Postseason BGA: Jets at Colts
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).
Here comes this week’s in-depth analysis of the win over the Colts. If you have anything else you’d like me to comment upon, please leave your requests in the comments and I’ll do a follow-up post tomorrow.
After the jump, catch my analysis of Sunday’s game, including – but not limited to – comments on Matt Slauson, Braylon Edwards and Bart Scott.
Strategy
The strategizing for this game began many months ago, as the Jets personnel moves on both sides of the ball were undertaken with an eye on the Colts. There has been much discussion about how the Jets improved their secondary depth to better equip themselves to deal with the Colts’ multi-faceted passing game, but I’ve got a sneaking suspicion the re-tooling of the offense was also carried out with the Colts in mind.
I’m not referring to the acquisition of Santonio Holmes, which has given the receiving corps an added dimension, but rather the decision to release Thomas Jones and Alan Faneca. Although the additions of Vladimir Ducasse, John Conner and Joe McKnight in the draft, all of whom should have contributed to the running game, have not had any kind of short term impact, the running game is still better equipped for teams like the Colts. Against bigger teams, such as the Patriots or Minnesota, the Jets have tended to enjoy more success running from spread formations, whereas when they face a smaller team like the Bills or Denver, they are more successful putting their running personnel in and overpowering them. Entering the game, it seemed possible that the Jets could dominate by running the ball, which was not the case when the teams met in the postseason last year.
Although Thomas Jones hits the hole hard, which occasionally led to him breaking a long run because the opposition would bring an extra safety into the box, he perhaps lacks the shiftyness of a LaDainian Tomlinson or the ability to run people over of a Shonn Greene at this stage of their careers. Also, Jones has always produced at an optimum level when given around 20 carries. Therefore, if the Jets wanted to keep their running backs fresh by limiting them to 10-15 carries a game, Jones’ statistical production would likely have suffered. As for Alan Faneca, he was (and still is) at his best in space. Start relying on him as a drive blocker and you don’t get the same level of consistency. In the postseason last year, a banged-up Jones lacked the speed to get outside against the athletic Colts defensive front and the offensive line was unable to open up any holes for him. With Shonn Greene going down injured, the Jets soon became one-dimensional. This year’s unit was able to overpower the Colts up-front with their run-blocking personnel and were able to run the ball with two fresh guys that were able to make plays.
So, what took them so long to start grounding out the yards? The Jets did average 5.7 yards per carry in the first half, but only ran the ball 41% of the time. Part of this was due to the fact that the Jets landed themselves in passing situations with a couple of penalties and a sack and, although the runners got to the second level a couple of times, the Colts were able to stop six of the 13 runs for three yards or less. Also, four straight passes came right at the end of the half, as the Jets battled the clock and also went to play action.
At half time, a furious Rex Ryan apparently told Andrea Kramer that the Jets “screwed up their protections” and that they had missed several opportunities in the passing game. There was no indication that he was unhappy with the gameplan, so I don’t think it is likely that he was the one to instigate the commitment to the run in the second half. I think it was more that they just stuck with it until the Colts proved they could stop it and then converted on most of their passes, so they didn’t need to pass more. After the game, Braylon Edwards also deflected a question about the fact that the first half gameplan hadn’t worked by saying that Mark Sanchez “missed a few throws” and that it had given them some opportunities.
We can always nitpick certain playcalls and the one that drew most criticism this week was the long throw to Braylon Edwards with the Jets trying to run the clock out. Many suggested that this was a dumb call because Mark Sanchez has been off-target all night, but in actual fact, the only incompletion he had thrown since the early stages of the third quarter was the drop by Santonio Holmes. Since Jacob Lacey had been struggling all night and had just given up too much cushion to Holmes on the afore-mentioned play, a go route against him actually gave Edwards a decent chance of being open – and he was. With the Colts’ speed, a toss sweep, screen pass or end-around would have had a low percentage chance of working, so the Jets had to throw downfield, at least past the sticks, and therefore attacked a matchup where they were guaranteed to have single coverage.
Defensively, perhaps the most interesting thing was the fact that the Jets did not send much pressure. Although this was a logical thing to do, it’s still not something you expect from the Jets in the Rex Ryan era. The Colts countered by twice running for a first down on 3rd and long, with seven defensive backs in the game. This also happened in the New England game, when Tom Brady pitched the ball to Danny Woodhead for a 50-yard gain. On their next 3rd and long, they ran again and failed, but the Jets had adjusted and left Bart Scott in the game to make the stop.
Peyton Manning prevented the Jets from changing their personnel groupings as often as they would have liked, but they responded with some different looks and were able to hold them to field goals on each of their second half drives. The main key to stopping them, though, was of course the offense keeping the ball for such a long period of time on their two touchdown drives.
