BGA: Jets at Eagles
This analysis is based on watching and re-watching TV footage. As such, it is not always possible to accurately determine everything that was going on. However, every effort has been made to ensure that the information below is as complete and correct as possible.
Coming up after the jump, an analysis of yesterday’s loss to the Eagles, including a focus on the struggles of the offensive line, against the run and in the secondary. Oh, and maybe a little bit of ranting, because I was feeling left out. Remember, if you want me to look into anything in particular or go into more detail, leave a comment and I’ll include it in BGA Extra, which will follow in a few days.
It’s an all-too familiar pattern. The Jets fall behind, perhaps due to an unfortunate bounce or an individual error, then they look to get back into the game only for a similar play to put them in an even bigger hole. They have enough opportunistic players on the team that they might make a few plays to make you think they’ve got a chance to get back into it, but with no margin of error remaining, the Jets are too inconsistent to climb back into it without making another mistake that completely kills any momentum they’ve built.
In the Rex Ryan era these “spiral out of control” games have happened four times against New England, earlier this year against the Ravens and in the postseason against the Steelers last year, which was the closest they came to completing the comeback. Clearly, this team lacks the firepower to overcome a deficit against teams with a lot of talent. That doesn’t mean they’re incapable of beating such teams, but they need to keep the game close in the early stages and establish themselves on both sides of the ball. Against San Diego, the Jets fell into a hole after their first possession ended with a freak touchdown on a fumble return for the Chargers and almost didn’t recover. In a similar situation, the Eagles never looked likely to surrender their early lead, which grew to 28 in the second quarter, as the Jets made more mistakes and the Eagles showed that – although their record is comparable to the Chargers – they have more talent and are not an easy team to knock off at home.
Essentially, the Jets had some bad luck/mistakes early on, fell behind and presumably let that take them out of their intended gameplan. They ended up looking like a team without a plan and that was reflected on the scoreboard.
This is a particularly difficult game to grade, because if someone made a couple of early mistakes as the Jets fell behind, but then made a handful of impact plays later on, what’s the use in that? Similarly, if a player was playing well early but then started playing poorly when the game got out of hand, isn’t that even worse? As usual, I looked at every play to see who did their job and who didn’t – you can make up your own minds what to make of it all.
Quarterback
Considering how heavily the Jets lost this game, their quarterback didn’t have as much of a negative impact as you might expect. An early interception wasn’t really his fault, as his pass went through Santonio Holmes’ hands and he did make a few pretty nice throws.
His biggest mistake came on third and two, as the Jets looked to run the ball, but Sanchez got his wires crossed and expected LaDainian Tomlinson to be going to the right. He instead had to tuck and run, and then compounded his error by losing a fumble as he tried in vain to extend the ball past the first down marker. Later on, he had a pass intercepted which he never should have thrown – the defensive player was sitting on the quick slant to Holmes and the ball bounced straight up into the air.
Sanchez was also at fault on one of the times he was sacked, because he easily could have dumped the ball off to a wide open Tomlinson, who likely would have got down inside the five and perhaps would have scored. Instead, he hesitated and went down.
His job wasn’t made any easier by the amount of pressure he was under, although there were times when the protection held up well and he still couldn’t find anyone.
The concern now is that, even if by some miracle, the Jets sort out their pass protection issues before they face the formidable Giants’ front on Sunday, the chances are that Sanchez will still play poorly because the residual effect from those games where he’s had to run for his life has tended to be at least a one-week hangover where he seems to lack confidence and misses too many throws because his timing is off.
He did complete a long bomb to Dustin Keller and made two great throws on his touchdown passes, but elite quarterbacks will march their team down the field to get them back in the game when the other team goes up big, so the size of the gap between Sanchez and those elite guys is readily apparent to everyone.
Even allowing for the pressure he was under, Sanchez’s accuracy on short throws could have been better this week. The Jets have used the screen to good effect in recent weeks, but the Eagles were well-prepared for it. Against the 9-wide style of defense, a screen pass can be a boom or bust play because there are more potential tacklers spread across the field, but – if you do get past the first wave – you can break into the open field. On Sunday, the Jets busted almost every time as each screen they set up looked set to go for big yardage, only for the one defender in the area to avoid being blocked and get to the receiver to blow it up. The one on the first drive should have been a 20-yard gain, but with three blockers out ahead of him, Tomlinson was hit in the backfield as soon as he caught the ball. Both Matt Slauson and Nick Mangold could have done a better job of blocking that guy and then the play would have been successful, but their job wasn’t made any easier by Sanchez’s ill-timed pass that wasn’t ideally placed. As we feared following the last two games, without the screen pass, the Jets passing attack is pretty one-dimensional.
Offensive Line
After two consecutive solid performances against teams with decent pass rush ability, hopes were high that the Jets’ offensive line would be able to handle the Eagles front seven. Early signs were even positive, as Shonn Greene broke a couple of nice runs on the Jets first drive. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there.
All eyes were on the inconsistent Wayne Hunter, as Jason Babin and Juqua Parker gave him fits all game. However, it’s very difficult to blame Hunter for the loss, because although he gave up an early sack to Babin, that was the only pressure he gave up until after the Jets were 28-0 down.
It was in the third quarter where Hunter really struggled, with another sack occurring as he and Brandon Moore each double teamed the same guy and Babin stunted around the outside. In that quarter, Hunter was beaten several times, but in the rest of the game, he managed to stay in front of his man almost all the time. Assuming the Jets made some adjustments at halftime, it seems likely that these weren’t something Hunter was adequately prepared for and it hurt their chances of getting back into the game.
After last week, where his pass protection was good, but his run blocking was poor, this week it was the other way around. He made a couple of decent blocks in the running game and only had one block that noticeably he failed to sustain. However, I had him down responsible for two sacks and five or six pressures and he compounded that with two false starts, even if the Jets did protest vehemently against one of them.
Hunter wasn’t alone in having problems in pass protection. Slauson and D’Brickashaw Ferguson were also caught out by a Babin stunt that led to a sack and Moore – who hadn’t given up a sack or a QB hit ALL season – got beaten for a sack on the play where Sanchez should have dumped it off to Tomlinson. The three of them also gave up four pressures between them.
Nick Mangold did not appear to be responsible for any of the pressure, although he might admit to part of the blame on those plays where there were missed assignments by his linemates, for not communicating the linecalls well enough. It wasn’t the same kind of dominating performance we’ve come to expect from Mangold, who had two missed blocks on screen passes and not as many punishing run blocks as had been the case in recent games, although that’s not to say that he didn’t have some good ones.
Moore got off to a great start, but seemed to struggle more and more as the game went on. I don’t know if his hip was bothering him, they made him take on tougher assignments or he just got frustrated and stopped trying, but it was a disappointing way to end what started out looking like a potentially dominant display.
Slauson also had a good start, making a couple of great pulling blocks to spring early runs. However, he also struggled as the game started to slip away from the Jets, missing some blocks on screen plays, false starting once and getting driven into the backfield on one play, so the runner had nowhere to go. He did finish with some decent blocks at the end, including one where he pulled and pancaked a linebacker, but it’s very difficult to assess such an uneven performance.
