Final Score: Jets 26 - Browns 20 OT
By the numbers:
Passing
Sanchez : 27/44 - 299 yds 2 TD 1 INT - 87.2 Passer Rating
Rushing
NYJ : S. Greene - 20 car 72 yds 3.6 ypc
L. Tomlinson - 18 car 57 yds 3.2 ypc
Receiving
NYJ : S. Holmes - 5 rec 76 yds 1TD
B. Edwards - 4 rec 59 yds
L. Tomlinson - 6 rec 53 yds
D. Keller - 3 rec 25 yds
J. Cotchery - 3 rec 43 yds 1TD
First Downs
NYJ - 28
CLE - 19
3rd Down Efficiency
NYJ - 11-21
CLE - 4-12
Turnovers
NYJ - 1
CLE - 2
Penalties
NYJ - 9-70
CLE - 4-52
Time of Possession
NYJ - 47:08
CLE - 27:36
Going into this game there were several story lines that made it more of a circus than a football game. You had the Jets going up against their former coach. You had both rosters dealing with former teammates and you had the Ryan brothers coaching against one another. The distractions could have been disastrous but the Jets weathered the storm and pulled another game out of their ass.
The Browns got the ball to start the game and proceeded to methodically move it down the field with relative ease. The defense had a hard time with the Browns motion and play action passing game. They seemed to be so keen on stopping Hillis that Cleveland went the opposite way and threw on the Jets. It was a smart way to start the game since the Jets are ranked near the bottom in Pass Defense.
Despite the well executed drive, the defense was able to keep the Browns out of the end zone. Enter Phil Dawson and the Browns had an early 1st quarter lead.
Jets 0 - Browns 3
Then came Mangini's attempt to catch the Jets sleeping. They tried to onside kick and it fooled the Jets and the Browns. The ball ended up bouncing around and going out of bounds giving the Jets great field position at their 40 yard line. They used that field position to their advantage and drove the ball all the way to the Cleveland 5 yard line but the offense stalled out and they were forced to settle for 3 also. This had been a continuing trend with the offense of late. They would move the ball inside the red zone but come away with 3 or no points.
Jets 3 - Browns 3
After trading possessions, the Browns would get the ball at their own 39 yard line and move the ball into the end zone in just 4 plays. The big play of the drive was another personal foul penalty on Bart Scott. He came free on a blitz off the edge and drilled Colt McCoy too high after the pass was thrown. The roughing the passer penalty put the ball at the Jets 20 yard line. Hillis would run the ball in 2 plays later for a 12 yard score. The defense looked out of position and confused by what the Browns were doing. The end result was a 7 point deficit.
Jets 3 - Browns 10
Fortunately for the Jets they came right back and tied the score on their next possession. The plays run on the drive weren't exotic by any means until the final play. On 3rd down and 8 from the Cleveland 25 yard line, Sanchez in the shotgun looked downfield. He couldn't find anybody, sidesteps a pass rusher and scrambles to his left. He then fires a pass in the endzone to a wide open Jerricho Cotchery just standing there all alone. From the endzone replay the Browns were playing zone with the focus on Dustin Keller. Sanchez was obviously looking for him but saw that he was blanketed by several defenders. On the play, Cotchery running a skinny post route just slipped past the defense who never followed him in the endzone. Sanchez saw him alone and tossed him the ball. Simple pitch and catch.
Jets 10 - Browns 10
The browns would counter with another FG. They got the ball to the Jets 5 yard line but the defense stiffened again keeping the Browns out of the endzone.
Jets 10 - Browns 13
This was a little unsettling after the offense just scored to tie the game and the defense gives the lead right back. Last year the defense would have been able to get a stop and give the ball back to the "O". For some reason this year the defense is taking more time to settle into the game and while they do they are giving up yards and points.
Thankfully it's not TD's for the most part.
This of course became irrelevant when the Jets got the ball with 5:13 to go in the half. Sanchez drove the ball 76 yards in 11 plays using mostly ground and pound. A pass interference penalty helped the cause and on 3rd and goal at the 1, Sanchez in shotgun looked to Braylon Edwards in the corner of the endzone for a fade pass. He saw that he was covered so he took off and dove into the endzone for the TD. I'm not sure if this was a pass/run option play or if Sanchez just improvised on the fly but either way he made the right choice. This was a sign of things to come from this kid later on in the game.
Jets 17 - Browns 13
Moving on to the 2nd half. The Jets played defense with their offense.
Getting the ball to start the quarter, they went on a 19 play 65 yard drive that just punished the Browns. The Jets were physical from the beginning and it showed. The Browns looked like they didn't want to tackle and they were completely worn down. It was quite a drive to watch and I was thinking that if they got a TD out of this then this game might have been over. Of course we all know that didn't happen. The drive stalled yet again at the Browns 6 yard line. So here comes Nick Folk on for the chip shot 24 yard FG. He already missed once in the game but that was from 48 yards away in a stiff wind so you figured that he would have made the adjustments and with 24 yards less in distance, this should be a slam dunk.
CLANK!!!!!!!!!!
Off the right upright. Not even close. I was stunned. The Jets came away with nothing. After all that work, all the punishment, all the time taken away from the clock. There was nothing to show for the effort. This gave me a sick feeling because not only did the Jest fail to score on a drive that was executed as well as you could possibly draw it up but it gave the Browns momentum. They took the Jets best shot and were still standing. The one thing you would like to avoid in a football game is having to chase points and this is exactly what the Jets were doing after this missed FG.
Thankfully the long drive gave the defense enough time to rest because they stopped the Browns cold on every possession they had until late in the 4th quarter. The Jets would continue to play keep away with the ball in the 4th quarter with another long, methodical drive. At the 10:27 mark the Jets ran a 13 play drive that ate up 7:45 of the clock. But the end result was the same.
NO TD'S.
Folk this time makes the short FG making it a 7 point game. Forcing the Browns to go the length of the field to tie the game.
Jets 20 - Browns 13
With 2:42 left on the clock the Browns got the ball. This was the time for the defense to step up and make a play to end this game.
Well a guy can dream right.
For the second straight week, the defense let the opposition drive on them late and score either a game tying or leading TD. The Browns went to the air and it was effective mostly to the mismatches that the Browns presented over the middle. The Jets have one of the NFL's better linebacking corps but they are not good pass defenders. None of the LB's can stay with a RB or TE and the Browns took advantage of that with crossing routes and plays over the middle of the field. Then the unthinkable happened. McCoy started to pick on Revis. He was matched up with TE Evan Moore who would be the last guy you would think to challenge the island. But he did and for one big play it worked.