Quarterback
Clearly, something was wrong with Mark Sanchez, who had five big overthrows in the first 32 minutes of the game, including three in a row at the end of the first half. Was he hyped up? Was it bad footwork? Was he overcompensating for the fact his shoulder was hurting? When I saw him overthrow an open Dustin Keller on a corner route over the top, all I could think of was Chad Pennington’s shoulder injury, which we were told would have more of an effect upon the touch he could impart on the ball than the velocity. Let’s hope this isn’t going to be a long term issue. With any luck, the cold weather in New England will have a positive, numbing effect, but I doubt it.
As noted above, he was actually pretty efficient in the second half, completing nine of his last eleven for 105 yards. It was almost all close to the line of scrimmage, though, as he completed just three passes longer than 10 yards downfield and none over 20 yards. The Colts only blitzed seven times, but it was effective, as Sanchez had one completion for zero yards when under pressure.
To finish on a high note, he was smart to keep the ball and run for a key third down conversion, even though a routine dump-off to Dustin Keller would probably have moved the ball inside the ten. It simply wasn’t worth the risk. On the final drive, he went three-for-three with a quick slant and two timing patterns that were perfectly executed.
Offensive Line
Although he didn’t have a consistent game throughout, the key to the win was perhaps Matt Slauson, who morphed into Matt Slawesome during the half time break. If Rex Ryan laid into his offensive line, as Cris Collingsworth suggested during the TV broadcast, it was Slauson who responded with terrific run blocking on the two second half touchdown drives, especially the first one:
- Slauson set the edge as D’Brickashaw Ferguson made a fine kick-out block to set up a five yard gain on the first play and set the tone.
- Two plays later, he turned his man aside to enable Shonn Greene to convert on third and short.
- As the Jets moved into Colts territory, the Jets ran the “blast” play and Slauson pulled and nailed a defensive tackle which – along with solid blocks by Nick Mangold at the point of attack and Brandon Moore and Damien Woody at the second level – opened up a huge hole for LaDanian Tomlinson to run for 12 more.
- On the play before the touchdown, Slauson again took a defensive tackle out of the equation with a pulling block and Mangold dominated up the middle for another short yardage conversion.
Slauson hasn’t had a run blocking grade higher than he did in this game since before he hurt his knee. In terms of pass blocking, he graded out negatively due to two plays, one where he was beaten for a sack (once again seeming to struggle to move laterally) and another where he was driven back into the quarterback to force a pressure. Even so, his overall performance was again his best since early December.
Despite my praise for Slauson, he actually had the lowest grade of all the offensive line starters. D’Brickashaw Ferguson only gave up one pressure, but was inconsistent as a run blocker and did jump early once. Brandon Moore gave up a hit, but was effective in the running game. Damien Woody looked tentative at times on his injured knee and actually left the game on two occasions, including right at the end, where Wayne Hunter filled in for the last three plays and just barely managed to hold up in pass protection. Despite these struggles, Woody graded out well. As predicted, he was much more effective than Hunter in the running game, although he did concede two pressures.
The pick of the bunch, however, was Nick Mangold. He was flawless in pass protection, played as big of a role as Slauson on the two touchdown drives and was seldom beaten. It was a common sight for Mangold to drive his man back off the line and then turn them away from the action to open a hole, or to move a linebacker back at the second level.
Robert Turner filled in for seven plays and had a particularly important block on Tomlinson’s second touchdown. Wayne Hunter just had four snaps, all in relief of Woody.
Running Backs
With two touchdowns and 99 yards from scrimmage, LaDainian Tomlinson got most of the plaudits after this game. This was not undeserved, as he averaged over five yards a carry (2.7 after contact), broke three tackles and accounted for six first downs, including two through the air.
Shonn Greene’s effort, however, should not be overlooked. For once, he was given more carries than Tomlinson and, although he only averaged 3.6 yards per carry, two third of this came after contac. He broke two tackles and – according to Pro Football Focus – didn’t have a single negatively rated play. He only gained less than two yards once in his 19 carries and that was on a play where he was hit in the backfield by an unblocked linebacker.
Tony Richardson was extremely effective as a run blocker, with a key block on Tomlinson’s long first quarter run and several of the plays on the two touchdown drives, including a short yardage conversion on the edge and one play where he lit up the linebacker in the hole to spring a seven yard gain.