Ferguson did well to limit the amount of pressure he surrendered, but didn’t have any impact in the running game, except for one decent second level block. It wasn’t a bad performance, but expectations for Ferguson are so high, an average performance from him is almost as damaging as a poor performance from the likes of Hunter or Slauson, which you might half-expect and be prepared for.
As much as Hunter struggled, he didn’t look as bad as Vladimir Ducasse this week. I’ve been singing Ducasse’s praises recently as the Jets have been building his role and giving him some straightforward assignments and he’s been responding with largely error free performances. Unfortunately, this week was another setback. Not only was he inexcusably beaten inside in pass protection and called for a hold, but he also got beaten inside on two running plays, enabling his man to stuff each run up the middle. When you’re only on the field for a handful of plays, you shouldn’t be making the same mistake three times. The Jets were already trailing heavily when he made these mistakes, so you can’t pin the loss on him, but it was disappointing to see all his recent progress evaporate as if it never happened.
Since the Eagles got an extended look at Ducasse and Hunter in the Bollinger Bowl, I wonder if they identified some specific weaknesses in that seemingly-meaningless game and told their starters to attack these.
Running Backs
When Shonn Greene gained 33 yards on four carries, after the Jets had forced the Eagles to punt on their first possession, things were looking promising for the Jets. Unfortunately, they opted to go away from the running game when they fell so far behind. In fact, it’s not certain that he would have continued this early success – after all, his 14 carries from that point onwards netted him only 40 yards, which is less than three per carry.
Greene had a couple of nice runs, but also got beaten for a pressure and dropped an easy first down over the middle. That was the kind of mistake that only seems to happen in these “everything that can go wrong does go wrong” games.
Tomlinson had one half-decent run, but didn’t have much success with his four catches. On the play where he and Sanchez got their wires crossed, it did look like the draw play would have given him a good chance of a first down.
Joe McKnight saw some action late in the game, gaining 27 yards on the only successful screen pass of the day, thrown by Mark Brunell (who I didn’t mention in the quarterbacks section, but he misfired horribly on his other two pass attempts). McKnight apparently injured his shoulder, so he may be done for the year, although we await confirmation of his status.
As for John Conner, he made a nice gain on a FB dive play, but his blocking was inconsistent once again, although he did have a couple of good ones.
Receivers
With a fumble that was returned for a touchdown and a dropped pass in the redzone that ended up being intercepted, Santonio Holmes – having won two of the last three games for the Jets – pretty much lost them this one. Though those two plays alone weren’t insurmountable, they both came at the worst possible time and put the Jets in a hole that they were always battling to climb out of.
He did catch four passes, including a touchdown, but even that left a sour taste in the mouth, after his mindblowingly senseless celebration penalty with the Jets down 28-9 (although it didn’t actually hurt the Jets in the end). Holmes is now tied for the Jets lead in touchdowns despite the tight coverage he often faces which seems to have curtailed his statistical production. That’s a sign of his talents, but he’s got a long way to go if anyone’s going to discuss him as a potential hall-of-famer (his stated goal for his career in the offseason) with a straight face.
Plaxico Burress drew a pass interference flag and had a beautiful diving catch for a meaningless late score. That catch? His only one in the last ten quarters. He’s actually been pretty good value for money this year, but he needs to finish strong if any team is going to give him a decent contract next season.
Jeremy Kerley had a couple of nice first downs, but Patrick Turner did not record a catch.
Defensive Line
For once, the Jets didn’t dominate upfront on the defensive side of the ball, as the shifty LeSean McCoy was able to break several runs and Mike Vick did some damage with his legs too. Between them, the Eagles running backs accounted for exactly five yards per carry with McCoy getting in the end zone three times. How did they do it?
On the face of it, Muhammed Wilkerson showed more in this game than any other, with several impact plays. He had a sack, a pressure, a tackle for a loss, a tackle for no gain and a play that he strung out to the sideline well for no gain. Unfortunately, he also had more negative plays than he had in any other game, as he kept getting caught inside or driven out of the play, missed two bad tackles and jumped offsides. He lost contain on Vick’s touchdown and missed a tackle on McCoy’s longest one. It definitely seemed like the Eagles were targeting him and though he responded well a couple of times, they ultimately saw plenty of success in doing this.
It was surprising to see the Jets run defense struggling even though Mike DeVito returned to the line-up. There may have been some lingering effects from his recent knee injury, as evidenced by how easily he was blown off the line on McCoy’s second quarter touchdown. He did stuff one run, forced a fumble and had one pressure, but he didn’t otherwise have a major impact.
Sione Pouha has been superb in recent weeks. This week, he didn’t have the same impact in the running game, but it might have been the best pass rushing performance he’s had all year. He had a couple of pocket-collapsing bullrushes and flushed Vick from the pocket three times.
Marcus Dixon had a sack and a hit and stuffed one run, but it was all in garbage time. He was also called for a roughing the passer penalty, although it seemed to be harsh. Ropati Pitoitua got good penetration on one play, but was blocked out of at least three running plays. He did have one good bullrush, but Vick was able to get the pass away before the pocket collapsed completely.
Linebackers
Over the last few weeks, Calvin Pace has been doing a great job of stopping runs getting to the outside. You’ll often see him blocked by a tackle or tight end on the edge and perhaps assume he’s been blocked out of the play, but actually he is working hard to get upfield and force the runner to cut back. Unfortunately, he had a couple of slip-ups on Sunday. He was blocked to the ground on one play, letting the runner get to the edge and tried to get off his block to make a play and ended up getting caught on the inside on another play. Pace was also blown up and driven back into the endzone on one of McCoy’s touchdowns and had a missed tackle. He did stuff a couple of runs early on and got a couple of pressures, although one of these saw him flagged for roughing.
Perhaps the best job all day of keeping contain was by Jamaal Westerman, which is a positive sign. Westerman not only maintained outside leverage, but also drove his man upfield and forced the runner to cut back inside where he was stuffed. If Westerman could master this role, they might have more of a pass rushing threat on the field when they’re in their base defense without sacrificing anything in the running game. Westerman also had a couple of pressures and a forced fumble on special teams, but missed a tackle and had a penalty on special teams too.
Speaking of the importance of maintaining contain, a good example happened on McCoy’s long touchdown run in the fourth quarter involving Bart Scott. Scott attacked the hole as McCoy looked set to run off left guard, but he did it – I’m sure deliberately – by attacking his outside shoulder so that he couldn’t bounce it to the outside. McCoy slipped off Scott’s arm tackle but was forced to cut to the inside, where Wilkerson should have tackled him in the backfield. Unfortunately, Wilkerson missed the tackle and McCoy was able to reverse his field and get to the outside on the right side instead. While Scott will undoubtedly get graded down for this particular play, because he didn’t secure or at least slow down the runner well enough, I believe the fact that he attacked the runner in such a way that he could only escape to the inside where there was help is part of his assignment, but it’s an interesting example of discipline and gap control nevertheless.