On 1st down at the Jets 21 yard line. Moore ran up the field and had inside position. McCoy made a perfect throw that Revis couldn't deflect. The play ended up at the Jets 3 yard line. The next play Cromartie was picked on with a quick crossing pattern and the Browns tied the game up late in the 4th.
Jets 20 - Browns 20
Just a terrible defensive stand. The blitz was scarcely used and when used was blocked well. The zone coverage was soft and the man to man was beaten by double moves and missed tackles. For a defense that's supposed to be dominant, this was a moment to prove that claim and it didn't happen. The same thing happened against the Lions the week before. This also happened a lot last year. The defense showed signs of brilliance and big play ability but when they absolutely had to make a stop, they couldn't do it.
So now we move to their 2nd straight OT game in 2 weeks. The Jets won the toss but that didn't matter because they gave up the ball after 4 plays. This would go on back and forth for both teams until the 10:04 mark of the OT period. The Jets had the ball and started to move the ball into Cleveland territory just deep enough to try a game winning FG attempt from 47 yards away. This would have been redemption for Folk after going 2 for 4 in the game and never missing 3 FG's in his career, all factors led to this being it.
Nope. Wide right and this one wasn't even close.
Folk on this day returned to the old Folk from Dallas. His kicks not only were misses they were BAD misses. Granted this was a tough kick to make considering the situation and the distance but let's be real about this. Folk's job is to make these kind of kicks. His only responsibility is ti kick the ball off as far as he can and put the ball through the uprights. At this point I just knew that the Jets were going to lose this game because I started to rewind the events prior to this latest miss and it's a simple matter of missed opportunities. All the red zone possessions, having to settle for FG's instead of TD's. You throw in the missed FG's, you have the recipe for a blown game.
The defense however stepped up and held the Browns to a 3 and out giving the ball back to the offense with 3:06 left in the OT and the ball at the Jets 9 yard line.
The ball would get past midfield. Then the Browns defense would clamp down and ground the drive. This led to Sanchez making a pretty smart play. On 3rd down and 14 at the 46 yard line, Sanchez heaved the ball towards then end zone in Braylon's direction. The pass was a bit under thrown and picked off by CB Joe Haden at the Cleveland 3 yard line. At first glance the pass seemed liek a stupid play but in reality it was a pretty smart move. Just throw it deep and see what happens. Maybe Braylon catches the ball or maybe you get a flag like in Denver. Instead the pass was picked off and Haden was tackled immediately. So this play actually doubled as a punt. With the ball pinned inside the 5 yard line, the Browns had a decision to make on offense. Do they try to win the game or just run out the clock and play for the tie.
Here's where Mangini bailed us out. In his attempt to go for the win he passed on 1st down. Incomplete. This stopped the clock and allowed the Jest to save their last timeout for 2nd or 3rd down. The Browns ran the ball on 2nd down for 2 yards. Rex chose to keep his time out in his pocket until after 3rd down. A questionable move but in the end it paid off. The Browns passed on 3rd down and McCoy was sacked by Jason Taylor. If the rush got there a second or two sooner the Jets would have won by a safety. McCoy just got out of the endzone in time to avoid the sack in the endzone. The Jets used their final timeout stopping the clock with :35 seconds left in OT.
Cleveland punts, Jim Leonhard fields the ball at the Jets 45 yard line and returns the ball to the Cleveland 37 yard line. A HUGE play that didn't get the recognition it deserves. With :24 seconds left, the Jets were in position to gain a couple of more yards and make Folk's final FG attempt more manageable. Thank God they didn't need to worry about that becasue on the 1st play, Santonio Holmes ended the game and sent us home happy.
It was a simple slant route. CB Eric Wright was playing press coverage at 1st look then dropped back about 5-7 yards before the snap. Holmes cut inside, Sanchez fired the ball, Holmes caught it and dodged 3 Browns defenders and sprinted into the end zone for the game winning TD. After Holmes caught the pass. LB Eric Barton who was playing man to man on Tomlinson read Sanchez's eyes and broke off his man and went right at Holmes as the pass was heading his way. Wright who was trailing on the play had the chance to tackle Holmes from behind but when he saw Barton charging at Holmes, Wright pulled up and gave Santonio the smallest window to slip through. The 3rd man on the play was SS T.J. Ward who completely whiffed on the tackle attempt. He also had a plat on Holmes after the catch was made but once he saw the potential collision he backed off and that was all she wrote.
After all the hard hitting and physical play in this game. The Browns lost because 3 defenders were afraid of running into each other trying to tackle 1 man. So they all backed off at the same time and Holmes turned on the speed and finished off the improbable last second win.
Jets 26 - Browns 20 OT
That's all for the recap. Now it's time for some Quick Hits.
1) The kid becomes a man....Of all the games so far in his very young career, this one was as telling for Mark Sanchez when it comes to his maturity, decision making, play making, and most importantly HEART. He was solid all the way through with his accuracy and his ability to elude a fierce pass rush. His pocket presence and poise allowed him to keep plays alive down field and extend drives and even lead to points. The biggest showing he put on was his ability to play hurt. After injuring his right leg in the 3rd quarter, he came back into the game and on the 1st play he could barely limp over and give LT the ball on a hand off. After a couple of minutes he fought through the pain and made plays that helped the Jets stay in the game and pull this one out. Fellas, we got ourselves a QB.
2) Speaking of heart....Staying with the topic of playing through pain. Jerricho Cotchery may have given us the play of the year. In the OT period on 3rd down and 9, Sanchez avoided a sack and scrambled to his left. He ended up floating a pass across his body to Cotchery over the middle. J. Co made a tremendous full body, diving catch for the 1st down. What made this play so amazing wasn't that he dove for the ball, it was the fact that before he made the play, Cotchery pulled his groin while running his route. The replays showed him coming up limp then hobbling around. Clearly in pain he stayed with the play and dove for the ball. Just an incredible display of guts and athletic ability. Even though the play never factored in the decision of the game it was a defining moment that showed teamwork and heart.
3) What the Folk?....Just when it was safe to think that the Jets kicking issues were over. Nick Folk decides to throw out a stinker. Now this very may well be just a bump in the road. All kickers have them. I am not so convinced. Giving his past as an erratic booter there might be some cause for concern. I wasn't so confident in his ability when he was kicking well. Now I have very little to no faith in him now. I just hope that we can just have him kick his way out of this slump without it having to be in a clutch situation.
4) The Cardiac Jets....Sunday's game marks the 1st time the Jets have won back to back road games in overtime in franchise history.