Tight Ends and Receivers
As noted earlier, the Jets saw plenty of success when their run blocking personnel was in the game. Rob Turner and Tony Richardson were both effective. The same was also true for Ben Hartsock, who was consistent and set the edge well a few times. Admittedly, Matthew Mulligan was not as effective, but hardly played. Naturally, the Jets can’t always use their run blocking personnel, so it was interesting to see how Dustin Keller fared as a blocker. Although he was typically inconsistent, on one occasion being badly beaten inside just before halftime, Keller threw some of the best blocks I’ve seen from him this season, again capitalizing on the Colts’ undersized front. On consecutive plays late in the second quarter, he redirected a potential tackler at the second level and then helped key a short yardage conversion by sealing off Dwight Freeney to the outside. Then, two plays before Tomlinson’s first touchdown, he surprised a defensive tackle with a down block and drove him about ten yards off the line, as Shonn Greene moved the pile for eight big yards.
Keller’s three catches – all for first downs – were big too, but he could have had a bigger day. He was targeted eight times, including being overthrown three straight times in the redzone. He was also credited with a drop. You may recall Keller asking for a flag on the first two of those Sanchez overthrows. I’m not sure about the first one, but on the second one (despite what Cris Collingsworth said on the broadcast), Antoine Bethea maintained contact with him until they were ten yards downfield, so he perhaps had a case for illegal contact on that one.
In terms of the wide receivers, of course Braylon Edwards came up big and Santonio Holmes didn’t…except that he did. The third down drop was unforgiveable, but didn’t really effect the game because the Jets were gifted the first down on the next play anyway. What doesn’t seem to be getting much coverage is the last minute catch he made on a timing pattern to the outside and then the effort to get the ball upfield and out of bounds. That may have been as important as the Braylon Edwards catch. Yes, it was a routine play, but a perfectly executed route and throw.
For Edwards, he has now caught a remarkable 76% of the passes thrown his way over the last four games, prior to which he was only catching 52%. Maybe they should throw to him more than five times this week. I’ll add that he was very fortunate on that fumble on the final drive. I don’t know if he was slightly dazed, but the ball lay next to him for a second or so before he groggily cradled it. Had the defensive backs not tried to appeal for an incomplete pass, they might have been able to rip it loose.
One common thing I have seen this week is that everybody is lauding Braylon for his blocking. This is surprising, because he hasn’t been a very consistent blocker all year. Yes, he occasionally makes a downfield block on a cornerback if the running back makes a run to the outside, but I would consider this a routine play, even if he does completely own somebody from time to time like he did to Drayton Florence on Brad Smith’s 40 yard run last week. On Saturday night, they used him to throw a key block near the goalline from a bunch formation, but he did not sustain it and his man was able to stop the runner from getting into the endzone. He obviously is a capable blocker, because they will sometimes motion him over to the tight end position to run block and make use of his size. However, these tend to be routine assignments. Edwards has been penalized eight times this year, many of them for blocking, which perhaps shows that he is capable of making key blocks, but does not use perfect technique.
According to PFF’s rankings, he is ranked 90th out of 110 wide receivers for run blocking, with Hines Ward, Terrance Copper and Arrelious Benn at the top of the list. Jerricho Cotchery is the highest placed Jet, in 41st place, and there was evidence of that ability on Saturday night, when he made a solid block on the safety from the slot on third and three to enable Tomlinson to pick up the first down on a toss play.
In the passing game, Cotchery was only thrown to twice, catching both. Brad Smith was used on only five plays, carrying twice for 11 yards. I wonder if they intended to use him more than that and similarly whether he will be part of the plan against New England.
Defensive Line
As you will recall if you read BGA last week, the Jets experimented with Mike DeVito at the nose tackle position during that game. Interestingly, they persevered with this against the Colts. DeVito was rarely in the game on passing downs during the season, which no doubt contributed to the fact he only has one pressure since week four. However, with Manning preventing the Jets from substituting, they experimented with a lineup that saw DeVito at nose tackle and Trevor Pryce (who struggles against the run, but excels as a pass rusher) lined up as a defensive end. This had some good success. On consecutive plays, halfway through the fourth quarter, Pryce made an inside move and got a rare pressure on Manning and then shed a block to stuff a runner for no gain. A few plays later, DeVito stood up his blocker and shed him to stuff a run for no gain. DeVito’s best play saw him penetrate into the backfield on third and one and redirect the runner to force the Colts to settle for one of their three field goals.
Sione Pouha was blown off the line a couple of times by Pro Bowler Jeff Saturday, which I suppose is to be expected. Otherwise, he anchored the run defense as usual, but had a quiet game impact-wise. Shaun Ellis was the only other defensive lineman active and although he had only one tackle and one pressure, his overall performance was sound. That one tackle saw him shed a block and pursue laterally to stuff a run for a loss.