Other than that – and a big completion to Celek where he might have had support over the top if Kyle Wilson didn’t slip over – Scott had a solid enough performance, with a sack, a tackle for a short gain and a key assist at the goal line, but I still feel the Jets are diluting his influence by getting him to play disciplined gap control rather than attacking the line of scrimmage with what could almost be described as recklessness, even though he does carry out both roles well.
Much like the situation with Wilkerson, David Harris made several impact plays, but was also involved with a lot of negative plays to overshadow his positive contribution. Harris had an interception, a pressure, a tackle for no gain and a tackle for a loss, but overpursued on one of McCoy’s touchdowns, gave up a couple of big pass plays, missed a tackle in the hole and got driven out of a play at the second level.
Aaron Maybin, for once, was unable to generate any pressure in pass rushing situations. Garrett McIntyre saw some action in garbage time and missed another tackle. Josh Mauga also saw action late.
Defensive Backs
As usual, we’ll start with Darrelle Revis, but it was a pretty inconsequential performance from the PFG one. Revis gave up three big catches, although one was negated by a penalty and only one was a first down on a leaping catch by DeSean Jackson. He was better than Antonio Cromartie though. Cromartie was burned for a touchdown and gave up two other big plays. He also didn’t do a very job of downfield tackling on McCoy’s long touchdown. At least he didn’t fumble a return, I guess, although I can’t be alone in expecting it every time he gets tackled.
With Jim Leonhard out, there were only two obvious coverage breakdowns. The first was the long completion to Celek where Bart Scott ran with him across the field and Wilson slipped downfield and was late getting over. I’d need to see the coaches film to see if Wilson had responsibility for him there, or if he just reacted to the play and came off his man. The other saw Celek make a huge gain with Eric Smith chasing after him. On this play, Smith was covering a slot receiver, playing off him, and David Harris was covering Celek. Harris backpedalled and Celek broke off his route as the slot receiver ran an out pattern. Harris and Smith both seemed to react to the receiver and Celek – either by design or by craftily reading the situation – actually ran a stop and go/post route. Harris was in no man’s land with his momentum carrying him in the other direction as Celek re-accelerated. However, Smith was closer to the sideline, so he had a long way to go to make up ground on Celek. In these situations, it’s impossible to know who was at fault, although one report suggested Smith was chewed out by Rex immediately afterwards, so it seems likely he either blew his assignment or his call of the coverage.
Other than that, neither safety made any mistakes and there were no obvious breakdowns. Smith had five tackles – for once not on players he’d given up first down catches to. Pool broke up a pass, recovered a fumble and had a pressure, so hopefully his comfort level is growing and he will continue to make plays like these.
The bigger concern is that the Eagles (per Eric Smith) apparently knew all of the Jets’ calls and what they were running defensively. It’s no wonder they looked so impressive moving the ball. Maybe the Jets would have been able to change things up with Leonhard in there, but their limited preparation time clearly hurt them in that regard. They probably already had to simplify things, so kudos to the Eagles for being ready, I guess.
The one saving grace if that is true is that the last team they’ll want to go sharing that information will be the Giants.
Kyle Wilson was beaten for another big gain by Celek and also missed a tackle as he tried to sack Vick, letting him get away for a positive gain. He did have two other pressures. Donald Strickland was in good position on a downfield throw and made a good open field tackle in the flat.
In garbage time, Tracy Wilson had a nice hit and also made a good special teams tackle, although he missed another two. Isaiah Trufant came on for one play and was embarrassingly trampled over by the receiver for an easy first down. It’s easy to see where his weakness lies – he apparently just isn’t big enough to play in the NFL.
Special Teams
The special teams had a positive performance this week. Nick Folk hit both of his field goals and TJ Conley landed two of his six punts inside the 20, although he did struggle to get the Jets out from under their own goalposts in the third quarter.
There were a couple of pretty good returns from McKnight, Cromartie and Kerley and some good tackles from the likes of Mauga and Tracy Wilson, although there were also a few missed tackles, including one from debutant Gerald Alexander. Ellis Lankster did a good job of getting downfield and was rewarded with two fumble recoveries.
Conclusions
It goes without saying – the Jets are broken right now.
Can they be fixed? It doesn’t look likely, but I have a hard time accepting that the game would have turned out anything like it did if the Jets didn’t have some big plays go against them early to put them in a hole. With an offense that thrives on balance and breaking tendencies and a defense that likes to mix things up and set traps, this team is not built to fall behind and change things on the fly…and that’s a problem.
How can you avoid falling behind early on in games? A conservative approach would seem to make sense, but the game didn’t spiral out of control because they didn’t adopt such an approach on Sunday.
Player focus remains a major concern and an area which the coaching staff should think long and hard about how they can go about making improvements in. We’ve seen the team come out flat to start games or fall apart when they are trailing far too often this season, when that’s something that should happen less and less as the front office are adding those players hand-picked to excel at the coaches’ schemes.
Last time Jim Leonhard was lost for the season, the Jets gave up 45 points, but we were led to believe that wouldn’t happen this time, because the secondary had learned to cope last year and they had a week to prepare instead of just a few days. If the reason the defense played so shoddily can be attributed to Leonhard’s injury, that’s still not an acceptable excuse. They should have people ready to fill in for each other at a moment’s notice. You only need look at Pittsburgh, where they hardly give any playing time to their backups, but as soon as a starter goes down, the next man up knows his role and seems to perform well.
I imagine the Jets were forced to take some short cuts due to the truncated off-season program, but they still should have themselves prepared for any eventuality, whether that be shutting down a high-powered offense with a backup in your secondary and somebody different making the calls back there, or simply having a plan for when you’re way behind and need to get back in the game.
A couple of weeks ago, I said I was convinced 10-6 would be good enough to get a wild card spot in the AFC, but that I wasn’t sure that the (then 6-5) Jets would be able to get to 10-6. With two weeks to go, it’s still on the cards, with their next opponent also struggling. Whether they can feel good about their chances of making any noise if they do make it is another matter.
Remember, if there’s anything else you’d like me to comment upon or go into more detail about, let me have your suggestions in the comments and I’ll respond in BGA Extra later in the week.
99 Responses to BGA: Jets at Eagles
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Jets Phan says:
wow that is a terrible article. i don’t think la canfora even watched the jets game.
he states “It was a day when Mark Sanchez hit some new lows and put his team in a position where the game essentially was over before halftime,” but sanchez didn’t fumble or fail to catch a pass that went through his hands & lead to an interception which put the jets into a hole they couldn’t dig out of.
he then goes on to state “Sanchez tries to do too much, barking out faux calls at the line and making things more complex than they need to be.” if this is true, shouldn’t schotty or another coach take responsibility & correct this?
he also states that sanchez looked “jumpy” for most of the game, without mentioning that he has been running for his life most of the season, has been beaten down in many games (including a broken nose), & has taken multiple late hits/hits to the head (without penalties being called, though fines were assessed afterwords).
finally he adds “offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer is open to new challenges and looking to explore head-coaching options.” i wonder where he heard this as i have not, & schotty recently professed how much he likes working for the jets. regardless, shouldn’t schotty be working to correct the problems with the jets’ O rather than looking for a new job during the season?
