Jets roll on to Philly
The Jets needed to take out the injury ridden Chiefs at home to stay on track for one of the two wild card spots in the AFC. It did not seem as though it would be much of a tough game for New York and right from the get go it was not. The Jets were able to put up 7 on the first drive of the game as Greene and Sanchez both came out sharp. The defense also came out strong. Not that the Chiefs had much of a threat on offense with Tyler Palko starting at QB. The Chiefs were able to muster up a field goal on their second drive of the game but that was the last score they would put up for quite a while in this one. The Jets offense stalled for a few drives after their first as Wayne Hunter allowed Mark Sanchez to get smacked around quite a bit. There was one scary moment for Jet fans as Sanchez appeared to have injured his shoulder but turned out to be fine. The next offensive drive started with a long screen pass to Greene and then a throw and catch from sanchez to Holmes. It was a beauty of a catch by Santonio. The Jets defense once again stuffed the Chiefs. Calvin Pace was flying around all day, as well as surprisingly, Marcus Dixon getting pressure. But, the story of the day was Shonn Greene. He had one of the best days of his young career. The guy is the key to the Jets season as they go forward in my opinion. He was running with authority today and was even making catches out of the backfield and taking them for big yardage. The first half was all Jets as they took a 28-3 lead into the second. There is not much to talk about from the first half as the Jets really just sat on the ball for the most part. Why Sanchez was dropping back on 4th and 4 with a 35-10 lead is beyond me, he almost got killed. But, he was ok and so are the Jets. With the Titans and Bengals falling the Jets will control their own destiny with a 4 p.m. loss from either Oakland or Denver. This was dominance from the Jets for the first time this season. We have been waiting for a full 60 minutes from this team all year and finally got it. It was refreshing to see Sanchez play well and Greene as well. The charge to the playoffs continues next week in Philadelphia.
360 News | Ben | December 11, 2011 9:48 pm | Comments (0)
Jets must have a bounce back at home
Sorry all for the delay in another post. As we know the Jets have dropped two crucial games in the last two weeks. But, there is no need to dwell on what is now history. It is time to look forward and run the table or at worst drop one game (hopefully to an NFC opponent). It all starts tomorrow at home against a team that the Jets have man handled in recent memory. The last three times the Jets and the Bills have met it has been all Jets. After starting off the season quickly at jumping out to a 5-2 record Buffalo has dropped of dramatically. It all started when the Jets went to Buffalo and gave them a nice beating. Since than, the Bills have not even been competitive. Things have gotten ugly and they appear to be the same old Bills. With that said, the same has happened to New York. After going to Buffalo and winning with relative ease they have come crashing down to earth with a loss to New England and an unacceptable, despicable, horrific loss on a Thursday night in Denver. This loss was as bad a regular season loss the Jets have had in a very long time. The offense was once again sub-par and in the end the defense could not hold up their end of the bargain. It appeared as though the defense was going to be able to without much of a problem against the Tim Tebow led Broncos the last drive of the fourth quarter. All of a sudden, it was as if Tebow went into the locker room and put his superman cape on. Tebow capped off the drive with a 22 yard td run with 58 seconds left on the clock. Did anyone on earth think at this point the Jets offense could drive down the field for the win? I sure did not. The game ended in agony with a 17-13 loss and sent the Jets back to New York in need of some serious questions to be answered. To me, the question is not is Sanchez the right man for the job? Obviously he has not played as well as we had all hoped entering the season. It appears as though he is shell shocked. This can happen to a young QB especially with the way he has been hit this season. The offensive line needs to step up as a unit and give this guy some time. We have seen in the past his ability to win games when he gets time. Think of last years Patriots playoff game, probably the best game of his young career. The offensive line was flawless and so was Sanchez. The key to the rest of the season is Sanchez’s performance. This goes hand in hand with the pass protection. If this can get back on track so will the Jets. Without this we might be staring straight at a top 20 draft pick and a lot of changes being made to this team.
It all starts tomorrow. If the Jets are going to make the playoffs there is a chance they are going to have to run the table. This is possible with a weak schedule down the stretch. I am going to be optimistic here with my pick and say the offense bounces back tomorrow and the Jets win easily 28-10.
360 News | Ben | November 26, 2011 9:26 pm | Comments (0)
Jets dominate in Orchard Park
The Jets traveled up to Buffalo for a critical mid-season match-up this past week. With two straight wins the Jets would take over soul position of first place. Well, they started off on the right foot with their most dominant defensive performance in quite a long time. Every one pitched in on defense with Sione Pouha having one of the best games of his career. The secondary was dominant throughout the afternoon. Obviously Revis was untouched but so were Cro and Kyle Wilson. The most important think I have seen from the defense the last few weeks is the improvement in Wilson. He has been extremely effective covering slot receivers and is one of the best tacklers on the field at all times. The emergence of the former first round pick could be the key to the Jets defense taking the next step to a championship caliber unit this season.
