. Still nice for a breakout game.
TJ’s 121 yds., we can assume, would translate to about 102-105 yds. vs. a normal defense.
Woodhead in the slot? Not with Cotchery and Smith coming back. That’s four receivers who are all much better than Woodhead at the position. If he gets reps it’ll be on specials and on passing downs out of the backfield, maybe with some runs sprinkled in.
Mike,
How, exactly, did you come to those numbers? 144 yards = 80 and 121 yards = 105? Um, what?
If anything, Greene would be more effective against this defense because he’s a very physical runner. The Jets had a pretty ineffective run game in the first game, and it was because Miami was more physical. That’s not Thomas Jones’ game, but physicality is Greene’s bread and butter.
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m still reeeeeeeeeally nervous about J-Co pushing the issue with his hammy.
I hope Woody J. is paying someone to do nothing but dog J-Co.’s every step and get him to slow down or sit down, if necessary.
*more effective than Jones
It depends what you mean by a normal defense. If you extrapolate the 121 yards from the Raiders rushing defense percentages to the 16th team in the league, you would come to 101 yards, however, before the game against the Jets the Raiders rushing defense was obviously ranked higher, and thus the extrapolation translates to about 106 yards, minus the Jet game. You also have to factor in the weather, the time of game, the injuries since that game, and the fact that this entire comment is BS just like the original comment.
Brendan
I didn’t mean Woodhead in the slot, I would like to see him as the 3rd back
Brendan,
Apologies, shouldn’t have said weight, but estimates. Reasonable estimates. Greene did most of his damage against a poor team that was already demoralized and had been continually pounded by TJ. Plus, 33 of those 144 yds came on one breakaway where the men in black rolled over and played dead. You could take away a couple other good gainers for the same reason. But the way the OL has been playing and what Greene showed leads me to believe he’d end up with at least a solid 60 yds. but less than 80 against just about anyone. That sounds about right.
For TJ? You have to assume that if it’d had been more of a ballgame, Oakland’s D would have been stiffer. Again, with the success of the OL, and the way he’s been running, I think it would have taken most of the game (cutting down many of Greene’s carries), but I can’t see TJ NOT being able to slog out a solid 100-yd. game against just about any team at this point. Take away a long gainer or two, and 102-105 sounds right.
Brendan, I don’t see anything other than pure supposition for your last graph re: Miami. Doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t see it. Pls. explain.
See? Greg / 130 gets it!
Mike,
I guess I just didn’t get the randomness to your method. I get what you were trying to get across, I just don’t agree with it, at least not this game. Greene had his most carries (in a quarter) in the 2nd quarter against the Raiders, when they still had a shot, and gained 83 yards on 12 carries (6.9 YPC). He is a battering ram, a wrecking ball, a bulldozer, whatever you want to call him, he busts through arm tackles and falls forward (much like our primary focus this week: Mr. Ronnie Brown). So to say he did it against a worn out and depleted Raiders team isn’t really true. Jones, on the other hand, had 17 carries for 53 yards in the first half (3.11 YPC).
Now I am not saying Greene is better than Jones, but Greene has something Jones doesn’t and that’s a young body. His style of running wouldn’t suit Jones well, since Jones has a patient style of running the ball. But Greene is a special player and reminds me of Michael Turner in the sense that it is never an easy tackle and his bigggg legs give him immense power in between the tackles.
I guess ineffective isn’t the word I meant to use. But it wasn’t very good. Take away Steve Weatherford’s rushing totals, and the Jets had 112 yards on 29 carries (3.8ish YPC). That isn’t very good. Anyone who watched the MNF game against Miami would be able to tell you that it was very physical, and the Jets will need Greene to wear down that defense with his pounding style of running. Jones and Greene are both ‘between the tackle’ runners, but with very differing styles of running.
Shonn Greene was a linebacker as well as a tailback in high school. That’s pretty much all that needs to be said.
Leon’s style deflates a defenses’ morale
Greene’s style grinds them down physically
Leon is the more talented and versatile of the two but the playing field is leveled by the fact this team is built around Greene’s style.
I am so excited to see the JETS face off the FINS…what an important week for us…I will be at game sunday and feel confident that it will be an exciting game…till the end…AND I don’t care how many hot dogs SANCHEZ eats..as long as he AS WELL AS the team performs better at THIS matchup….My prediction 24 to 10…JETS….also, Defense should be more prepared for Sunday and Ryan surely has learned a few things since the last meeting…can’t wait Jet fans…JETS..JETS..JETS!!!!!
Bassett,
There’s no denying that Leon will be missed and that Greene has a different skill set. But, he also has a different skill set than Jones. Thomas Jones runs between the tackles with authority, but he is not a second-level threat (and I don’t mean running 40 yards after breaking through 8 men in the box…I mean punishing DBs). Greene is a load. His low center of gravity and legs churning style make him impervious to arm tackles. If you can soften up the D with TJ, Greene’s the hammer. In theory, Leon was a 1st quarter player, use him to get the homerun and the lead. Greene is a 4th quarter player. For some games and in some situations, Greene IS the better choice. But, I already knew I was a moonbat!
no let down this time fins your wildcat belongs in a videogame Rex is right its a gimick! im going to enjoy watching the jets knock your a**** in the ground bunch of bums. go JETS!
Mike T;
I know readers may get the wrong idea that I HAPPEN to agree with just about all your posts, but darn it, your are right again !!
Your use of the word “weight” as in “weight Green’s data” it’s correct. Forget “estimates” when your’re talking about macho, down hill, pund ‘n ground running !!
Add to that the fact that he ran for about eighty (80) yards on three (3) carries, then you have a very NFL yds per ground ‘n pund carry AGAINST a pourous NFL run D.
You know the fourth ranked run D is not an Oakland run D. The kid is going to have to EARN his stripes !!!
I would rotate Shonn G into the TJ running game a bit more seriously even earlier on. Make the Fins adjust to the two different styles. Then throw Woodhead in for a serious change of pace, especially on a screen, a draw. Wouldn’t involve DW in a lot of snaps (unless the Fins can’t figure him out), but sparingly in the slot, the screen and/or a reverse.
Would also like to see the Jets spread the field with three WR every now and then, with JCo and Braylon pulling all the extra coverage while the Clown goes fast and deep. Trick is the OL has to give MS time so he doesn’t make bad decisions, and has a chance to look off the DBs.
Also an effective TJ & Greene run game will open up the field for either JCo or Braylon–whichever one draws the extra help in coverage, should allow MS to find the other in man.
shonn ran pretty good against the fins until he hurt is ankle…he def not washington but i feel hes faster than advertised and can break the big one…plus hopefully the rust is off pace and his 3 sack game wasnt just because it was the raiders…that would be sick if shonn gets another 100+ yd and 2 td game