Jets @ Redskins early take

I'm just gonna run off some thoughts on the Redskins that I can think of off the top of my head. Mostly from what I have observed through various fantasy football leagues:

Offense: Let's see they started the year out with Rex Grossman, and he played good for a few games, than Shanahan went to John Beck, only to go back to Grossman. He has done the same thing with his running backs also. They started the year out with Tim Hightower(whom they acquired from the Cardinals), then went to Ryan Torain(who Shanahan loved last year), and is now riding rookie Roy Helu. Shanahan has also had a revolving door with his RB's whether it was in Denver or Washington. His only main RB was Terrell Davis, then after that he seemed to start flip flopping. Shanahan is one of the great offensive minds in the game. His son Kyle is the offensive coordinator now in Washington. I think they would like to be a running team but seem to throw the ball an awful lot. Helu is a fast back so the Jets will have to look out for screens and runs to the outside. Santana Moss and Jabar Gaffney are their top wide receivers and really don't pose too much of a threat. TE Fred Davis has played exceptional in his two years in the NFL. I definitely think he poses some matchup problems for the Jets safeties.

Defense: Washington's D is actually not half bad. They have a pretty solid rushing defense, but their secondary leaves much to be desired. Their top corner, DeAngelo Hall, is an ok cornerback who cannot tackle. The Redskins generate a lot of pass rush and therefore get a lot of sacks. Their star LB, Brian Orakpo, is having a great season, despite his awful Geico commercials. I think the OLine is gonna have a lot of problems with their blitzes. They may have to leave Keller in a lot to help Hunter. Sanchez can not panic and Schotty has to stick with the run game to keep the defense honest.

What if?

I was watching the total annihilation of the Giants last night, by the New Orleans Saints, and was wondering what if? What if the Dolphins had decided to make an offer to Brees to become their franchise quarterback? If you remember before the 2006 season Brees was a free agent and was being courted by the Dolphins and the Saints. He had torn the labrum in his right shoulder during the season and had to have surgery on it. The surgery was successful but the Chargers were leary that his rotater cuff had been severely damaged as well. Having Phillip Rivers available, the Chargers offered Brees an incentive laden contract, he got insulted and decided to see what the market had to offer. The Dolphins needed a QB bad and were courting Brees but ultimately decided not to offer him a contract, based on the health of his shoulder. Brees would go on to sign with the Saints, while the Dolphins traded for Duante Culpepper.  Since 2006 he has thrown for at least 4,000 yds per season, has at least 26 td's per season, and has not a a QB rating below 89.4. We all know how the QB situation worked out for Miami.  I'm sure a large part of Brees success has to do with Sean Payton, who became the head coach of the Saints in 2006 and lobbied hard for Brees.

I, as a Jet fan, am happy that Miami decided not to sign him. It's kind of funny that they didn't want to sign Brees but they had Chad Pennington as their QB, who tore his rotater cuff on more than one occasion. Imagine being in the same division with Drew Brees and Tom Brady? Thanks to Miami that's the only way it could be possible.

A win's a win. . .

Well what else can you say about yesterday's game? You have to admit that the Jets got lucky, that Steve Johnson lost all concentration on his dropped pass on the final drive of the game. How he was so open is hard to fathom, maybe even surprised Johnson himself.  The Bills offense( who was without Fred Jackson) played fairly well, especially considering how they faired in the previous meeting. Let me get to some points on the game:

Mark Sanchez: Seems like every week he is a weakness in the offense. He did not play very well for most of the game. He was sailing throws, throwing behind receivers, and just had all sorts of communication problems. You had that one throw where Keller was wide open, went way too high but Keller had to make an acrobatic catch. There was another play where Turner was running a post and if Sanchez throws the ball either higher or out in front of him, its a TD. I think the play where he just totally threw it behind Holmes in the flat was only part his fault. I thought Rich Gannon made some great points on him yesterday, such as how he doesn't pick up his receivers fast enough and hence throws behind them. You have to give him credit on the final TD drive to win the game. I've heard some say that he made a horrible throw to Burress, and if not for an unbelievable catch, the Jets would have lost. Well on that play he got blitzed and he threw it where only Plax could catch it. I am nit picking as how many teams have a QB that can throw 4 TD passes?