Overall, the Jets had just one sack and four pressures and Manning was two-for-three for 27 yards when pressured. Blitzing was perhaps effective though in terms of making him get the ball out of his hand quicker, because when blitzed he was four-for-six, but for just 13 yards. However, they did beat an elite offense with almost no pass rush and solid coverage. Doesn’t that turn the coverage v pass rush debate on its head again? You or I might not agree, but what about whoever’s in charge of the draft? In terms of run defense, the Jets held the Colts to 93 yards on 27 carries, although 23 of these yards came on 3rd down plays against pass defense personnel.
Linebackers
This game was further evidence as to just how integral Bart Scott is to the Jets success. He had four tackles and broke up a pass, but once again his contribution could not be measured by the stat sheet. He made a great play on the first series, driving back a blocker on third and one to redirect the runner and force the play to be stuffed, then stuffed a run for a short gain on the Colts’ third drive. Later on, he made an even better play, shedding a block and making an ankle tackle as the Colts tried a third and long draw play for the third time. That forced them to settle for a field goal and would have won the game, if the Jets had managed to run out the clock. The other two third down runs came when Scott was not in the game, again underlining his importance. His final great play saw him shed a block and made a great open field tackle on Blair White, forcing the third down on which Drew Coleman broke up the pass to force another field goal with time still remaining on the clock. One other interesting note is that he only rushed the quarterback once.
David Harris had a solid game, with nine tackles and one pressure. However, the difference between him and Scott is clear. Harris made some key stops, but on each one he relied on a lineman to clear the way for him. For example, he stuffed a run on the last play of the first quarter after solid penetration from Shaun Ellis and his key third down stuff in the third quarter came after the penetration by DeVito. Harris does a great job of filling the holes and making these plays, but he also has a tendency – unlike Scott – to get caught up in traffic. None went for big gains, but there were at least three running plays where he was blocked right out of the action. He also gave up a couple of pass plays underneath.
Calvin Pace’s overall impact was not that great, although he did pick up a cheap sack just before halftime and did hit Manning one other time. He actually made a couple of nice plays against the run, but was also forced off the line by some blocks, including once on a key third down conversion. Jason Taylor didn’t have much of an impact, although his pressure led to Pace’s sack and he did stand up well at the point of attack on a big run stuff. He tends to be driven off the line in the running game a bit too often. Bryan Thomas was only in for 13 snaps, but did make one great play, stuffing a run for a loss in the first quarter.
Defensive Backs
There’s not much that can be said about Darrelle Revis, because Peyton Manning simply didn’t look his way. In fact, he didn’t throw a single pass over to the left side of the field. The one throw that did go to Reggie Wayne was stopped for a gain of one as Revis and Taylor both diagnosed the play well.
Antonio Cromartie, on the other hand, struggled with Pierre Garcon, who caught five passes for 112 yards and a score and also had a half-step on Cromartie on a couple of other occasions. He did have good coverage on one deep ball.
Drew Coleman got all the reps as the third cornerback, which perhaps wasn’t all that surprising as that’s the role they kept him in last week, perhaps to not disrupt his rhythm. Coleman gave up four catches for 48 yards and had a missed tackle, but the third down incompletion before Vinatieri’s go-ahead field goal was important. However, I’m not sure how much credit he deserves for that play. He was right on the receiver’s back, but the pass could still have been completed. It was slightly underthrown and White seemed to slip as he tried to make a low grab.
At safety, Brodney Pool was in on three third down stops and tackled well for the second straight week, but took a horrible angle on the Garcon touchdown. That was a well designed play by the Colts, with Wayne running a deep slant pattern against Revis, who stayed on his outside shoulder, so Pool was obviously tempted to stay underneath for a split second too long in case Wayne broke across the field. With both cornerbacks funnelling their man to the inside and Eric Smith coming up into the box, I wonder if someone got the coverage screwed up there, because very few safeties in the NFL possess the range to give inside protection to both cornerbacks in a situation like that.
Speaking of Smith, he racked up nine tackles, but although a few of them were nice hits, only one – an underneath hit on Jacob Tamme to force a third and short following a rare blitz – was actually a big play. He did help to break up three passes though, although any of the three might have been incorrectly flagged on another day, so he needs to be careful that he continues to time his hits correctly. Overall, it was a very solid performance and further evidence to support my theory that Smith is far more reliable when he starts than when he rotates in and out.
Dwight Lowery got 20 snaps of playing time and did give up a couple of first down catches to Jacob Tamme. Marquice Cole came onto the field for three third down and long plays. These included the two plays where the Colts ran for a first down – and Cole was at fault for the first because he turned his back to the play, anticipating a pass and probably would have stopped it if he didn’t.
