-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MANGINI NEARLY ALLOWED CHAD TO GET HIS REVENGE Posted: 4:47 am September 8, 2008 MIAMI - We had seen this same picture so many times before: the sad eyes, the soft voice, the dress shirt (sans tie) and the pleated trousers and the baseball cap perched on his drip-drying hair, a Dolphins logo on the front this time instead of the JetsNew York Jets . "My heart hurts," Chad PenningtonChad Pennington said. "I hate losing that much." A half hour had passed since Pennington's final pass of the afternoon - a familiar floater with more zest than zip on it - settled in Darrelle RevisDarrelle Revis ' arms instead of Ted Ginn Jr.'s, wrapping up a 20-14 Jets victory. He talked about Friday's practice, about how he had guaranteed his teammates this game would come down to a two-minute drill. "And wouldn't you know it," Pennington said. "Last play of practice, we scored."And wouldn't you know it, the Jets would do everything in their power to allow Pennington to have a crack at the one thing he always did so well, moving a team without a huddle, freed to push the Dolphins toward the goal unburdened by anything but a savvy that has served him so well for so long. Terrifying every Jets fan in existence along the way. That he didn't repeat his Friday finish is only a small part of the story from where the Jets sit this morning. That he was allowed to push green disciples everywhere to their medicine cabinets to start mainlining Maalox is a big part. Because there seemed to be one person at Dolphins Stadium who forgot that it wasn't Pennington, wearing No. 10, lining up behind center for the Jets yesterday, but a fellow in a No. 4 jersey named Favre. That was Eric Mangini. And he coached the last 9? minutes of this game as if he were still living in mortal fear of his quarterback, rather than remembering who, between coach and quarterback, has already assembled Hall of Fame credentials. Pinned near the shadow of their own goal, up 13 points, Mangini called a running play on third-and-3 with just over seven minutes left. Leon Washington lost a yard. You want to say it's not a terrible idea to try to bleed the clock there up two scores, to play it safe? Fine. We'll cede that one. But 3? minutes later, after Pennington had delivered an eight-play, 53-yard scoring drive to slice the lead ever so precariously to 20-14, there was no excuse for the three plays that followed after the Jets took over with 3:27 left and the Dolphins carrying only one time-out: Thomas Jones up the middle for 4 yards. Thomas Jones up the middle for 4 yards. Then, after a false start penalty set up third-and-7: Thomas Jones right tackle for 3 yards. You have Brett Favre on your team, you are one first down away from salting the game away, and you hand the ball off? Really? You don't think about seizing the day there, clinching the game, the way we've seen the Patriots (with their own Hall of Fame quarterback) do it about 50 times the past few years? Really? "There's no guarantee a pass is going to work there," Favre would say, taking his coach off the griddle the way a Hall of Famer will. "The way our offensive line was blocking we could very easily have gotten it done there." Forget the result, then. Think of the message that was sent, a familiar old Jets memorandum that has lingered for as long as the Jets' title-free malaise has: rather than put the game in his own team's hands, Mangini let the other guys have a crack. And there is a roster of villains from Bernie Kosar to Dan Marino to Tom Brady and a dozen in between who have grate fully accepted such Jets largesse through the years. "When we got the ball back," Pen nington said, "I thought we were gonna win the game." He wasn't alone. The fact that it didn't happen doesn't cool the ulcers festering in Jets-land, and it doesn't lessen the concern that a Hall of Fame quarterback's precious time with the team can be so swiftly undermined by a ham-handed head coach who still thinks he has to make his quarterback look better than he is, instead of the other way around. michael.vaccaro@nypost.com __________________
That's ridiculous. Of course you run on 3rd & 7 there, an incomplete pass give the Dolphins 2 minutes to score, not to mention that on the 3rd & 2 play it looked like Jones was going to go for a big gain. Did anyone really believe that drive was going to end in anything other than an interception? Did you not see Chad last year?
I think you have to put faith in which side you trust the most. If he trusted the D to stop Chad more than he trusted Brett to complete a pass on 3rd and 7 then that's why he called it. But I think it's the wrong call. To put pressure on a unit that had played well but a unit that Chad was starting to manipulate. To give Chad a chance in the no huddle to dink the fins into the endzone. I understand why the handoff was the call. On 3rd and 2 you trust your running game especially considering its success throughout the day. But on 3rd and 7 I think its the wrong call. you're asking the opposition if theyre good enough to beat you - rather than trying to eliminate the question.
At what point does someone point out to Vaccaro we were playing without a kicker. It affects every decision you make on offense.
There's also the terrible punt to consider - if Graham kicks that one at all well then Miami have a lot further to go and less time to get there.
What does the lack of a kicker have to do with whether you pass or run on a third and seven play? In my mind a pass for a first down on that play is successful approximately 60% of the time. If you are afraid of your HOF Quarterback throwing an interception there then there is a problem. So at worst case the play is an incomplete and the Dolphins are not forced to take the timeout. Is not a 60% of icing the game right then and there worth not forcing the Dolphins to take their last TO? I could see if there had been 1:00 on the clock instead of 2:00 minutes. Also, people seem to forget the Ginn came damn close to breaking that PR for a big gain. From what I've seen here so far in general is that the people who have traditionally been "anti-Chad" have had no problem with the call on the third and seven. Apparently it's a given that Chad couldn't have lead the Dolphins back with ~1:45 left. Me, I'd rather do everything I could do (within reason) to put the game away on offense.