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WOJF says:
The referenced article is typical lazy journalism and sour grapes, where the writer (specifically not using the word “journalist”) creates examples to fit his conclusion.
The below is a perfect example;
“Down 7-0 early, the Jets got a gift on a muffed punt at the Eagles’ 14. Sanchez threw an ugly pick on the second play of the drive. Sanchez looked jumpy most of the game, holding the ball and taking sacks. Down 21-0 early in the second quarter, deep in his own territory and needing to protect the ball, he was too casual with his grip and fumbled. He threw another pick in the second half.”
Mark Sanchez threw an ugly pick??? Really?? He hit Holmes in the numbers with that ball, it deflected into an INT.
He was “jumpy”? Ya think? They were teeing off on him, freaking Tom Brady wouldv’e been jumpy.
As Bent wrote, he did mess up on that one play that resulted in the fumble (if it was his fault and not LT) and he could have avoided one sack by unloading to LT, but he has accomplished enough to date that he should be spared being compared to TJ Yates.
The result of lazy journalism is that folks who did not actually see the game, believe this crap.
Mark Sanchez did not lose this game, Santonio Holmes did.
His source is clearly Mason, who did absolutely nothing here and was cut by his next team. He has some nerve.
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MEL31602 says:
I too disagree with the parts about how Sanchez looked bad in this particular game I was more interested in the sources comments on Sanchez in general, esp the part about how he makes things overly complicated at line
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john says:
“How can you avoid falling behind early on in games? A conservative approach would seem to make sense, but the game didn’t spiral out of control because they didn’t adopt such an approach on Sunday.”
I disagree completely! The first four offensive plays the Jets ran the ball down their throats (4 carries, 33 yards) so what do we call next? A screen on 1sr and ten! As you pointed out, the screen against the Eagles D is a boon or bust proposition and with the effectiveness of the screen against KC last week ya gotta know Philly is prepared for this, so -4 yards, forced into second and long we go shotgun and holmes fumbles , 7-0 eagles……Why not continue running the Ball????? How many times have the Jets turned the ball over on running plays this year? A lot less then they have throwing! Philly is not good against the run but our OC can’t seem to feel how the game is going and call plays based on that vs. what he gameplanned. If you are gashing them up the middle keep doing it til thay adjust, when they adjust the outside should open up…..mix it up, throw in an occaisional play action pass. The O’line came out smokin and schotty put out the fire. Second series…incomplete pass(Dpenalty, 1st down), 3 yard run , sack, short completion and punt.Next series, pass on 1st down through holmes hands, 14-0 Philly. Next series two runs for 8 yards, 5yard penalty, sack, lousy punt and a few plays later 21-0….Totals: after the first four running plays the Jets attempted 7 passes and only 4 runs..net result down 21-0 because they were NOT conservative…results of seven attempts….fumble returned for a TD, 2 sacks (one led to a poor punt that set up the second TD drive), and a pick in the redzone that started the third TD drive. If I’m playing D for the Jets, this has got to be disheartening. I think Schotty destroyed the rythmn the O’line had out of the gate by not stickin with the run, the screen play shouldn’t be called that early cause Philly is prepared for it, save it for the second half AFTER you’ve established something else and use it as a change-up.
To me, conservative playcalling is NOT playing to your opponents strength like getting pass happy against a good passrushing team with 3 really good corners! The Jets should’ve continued running the ball and they would have wore down the Eagles which in turn would’ve opened up the passing game but with the evidence of the first four plays staring him in the face our OC just HAD to start passing the ball…..I was screaning at the TV for them to run and run and run but NO, what is obvious to some is not to our OC. The Jets need to stick to what they’re good ar even if it is ugly, they are not going to score at will like NE, GB or NO but they don’t have to in order to win. They need to keep the game close early and win late, that is how they’re built and that is how they should play.
Not much of a question in this but I had to get this out…..great work as always Bent.-
Marvel says:
It’s sad that you pretty much nailed how we got down 21-0 (Schotty had nothing to do with it) & your conclusion was to blame Schotty… I mean that takes guts.
And statements like “the screen pass shouldn’t have been thrown so early because Philly was prepared for it”…. Really ? Really? Seriously ?
I know we want the guy gone, but this is becoming sad.
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I was arguing that the Jets approach was not conservative. I was also arguing that because of the Eagles style of Defense the plan of attack should have been run, run and run. I was pumped watching the first series 4 straight runs, 33 yards…..YES, there should of been a fifth straight run, then a sixth….establish control of the line of scrimmage, force their D linemen to slow down. There is nothing predictable about running the ball 6 or seven or 20 straight times especially from different formations and personnel groupings. How many teams in this league go more then 3 or 4 plays w/o throwing a pass??? That you can predict.
Perhapss I should blame the whole coaching staff instead of just Schotty but he does call the plays…..
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The screen pass needs to be set up, running the ball does not set up a screen. It was a bad playcall based on the situation, and the team it was called against. SERIOUS!
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Ok so you kill Schotty for being predictable but then say he should have ran the ball for a fifth consecutive time?
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see above…
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Reprocity says:
+1
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does play action even work against a team like the eagles? they play the run on the way to the qb anyway, so its not going to slow them down much.
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That’s why you run, run and then run some more…..if you keep beating them with runs inside it will force the D’line to slow down then play action WILL work but not until you have clearly established the run. 4 plays does not estblish the run……
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Brendan says:
The Wide-9 is built so the DEs NEVER slow down. Ever. They go 1,000 mph after the QB every play. Runs can’t slow down that scheme, screens and quick passing does.
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The scheme is exactly why you run….the DE’s are out of the play when you run quick hits up the middle. The only way for them to stop the run up the middle is to bring the DE’s in to the 7 technique…that will open up the outside and take away a lot of the speed rush. If they don’t adjust, keep running it up the middle all day and night. Indy always played the same scheme when Freeney and Mathis are in the game, how do teams beat it? they run up the middle….the Eagles LB’s aren’t as good as Brackett and Co. so it has an even better chance of success….
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juunit says:
Cromartie.
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How is Sanchez still alive at this point in the season. It seems like from all the big hits he has taken and his petite size he should have missed at least a play.
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kane says:
When are you guys going to wake up and realize that this is a mediocre team that has a couple of high priced players that play well sometimes.
I keep hearing how complex the offense and defense are but the offense struggles to sustain long drives and the secondary struggles in coverage because of players are out of position. The DLine is built to stop the run but most teams pass the ball so there is no pressure on the QB. This not a question just my rant of watching a mediocre team that thinks it can win a super bowl. -
Watching this 49ers game… Rex should take notes.