Darrelle Revis: I played cornerback in high school and I can tell you the hardest routes to cover are the slants and the comebacks. It seemed like Johnson was running these routes on Revis all day. His TD catch was a quick slant in which Revis faked playing press and then dropped five yards back. There was another catch Johnson made in which he ran as hard as he could ten yards then stopped and actually slipped, got up and caught the ball. Those routes are impossible to defend unless you get up on the receiver and jam the crap out of him to disrupt timing. The Jets pass rush was non existent yesterday so Johnson could make 4-5 moves to get open. I think Revis is still the best corner in football. Imagine what he would do with a constant pass rush?? Not sure why he was playing off the entire game though.

The coaching staff: Ten days to prepare for this game and that's what you came up with? How flat was this team in all three aspects? I heard Craig Carton this morning say you have ten days to prepare and your first play on offense is a run up the middle to Conner? Shonn Greene and the OLine where doing good things, but he only had 8 carries in the whole first half! I just don't understand what is going on with the offense. Are we gonna ground and pound or pretend we are the Patriots? On defense, again with the prevent on the final drive of the game? I understand you were afraid to send the house,since it burned you against Denver, well Fitzpatrick thrives in the pocket. You have to force him out of the pocket and he is highly inacurrate. Rex needs to sit down with Pettine and rethink their strategy. How did the defense go from killing the Bills earlier in the season, to not even being able to get pressure on Fitzpatrick??

If any Jet fan can sit here and think the team, in it's current state can win a playoff game, you need to think again. There are some major problems with this team. Now they are going to face a Redskin team that came back from 17 points to beat Seattle. Let's hope they get it worked out.

Current Playoff Standings. . .

Here are the current playoff standings courtesy of espn.com:

1.Baltimore 8-3*
2.New England 7-3*
3.Houston 7-3*
4.Oakland 6-4*
5.Pittsburgh 7-3
6.Cincinnati 6-4
7.Denver 5-5
8.Tennessee 5-5
9.Jets 5-5
10.Buffalo 5-5

So as you can see the Jets still have to climb over Denver,Tennessee,and Cincy. I know the Bengals have to play both the Ravens and the Steelers again,and Houston. Denver will never make it(in my opinion,they still have to play Chicago and NE), but it showed how big a loss it was to the Broncos. Tennessee plays TB,NO,and Houston yet. I think if the Jets can go 5-1 they will make it, but I have a feeling there last game against Miami they will need, and you Miami would love nothing better than to keep the Jets out of the playoffs.

Bills @ Jets

Fred Jackson out for Sunday's game

Not really going to do much of a preview since I think the Jets will win this game in convincing fashion. One reason is because Fred Jackson has been place on IR with a broken right fibula. We as Jet fans know what CJ Spiller is capable of. . .NOTHING. Spiller's game is all about speed and while that will give the LB's problems, I'm sure Rex will give them plenty of help. You can expect Spiller to line up wide as a WR and to do a lot of screens, but this is what Jackson did also. Buffalo signed ex-Cowboy Tashard Choice for short yardage situations and they also have another RB named Johnny White.

  What I'm interested in seeing from the Jets is how the offensive line plays, how Sanchez plays, and if Schottenheimer calls any deep passes. The Bills defense has been really bad lately, they just put Terrence McGee on IR, they can never get any pressure on the QB, and their rushing defense is really bad. We may not be able to see any deep passes since they will probably run the ball a lot. The Jets will win by at least two scores and eliminate Buffalo from the wildcard conversation.

PREDICTION: BILLS- 10  JETS-27

What will the Jets do? Part II

Yesterday I stated what the team needed to do on defense,in my opinion, let's see if I can figure out what is wrong with the. . . .