Special Teams
While on the subject of Cole, he came really close to downing two balls at the one yard line. The only other guy I’ve seen get downfield as quickly as Cole this year is Joe McKnight. I wonder if he might have made those plays if he was the gunner. Weatherford’s three touchbacks effectively cost the Jets up to 60 yards, although his gross average was over 50 yards per punt and his net was a respectable 38. Nick Folk made the clutch kick and actually kicked off well too, thanks in part to the dome’s friendly confines. In the return game, Antonio Cromartie was so dynamic that I wonder if they’ll keep him in that role. He had two more 40 yarders than the Colts have had all season in that game. As for Santonio Holmes, he was pretty lucky. Let’s move on without him on the return unit.
PFF Analysis
This week, I did not contribute to the game recap article for ProFootballFocus.com (which also gives you a sneak preview of some of their player ratings), but here’s a sample quote anyway:
For the first half of the Jets’ somewhat improbable victory over the Colts it seemed like they were destined to be the team their fans feared; limited by their quarterback … They came out in the second half and committed to running the ball, and their offensive line took over. They allowed their running backs to run up the gut, and the end result were two time-consuming touchdown drives that didn’t just put points on the board but kept Peyton Manning and his Colts offense off the field … It’s this blueprint they’re going to need to take to New England if they’re to stand any chance, but if their defense can play this well, then you have to ask it: Why not?
TJB readers can obtain full access to PFF’s premium stats for $63 this season. The discount available has been increased to 30%. E-mail me ( bentdouble@gmail.com ) to obtain a code to enable you to get the discount.
Conclusions
After a great win, the Jets are now faced with a trip to New England, the scene of their devastating 45-3 defeat just over a month ago. It seems an eternity ago that the Jets – missing several of the players that played in that second game – comfortably swept aside the Patriots in the second game of the season. That did happen though. That 45-3 defeat, comprehensive and demoralizing as it was, does provide the Jets’ coaching staff with two things: Motivation, which shouldn’t make much of a difference at this stage of the game, and a 60-minute long film reel highlighting all of their biggest weaknesses, which could be very handy indeed. That’s the downside of running up the score. I’m sure New England will come up with a different approach, because the Jets will do everything they can to prevent the same things from working again. If they miss ten tackles, throw three picks and drop four passes again, then they won’t have much hope, but if they can execute like they did this week (one missed tackle, two drops, only one interception), then they will keep the game close.
As mentioned above, if you have anything you’d like me to comment upon in more detail, please let me know in the comments.
38 Responses to Postseason BGA: Jets at Colts
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Led says:
The Jets and Pats have split the last 3 years and 4 of the last 5. Obviously, the Pats have been more succesful in the post-season (although for all their success they haven’t won a superbowl since 2004) but the haven’t “owned” the Jets recently. They’re good but they’re beatable just like any other team. At times, their aura beats teams before the ball is even kicked off. F them. If we take it to them and don’t play scarted, we’ll have ourselves a game.
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eric smith played the best game of his career imo. he was great in coverage and tackled well. hopefully he plays like that vs the pats.
great job, bent.
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Bent – as always, goes without saying THX!
Clearly, as many have noted, Rex adjusted his coaching style to defeat Peyton; if you were to role play as Rex would you take a similar more coverage/less blitz approach vs. Brady?
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Also, started to think in past few weeks we’d begun to rely too much on Seminole, and with Brad injured we obviously couldn’t. As they’re both essentially run oriented schemes, do you think less Seminole improved our ability to more simply ground and pound in 2nd half ?
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One last ? if I might, our D struck me as tackling better than at any other point in the season, is that accurate? Is there anything other than remembering the fundamentals that got them there? Have also been impressed by this being 3rd or 4th game in a row where we’ve really gotten the # of penalties down/under control so it strikes me that perhaps we’re starting to hit on all cylinders at just the right time…thx.
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No matter what happens out there I’ll always hate the fish more. I’m a little older, though…
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i with you buddy. i dont like the pats, but i CANT STAND FLIPPER.
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For older fans the Fins are number 1. I myself am one of these, but I must say that the Pats are starting to overtake them, even for me. The Fins have been so bad, for so long now, that they are on the verge of becoming irrelevant.
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it seems like everyone is itching for this pats game. but i do have a ind question regarding the indy game and cole’s downed punt that they said he was in the end zone his initial touch of the ball he was clearly not in the end zone but he bounced or slid into the end zone dhouldnt that have been downed where he first touched and landed on the 1 yard line?
