By the numbers so you can tell me exactly what I am absolutely wrong about when you flame. 1. The Jets offensive line blows chunks. The run game was non-existent and the pass protection mediocre. No Richard Seymour makes the "Pats are great" excuse much less likely to be the story here. The offensive line effectively caps the Jets wins this year at 8 or less. 2. Chad Pennington has conclusively proven that he can run the dink and dunk offense. The NFL over the last 30 years has conclusively proven that the dink and dunk offense does not win against good teams and does not win championships. He had a great game and the Jets got blown out anyway, what does that tell you about his potential contribution to a Super Bowl for us? 3. Leon Washington is the real deal. The Jets need to make him the focal point of the offense if they are going to do anything at all this year. I'm not suggesting that they need to give him 300 carries or anything stupid like that but he does need 300 touches this year between the running game and the passing game. Any less is just a waste of great assets. 4. Thomas Jones has proven that he is a capable NFL running back. Behind this line it won't matter. Use him to spell Washington and when a very weak run defense presents itself for mauling. 5. Coles and Cotchery would be a great set of weapons for a QB with a better arm. Both are being wasted with all the underneath stuff that just gets them hit hard and sandwiched twice a game. Why prematurely age two of your three best offensive assets prematurely by stretching them out like that? On defense: 1. No run defense without run blitzes from the secondary. That's not going to work. The Jets run D caps them at no more than 8 wins this season. Between the o-line and the run D the Jets could plausibly go 5-11 with everything else working as it is. 2. No pressure being generated at all by the front 7 on passing downs. Once again that means the Jets will have to pass blitz from the secondary to apply pressure. They obviously could not do that today with Moss and Stallworth back there and Welker cutting in from the slot. 3. Darrelle Revis looks good. He'll be a bright spot for the Jets and if we now have our Ed Reed and Chris Mcalister pieces in place all we need is to replace most of our current front 7 with great players to be a great defense. Think 2009 for that if the Jets can free up picks after fixing the offensive line. Special Teams: 1. Hopefully this was just a glitch in the system. I hate the fact that the Jets had so much trouble on special teams the first time Westhoff coached from the booth. They gotta get him a yeller on the sidelines with a set of headphones so he can bitch people out. I suggest hiring Bryan Cox and letting him do that job. He can yell with the best of them. What I saw today kind of confirms what I figured coming in, the Jets are a weaker team this year than they were last year and will likely take a fairly big step back. Hopefully this was part of the plan. I'd hate to think Tannenbaum thought he gave Mangini enough talent to win this year because if he did he's clueless.
I agree that our offensive line blows chunks, but I disagree on points 2 and 5. Chad had a really good game today despite the o-line blowing chunks AND having no running game AND not having the ball all that long. If the defense puts the ball in the hands of the offense, and the offensive line blocks for the entire Jets offense, then you will see a Chad who lights up defenses, wins games, and could even win a championship.
The Jets didnt get blown out because of the dink and dunk offense. no pennington wont win a championship when no o-line and a shitty defense
I don't think either of these guys are clueless. It's still early and I'm hoping that things on the lines will get better - although today's bad showing could be a sign of things to come. Any news / speculation on why Bender was inactive?
being at the game has given me a diffrent view of this team. I think you get a much better feel for how the team looks being there then seeing it on tv. that being said i have never really thought of chads arm as big deal. I just couldnt see the huge diffrence between an arm like chad's and arm like brady's and to be honest i thought a lot of people where just making a big deal out of nothing. being there you can see just how much faster the ball arrives when thrown from a strong arm like brady's. I still love chad and want him to be the starter but i finally see what are people are talking about when they talk about his lack of arm strength. our lines played horribly today. i can only hope that today was a bad game and this can be fixed. on defense the jets line was knocked back consistently 2-3 yards every play. even when it looked like the jets had a run stuffed at the line it was still a 3 yard gain because the pats o-line had moved the LOS 3 yards upfield at the snap. exact opposite on offense the jets line got no push and our backs where lucky to make it back to the original LOS before making contact with someone. chad played great today that was obvious. sadly he just isn't the type of qb he can lead a big comback and im ok with that. if the defense had played even decent today chad might have had a chance to lead us to a win. he had no chance today. those are my impressions from seeing the game today.
Good post. I agree with just about everything except I still have Jones start with LW spelling him, not vice-versa. I'll add: - We have to rebuild both lines over the next 2-3 years, no doubt about it. If we are going 3-4 then DRob and Vilma need to go. Chalk it up as a loss. If we want Mangini long term then they go. - I think Brick will ultimately come around but both Guards need to go and start Bender after the Baltimore game. If Bender works out then we only have 2 holes to fill in the offseason instead of 3. - Chad, although I love the guy's toughness, is not the answer. I dont know if Clemens is either but we need to find out this year if he is. With Brohm coming out next year and probably Tebow the year after, we need to decide if Clemens is a franchise QB or a JAG.
With the porous OL work in pass protection today, it's hard to imagine that Bender's pass protection could be any more detrimental, and he seems like a decent run blocker. If nothing else, he could give the running game a slight boost while working on his pass blocking technique. As far as Chad is concerned, I really like the guy. I've always really liked the guy. I've also always felt that he doesn't help you as much as he simply doesn't hurt you. It doesn't hurt having Chad Pennington as your QB, and you know what he'll bring to the table every day. However, in order to have success, EVERYTHING else has to work. Your D has to work, your run game has to work, your ST has to work. Chad manages the game well, but he's not the kind of QB who does it all on his own, or even CAN change a game all on his own. I'm not sure that cuts it anymore. It's not his fault that we lost, but he couldn't change that either.
I agree with most of besides the Chad stuff. I'd like to see the list of QB's who will beat the Patriots when they give up 38 points.
I don't think it is fair to evaluate Chad's performance based on the way the o-line played today. He was under duress most of the game. TBTF
I'm starting to think he's right. Thomas Jones is not a gamebreaker, not a home-run hitter, and while he is not on the wrong side of thirty yet he is also not named Curtis Martin. Players like him start losing tread quickly at his age. I like having a solid workhorse veteran lined up in the backfield but with a player like Leon waiting in the wings you have to wonder how smart it is not incorporating Leon at least equally in a platoon.
I do think they should get more of a timeshare, but it's too early to tell. Maroney got 20 carries for New England and Morris got 11, I believe. Sub Jones for Maroney and Washington for Morris, and I'd be happy. But when you're behind like that, it's hard to get a good ratio.
No, this has been my thinking for a few weeks now. I have my concerns about Leon's durability due to his size but the kid is nothing but Big-Play potential. He's more of what I want to see on a young rebuilding team.
Chad is what he is, and that is a smart QB who cannot put any velocity on a pass. Without that, the offense is held back. A perfect example is the TD pass from Brady to Welker. It wasn't a deep pass (which so many football fans mistakenly feel feel arm strength is all about), but it was the velocity that Brady put on it that made it successful. Had Chad thrown that ball, it would have taken just long enough to allow the CB to adjust and at least make the tackle. Bradys pass got there so fast Barrett really had no chance. I like Chad, but the fact is that his lack of arm strength is really holding this offense back. With our wide receivers, we could have a beautiful vertical game. As for the original post, it was great, BWSUX. The OL is 2/5 of the way there. I could even agree to keep Moore at RG, but RT and LG are a real liability, and Ferg needs to get better.
Jones is a good back. Without holes that will mean nothing. Washington can survive behind this line because his game is making people miss. Jones game is running people over after his offensive line has opened a chink in the defensive wall. Not gonna happen much this year. I'm guessing he's a 3.3 yards a carry back behind that mess.