5) Home away from home....The Jets continue to win away from home this year 5-0 and overall 12-4 under King Rex. This is a very good sign. It's very hard to win on the road especially in the post season. The Jets got a ton of great experience with that last year having to win in Cincy, San Diego and going to Indy for the AFC crown. Though it would be nice to have a playoff game at home, the Jets suck at home right now so until they establish the new digs as a tough place to play, the road seems to suit them just fine.
6) Greene is good....After begging for more of Shonn Greene, we finally got our wish and it paid off. He didn't by any means light up the stat sheet but his effort was seen more by his contact and running style on the field. Greene has that rare mix of power and speed. He can get by a defender or go through him and his early fumble issues clearly lost the trust of the coaches and kept him off the field. Obviously he was being held out way too long but now that he seems to be in a more regular rotation he can establish himself as a legit RB and send the team a message that he was worth saying goodbye to Thomas Jones.
That's it for Quick Hits. Now it's time for King Rex's quote of the game.
This is from his post game press conference on Santonio Holmes game winning catch and run.
"Run baby run and I've seen it before. Unfortunately I was on another sideline when he was in a different uniform. He cost me a Super Bowl ring when I was with Baltimore. He can make a play to beat you, simple as that. He could be quiet all day and make 1 or 2 plays to beat you. You gotta see that young man's eyes when the 4th quarter rolls around cause that's Santonio time and he's a game changer. He's a winner, he finds a way to get it done. Great players make great plays in big times, in crucial times and that's what he did."
Plays like that is why Tader Mike T rolled the dice and got him from Pittsburgh. Anyone thinking that we were going to get the 80 catch 1,000 plus yard threat was kidding themselves for 2 reasons.
1) He missed the 1st 4 games.
2) The Jets offense isn't suited for individual numbers.
But at any one time there is the potential for the game changing or in this case game winning play and you need play makers for that. The Jets now have a bonafide play maker to go with their running game.
This game revealed a lot.
To start it begs the question....Are the Jets good or just lucky? The answer to that is simply Yes. This team is good and they have been the recipient of very fortunate circumstances. But that's a product of being good to begin with. It's a fact, bad teams don't get breaks like the ones the Jets have gotten so far.
Secondly, we now know that the Browns are a couple of skill players away from being a contender. They are practically a carbon copy of the Jets. They have a strong running game and a solid defense and they are a physical group. You are going to get hit when you play this team. I think the Jets took that for granted and it took them a while to get into gear and strap it on. It doesn't change the fact that the Jets are still the better team.
Finally we saw that winning allows a team to hide some of their weaknesses. The offense with all their talent continues to sputter in the red zone and the defense is clearly not going to be as dominant as they were last year. They have yet to play a complete game and they are still 7-2. It's a real scary thought how nasty this team will be once everything clicks together.
Next up is Houston at home to be followed by a Turkey Day date with the Bungles. This is a great opportunity for the Jets to show the fans that they can be a good home team and pick up a couple of conference wins on the way. Houston while loaded on offense doesn't inspire any fear on defense and the Bengals are just dreadful regardless of the short week. If things go well we should be looking at 9-2 and 10 days to get ready for the rematch with New England on Monday night.
That's all I got....T-Rich....Break us down....And the home of the....JETS!!!!!
Week 9 Recap New York Jets vs Detroit Lions
Final Score: Jets 23 - Lions 20 OT
By the numbers:
Passing
Sanchez : 22/39 - 336 yds 1 TD 1 INT - 82.9 Passer Rating
Rushing
NYJ : L. Tomlinson - 15 car 55 yds 3.7 ypc
S. Greene - 10 car 46 yds 4.6 ypc
Receiving
NYJ : S. Holmes - 5 rec 114 yds
B. Edwards - 3 rec 78 yds 1 TD
D. Keller - 5 rec 49 yds
L. Tomlinson - 6 rec 47 yds
J. Cotchery - 2 rec 29 yds
First Downs
NYJ - 23
DET- 21
3rd Down Efficiency
NYJ - 5-13
DET - 5-15
Turnovers
NYJ - 2
DET - 0
Penalties
NYJ - 11-99
DET - 11-102
Time of Possession
NYJ - 29:32
DET - 32:46
There is so much to come away with after digesting this game. Since I couldn't watch the game live I had to go over the "game film" a lot more in depth than I normally do. And I have to say that this game was weirder than most people have made it out to be. Going into this one I felt pretty confident that the Jets would dominate this Lions team despite their prolific passing game and it is a real prolific passing game. But just like last week they came out of the gate flat, uncoordinated and undisciplined. And this time it was the defense that began poorly.
The Lions took the ball to start the game and drove the ball 80 yards for an opening score. This TD has an asterisk because the Jets "D" helped them out on 2 occasions that kept the drive going. The running game was stuffed right at the outset so the Lions went to the air and it was highly effective. Then a personal foul chop block penalty moved the Lions back. The defense couldn't hold court and the Lions completed a 13 yard pass on 2nd and 28 then a 27 yard pass on 3rd and 15.
OK. No big deal, that happens sometimes but then Bart Scott gets hit with a very stupid personal foul after the very next play for grabbing a lineman off the pile and tossing him to the ground. Now in Bart's defense, he was protecting his teammate which is something that I will never get mad at. But you have to realize that if you are going to do something like that be mindful of the zebra's because the #1 rule in a play like that is.....The second guy ALWAYS GETS CAUGHT. The guy that starts the fight mostly never gets flagged, the guy that retaliates does. Bart needed to be smarter than that. Your defense just gave up a big play that put the ball in Jets territory and now you just gave them a free 15. Not smart at all.
You all know what happened a few plays later. Stafford took advantage of a major coverage mismatch. The 5' 7" Jim Leonhard was one on one with 6' 5" Brandon Pettigrew.
No contest. TD Lions.
Look I love Jim Leonhard's heart and ability to play SS in the NFL being so small but he just can't cover a guy that almost has a foot height advantage on him. It's a weakness in the secondary that every team has exploited this year and it will continue to happen until Rex Ryan decides to roll him on to a RB or smaller receiver. This was the end result of a horrible defensive possession by the Jets. The TD scored by Detroit is the 1st one scored on the Jets defense in the 1st quarter so far this season.
Jets 0 - Lions 7
The good news is that the defense would rebound very nicely stopping the Lions on every possession they would have the rest of the 1st half. They needed to because the offense was not getting anything going early on. Sanchez would show signs of a rhythm but then he would throw one of his trademark horrible inaccurate passes that kills a drive forcing a punt. In fact they punted on their 1st 4 possessions of the half and the playcalling early on was suspect as well. There were several plays on 3rd down where passes were called and every receiver would run routes either at or short of the 1st down marker.
Here are 2 examples.