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I had a surprising epiphany as I was watching this game. Brian schottenheimer, or as we like to call him, “schotty”, is the only reason our offense does anything. i always tell my friend dave that schotty should figure out what the jets strength is vs an opponent and stick to it for the game. yesterday greene was taking us down the field on his own, when suddenly we are passing and the next thing you know, the eagles are in the end zone (greene never found the holes again after that). keller will disappear after it seems the other team cant cover him. but i realized that we have a mediocre running game, a below average passing game with shoddy (pun intended) protection, a qb thats still maturing, and receivers that don’t get open. if not for the actual gameplans and everything running perfectly and smoothly and us keeping teams off balance with a clever mixture of run and pass, we would never get a first down, so kudos to schotty. like you said we can’t come back because thats not in the initial gameplan.
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You’re crazy, we have a great QB, WR group, O-line, TE, RB group… Wait.. No we don’t, their all average or over paid/valued.
But still….When in doubt.. Don’t blame the guy throwing picks… Or the guy fumbling… Or the guy dropping the ball… Or the guy not getting separation.. Or the guy missing his blocks… Or Rex.. Or Westy.. Or Pet.. Blame SCHOTTY
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Schotty… The scheme we’ve had for the past 6 years with no idetity deserves the blame he gets.
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joeyboy79 says:
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Revis Worshipper says:
Revisfan’s analysis is dead on as always. We got to stick to what works. Id love to see Revisfan write a weekly blog here.
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Joey The Jet says:
wow interesting article about sancheese,i always said the guy is an average qb,however no one else will admit it,3 years in the nfl and still cant read defenses,still stares his receivers,happiest feet ever,inacurrate and so on and so on
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…Schotty
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that being said, he kept going to the screen when it was clear they had keyed on that in practice, they would have been idiots not to, considering we racked up a 150 yards on them last week. and the announcers kept yelling for hunter to get help, but it seemed to me like they kept extra blockers in a lot. is that accurate? i really think the jets focus too much on the quick pass and emphasize it in practice so that when mark has to hold it in a game, the o line doesn’t know what to do. they should practice as if every play was a deep drop and stay on their blocks as long as possible.
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as for the defense, i’m going to paint a rosier picture than most. 1. the eagles started six drives at the jets 45 yard line or better. its tough to defend any team like that let alone one as explosive as the eagles. plus had a defensive score 2. we just don’t match up well with fast teams, let alone a fast qb. our linebackers, safeties, and dline are all slow. leonhard wouldn’t have made a difference. i actually thought pool made some nice plays altho he still refuses to wrap up. next week we will be facing a giants team that is similarly structured to the eagles only a lot slower. hunter specifically has issues with speed rushers and tuck not 100%. ballard is out so we dont need to worry about the tight end and the giants will seem like they are running in slow motion compared to the eagles so this was actually a good scrimmage for next week. btw it was predetermined by the nfl that the eagles would make the playoffs so that means we will win this week. not sure about the fins game though.
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on the first mccoy td run, i think it was trufant came running over to help on the backside at the snap. was that by design to get shady to think he had a lane only to have it plugged by a db? it seems that several times a game, Rex will call a defense that his team is incapable of executing. it seems good in his head and in theory but he doesn’t realize that some of his guys just aren’t athletic enough to execute it. as good as our line is, they can’t move laterally with these quick rbs that cut back also, he said after the game that they looked as if they were afraid to pressure vick but didnt he drill into them all week not to overpursue? i’m also curious to know what the dolphins did to contain them last week. i dont think mccoy had a great game and they play a similar style of defense. did they just execute better? their safeties aren’t really better than ours albeit probably more athletic. it looked like we were playing more zones than we usually do and that really takes revis and cro out of their strengths. what td did cro give up?
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Just a couple of points on sanchez: when he tries to throw to a spot, he just lobs it up for grabs, without really trying to pinpoint his location which gets him in trouble especially on throws to plex. but he should lob it in the vicinity of plex more often nonetheless. also, this dude is one tough mother. and i’m glad we all got to see him on the sideline without his press conference hat, his haircut is hilarious. also, holmes is clearly not a hundred percent. people said his td celebration was selfish, i just thought it was the worst possible time for anyone to celebrate anything forgetting the penalty.
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Lou says:
A lot of my friends who are jets fans were majorly pissed off with holmes for his celebration. I personally never liked the guy, and always wanted braylon; he’s a much better team player then holmes.
I can’t stand holmes with his ego. Does his stupid arm extension and then drops the ball after every catch he makes.
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btw, we are now 11-2 in 1 oclock games in the last two years with the two losses coming last year in close games to the super bowl champs at home and the nfc runners up on the road. we are 8-9 in all other games. we play a lot better in early games, so thank god were playing at 1 next week.
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sean says:
Thats because we play a lot of crappy teams early and, most of the time play better teams late
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Lam Jones says:
right; the better the matchup the more likely the game is played later; the TV schedule is set up that way; The Ravens, Cowboys, Pats etc. at night vs. the Chiefs, Bills and Jags at 1:00.
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i guess youre right but sanchez always talking about routines and keeping everything exactly the same. rex is also extremely superstitious that way so maybe they like playing at 1 every week because thats the standard. then again this week the game is saturday so that could throw them all for a loop.
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bent, do you like the total qbr thing on espn? it supposed to account for all sorts of things that no one knows what they are. i saw sanchez got a 3.8 this week. how does someone score that low, when anyone watching the game can see he played pretty well considering the circumstances, threw two beauty tds and both his picks went thru holmes hands?
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Le' Sean Roberts says:
Really, who wants to hear about the JETS’ coordinators fiasco again. Mike Pettine for Penn State and Schotty for the friendly sea mammals I say. Eli Manning can play at an elite level when not clowning around. I want to see how that JETS’ DC that play that soft crap and 3-4 50 all day. If you’re going to blitz, don’t make it so dumb predictable. Disguise the blitzes man. The dude has Rex Ryan’s playbook, what is he doing?
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I mean, no hard feelings if those coordinators land those jobs.
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mikebe1 says:
Bent can u tell us more about this sanchez 1 week hang over after games like this and ur usually positive we gonna need something positive heading into our subway series superbowl.
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This game was doomed after the 2 turnovers by Holmes. He didn’t seem to be in the game at all which is pretty disheartening for a team captain. Can you blame Schotty for the Fumble, Pick through Holmes Hands, the botched run where LT went one way and Sanchez was expecting him to go the other way, etc. No you can’t, but what he should be blamed for is being predictable. There is no imagination with his plays, its the same plays from the same general formations. Defense can recognize that and exploit us as we saw on Sunday. On the opening drive with Greene gaining 33 yards on 4 carries, he needed a break so LT comes in, thats when we throw and it cost us. I know a mix up is needed, but LT should have gotten the carry on 1st down at least to setup the screen pass.
It’s easy to point the finger at the QB for everything, but if he has stuggles reading a defense as stated, then where is our QB coach or our wonderful OC to work with him to understand defenses better? If they are working with him, then we don’t see it on the field. That is why a change in OC and QB coach is needed, to get a fresh set of eyes in to help the kid out. Sanchez works hard, because he is always at the complex late, just like last night, he was reported as there all day, went to Scott’s fundraiser then went back to the complex to look at more film. He wants to win, learn, grow etc, now we just need an OC and QB coach willing to put the time in and teach him better than he is being taught now.