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Believe defense needs to have controlled, and not merely touched ball, before going into EZ
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Bent—
You were wondering (along with almost everybody else) if Sanchez overthrowing all those passes was a result of his shoulder injury. But the three perfect passes at the end of the game would seem to suggest that there’s nothing physically wrong with the shoulder that is limiting his ability to throw. He may be overcompensating, as you suggest, for the sore shoulder, thinking he needs to do so. But this seems to be consistent with earlier, pre-injury bad performanes—that is, when Sanchez is really awful, it’s often because he’s thinking too much. This is in sharp contrast to the way he had performed at the end of several games when there was no time to think, and he just got into a rhythm, and just PLAYED without overthinking. The results were win after win after win. So maybe the overthrowing was a result, yes, of overcompensating, which, in turn, was a result of overthinking—what do you think, Bent? And what do you think is the best strategy for getting him into a rhythm, getting him to focus, & stop overthinking, and just play the way he often does in the clutch? One possible option: go to the no- huddle early in the game, just to get the pace of it all to force him into the flow. This doesn’t mean that the Jets would have to pass down after down—there still could be plenty of run plays—but just have Sanchez go to the no-huddle to get him into the flow of the game, get his instincts flowing. What do you think?
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Recall they tried to go no- huddle early in the game vs. NE on 12/6…not saying I disagree the kids not far better in hurry up, just sayin it didn’t work out too well last time. Also, seems counter to ground and pound, we really don’t want a shoot out w/Brady
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JetsFan & Bent—
As I said above, we can still run out of the no-huddle, we can still ground and pound. It’s just that going to the no-huddle might force Sanchez into a rhythm, so that he stops overthinking and lets his instincts take over.
As for the 45-3 blow-out, virtually everything the Jets did in that game didn’t work. So I don’t think it tells us very much about the no-huddle. There’s a ton that has to be corrected from that game.
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thks jetsfan4life also can anyone read lips i would love to knw what rex was sayin to cro on the sidelines after he gave up that td it didint even seem like rex was talking to cro by looking at cro’s demeaner
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Bent says:
Are you sure you aren’t mixing RC up with JesusRevis? RC’s been posting regularly all year, but JR hasn’t since early in the season.
If you’re out there, JR, I hope everything’s okay.
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Bent — thanks for the analysis
Biggest factor to take away from the Indy game IMHO is Rex’s willingness to adapt. There were times during the year when fans were wondering, for instance, if the Jets should be blitzing on 3rd and 17—the response was that Rex was not going to change what his ways.
Saturday night showed that not only is Rex willing to adapt his defensive strategy drastically (evidenced by his dressing only 4 DLinemen and 10 DBs) his adjustments can be extremely effective.
This should give Jet fans tremendous confidence that the game plan for this Sunday will be far different(and likely much more successful) than the one implemented the last time the Jets went up to Foxboro.
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Great analysis.
What concerns me vs the Pats is Sanchez’ high throws. If he’s high over the middle vs the Pats while trying to hit Keller, Holmes or Edwards on a slant, he’ll be picked off every time. Those guys may not be the most gifted, but BB will sit them if they’re ever out of position. Moreover, Pat DB’s hold on to Int’s (unlike the Jets).
Let’s hope Sanchez brings those throws down so if he misses, the pass will at least be knocked down. A tipped pass can be a killer in what I think should be a close game. – Ending, of course, with the Jets on top.
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Thank you for the fantastic analysis this season.
Kind of BGA Question: Still can’t figure out why the clock didn’t stop on Edward’s last catch– he landed on his knees and dove out of bounds before being touched. What am I missing?
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I’m no expert, but arent those kinds of wild throws typically due to the feet not being properly set? I’d wonder if someone with more experience could analyze Sanchez’s throws and let us know if it was a correctable mechanical flaw or really his shoulder is shot this year.
Dilfer, get your useless ass in here and gimme some analysis!
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Bent: Can you speculate why Caldwell called timeout at the end of the game? Makes no sense to me.
Great job as usual-
He’s not a very smart person but he looks like he is because Peyton Manning is his QB. The same can be said for Tony Dungy.
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Actually, it made sense to me at that time for Caldwell to call timeout. That way if Folk makes the FG, then the colts at least have a chance to return a kick, if not a long pass and a FG. So it was not really a boneheaded call as everyone in the world says just because Manning raised his hands.
Of course, in hindsight, that timeout gave a chance for jets to make a well executed pass.
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Great job Bent. I had the same thoughts about Chad. Everything about this injury reeks of what happened in 2004. From the offseason surgery talk to the talk of how he can play through this as long as he doesnt take a direct hit on it to just watching him throw its Chad circa 2004. Outside of one or two throws he looks like a player that either doesnt trust his shoulder or simply cant follow through properly. They are not as bad as the Chad shotput passes buts its kind of close.
When people asked me about it on my site I felt the worrisome thing about it is that its not just inaccuracy like we are used to or the kind Lombardi was tweeting about during the game while trying to rip Sanchez. We watched him be inaccurate all year. His inaccuracy in those games was throwing to the wrong player, throwing to the wrong spot, or not leading the receiver properly across the field. This was totally different. Almost every pass was right at the intended target, they just sailed 10 yards over their head. Thats the worry part. Its not really something we have seen from him in 2 years. Thats a bad sign.