1) 3rd and 15 they run a WR bubble screen to Holmes for 3 yards.
2) 3rd and 7 Sanchez completes a pass to Edwards running a drag route for 3 yards.
Let's talk about the 1st play. It's 3rd and 15. Why in the HOLY HELL WOULD YOU RUN A WR SCREEN! You are calling that play expecting 2 blockers to take on at least 3 to 4 defenders and hope that they can clear a path for Holmes to run or you're expecting Holmes to break 9 tackles and run 16 yards for the 1st down because we all know that a WR screen isn't thrown upfield. The pass is caught at the line of scrimmage.
Just an insanely stupid call in that situation.
The other play was not as dumb but the dumb idea was still the same. Every receiver on the play wasn't down field. They were just at the sticks or in front of it. So Sanchez threw the ball to Edwards crossing the field hoping he could turn the ball up field and get the 1st down. Why not call a play where the same routes are run but they are executed past the marker so when the ball is caught the extra work is for more yardage up the field. I just don't get it and this happens everywhere in the league but since this is about the Jets I'm staying close to home.
After the slumbering work by the "O", the Jets started to get some momentum in the 2nd quarter. The ran a 9 play 53 yard drive that looked pretty sharp. The passing game started to click and they got the ball inside the Lions 10 yard line. Until 3rd down when Sanchez fumbled his 2nd snap of the half which killed the potential game tying score forcing the Jets to go for 3.
Jets 3 - Lions 7
The defense would once again come up and stop the Lions giving the ball back to Sanchez with 1:48 left in the half. What followed was one of the biggest plays of the game. After a sack and fumble recovery on 1st down. The Jets ran a play, the Lions were only rushing 4 giving Sanchez tons of time to scan the field. He saw Edwards running a go route and beat his man CB Alphonso Smith. Mark fired a bomb that traveled at least 60 plus yards in the air and fell right into the waiting hands of Braylon in stride. He slipped past a last gasp tackle attempt and coasted into the endzone for a 74 yard TD. This was an amazing pass by Sanchez only because of what Edwards had to do to get it. He didn't have to do anything. The ball just dropped into his hands while still running up field. You couldn't hand him the ball better.
Jets 10 - Lions 7
The big play gave the Jets the lead at the half with the ball to start the 3rd quarter so the momentum was on thir side.
Until....Braylon giveth and Braylon taketh away.
The Jets were looking pretty good to start the 3rd. They managed one 1st down until Edwards fumbled the ball at the Jets 47 yard line. The ball was recovered by Louis Delmas. Lions ball. This was another classic Braylon Edwards bonehead play. The play was a bootleg quick pass. Edwards caught the pass and proceeded to do an insane amount of juking and jiving that fooled nobody but himself. As he was trying to get away from Delmas he never secured the ball properly and started to lose the grip. It was then punched out. Delmas then just dropped to the ground and landed on the ball. This is what has always been frustrating about this guy. As talented as he is, there's just nothing going on between the ears and you as a fan are subjected to seeing these kind of dumb ass plays by a guy who should know better.
This led to the Lions 2nd TD of the game. A TD that should have only been worth 3 points. Confused by that statement. Well you shouldn't because despite the turnover, the defense was able to hold a goal line stand and force the Lions to kick a game tying FG. The kick was good but what do we see next. Yellow on the field. DE Trevor Pryce gets flagged for roughing the kicker. Personal foul, half the distance to the goal and automatic 1st down. The replay showed Pryce plowing through the line up the middle but then after PK Jason Hanson boots the ball he lunges forward and crashes right into Hanson's legs. Another stupid penalty and this one costs the Jets because Stafford runs an amazing play fake roll out that completely fools the defense and the cameraman to boot. Lions score.
Jets 10 - Lions 13
Then came the extra point try. Hanson injured his knee on the collision with Pryce so Detroit sent DT Ndomukung Suh to kick the extra point. He bangs it off the right upright so the Jets are now only trailing by 3 instead of 4. Big play of the game. It was revealed later that Suh had played soccer in high school so he had experience kicking but I have to question why he was out there. Why didn't the punter kick the XP. I asked that same question to some of my friends on monday and some of them said that the punter isn't used to kicking that way. That logic makes absolutely no sense to me and here's why. I'll just list them to save you the extra reading.
1) The punter is a KICKER plain and simple. They are supposed to know how to kick the ball in any way shape or form. You can't convince me that a punter can't kick a 19 yard FG.
2) If you go with the reasoning that the punter isn't used to kicking XP's or FG's then how in the world can you expect a DT to be used to it. This kid spent most of his football life with a hand in the ground rushing after the QB. So you send him out to kick an XP cause he played pee wee soccer? Please.
3) The punter kicked the ball off the rest of the game. He didn't punt the ball, he kicked it off the tee. When you kick the ball off you are using the same motion and technique that you would use kicking FG's more or less. You can't tell me that this guy couldn't have kicked the XP.
Anyway, the special teams blunder by the Lions gave the Jets a huge break. They didn't have to chase any points. They just needed to SCORE some.
And on the very next possession after the Lions TD, the Jets looked like they were going to do just that until. Sanchez threw a horrible interception. He was looking for Holmes who was streaking down the seam. He was open but the ball was inaccurate and under thrown. CB Alphonso Smith picked it off in the end zone and stupidly tried to return it and was tackled at the 1 inch line. This is going to be a little off the beaten path but I have to comment on this.
After Smith picks off the pass and is tackled literally just outside the 1 yard line. He starts to celebrate and play to the crowd. It was a big play and it continued his hot streak of interceptions. It was his 5th pick in 3 games but what are you celebrating? The fact that you intercepted a pass or the fact that you put your offense in a hole by getting tackled at the 1 yard line when you could have taken a knee in the end zone and give them the ball at the 20. Once again bonehead plays are celebrated instead of chastised. You can't celebrate a good play when you make a bad play at the exact same time. I would have grabbed this knucklehead by his facemask and opened up a can of whoop ass after that display of stupidity.
Well the pick didn't hurt mostly due to the field position but the defense did their part. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. After the offense couldn't get anything going, the Lions ran a 9 play 92 yard drive that gave them what seemed to be an insurmountable lead. The secondary for the most part was doing their thing holding down the outside threats but nickel back Drew Coleman got lit up by Nate Burleson and he was the go to guy on this drive. A pass interference penalty on Jim Leonhard put the ball at the 1 yard line. He was matched up again on Pettigrew and it was over after that.