It also doesn’t help when the OL is beyond inconsistent and the kid is constantly under pressure from good defenses. Our WR’s are high priced prima donas and they’ve showed it all to much this year. Burress is slower than mud half the time, because it always seems like he is half a$$ing his routes, but makes a great catch and its all forgotten, Holmes can’t get any seperation, so Sanchez has to always dump off to the RB. Hmmmm so if an opposing defense can lock up both WR, then they know the dump off is coming. Predictability in play calling will always doom a team in this league. Schotty has no feel for the game flow at all, he hides behind his sheet of plays and calls what he was planning on no matter how things are going.
Do I think we can still make the playoffs, yes I do. This team is capabale of putting together a good string of games and as we saw with the Packers last year, a 6 seed can with it all.
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mataos says:
Don’t know if anyone else asked:
I see you find the positive for a lot of guys who CLEARLY are not playing at a high level (even though they have plenty of years experience). You seem to think Sanchez should be capable of carrying this team on his back already, with a horrible RT no less. You claim “elite quarterbacks will march their team down the field to get them back in the game when the other team goes up big, so the size of the gap between Sanchez and those elite guys is readily apparent to everyone”.
The real difference between those guys and ours is not their QB makeup it’s something else. QBs like Brady have a great Oline. QBs like Rodgers have great WRs. Sanchez has neither. I’m not putting him in “elite” class because he has lots of short comings but come on. You tell me who could get the job done with one WR who can only make plays in the red zone and another who needs 5 secs to pull off triple moves to get open. Of course needing extra time to get open would be fine, if the Oline could provide it. So my question, just an opinion: Which QB do you think could take these exact same pieces and score 35 unanswered points in a half against a defense knowing you have to pass?
I know it’s a long question, keep in mind I am just looking for an opinion, I know it is a big “what if?” but I am interested to know what skill set you think a QB would need to possess to win the type of game the Jets found themselves in Sunday. -
So here is Jason La Confora’s take on Sanchez:
» Mark Sanchez — He was the worst offender of the bunch. I continue to talk to people who have played with him, and been around the Jets, and don’t get the sense there is great hope he will take that next step. Rarely does he get multiple pass-catchers involved in the same game, and, according to sources, he has trouble reading both sides of the field. Therefore, the Jets couldn’t go with as many three-receiver sets as they would like. Sanchez still makes horrific throws with far too great regularity and without a dominant run game protecting him, his flaws are being exposed more.
At times, according to the same sources, Sanchez tries to do too much, barking out faux calls at the line and making things more complex than they need to be. He had been better in the red zone for a few weeks, but he still tends to force throws there that lead to crippling turnovers. Santonio Holmes has been pouty about the lack of diversity in the passing attack and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer is open to new challenges and looking to explore head-coaching options.
Down 7-0 early, the Jets got a gift on a muffed punt at the Eagles’ 14. Sanchez threw an ugly pick on the second play of the drive. Sanchez looked jumpy most of the game, holding the ball and taking sacks. Down 21-0 early in the second quarter, deep in his own territory and needing to protect the ball, he was too casual with his grip and fumbled. He threw another pick in the second half.You don’t see that inspiring a lot of confidence. We’ll see if the Giants are able to rediscover their pass rush in the battle of New York this weekend, which could well decide the season for the loser.
To me, this is extraordinarily unfair and inaccurate. I agree with some of his comments about Sanchez–the painful audibles, which seem to confuse the Jets offensive players more than the defense is one example, but some of his other observations are just wrong. So, La Confora says, “He had been better in the red zone for a few weeks” when in fact the Jets were leading the NFL FOR THE SEASON in red zone efficiency going into the Eagles game. And then he makes the absurd observation that “Sanchez threw an ugly pick” on a ball that was spot on, right at the top of Holmes’ helmet, and right through both of his hands. That “ugly pick” was not on Sanchez at all–it was on the pathetic excuse for a team captain, Santonio Holmes. Yes, Sanchez may have problems seeing the field–but so do many other quarterbacks–watch Stafford or Flacco or many others–who throw some awful picks. Sanchez, to his credit, seems to have reduced the bad picks in recent weeks.
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Also ridiculous is that he can’t throw to more than one passing target… in a typical jet game 8to receivers have catches
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Rothlidberger threw 3a picks last night, but oh wait his ankle hurt.
Eli threw bad picks this week barely a peep.
Did anybody watch flacco on sunday
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Brian says:
I agree that La Confora is an idiot. Every analyst will harp on Sanchez saying he is horrid, etc. Its always his fault for everything that goes wrong with the offense. Eli was pathetic this Sunday, Rothlesberger throws 3 bad picks, Flacco is never good, Stafford has Megatron to bail him out on bad throws, lets not talk about Alex Smith, or what Fitzpatrick has done since the Bill’s collapsed, or Rivers bad season or any other QB with issues.
Sanchez could win us the Superbowl this year and he will still be garbage in many peoples eyes. The best thing that can happen to Sanchez is Schotty takes a HC job with any team in the NFL or College. A new OC who understands Sanchez will be more benificial in my opinion.
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levi says:
Nice work Bent. I have no questions. I just want to forget about that game. Bury the football/game film. By the way if they dont right the ship there will be a land fill loaded with balls from similiar blowouts.
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Jacob says:
Wow, this is the most pessimistic I’ve ever heard you over the last couple of years which is worrisome because I generally rely on you for optimism in the face of bad Jets news!!!
A big part of me agrees with you that there are some major problems with this team, but the rest of me can’t help but believe that this team will turn it on just in the nick of time like they have the past couple years. With all of the bounces that went out way last year (look at our fumble recovery numbers) it was only natural to expect that we wouldn’t be so lucky this year (and we certainly haven’t been). But this team is still capable of beating any other team with a couple good bounces early on, and I take great comfort with that. I guess I don’t really have a question, but I hope you can regain some of your optimism in time for the final playoff push, as I’m actually really excited for the chance to finally beat the vastly overrated Giants on Saturday (I mean, they lost to the redskins….TWICE!!!!!!!)
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here is my BGA! let me help you out Bent!.An angel who needed his wings came down from heaven to help the eagles who tried to buy a championship.So the Eagles could have at least some hope of making the playoffs, unfortunately the jets were up.Is saw an angel tip the ball from SH since the jets are a good team and were coming back to tie the score.Then the angels were all in front of the jets defense and in their minds which eventually got them to just give up and let the Eagles back in this,.But God does reward those who help him .so we will knock the giants out this weekend and the giants will knock the cowboys out the other weekend and the Eagle will make the playoffs .and get to the SB.their the Jets will also make it to the SB and the rematch will be on.and we will beat the eagles who are winless in the SB .That my friends is what will happen.mark this post !!!