Offense:


So everyone,myself included, has been calling for Brian Schottenheimer's job since last year.  While many think he is a brilliant offensive mind, he makes some mind numbing decisions. Such as all the motioning, the gimmick plays, and the lack of the deep ball. Where is the long passing game? Mark Sanchez doesn't have the strongest arm but he is no Chad Pennington. He can throw it deep, but why hasn't he? All Schotty calls are the quick outs and slants you never see him throw go routes, deep posts, or any other deep routes. Part of this could be because the offensive line has been inconsistent this year. But I think a large part of it, is because Schottenheimer does not have confidence in Sanchez or his receivers getting open. I think to remedy this problem Rex needs to get involved in the offensive plan again. In his first year Sanchez was protected by his running game, he never had to put the game on his shoulders. Well look at what happens when the game is on his shoulders, he excels. I'm not saying they should pass 50 times a game, but they should let him take more chances deep. Defenses know the Jets are not going deep so they sit on the short passing game. I'm sure Rex would rather run it twice as much as throw(for defense's purposes), but how is Sanchez ever going to become an elite QB as a game manager? So Rex sit down with Schotty and and reassess the offense.

The line is horrible. I just can't explain it. Does Damian Woody make that much of a difference? Think about it. The only difference in the offensive line from last year is Woody. Ok sure they were counting on Rob Turner to play RT, but they always talked up Hunter as being just as good as Turner. They made Andre Carter look like the second coming of Bruce Smith, when they last played the Patriots. Von Miller(a rookie) abused and embarrassed the line in the Broncos game. Bill Callahan coaches the offensive line and he is one of the best position coaches in the game. He did a great job with Slauson, but Ducasse has been a mistake, and Hunter gets beat every week. Also, Ferguson has been slipping too. Again, just like the ILB position, there is no way to fix this in season. Anyone available on the wire is there for a reason. They will have to cut ties with Ducasse(a 2nd round pick in 2010), and build depth on the line via the draft and free agency. Some of it may be Sanchez not making the proper protection calls at the line. So maybe he needs to be coached more.

Not much can be said for the RB's as there success is directly tied to the offensive line. I will say that Tomlinson will most likely retire next year, and Greene is more of a complimentary back. McKnight has shown flashes of brilliance but I doubt could be an every down back. Bilal Powell is a rookie and is definitely not ready to play at the NFL level yet. The Jets need to check into drafting a RB to either be the clear #1 or a back that can complement Greene.

What will the Jets do?

The coaching staff has ten days to find out what is lacking with the team. There are big problems on both offense and defense. Also it seems like the team is lacking heart. When a team like the Jets faces an inferior opponent,like the Broncos, they should  jump on them early and bury them. Say what you will about Tebow, but he is a leader and he never gives up. I'm not sure that would describe anyone on the Jets. So what would I do during this layover?

Defense


Rex Ryan is known as one of the best defensive minds in the game today. He comes up with masterful gameplans to shut down opposing offense's. Beginning last year he ceded his playcalling duties to coordinator Mike Pettine. While I think Pettine is a tremendous coordinator, I think he makes bad call's when the defense needs a big stop. Take this past game for example. The Broncos have a 3rd and 4, and if the Jets can hold them, then they kick a field goal to tie the game. Pettine calls for zero coverage which pretty much means every blitzes except Cromartie,Revis,and Eric Smith. So what happens? Tebow takes the snap runs to the outside past Smith and into the endzone. Everyone knew Tebow was going to run the ball, that's what he does. Why wouldn't you have guys in a zone instead of relying on your worst defender to make the play? I think Ryan needs to sit down with Pettine and Thurman and reevaluate when and why they are making certain play calls.

As far as the players, Bart Scott and David Harris are great run stopping inside linebackers, but they are slower than molasses in the winter. They cannot cover anyone in passing situations, when a running back gets outside the numbers there is no way they are catching him. There is really nothing the team can do about this in season, but in the offseason they should decide if they should draft or sign a faster ILB. As far as the secondary, the Jets need a safety in the worse way. I stated in an earlier post that they should cut Eric Smith, I admit that may have been an impulse reaction. At the very least they should bench him and let Pool fill his spot or let Emmanuel Cook play. I think the CB's are the strongest unit on the whole team, so they are fine. A major problem with the secondary is communication. If you noticed during the Patriots game, they didn't know where to line up. It looked like Revis and Leonherd were directing traffic. This has been a problem since Ryan took over. I don't know if they need to take more time to coach these guys on where they should be in certain situations. If I was an opposing offensive coordinator I would plan on running no huddle they whole game, because that really confuses this Jets D.