The next sequence of plays ended up being an embarrassment to the Jets coaching staff. On 2nd and goal from the 2 yard line, the Jets had to use a timeout because they had 12 men on the field. 10 times out of 10 that's an inexcusable reason to use a TO on defense but 1 play later they had to burn another timeout for the exact same reason. This was just unacceptable and sloppy. I have no idea what these guys were thinking at the time but it clearly wasn't football because game management like this is reserved for pee wee and high school ball and even those guys don't screw up like that. After all that, the Lions scored anyway so now the Jets are down by 10.
Jets 10 - Lions 20
With the game seemingly over, the Jets woke up and went to work on offense. With 4:28 left in regulation they went on a drive that got them right back in the game and it took little time to do it. The highlight play was a 26 yard leaping catch by Keller to the Lions 6 yard line. Sanchez made a great throw into a small bit of traffic. He put enough air on the ball that either Keller was going to get it or no one was. Keller made the leap and snatched it out of the air for the great play. 2 plays later Sanchez QB sneaks it in for the TD.
Jets 17 - Lions 20
Here's where the major questionable stuff took place and it didn't concern the Jets. With 2:46 left in the game the Lions had the ball. Stafford who left the game after re-injuring his right shoulder had been replaced by 3rd string QB Drew Stanton. The Jets had only 1 timeout left which they used after the 1st play. A run that they stopped for a 2 yard loss. The ran the ball again for 6 yards and let the clock run down to the 2 minute warning. Then for some inexplicable reason they passed on 3rd down. It was a play action bootleg that the Jets sniffed out and stopped. So not only did the Lions not get the 1st down, they are giving the Jets the ball back with 1:40 left and the clock stopped because the pass was incomplete. This was mind boggling. If the Lions had run the ball again and got stopped they would have given the Jets the ball back with about 50 seconds left.
So now the Jets have new life at their own 22 yard line. This time only needing to get into FG range. They have no timeouts but because of the extra time on the clock the middle of the field was still an option. The drive wasn't looking too good until 3rd down when Keller made another tremendous play. Catching an 11 yard pass on 3rd and 9. This play was better than the leaping catch because of the heavy traffic around him and the hit he takes after catching the ball. So the Jets now have a fresh set of downs which set up the other big play of the game. Sanchez throws a simple pass to LT over the middle. He shakes a tackle and gets the 1st down and runs out of bounds when LB Julian Peterson pushes him late and gets hit with a personal foul. The penalty put the Jets into FG range but they were able to gain a few more yards and kill enough clock for the FG try.
Enter Nick Folk. Kick is up and it's good. We're going to overtime folks.
Jets 20 - Lions 20
The Jets scored 10 points in about 2 min and 20 seconds. With a little help from the Lions of course. But the game wasn't over. The Jets win the coin toss and get the ball. Brad Smith runs the kick back to the Lions 30 yard line. So here we go and what do I see. The Jets in shotgun running their 2 minute offense. At this point I'm screaming at the TV at work wondering why in the world are they in their 2 minute offense. This only got worse after the 1st play on the drive when Sanchez missed a wide open Holmes on a slant. The ball was thrown towards the sideline when Holmes was cutting inside. Then came the play that won this game.
On 2nd down still in shotgun. Sanchez drops back to throw. He feels the rush, steps up and fires a pass over the middle to Holmes who makes the catch and turns upfield for a 52 yard catch and run. The only thing that stopped this from being a game winning TD was the MLB playing a deep zone. He hauled ass and caught Holmes from behind and brought him down. 2 plays later, Folk comes in and kicks the Jets to victory.
This was another ugly grind it out win for the Jets. This one should not have been this hard but it still doesn't change the fact that when plays needed to be made the Jets made them. On both sides of the ball.
Jets 23 - Lions 20
That's a wrap on the recap. Now it's time for some quick hits.
1) What homefield advantage? The Jets are now 4-0 on the road and 2-2 at their new house. To be able to win on the road in hostile environments is a real good sign going into December and January. I'm a but concerned about not being so great at home. Hopefully that will change as the season goes on.
2) Time to clean up the laundry....The Jets continue to play mistake filled football in the penalty department. 11 for 99 yards including 3 personal fouls. This bullshit has got to stop and in a hurry. The Jets have been extremely lucky to avoid losses from these penalties. Sooner or later their good fortune will change if they don't start playing smarter.
3) The "O" line continues to shine....Coming into this game the Lions were known for 2 things with their personnel. Their passing game and their front four. The latter was neutralized by the great play of the offensive line. Particularly RG Brandon Moore who shut down Ndomakung Suh all game long. Sanchez was sacked only once in the game and that came late in the 2nd quarter right before the Braylon bomb TD pass. LG Matt Slauson has improved by leaps and bounds since the start of the year. LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson is on his way to Hawaii if he keeps his play going and RT Damien Woody has been solid. Once Mangold gets past his cranky shoulder this line will be straight.
4) Welcome back to Revis Island....The hammy is healthy and that nothing but bad news for everyone's #1 receiving threat. Darrelle Revis completely put the clamps down on Megatron Calvin Johnson. Holding him to 1 catch for 13 yards which came on the Lions 1st TD drive at the start of the game. I had a feeling that Revis was going to be on hos game when on the 1st play from scrimmage the Lions tested him out going deep to Johnson. Megatron had a step on #24 but just as the ball is coming down, Revis leaps and sticks his hand in the way deflecting the ball away. From that point on it was going to be a long day for Calvin Johnson and it was.
5) Sanchez comes through in the clutch....This was a telling game for Mark Sanchez on several levels. You saw that he still has a lot to learn. His accuracy needs a lot of improvement and his decision making must be sharper. Having said that though he has shown the ability to stay poised in the pocket in the face of a heavy rush. He has good mobility, escape ability and he throws superbly on the run. He also seems to make a play when the team needs one in a close game no matter how poorly he plays. When the team is being blown out he shuts down but in a close game he turns on a switch and leads. This is what is so enigmatic about this kid. If there was a little more consistency on all of these phases we would be talking about a bonafide superstar in the making. Will Sanchez be a star in this league. I truly believe so. It's hard not to remember that he's just in his 2nd year with very lofty expectations put on him.
6) It's time for the Jets to move to "Greene"r pastures....With the running game going through a bit of a stall right now it might be time to give the ball to Shonn Greene more. The balance isn't there between him and Tomlinson.
LT: 123 carries for 599 yards and 5 TDs
Greene: 87 carries for 391 yards and 1 TD
I realize that a lot of trust in him was lost after the Week 1 fumble but he hasn't coughed it up since and he's showing a lot of power and speed when he touches the ball. He doesn't go down after the 1st hit and has the ability to break a run that LT can't do anymore. His pass catching skills need work but for now just ground and pound with him. The offense will be much more explosive with him in it because he can punish defenders softening them up in the 4th quarter where the Jets like to wear you down.