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kevin t says:
Bent-
You said Revis gave up 3 big catches? How many yards did he allow and could you give us his stats for the season?
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matt m says:
bent – a two parter:
After the game Eric Smith said the Eagles were able to easily identify the coverage before the snap. This could have something to do with the supposed simplified game, but isn’t it still his responsibility to audible the coverage? Between that and him having no clue the playbook was even scaled back, I was pretty alarmed to say the least considering he’s known for this “smarts”.
And are there any examples of corners who handle the play-calling in the secondary, or does their position on the field make it too difficult?
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Bent, my condolences on having to watch the game film, you would think the goverment would prohibit torture such as this.
Couple of q’s.
Both Cimini and yourself seem to indicate the inability to cover the TE’s at least this week, was not the fault of the Safeties, that primary coverage was by Harris, Cro and Wilson.
Rex, on Monday, kind of claimed that the reason for the Jets poor stats vs. TE’s was because we have excellent CB’s and other teams gameplan to the middle of the field.
Rex’s explanation is counter intuitive to me, if the outside coverage is so great shouldnt it make it easier to cover the TE’s?
Is it possible to ascertain, on a seasonal basis, why the Jets are unable to adjust and get those big gusy covered?
It seems to me that ALL our LB’s and Safeties lack coverage talent, so who they put in coverage doesnt matter, but wondering what the tape shows?
Is it perhaps because we play so much man to man, and other teams play zone?
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WW85 says:
At the end of the day, when you go down 14-0 because of 2 mistakes vs a team with a good secondary, virtually no team could come back from that.
I’m no big fan of Sanchez, but Lacanfora’s commentary tells me he didn’t even watch the game. I’m never trusting his commentary again.
Bent: How much better or not would the Jets be with Kerry Rhodes?
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Regarding coverage, Francesca I thought made a rare astute point, that while Hunter has certanly been a problem, that ANY RT would struggle vs. elite pass rushers like Babin and most teams provide help. The problem with the Jets is that the guys they insert to help, “Ducasse and 82″, cant block either.
Is this a fair assessement?
If so, I guess we miss Turner and Harstock more than I thought.
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In addition to the above mentioned Turner and Harstock, seems we are missing Lowery and, I cant believe I am typing this, Drew Coleman in the nickle and dime.
Has Wilson progressed at all? Is Strickland any good?
In general the failure to keep this team intact, whethar its chemistry and/or talent, seems to caught up to the front office. They just dont seem to have the IT factor this year.
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Wilson is dwarfing Coleman’s season this year. Coleman made impact plays but got routinely beat like a drum.
Teams are throwing for an 81.0 QB rating against Wilson this year. They threw for a 107.0 QB rating against Coleman last year.
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Nick says:
Who Cares, that’s the least of our issues. I don’t know why he posted it, I don’t know why you responded to it, and I haven’t the faintest idea why i responded to your responding to it.
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I’m bored. What’s your excuse?
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Love Eric Smith’s comments after the game – Yea they called out our coverages because we dumbed them down. We didn’t need to do that – Brodney and I have a great grasp on the defense.
Lol ooookkkk Eric. I’ve never seen a safety chase down so many TE’s in my life. The guy lets up a big play or big penalty a game. I might blow a gasket if they start this guy at safety next year. Keep him on specials where he belongs.
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O-Insanity says:
I’m in no way saying Sanchez is an elite QB, but I do think it’s a little unfair to say elite QBs will march their team down the field to get them back in the game when their team is down big. How often do Brady or Rodgers or Brees have to bring their teams back from 21 or 28-point deficits? Sure, their defenses are awful and they have to score a lot, but they’re usually not playing from way behind. Anyway, we have plenty of examples of Sanchez marching down the field to win the game in the 4th quarter or OT, so he is capable. Even the great Aaron Rodgers couldn’t get a drive going against the Chiefs…Sanchez score 37.
Elite QBs also get rattled and play pretty poorly when they are constantly hit during the game (see Tom Brady). It’d be interesting to see how well Brady would be playing with Wayne Hunter protecting him.
Side note, does anyone else think Sanchez is playing hurt? He seemed to go down pretty hard and what seemed like a not that big of a hit by Babin.
In any case, I think we are only one good OC away from Sanchez taking the next step.
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tomg says:
“kane says:
December 20, 2011 at 12:18 amWhen are you guys going to wake up and realize that this is a mediocre team that has a couple of high priced players that play well sometimes.
I keep hearing how complex the offense and defense are but the offense struggles to sustain long drives and the secondary struggles in coverage because of players are out of position. The DLine is built to stop the run but most teams pass the ball so there is no pressure on the QB. This not a question just my rant of watching a mediocre team that thinks it can win a super bowl.”It’s about time to see a realistic jet fan to post what I’ve been posting from the beginning of the season about this team.
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Get a room.
If the Jets finish 10-6 and make the playoffs, they are not mediocre.
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as mediocre as 2 of the last 4 super bowl winners
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subwayfare says:
Are there other teams with similar personnel that cover TE’s and RB’s out of the backfield better? If so, how? Should Jets LB’s be engaging TE’s better/longer at the LOS? It did look like Vick bought a lot of time with deep, backpedaling drops and, as noted, eluded some near sacks, but this is a consistent issue.
Are the Jets just lacking personnel to run Ryan’s D effectively and he’s in denial about it? Ryan’s Ravens had a legit one-on-one Pass Rusher and an elite Safety. The Steelers have similar strengths in those spots. Seems that with big, run stopping LB’s you need either a legit pass rushing threat, or better backend coverage, if not both. I also suddenly hear people pining for Kerry Rhodes, but do facts bear that out?
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“Are the Jets just lacking personnel to run Ryan’s D effectively”
Yes. A pass rusher. Without a T-Sizzle out on the edge, Rex’s blitzes aren’t effective. Without effective blitzes, you can’t generate turnovers. Rex’s defense is basically a giant scheme to trick QBs into making poor decisions, but you can’t do that without pressure, early and often.
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The Jets are unlikely to get anywhere, but then again they’ve done unlikely things before.
I don’t believe the past two years their flaws have been as obvious and exploitable as this year, outside of the QB, who isn’t a problem this season. But you never know, things could break their way.
I think the absence of Leonhard may end up being the straw that broke the camel’s back. I don’t even think he’s very good, but relatively speaking, he might be irreplaceable. Something about the combination of safety play on defense and protection on offense (read: Hunter and to a somewhat lesser extent Ducasse) are liable to sink the Jets’ battleship.
Speaking of the QB, he sure has gotten the tar beaten out of him this season.
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Saying Ducasse could “sink the ship” is basically saying a guy who threw a rock through the hull of a half-sunk ship “sunk it”.
I’m not saying the Jets are sinking, btw. What I’m saying is if they do fail, it’s not because of Ducasse. It’d be a multitude of other reasons before even getting to Vlad. Unless Vlad was handing out playbooks to the other team, then it’d be his fault.
