Monthly Archives: December 2009

Braylon Edwards wants New York to be his redemption, and with the postseason just one win away, he’s trying to do everything he can to make it a reality, even predicting it to the press. Rich Cimini writes a great article today on Edwards and his desire to go to the playoffs for the first time in his career.

The article has a number of good quotes, and here’s a smattering of them.

“We won’t lose this game,” Edwards said. “We won’t lose this game. We want it too bad. Just talk to the guys and you get a feel. You can hear Rex’s conviction when he talks to us. Guys are serious about winning this game … [g]uys aren’t talking about New Year’s Eve. Guys aren’t talking about family. All guys are talking about is the playoffs. All guys are talking about is beating Cincinnati. I’m convinced this team is 100% in. I don’t think we can lose this game, just from the mind-set we have, from the attitude we have. I just don’t see it.”

…

“They could play their starters, they could bring back their Hall of Famers, we have to win this game,” he said. “It’s a must-win for us. It doesn’t matter what they do. We’re going to play our hardest and we’re going to beat them, and get into the playoffs and play them again … [t]his is my opportunity. I’m going to do everything I have to do to ensure that, if we don’t go, it won’t be my fault.”

I like his confidence, I like that he’s willing to give everything he can to this team and this team’s chance at the playoffs. This is a great shot at redemption for Edwards, and I hope he finds it in New York. I like Edwards a lot, and there’s not been such a talented receiver on this team in a long while, but with that in mind, I’m still cynical about just how far Edwards will go to make this team win. He’s not exactly the type of receiver who digs out short passes, like Coles or Cotchery would. Maybe it’s his body type … I don’t know … what I will say is that once the ball is in his hands, he’s a force to be reckoned with, I know that much.

LaMarr Woodley is an idiot … and spoiled … need proof? Look at what he said to a local TV station about the Bengals and Colts laying down to the Jets.

“Cincinnati is probably going to go into New York and lay down for the Jets and not play them hard, just because they don’t want to see Pittsburgh in it, because they know if we get into the playoffs, we’re a dangerous team,” Woodley said after practice on Wednesday, according to WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh.

“All of them will lay down. No one wants to see Pittsburgh in it. That’s just how it is,” Woodley explained. “Like I said, everybody knows that we’re a dangerous team once we get into the playoffs. No matter how we played throughout the whole year, once we get in the playoffs, Pittsburgh Steelers is a playoff team.”

Woodley isn’t the only one who thinks that teams are tanking it against the likes of the Jets in order to keep the Steelers out. Several league and media insiders have expressed to us strong suspicion that the Colts’ real reason for yanking starters against the Jets on Sunday was to let the Jets into the postseason field, in the hopes of slamming the door on the Steelers, who went into Indy and beat the 14-2 Colts in the 2005 divisional round.

One Steelers source doesn’t think the Colts care.

“Our secondary would seem pretty inviting to [Peyton] Manning,” the source said.

I’m not going to delude myself and say that the Jets are a great team. The fact that they could be wild-cards to me, is utterly mind-boggling with the way this season has gone, and more than anything it proves just how erratic all the other teams who were in the AFC wild-card hunt have been all season.

Sure, the Jets have a lot of interesting pieces (running game, defense) that could help them should they make the playoffs, but they still have a very young QB who has been the cause of some agita for his coaches, fans and teammates alike. The Jets have been their own worst enemy this season, losing to the likes of the Bills, Dolphins, Jaguars, Falcons … not great teams, but not total sucktards either.

Meanwhile the Steelers — the defending champion Steelers, mind you — have lost to Oakland, Cleveland and Kansas City … three brutally awful teams with a combined record of 12-33. So for Woodley to call out other teams is the height of irony … he might want to get his own house in order first before worrying about other teams and what they’re doing or not doing.

Disclaimer: All analysis was taken from the TV coverage, so at times it may have been hard to identify players or what was happening, because I was limited by their footage. However, I have tried to be as accurate as possible and apologize for any inaccuracies or omissions (which I am happy to correct).

We’re taking a slightly different approach this week. You guys suggested so many things to look at that I am going to try and address each of them in turn. After the jump, find out how “badly” Kerry Rhodes played and how many defensive starters were rested in the fourth quarter, amongst other things. You may be surprised… (more…)

With free agency just about two months away, Tim Graham of ESPN writes that the Jets will have a lot on their plate from a restricted free agent standpoint. Graham notes that this year will be special because of the potential CBA issues which would trigger an uncapped year. In this case, “players can’t become unrestricted free agents in an uncapped year unless they have six years of NFL experience. The usual minimum is four years.”

So who for the Jets would be in this predicament?

QB Kellen Clemens
CB Drew Coleman
WR Braylon Edwards
DT Howard Green
OT Wayne Hunter
WR Brad Smith
S Eric Smith
RB Leon Washington

While Ferguson and Mangold were rookies with many of these guys, they also signed longer deals (five years for Mangold, six for D’Brick), as first rounders usually do .. which explains why Edwards, a 2005 rookie, is in this mix here. So although the Jets might address Mangold’s contract in the coming year, they’re not under the gun to do so just yet.

Since I started blogging about the Jets in 2004, I think that this is hands-down the best RFA class that the team has had in that time. In that list of eight players, there’s really only one maybe two guys that I think the Jets won’t try their hardest to keep around. My thought would be that Kellen Clemens and Drew Coleman would be likely candidates as guys the team doesn’t feel compelled to go forward with, but it’s hard to say exactly what the team will do. Their primary concern will of course be Washington and Edwards, and the rest will have to fall into place after that. What I would say is that it’s the strength of some of the middle guys as contributors (not necessarily starters) that makes this class so unique.