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Take a look at his feet on some of the throws in Indy (and on some of his worst during the season). Maybe his shoulder played a part, but his footwork was awful. I assume some of it was nerves, as he got a lot better in the second half. Either way, he had plenty of zip and made all the right reads so I wouldn’t worry too much about his shoulder… yet.
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For Christmas I got a Jets helmet signed by 23 members of the 1969 SuperBowl winning team. I have, obviously, been keeping it safe in its case.
I was planing on taking it out and wearing it if we are in the Superbowl, the luck it would bring would surely put the Football Gods on our side.
My question is this: Should I use that luck now, in this game? Or should I wait until the Superbowl? Some of its luck will obviously wear off by me wearing it, so I’m not sure what I should do.
I know all of Jets Nation is depending on me (even though they aren’t aware of it) to pick the correct placement of the helmet to get us maximum “luckness” what do you recommend?
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Thought I noticed a block from behind on the Cromartie 47 yard return that the refs thankfully missed, think it was a TE? I was waiting for the flag that never came.
Did I just have too much to drink at that point?
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Great job, Bent.
There has been much talk about how cro does a much better job when he gets his hands on the receiver and plays bump and run as opposed to giving them a cushion. It sure seemed to me like that was the case, I kept screaming at cro (though my TV, like that would help) to “get his damn hands on them”. Was this really the case? Can you break down how he did when he got his hands on the receiver and when not? Thanks.
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Great article as usual and i agree with almost all the points you made. there was just one part of the game that really frustrated me and would like it to be explained.
i forgot the exact time of it, i think it was the second half, the jets got called for a delay of game. watching the play live the jets looked to snap the ball just as the clock turned to zero. im a big ten fan and therefore followed the michigan state fake fg play well and this related bc it was a play where the play clock played a large part. in this play all espn announcers said that a delay of game doesnt happen at the zero but half a second after when the ref first sees the zero looks at the field THEN calls the delay of game. the jets play was completely contradictory to this and therefore i was stunned when the delay of game was actually called. can you clear this up for me or was it just a bad call?
again keep up the great work and lets go jets
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sorry if this is a repost but…
had a problem with the delay of game called against the jets, i think in the second half. after the michigan state fake fg play against notre dame there was a big debated about whether it was a delay of game and all espn announcers ended up saying that a delay of game is not called until the play clock reaches zero then the ref looked back to the field and if the ball is still not snapped THEN the delay of game is called. yet this was not the case in the jets as almost insantously that the clock struck zero the flag was thrown even though the ball was being snapped. i was stunned when this was called after following the specific ruling of this earlier in the year and learning this was against what i had heard. i want to know if this actually was a bad call or if i misheard how to judge the rule.
thanks and always great work, go jets
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Thank you Bent.
Now that the Jets have changed things up on the D how do you think the Jets are going to cover the TE in NE?
Is ES going to play more S/LB this game as well or do you think we are going to play DL more on the TE?
i read this at theganggreen.com… i dont know who typed it but somebody needs to get it to Rex Ryan so he can read it to the team just before kickoff… Bassett,Bent, Lisa… lets get it done.
For the Jets this showdown may be “business”, but for me it’s personal
As anyone who knows anything about me is well aware of, I’m a diehard football fan. Most of all, I’m a diehard Jets fan. I’m not going to sit here and act like I’ve been a fan of the Jets since football was invented. I’m a young guy, ‘only’ 23 years old. That doesn’t change the fact that I absolutely love this team, and the fact that I cannot possibly be more emotionally invested in this team. The Jets are my favorite professional sports franchise, and I ride with them to the very end. I watch every second of Jets football I can watch, no matter what. 1-15 Jets? I’ll watch. Kliff Kingsbury is starting because 4 QBs on your team are hurt? I’ll watch. Chad Pennington’s shoulder is spaghetti? I’ll watch. My passion for this team is simply off the charts. Through everything, I stick with the team I grew up loving.
The last two seasons for the team have been among the best Jet memories I’ve had. I am fully aware that I’m not saying much with that statement given what the Jets have done for the last 15 years. Since the hire of head coach Rex Ryan, the culture of the team has changed. The team is far more physical than it was under the previous regime. The team in its entirety is more about physicality and beating you straight forward as opposed to the finesse, the smoke and mirrors that marred the Eric Mangini era.