That's it for quick hits. Now it's time for King Rex's quote of the game.
"These games are fights. We knew this team was tough, they were gonna get after it. They're confident, this is not the same old Lions, this is a good football team. Quite honestly we'd preferred a 1st round knockout, that didn't happen. We got knocked down a few times but we won it in the championship round. And that speak volumes of your football team. Just a great effort by our team, resilient, never said die, kept fighting, kept fighting and obviously felt fortunate that we got the win but we don't care. We got the win, we'll take it. That's what good teams do, find a way to win."
I think Rex was being too complimentary about the Lions. Yes they are better than in years past but the Jets should have dominated them. This game should never have been this close so let's not start making the Lions this juggernaut squad. This was another very ugly and sloppy win by a team that's going through an identity crisis. Last year they were ground and pound with a dominating defense. The defense is there but let's face it they're not dominating yet. And the ground and pound has been grounded by a moronic play caller. This team is fortunate to be in the position they're in and the bright side is that they have time to get this right and be the team we all know they can be.
Next up is the Mangini bowl. This is another game that the Jets should dominate. I don't care how hot the Browns are. They are still the Browns and the Jets are just flat out the better team. End of story. What worries me here are all the outside subplots. Mangini vs The Jets. Rex Ryan vs Rob Ryan. This is stuff that the team doesn't need to be worrying about and it's this kind of stuff that gets them out of focus. I fully expect the Jets to win this game and go to 7-2.
That's all I got. T-Rich....Break us down....1-2-3....And The Home of The JETS!!!!
By the numbers:
Passing
Sanchez : 22/39 - 336 yds 1 TD 1 INT - 82.9 Passer Rating
Rushing
NYJ : L. Tomlinson - 15 car 55 yds 3.7 ypc
S. Greene - 10 car 46 yds 4.6 ypc
Receiving
NYJ : S. Holmes - 5 rec 114 yds
B. Edwards - 3 rec 78 yds 1 TD
D. Keller - 5 rec 49 yds
L. Tomlinson - 6 rec 47 yds
J. Cotchery - 2 rec 29 yds
First Downs
NYJ - 23
DET- 21
3rd Down Efficiency
NYJ - 5-13
DET - 5-15
Turnovers
NYJ - 2
DET - 0
Penalties
NYJ - 11-99
DET - 11-102
Time of Possession
NYJ - 29:32
DET - 32:46
There is so much to come away with after digesting this game. Since I couldn't watch the game live I had to go over the "game film" a lot more in depth than I normally do. And I have to say that this game was weirder than most people have made it out to be. Going into this one I felt pretty confident that the Jets would dominate this Lions team despite their prolific passing game and it is a real prolific passing game. But just like last week they came out of the gate flat, uncoordinated and undisciplined. And this time it was the defense that began poorly.
The Lions took the ball to start the game and drove the ball 80 yards for an opening score. This TD has an asterisk because the Jets "D" helped them out on 2 occasions that kept the drive going. The running game was stuffed right at the outset so the Lions went to the air and it was highly effective. Then a personal foul chop block penalty moved the Lions back. The defense couldn't hold court and the Lions completed a 13 yard pass on 2nd and 28 then a 27 yard pass on 3rd and 15.
OK. No big deal, that happens sometimes but then Bart Scott gets hit with a very stupid personal foul after the very next play for grabbing a lineman off the pile and tossing him to the ground. Now in Bart's defense, he was protecting his teammate which is something that I will never get mad at. But you have to realize that if you are going to do something like that be mindful of the zebra's because the #1 rule in a play like that is.....The second guy ALWAYS GETS CAUGHT. The guy that starts the fight mostly never gets flagged, the guy that retaliates does. Bart needed to be smarter than that. Your defense just gave up a big play that put the ball in Jets territory and now you just gave them a free 15. Not smart at all.
You all know what happened a few plays later. Stafford took advantage of a major coverage mismatch. The 5' 7" Jim Leonhard was one on one with 6' 5" Brandon Pettigrew.
No contest. TD Lions.
Look I love Jim Leonhard's heart and ability to play SS in the NFL being so small but he just can't cover a guy that almost has a foot height advantage on him. It's a weakness in the secondary that every team has exploited this year and it will continue to happen until Rex Ryan decides to roll him on to a RB or smaller receiver. This was the end result of a horrible defensive possession by the Jets. The TD scored by Detroit is the 1st one scored on the Jets defense in the 1st quarter so far this season.
Jets 0 - Lions 7
The good news is that the defense would rebound very nicely stopping the Lions on every possession they would have the rest of the 1st half. They needed to because the offense was not getting anything going early on. Sanchez would show signs of a rhythm but then he would throw one of his trademark horrible inaccurate passes that kills a drive forcing a punt. In fact they punted on their 1st 4 possessions of the half and the playcalling early on was suspect as well. There were several plays on 3rd down where passes were called and every receiver would run routes either at or short of the 1st down marker.
Here are 2 examples.
1) 3rd and 15 they run a WR bubble screen to Holmes for 3 yards.
2) 3rd and 7 Sanchez completes a pass to Edwards running a drag route for 3 yards.
Let's talk about the 1st play. It's 3rd and 15. Why in the HOLY HELL WOULD YOU RUN A WR SCREEN! You are calling that play expecting 2 blockers to take on at least 3 to 4 defenders and hope that they can clear a path for Holmes to run or you're expecting Holmes to break 9 tackles and run 16 yards for the 1st down because we all know that a WR screen isn't thrown upfield. The pass is caught at the line of scrimmage.
Just an insanely stupid call in that situation.
The other play was not as dumb but the dumb idea was still the same. Every receiver on the play wasn't down field. They were just at the sticks or in front of it. So Sanchez threw the ball to Edwards crossing the field hoping he could turn the ball up field and get the 1st down. Why not call a play where the same routes are run but they are executed past the marker so when the ball is caught the extra work is for more yardage up the field. I just don't get it and this happens everywhere in the league but since this is about the Jets I'm staying close to home.
After the slumbering work by the "O", the Jets started to get some momentum in the 2nd quarter. The ran a 9 play 53 yard drive that looked pretty sharp. The passing game started to click and they got the ball inside the Lions 10 yard line. Until 3rd down when Sanchez fumbled his 2nd snap of the half which killed the potential game tying score forcing the Jets to go for 3.