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He’s the second biggest problem on the O line. They might be able to survive Hunter if Vlad was better, so that’s why I include him as part of the problem. But yeah, he’s the rock that sinks the half-sunk ship, if you prefer. That’s more or less what I’m saying.
And I’m not saying they’re done, just that those weaknesses are likely to have been the difference between survival and not, if the Jets don’t make it to the playoffs, or don’t win any playoff games.
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Subwayfare, I kind of wonder the same. How much of Baltimore’s defense keys off of Ed Reed? Same deal wit Pitssburgh’s Polomalu. It is amazing that we had the #1 defense in the league in Rex’s first season 2009. We really only had 1 good corner that year, BUT we had Kerry Rhodes. In 2010 we had the #3 Defense without KR & this year we dropped to 7. I feel we covered tight ends a lot better when Kerry was around & the San Diego game really comes to mind. I don’t think we win that game with this team.
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I think you nailed it on the head in terms of Rhodes. He is most missed in coverage of TEs, because he was a big and athletic safety.
But let’s not forget he quit on the team and stop trying. A Kerry Rhodes body with a better brain(and some b*lls)? Now we’re talking.
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I’d love to have his crappy attitude back with his talent & put the “Team Guy” Smith back on special teams. I mean Santonio Holmes has a crappy attitude & he’s a captain.
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Oh, remember when I wanted Rhodes to stay and every single person on this blog called me an idiot? I do.
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Brendan, I didn’t have strong emotions about KR at the time so I probably didn’t say much about it then. But I didn’t realize how easy it is to expose a weak safety with a good TE. And now with tight ends dominating the league even more than 2009, the situation is more extreme.
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I was frustrated with Rhodes’ attitude and it didn’t surprise me to learn, after the fact, that he was whiny about Ryan’s affection for Jim Leonard, and the loss of his Mangini-era golden boy status. Still, I don’t recall being without concern at his departure.
I’d certainly like to believe that I didn’t call anyone an idiot who though he should stay ;)
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I wasn’t directing that at anyone in particular, btw. Neither of you guys stick out in my mind as someone who argued with me about it.
What WW85 said is 100% true, this is now a much more TE-driven league, so the weakness is exposed weekly, as opposed to bi-weekly or even less frequently than that (as has been the case in the past).
I also despised the way Rhodes complained and carried himself in ’09, but I knew his talent and size/speed combo was undeniable. I wanted him to stay, but I still feel they made the right decision for the sake of locker room chemistry and keeping Rex from being undermined each step of the way.
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SackDance99 says:
Even with Rhodes, don’t you all think that teams have adjusted to playing against Cro and Revis by going to their slot WR and TE more? The Jets, for the most part, still are pretty good against the pass. The defensive slide this year has been more attributable to the run defense and KR would not have helped in that regard. Losing BT and, to a lesser extent, Ellis likely had more of an impact than most BT haters ever realized. Also, I agree with Brendan about the pass rush. Celek’s move against Harris took a ton of time, Vick had enough time to let him make a double move. The defense is like a well-oiled machine, but if one part is missing or malfunctioning, the whole thing craps out. On a positive note, Vick is somewhat of a unique QB. Eli can be pressured and he will not have Ballard. So, as long as the run D shows up, there’s no reason to believe that the defense won’t limit the Giants’ opportunities…the problem is the offense.
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At first I thought this was a joke, but maybe we should seriously look at moving Cro to safety next year & admitting that a good safety is more important than a #2 corner??? He’s got the size & talent. Revis locks down the #1 WR. Wilson +nickels Strickland or Cole on the #2 with Cro running free.
It’s basically the same formula as 2009 with Revis alone with Shepard + Lowery & Coleman & then Rhodes running free.
Is that nuts?
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I just can’t imagine Cro is strong enough to play safety, never mind how contact averse he is. As heretical as it is to even discuss moving a guy who’s the best in the league at his current position, you’d likely do better to move Revis to safety.
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To be clear: I was not advocating moving Revis to safety, just countering the proposal of Cro at safety with a lesser of two evils.
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Revis would absolutely be a fantastic safety. He’s got a 40″ vertical, or close to it, he runs with sub-4.4 speed, he has a nose for tackling and doesn’t shy away from bigger players (like when he basically shut down Antonio Gates by himself in the playoffs).
But, when you ahve the best cover corner, possibly in the history of the league, you play him at corner.
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Kerry Rhodes hated contact too but was a pretty good safety. I’m not expecting another Reed or Polomalu, just competence. I think a good argument can be made that a good starting safety trumps a good #2 corner.
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You know things are dire when fans start questioning whether Kerry Rhodes should come back…
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We need speed, greasy fast speed….
To paraphrase Apollo Creed “we’re too slow!”
No real speed outside, no speed backs, no speed at safety, no speed at LB….
They need to channel their inner raider and start drafting some speed.
I would also like to see us trade for Pierre Thomas or Chris Ivory from the Saints….Thomas would be a great replacement for LT, and a good compliment to Greene…..
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With or without the football, lol.
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lol!
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Bent — thanks again — saw the attached article and thought of you.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204791104577108782771826106.html
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Nice ! I am sure Bent will enjoy this!
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F 16 says:
Bent I feel for you on this one. As half a joke with a bit of a head scratcher, how about putting Maybin in as a free safety? Or better yet, have him as a Monster Man on D which is a roaming defender. He seems quick enough to cover the middle of the field.
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It is not that easy to change positions in the nfl at will. Maybin has only shown that he is just capable of a straight line to the qb. He has had problems changing direction and shifting. This is not to say he can’t become proficient in other areas but experimenting at this stage of the season I don’t think is a good idea.
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I understand that, just saying he has size and speed and if he played between the hash marks he might be better then what were putting out there.
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Good point,it can’t be any worse unfortunately.
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At this point in the season.
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JetsImpact414 says:
It looks as if Sanchez has lost his love for the game over the past couple weeks. It’s almost as if he is just going through the motions and is playing with no passion. Bent, can you comment on this?
First of all slauson apparently hurt his ribs during the game. Did you see this having any impact on his performance?
Second, with celek having a career day yesterday everyone today is saying the jets can’t cover tight ends, and while I know that’s been a recurring issue in the past, it seems to me celeks stats were inflated by two long plays that were clearly blown coverages (and Harris, not smith, took the blame for the 73 yarder). Did the jets really struggle that much against the te yesterday, and if so what can they do to fix it. Media types are saying they should jam tight ends at line, so why don’t they do that.
Finally, this may have to be a separate BGA post, but I found this article online where Jason la canfora talks to former teammates of Sanchez and those close to team, and they say Sanchez is still bad at reading field,
which is why team can’t do 3 wr sets. Source also says he makes things too complex (and you guys all blame Schotty for that!) with his line checks. Based on the vid above the story I’m guessing one of his sources is mason, who obviously has gripe against team (and if he called out Sanchez behind closed doors that could explain why he was cut so abruptly). Anyway I was wondering if you could respond to what la Canforas sources had to say.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82536b71/article/young-qbs-show-their-true-colors-in-ugly-week-15-losses