Ryan definitely has his flaws, both on the field and off it. On the field, sometimes his clock management can be spotty. Sometimes, I think Rex’s bravado and general overconfidence can have an adverse affect on a game (see: fake punt in Week 16 for prime example). And sometimes all the talking he does gets absolutely old, but overall the Jets are 23-13 as the Jets coach with two straight playoff appearances and three road playoff wins. I’m extremely appreciative of Rex Ryan and what he has done for my team, as far as the culture and obviously the record. I’m encouraged with the direction the team is headed. Now there are quite a few tough decisions for the offseason but this isn’t the time for that. Once the season is over, I can talk about the offseason.
The Jets defeated the Colts last week on a “walk off” field goal, setting up Round Three of New England Patriots vs New York Jets. Round One was a decisive Jets victory backed by an impressive performance from QB Mark Sanchez and saw the defense pitch a second half shutout. Game Two, which pretty much decided the division, saw the Patriots take the Jets behind the woodshed behind Woodhead.
Now it’s time for Round Three between the rivals. Ryan has talked all year about what he believes his team is capable of, and how anything short of a Superbowl is a failure. He’s mentioned how he isn’t here to kiss Belichick’s rings and his particular distaste for the Patriots. Well it’s safe to say that he certainly isn’t alone with that particular sentiment. I’m sure many of the other Jets players, coaches, and staff members feel that way too.
More than anyone though, I feel the Jets fanbase HATES the New England Patriots and everything about them. I’m not going to speak for them, as I can only speak for myself. And on my end, I absolutely despise the Patriots. Obviously the fact that they are winning is a small part of the hatred, but everything about that team rubs me the wrong way. From the smug arrogant owner to the QB who whines whenever he gets touched, down to the coach who left us at the 12th hour to go to New England and has won three championships since then (while we’ve been through four head coaches), everything about them rubs me the wrong way. The fact that this incredible run they have been on for the last 10 years basically started with a fateful hit by Jets MLB Mo Lewis makes it all the more nauseating. Lewis took out then Patriot QB Drew Bledsoe, and Tom Brady took over. And from there, the story tells itself.
I can respect those guys because of how they seemingly ease into any and everything seamlessly. They are a winning franchise, with a winning coach and a winning QB. So while I do hate them with a passion, I’m not a blind fan. I recognize what they have done and why they are a model franchise. And as a result, the exposure they get makes my stomach turn. I’m not trying to say they don’t deserve the admiration and respect they get, far from it. They’ve been the model of consistency for years now, but the weasel head coach, and the whiny QB, along with the fact that all of this is taking place for a bitter rival in Massachusetts make it difficult to stomach.
Honestly, it hurts. And over the ten year period of dominance all they have done is beat the Jets like they stole something repeatedly. They have owned us for the better part of this decade, and I’m tired of it. The Jets have been a fairly successful franchise over the past ten years, as they have appeared in the playoffs six times. The Jets also have had one home playoff game in that time span, mostly because the Patriots have dominated the AFC East.
Rock bottom for me as a football came during week 13 of this NFL season, as I watched the Patriots run roughshod all over the Jets to the tune of 45-3. I have never been so embarrassed as a Jets fan. As well documented at the top, I’ve seen quite a bit of negative as a Jet fan. There is practically nothing negative as a football fan that I’ve never experienced. When they say that being a Jets fan “builds character”, it’s the truth. I can attest to that one.
Honestly that game was the most painful to endure as a Jets fan. I was in a bar full of Jets fans, and midway through the second quarter the game was all but decided, and everyone was dejected. The Jets were tied for the division lead going into the game, and it was probably the biggest regular season game the Jets have ever played in since I became a fan back in 1996. The fact that they lost wasn’t the hard part because the Patriots are a damn good team. The fact that they embarrassed themselves, and basically no showed on National television cut deep. It stung like no other loss I’ve ever experienced, with the possible exception of the 1998 AFC Title Game.
Bottom line, I give the Patriots respect because for all they have represented over the last ten years (even with the cheating scandal and the weasel head coach), as they are epitome of winning. Even with the respect, comes a hatred not matched by any other sports franchises.
All the talk all year from everyone within the team was how the goal was Superbowl or Bust. Go out there and take it. The second step is walking out of Foxboro victorious. Go out there and do the “impossible”. Do it for yourselves, do it for the man next to you and do it for me. I’m ready for Sunday, and at 4:30 Sunday we’ll see if the Jets are too.
So to the New York Jets players, coaching staff, and everyone who is involved with the team—have the game of your lives. Make yourselves, your fellow employees, the millions of Jets fans in the world and the city proud. Go out there and shock the world. Beat the New England Patriots, and knock the smirk off Tom Brady’s face. Make sure he’ll hate us even more than he already does. Make sure the fourth quarter of this game won’t be a Patriot trash talking fest like it probably was during the week 13 massacre.
For the Jet players, coaches and the like, this may be more business and football than anything else. For me, and a legion of other Jets fans, it’s personal. Let’s get it. Go Jets.