Jets 3 - Lions 7
The defense would once again come up and stop the Lions giving the ball back to Sanchez with 1:48 left in the half. What followed was one of the biggest plays of the game. After a sack and fumble recovery on 1st down. The Jets ran a play, the Lions were only rushing 4 giving Sanchez tons of time to scan the field. He saw Edwards running a go route and beat his man CB Alphonso Smith. Mark fired a bomb that traveled at least 60 plus yards in the air and fell right into the waiting hands of Braylon in stride. He slipped past a last gasp tackle attempt and coasted into the endzone for a 74 yard TD. This was an amazing pass by Sanchez only because of what Edwards had to do to get it. He didn't have to do anything. The ball just dropped into his hands while still running up field. You couldn't hand him the ball better.
Jets 10 - Lions 7
The big play gave the Jets the lead at the half with the ball to start the 3rd quarter so the momentum was on thir side.
Until....Braylon giveth and Braylon taketh away.
The Jets were looking pretty good to start the 3rd. They managed one 1st down until Edwards fumbled the ball at the Jets 47 yard line. The ball was recovered by Louis Delmas. Lions ball. This was another classic Braylon Edwards bonehead play. The play was a bootleg quick pass. Edwards caught the pass and proceeded to do an insane amount of juking and jiving that fooled nobody but himself. As he was trying to get away from Delmas he never secured the ball properly and started to lose the grip. It was then punched out. Delmas then just dropped to the ground and landed on the ball. This is what has always been frustrating about this guy. As talented as he is, there's just nothing going on between the ears and you as a fan are subjected to seeing these kind of dumb ass plays by a guy who should know better.
This led to the Lions 2nd TD of the game. A TD that should have only been worth 3 points. Confused by that statement. Well you shouldn't because despite the turnover, the defense was able to hold a goal line stand and force the Lions to kick a game tying FG. The kick was good but what do we see next. Yellow on the field. DE Trevor Pryce gets flagged for roughing the kicker. Personal foul, half the distance to the goal and automatic 1st down. The replay showed Pryce plowing through the line up the middle but then after PK Jason Hanson boots the ball he lunges forward and crashes right into Hanson's legs. Another stupid penalty and this one costs the Jets because Stafford runs an amazing play fake roll out that completely fools the defense and the cameraman to boot. Lions score.
Jets 10 - Lions 13
Then came the extra point try. Hanson injured his knee on the collision with Pryce so Detroit sent DT Ndomukung Suh to kick the extra point. He bangs it off the right upright so the Jets are now only trailing by 3 instead of 4. Big play of the game. It was revealed later that Suh had played soccer in high school so he had experience kicking but I have to question why he was out there. Why didn't the punter kick the XP. I asked that same question to some of my friends on monday and some of them said that the punter isn't used to kicking that way. That logic makes absolutely no sense to me and here's why. I'll just list them to save you the extra reading.
1) The punter is a KICKER plain and simple. They are supposed to know how to kick the ball in any way shape or form. You can't convince me that a punter can't kick a 19 yard FG.
2) If you go with the reasoning that the punter isn't used to kicking XP's or FG's then how in the world can you expect a DT to be used to it. This kid spent most of his football life with a hand in the ground rushing after the QB. So you send him out to kick an XP cause he played pee wee soccer? Please.
3) The punter kicked the ball off the rest of the game. He didn't punt the ball, he kicked it off the tee. When you kick the ball off you are using the same motion and technique that you would use kicking FG's more or less. You can't tell me that this guy couldn't have kicked the XP.
Anyway, the special teams blunder by the Lions gave the Jets a huge break. They didn't have to chase any points. They just needed to SCORE some.
And on the very next possession after the Lions TD, the Jets looked like they were going to do just that until. Sanchez threw a horrible interception. He was looking for Holmes who was streaking down the seam. He was open but the ball was inaccurate and under thrown. CB Alphonso Smith picked it off in the end zone and stupidly tried to return it and was tackled at the 1 inch line. This is going to be a little off the beaten path but I have to comment on this.
After Smith picks off the pass and is tackled literally just outside the 1 yard line. He starts to celebrate and play to the crowd. It was a big play and it continued his hot streak of interceptions. It was his 5th pick in 3 games but what are you celebrating? The fact that you intercepted a pass or the fact that you put your offense in a hole by getting tackled at the 1 yard line when you could have taken a knee in the end zone and give them the ball at the 20. Once again bonehead plays are celebrated instead of chastised. You can't celebrate a good play when you make a bad play at the exact same time. I would have grabbed this knucklehead by his facemask and opened up a can of whoop ass after that display of stupidity.
Well the pick didn't hurt mostly due to the field position but the defense did their part. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. After the offense couldn't get anything going, the Lions ran a 9 play 92 yard drive that gave them what seemed to be an insurmountable lead. The secondary for the most part was doing their thing holding down the outside threats but nickel back Drew Coleman got lit up by Nate Burleson and he was the go to guy on this drive. A pass interference penalty on Jim Leonhard put the ball at the 1 yard line. He was matched up again on Pettigrew and it was over after that.
The next sequence of plays ended up being an embarrassment to the Jets coaching staff. On 2nd and goal from the 2 yard line, the Jets had to use a timeout because they had 12 men on the field. 10 times out of 10 that's an inexcusable reason to use a TO on defense but 1 play later they had to burn another timeout for the exact same reason. This was just unacceptable and sloppy. I have no idea what these guys were thinking at the time but it clearly wasn't football because game management like this is reserved for pee wee and high school ball and even those guys don't screw up like that. After all that, the Lions scored anyway so now the Jets are down by 10.
Jets 10 - Lions 20
With the game seemingly over, the Jets woke up and went to work on offense. With 4:28 left in regulation they went on a drive that got them right back in the game and it took little time to do it. The highlight play was a 26 yard leaping catch by Keller to the Lions 6 yard line. Sanchez made a great throw into a small bit of traffic. He put enough air on the ball that either Keller was going to get it or no one was. Keller made the leap and snatched it out of the air for the great play. 2 plays later Sanchez QB sneaks it in for the TD.
Jets 17 - Lions 20
Here's where the major questionable stuff took place and it didn't concern the Jets. With 2:46 left in the game the Lions had the ball. Stafford who left the game after re-injuring his right shoulder had been replaced by 3rd string QB Drew Stanton. The Jets had only 1 timeout left which they used after the 1st play. A run that they stopped for a 2 yard loss. The ran the ball again for 6 yards and let the clock run down to the 2 minute warning. Then for some inexplicable reason they passed on 3rd down. It was a play action bootleg that the Jets sniffed out and stopped. So not only did the Lions not get the 1st down, they are giving the Jets the ball back with 1:40 left and the clock stopped because the pass was incomplete. This was mind boggling. If the Lions had run the ball again and got stopped they would have given the Jets the ball back with about 50 seconds left.