Hated the play calling at the end. The 3rd and 2 not so much , but the 3rd and 7 was a poor decision. The balls in your hands, try to end it right there instead of giving the ball back to the fins and give them a chance to win it. Up till then I thought the play calling was perfect.
Amen....good article! That pretty much hits the nail on the head as far as my feelings towards the end of the game. We backed off way too much. We got lucky and it worked here but if we want to excel to the next level and beat some good teams we need to take some chances there.
The article is spot on. This is the type of playcall that has lost game after game under Edwards and Hackett, and these guys got lucky it didn't cost us the game yesterday. It's cut and dried - the first down there wins the game. You have to try and get it. I've seen too many games go down the drain with p*ssy playcalling like that.
I think they were trying to get it, just in such a way that they ensured the timeout would be called.
An incomplete pass there leaves the fins with thier timeout and the two min warning to stop the clock. Mangini chose to run out time instead of goign for the first. I don't totaly agree with it but it makes sense. If not for woody's penalty we ar enot force to make that decision.
It wasn't the offensive playcalling that upset me. It was the defensive playcalling that drove me crazy. The prevent defense in the last 10 minutes almost prevented us from winning. I hate the soft "let's give them 15 yards per pass underneath" mentality. The Jets need to stay aggressive and blitz the QB in the final minutes of a game. Our front 4 were not putting enough pressure on Pennington. I was just pulling my hair out watching them march up the field. Mangini has to grow a pair and start playing to win instead of trying to aviod the loss.
Maybe Mangini was counting on CHad to throw another game ending interception. We sure saw plenty of that before. I agree the second half play calling was way too conservative, though.
I absolutely hated the play calling at the end. When you have an opportunity to put a team away you do so. A run on a 3rd and 7 rarely works. The way Farve was throwing and the line was protecting I think the Jets should have thrown and tried to put the game away. That aside, we won and that is all that really matters. Thankfully, Chad showed his true colors and floated one to revis.
This sums up my sentiment. I'd rather lose one game being aggressive than win one game being passive, because in the long run, being aggressive is what brings you Championships. I'm tired of being passive, having an occasional 10-6 year, maybe winning one playoff game and then watching every other team in the league have a shot at the title over these last few decades. We have the type of personnel that should be used aggressively to win games, not to hang on to leads.
What does not having a kicker have to do with running? Geez. Just about everything. Because of the score we had to use up as much clock as possible to control Miami's offense. Miami needed a TD to win the game, no matter what, if we got the ball back with time we had to score a TD. A FG was not an option at all. This meant our priority was to use up as much clock as possible. If we don't run on that play and have an incompletion Miami has about 25-30 more seconds on the clock at the end and can go for another first down and have 2 more cracks at the end zone, closer in, which is Chad's specialty. Small things, big turn of events.
This article is dead on balls accurate imo. we def backed off way too much and were not cut throat enough. the jets need to stop playing not to lose and start playing to win (theres a big difference even though they technically mean the same thing gramatically)
article couldnt be more accurate, very simple, you pass on 3rd and 7, your playing to win the game, you run on 3rd and 7, your playing no to lose the game, way too conservative imo. you cant put put the pressure on your defense when you could be one pass away from winning the game. horrible playcall by mangini.
the sad thing was it was 3rd and 2 and jones got the first down, which was called back because of ANOTHER false start. with all the penalties and missed assignments i can see why mangini didn't wanna put the game in his own teams hands. we showed some flashes of being a really good team, and some flashes of being a team with 2 new starters on the oline, and a qb with 3 weeks in the system. i just hope to see some improvement in the mental part of the game next week. we won't get away with that shit against san diego and even a bradyless new england.
Originally Posted by johnny What does the lack of a kicker have to do with whether you pass or run on a third and seven play? In my mind a pass for a first down on that play is successful approximately 60% of the time. If you are afraid of your HOF Quarterback throwing an interception there then there is a problem. So at worst case the play is an incomplete and the Dolphins are not forced to take the timeout. Is not a 60% of icing the game right then and there worth not forcing the Dolphins to take their last TO? I could see if there had been 1:00 on the clock instead of 2:00 minutes. Also, people seem to forget the Ginn came damn close to breaking that PR for a big gain. From what I've seen here so far in general is that the people who have traditionally been "anti-Chad" have had no problem with the call on the third and seven. Apparently it's a given that Chad couldn't have lead the Dolphins back with ~1:45 left. Me, I'd rather do everything I could do (within reason) to put the game away on offense. I don't think you call plays with two minutes left to go in the game based on you not being able to get a first down, punting the ball to the opposition, assuming the other team scores a TD, and then having enough time for a FG to come back and "rewin" the game (even if your kicker is healthy). Are you trying to say that if Nugent wasn't injured the Jets wouldn't be trying to run out the clock? That doesn't make sense. The best way to run out as much time as possible is to get a first down - pure and simple.