In the next post I'll give my opinion on how to fix the offense.

Pathetic. . .

Last night's defeat to the Broncos was so pathetic I'm not even going to break it down. All I have to say is Eric Smith has to go. I don't care how much he is making, he needs to be cut. He is by far the worst player on defense every single week. Jets play Buffalo at home in ten days.

Jets @ Broncos Part II

You'll see a lot of this guy tonight

Tonight is the night, that hopefully the Jets can get a win. Like I mentioned in an earlier post they have to go up against the aura of Tebow, and they will have to defend a heavy dose of the run. The run actually hurt the Jets earlier in the year but it seems like they have gotten it straightened out, ever since Green-Ellis ran all over them in week five. I was trying to think of teams the Jets have faced that have a run first mentality, there was the Jaguars(which they won 32-3),the Raiders(lost 34-24),the Ravens(lost 34-17), and the Dolphins(won 24-6). The Jags were out of it way early and abandoned the run. The Raiders killed the Jets on the ground with Darren McFadden running for 171 yds.,and 2 TD. Ray Rice was actually held to 66 yds., and 1 TD on the ground. What does this tell us? Nothing really on their 3 game winning streak, they played the Chargers whose offense runs through Rivers. The Dolphins, who fell behind and started chucking it. The Bills who lost Fred Jackson for a period of the game, and who really abandoned the run. So I actually think the Jets will win, why?

Defense: If the D isn't pissed off coming off Sunday night's game, then they don't have any pride. I feel sorry for Tebow because Ryan is going to unleash the hounds on him. Expect to see a lot of run blitzes and a constant 4-3 and 3-4 defensive look. You won't see the Jets in dime or nickel much only because the Broncos don't throw it at all! What is Revis going to do? The Jets can probably get away with putting Wilson on Decker and Cromartie on D.Thomas, and let Revis spy Tebow? Why not? Have your best defensive player take out their #1 offensive weapon. Either that or let Harris spy Tebow and have Revis cover the running back in passing situations. In any event look for the D to have a big night.

Offense: You never know what the offense is going to do. When they should run they pass, and when they should pass they run. Schottenheimer is as frustrating as Mike Francesa's radio show.  Denver is ranked 24th against the pass and 16th against the run. They have given up 5 rushing touchdown's so far this year and allow 117 yds./game. They have given up 18 td's through the air, 243 yds./gm. So I think it's safe to say you want to pass against this defense. Champ Bailey will probably lock down Holmes but that leaves Burress and Keller to find some space. Kerley has already been ruled out in this game, which will hurt Sanchez's 3rd down production. These two teams actually played each other last year with the Jets winning 24-20. Sanchez had a 56.6 completion percentage, 198 yds.,1 TD, 2 INT. Tomlinson(who is out tonight)led the rushing attack with  16 carries for 55 yards and 2 TD. The Broncos defense gets a slight upgrade from last year with the addition of OLB Von Miller. I would still look for the Jets to run to set up the pass, and take some deep shots with Plaxico.

Prediction:Think the Jets start out sluggish on both sides of the ball but come out of it at half time, and win easily. JETS-27 BRONCOS-14

Jets @ Broncos Preview

In a quick turn around that only the NFL can explain, the Jets have to travel to Denver to take on the Broncos tomorrow night. Of course, that means they will have to take on the enigma known as Tim Tebow. I rarely watch college football, but I do know Tebow was a great QB with the Florida Gators. Many experts wonder if he could be successful at the NFL level. Well he is 3-1 as the starting QB. He only completed 2 out of 8 passes last week(one for a long TD), and the Broncos team rushed 55 times! Denver runs a college option style offense. Believe it or not Rex is actually equipped to combat this offense. He was the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State. Lets look at the Broncos stats so far:

Offense:

Overall-24th

Passing-28th

Rushing-8th

Tebow-completed 122 passes, 7 TD, 1 INT, 45.7% compeletion 

             43 runs for 327 yds.,2 TD

Tomorrow I will breakdown the game more and give a prediction.

He said WHAT!?!?!