So now the Jets have new life at their own 22 yard line. This time only needing to get into FG range. They have no timeouts but because of the extra time on the clock the middle of the field was still an option. The drive wasn't looking too good until 3rd down when Keller made another tremendous play. Catching an 11 yard pass on 3rd and 9. This play was better than the leaping catch because of the heavy traffic around him and the hit he takes after catching the ball. So the Jets now have a fresh set of downs which set up the other big play of the game. Sanchez throws a simple pass to LT over the middle. He shakes a tackle and gets the 1st down and runs out of bounds when LB Julian Peterson pushes him late and gets hit with a personal foul. The penalty put the Jets into FG range but they were able to gain a few more yards and kill enough clock for the FG try.
Enter Nick Folk. Kick is up and it's good. We're going to overtime folks.
Jets 20 - Lions 20
The Jets scored 10 points in about 2 min and 20 seconds. With a little help from the Lions of course. But the game wasn't over. The Jets win the coin toss and get the ball. Brad Smith runs the kick back to the Lions 30 yard line. So here we go and what do I see. The Jets in shotgun running their 2 minute offense. At this point I'm screaming at the TV at work wondering why in the world are they in their 2 minute offense. This only got worse after the 1st play on the drive when Sanchez missed a wide open Holmes on a slant. The ball was thrown towards the sideline when Holmes was cutting inside. Then came the play that won this game.
On 2nd down still in shotgun. Sanchez drops back to throw. He feels the rush, steps up and fires a pass over the middle to Holmes who makes the catch and turns upfield for a 52 yard catch and run. The only thing that stopped this from being a game winning TD was the MLB playing a deep zone. He hauled ass and caught Holmes from behind and brought him down. 2 plays later, Folk comes in and kicks the Jets to victory.
This was another ugly grind it out win for the Jets. This one should not have been this hard but it still doesn't change the fact that when plays needed to be made the Jets made them. On both sides of the ball.
Jets 23 - Lions 20
That's a wrap on the recap. Now it's time for some quick hits.
1) What homefield advantage? The Jets are now 4-0 on the road and 2-2 at their new house. To be able to win on the road in hostile environments is a real good sign going into December and January. I'm a but concerned about not being so great at home. Hopefully that will change as the season goes on.
2) Time to clean up the laundry....The Jets continue to play mistake filled football in the penalty department. 11 for 99 yards including 3 personal fouls. This bullshit has got to stop and in a hurry. The Jets have been extremely lucky to avoid losses from these penalties. Sooner or later their good fortune will change if they don't start playing smarter.
3) The "O" line continues to shine....Coming into this game the Lions were known for 2 things with their personnel. Their passing game and their front four. The latter was neutralized by the great play of the offensive line. Particularly RG Brandon Moore who shut down Ndomakung Suh all game long. Sanchez was sacked only once in the game and that came late in the 2nd quarter right before the Braylon bomb TD pass. LG Matt Slauson has improved by leaps and bounds since the start of the year. LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson is on his way to Hawaii if he keeps his play going and RT Damien Woody has been solid. Once Mangold gets past his cranky shoulder this line will be straight.
4) Welcome back to Revis Island....The hammy is healthy and that nothing but bad news for everyone's #1 receiving threat. Darrelle Revis completely put the clamps down on Megatron Calvin Johnson. Holding him to 1 catch for 13 yards which came on the Lions 1st TD drive at the start of the game. I had a feeling that Revis was going to be on hos game when on the 1st play from scrimmage the Lions tested him out going deep to Johnson. Megatron had a step on #24 but just as the ball is coming down, Revis leaps and sticks his hand in the way deflecting the ball away. From that point on it was going to be a long day for Calvin Johnson and it was.
5) Sanchez comes through in the clutch....This was a telling game for Mark Sanchez on several levels. You saw that he still has a lot to learn. His accuracy needs a lot of improvement and his decision making must be sharper. Having said that though he has shown the ability to stay poised in the pocket in the face of a heavy rush. He has good mobility, escape ability and he throws superbly on the run. He also seems to make a play when the team needs one in a close game no matter how poorly he plays. When the team is being blown out he shuts down but in a close game he turns on a switch and leads. This is what is so enigmatic about this kid. If there was a little more consistency on all of these phases we would be talking about a bonafide superstar in the making. Will Sanchez be a star in this league. I truly believe so. It's hard not to remember that he's just in his 2nd year with very lofty expectations put on him.
6) It's time for the Jets to move to "Greene"r pastures....With the running game going through a bit of a stall right now it might be time to give the ball to Shonn Greene more. The balance isn't there between him and Tomlinson.
LT: 123 carries for 599 yards and 5 TDs
Greene: 87 carries for 391 yards and 1 TD
I realize that a lot of trust in him was lost after the Week 1 fumble but he hasn't coughed it up since and he's showing a lot of power and speed when he touches the ball. He doesn't go down after the 1st hit and has the ability to break a run that LT can't do anymore. His pass catching skills need work but for now just ground and pound with him. The offense will be much more explosive with him in it because he can punish defenders softening them up in the 4th quarter where the Jets like to wear you down.
That's it for quick hits. Now it's time for King Rex's quote of the game.
"These games are fights. We knew this team was tough, they were gonna get after it. They're confident, this is not the same old Lions, this is a good football team. Quite honestly we'd preferred a 1st round knockout, that didn't happen. We got knocked down a few times but we won it in the championship round. And that speak volumes of your football team. Just a great effort by our team, resilient, never said die, kept fighting, kept fighting and obviously felt fortunate that we got the win but we don't care. We got the win, we'll take it. That's what good teams do, find a way to win."
I think Rex was being too complimentary about the Lions. Yes they are better than in years past but the Jets should have dominated them. This game should never have been this close so let's not start making the Lions this juggernaut squad. This was another very ugly and sloppy win by a team that's going through an identity crisis. Last year they were ground and pound with a dominating defense. The defense is there but let's face it they're not dominating yet. And the ground and pound has been grounded by a moronic play caller. This team is fortunate to be in the position they're in and the bright side is that they have time to get this right and be the team we all know they can be.
Next up is the Mangini bowl. This is another game that the Jets should dominate. I don't care how hot the Browns are. They are still the Browns and the Jets are just flat out the better team. End of story. What worries me here are all the outside subplots. Mangini vs The Jets. Rex Ryan vs Rob Ryan. This is stuff that the team doesn't need to be worrying about and it's this kind of stuff that gets them out of focus. I fully expect the Jets to win this game and go to 7-2.
That's all I got. T-Rich....Break us down....1-2-3....And The Home of The JETS!!!!
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