Our altar boy Rex Ryan reportedly cursed at a fan walking off the field at half time. That is an absolute lie! There is no way that our coach, who repeatedly talks trash, was reportedly involved in a foot fetish video, and who gave the finger to a Dolphin fan, would ever do such a thing! Of course I am being sarcastic. Just like the incident in Miami, Rex has to know when to bite his tongue. He is an NFL coach and he has to conduct himself in that way. This is unlike the Bill Belichick incident, in that he said it to a fan who was video taping the whole thing. Rex has to use better judgement and not let his emotions get the best of him. Those same emotions that pronounced the Jets chances of winning the division are dead. COME ON REX!!!

I told you so!

What a way to respond boys! You really showed those Patriots who's boss! NOT!!! I think in some ways last night's defeat was more embarrassing than the 45-3 drubbing last year. Let's think about the intangibles here: the Jets were playing at home(where they were 4-0), they were coming off a manhandling of the #1 offense in the league, the Patriots were coming off 2 straight losses, and what happened? The Jets did not step up to the plate! Why?

The Defense: How could you go from shutting down a similar offense, in the Bills, to being completely inept against NE? The D had a couple of bright moments, like Jamaal Westerman's safety in the 2nd quarter, but besides that they could not stop Brady or Gronkowski. I think you have to give credit to Brady for orchestrating a marvelous 2nd half. The no huddle quick passing game gassed the Jets D line and their linebackers. The confusion in the secondary is something we see far to much from the defense. Someone should be held accountable for that!

Mark Sanchez: He threw 2 huge interceptions in this game,albeit one was more Greene's fault than his own. The 2nd pick he locked onto Tomlinson and Ninkovich read it the whole way. YOU CAN'T STARE RECEIVERS DOWN MARK! How could you not take advantage of the worst defense in the league??? Especially when they were missing two starters and had special teams players filling in. This is why I wonder if the Jets will ever be able to make a Super Bowl,let alone win one, with Sanchez at QB. What was with the timeout right before the half?? He left Brady with tons of time to march down and score a TD.

Special Teams: First Nick Folk misses a chip shot FG, and then McKnight fumbles a punt. I think the fumbled put was the turning point in the game. Think about it, the defense had just forced a second three and out against the Patriots. If McKnight cleanly fields the punt, the Jets get the ball on their own 30 with a chance to tie the game. 

Unlike last week when all three phases of the Jets were clicking, last night they were off. I really think this falls on the coaching staff. How do you not have your team focused and ready to play, with the division on the line? Bill Belichick was seen saying to his son as he walked off the field,"Thirty seven points on the best defense in the league. S**k my d**k!" How does that sound Rex?

Jets vs. Patriots

So here we go with "the most important game of the season" label. I thought that was last week? Or the two previous weeks? Well whatever I think the Jets actually have a great chance to win this game, not because NE has lost two straight games, but it seems like they have more momentum then they did earlier in the season. In the last game the offense had seven 3 and outs against the 32nd ranked passing D in the league. What the hell was the problem in that game? It's over, so it really doesn't matter much now. So what are gonna be the obstacles tonight?

1.)Mark Sanchez- I am no Phil Simms but it seems to me that unless everything goes right for Mark, he cannot get it done. He needs the running game to be firing on all cylinders, he needs the middle of the field to be open, and he cannot have defenders rushing him up the middle. Seems like the book on stopping him is clogging up the middle of the field and forcing him to throw outside the numbers. You know NE is gonna stuff the run, like they did last time, and this will negate the play action. 

2.)Brian Schottenheimer-So if I know that NE is gonna sell out to stop the run, you think he would know that right? Wrong! He thinks he has the best running game ever, so when he should be passing more he will continue to do all his motioning just to run a play that will net 2 yards. Hopefully he has devised a game plan that will attack NE down the field. The patriots starting S Patrick Chung is nursing a foot injury, can we please take advantage of that??

3.)Pressure- I think there was another time that a big showdown between these two teams took place in the second half a season, with the division on the line. Oh yeah that was last year when the Jets lost 45-3. It seems that when there is a chance to put NE away and show them and the NFL that they are for real, the Jets choke it away. Granted they made it to the AFC championship last year, but it could have been a lot easier. The Jets need to win this game by at least 10 points.

Prediction: NE-27 NYJ-23 The Jets are not ready to overtake the Patriots, sorry.