The offense was once again inconsistent and frustrating. In the first half, they should have scored at least two different times. The first drive of the game was as efficient as I have seen the offense this season. But, the drive was stopped by an unacceptable Sanchez interception thrown in the back of the endzone. I am not sure who he was looking at on this play, nor am I sure whether he knows who he was looking at. It was just a terrible throw and in his third year in the league it is inexcusable at this point. It was a disappointing and sloppy first half but they were able to make up for it in the second. Plaxico Burress showed what he can do on Sunday. If Sanchez and Burress can get on the some page week after week this offense has the potential to be one of the best in the league.
I think the Jets showed how good they can be in this last game. We will see if they can keep it up this week at home in what is going to be quite the scene at metlife stadium. The Patriots travel to East Rutherford for a crucial AFC East matchup. The winner takes sole possession of first place. With the Patriots coming into the game reeling, I see New York prevailing 31-20.
360 News | Ben | November 13, 2011 7:21 pm | Comments (0)
Jets at Bills: Live Blog
-I do not know what Sanchez saw on that play but that cannot happen. Offense was putting together one of their best dives of the year and Sanchez throws it away. Unacceptable.
-Big stop by the defense there. Pitoitua totally blew that play up. Offense needs to get some field position back on this drive.
-This one has been as ugly as they come. The offense needs to step up on the first drive of the second half and make this a 10-0 game. It seems as though Ryan Fitzpatrick is not going to be able to muster up anything against this defense. We’ll see what happens in the second half but the offense needs to find a way to get something going. The mistakes need to stop and they need to pick up the defense and get the victory here, cannot lose this game with this defensive performance.
- Wow, huge play by pouha forcing the fumble and giving the offense a short field. Plax is a monster as he is displaying today.
- The Jets basically said today, sorry Buffalo we are going to impose our will on you the entire game. Doing whatever they want offensively and defensively in this second half.
360 News | Ben | November 6, 2011 6:23 pm | Comments (0)
Jets make crucial second half comeback
Coming off a season saving victory over the putrid Dolphins, the Jets had to keep it rolling going up against the AFC west leading Chargers. We knew this was no easy task, as the offense and defense were going to have to step up their game dramatically. The game began poorly when an errant pass from Sanchez bounced out of Keller’s hands right into Donald Butler’s lap. He made it an early 7-0 lead for the visitors. It appeared as though the offensive struggles might continue. The Jets were able to calm our worries a bit when they got the ball back and were able to drive down to make the score 7-3. The defense again did not look great letting Tolbert and Mathews run at will. Another problem was of course future hall of fame tight end Antonio Gates. The drive was capped off by a Rivers to Gates connection on a third down play from the two yardline. This score put a lot of pressure on the offense once again, and once again they answered the call. The Jets marched down the field with a balanced attack and a drive capped off by a td pass to Burress. The Chargers were able to score before the half to make it a 21-10 halftime lead.
The Chargers started with the ball in the third and the defense knew they needed a stop. They were able to do just that and the game was in a stalemate for most of the third quarter. The jets were able to put a drive together towards the end of the third, again the drive ending with a TD pass to Burress. With the Jets down 4 the defense again needed to step up. With the Chargers driving (and a brawl nearly breaking out in my section in the upper deck) Darrelle Revis once again was there to save the day. The ball seems to find great players in big spots and this is exactly what happened. Revis returned the interception back to the opponent 19 and for the third time the drive culminated with a Burress TD. The Jets were able to add one more field goal and held on to win 27-21.
Positives- There were many positives that came from this game. I’ll start with Shonn Greene. Greene had his first 100 yard game of the season and was hitting the holes with a purpose which is great to see. Another offensive positive was obviously Plax. After not having a TD reception since Oakland Sanchez was able to find him three times. Defensively, Kyle Wilson and Aaron Maybin stepped up in a big way. This is great to see. Wilson is starting to show why the Jets used a first rounder on him. The first interception aside Sanchez was solid throughout. He did not put up the best numbers of his career but, three TD passes is not too bad.
Negatives- Not too many negatives to take from this one. After the first half it appeared as though there would be plenty with the defense not stopping anyone. This turned around quickly in the second half as they posted a goose egg. I would say the outstanding negative from this game would be a few injuries including Kenrick Ellis going down as well as Greene. Both do not seem to be so serious and they have plenty of time to heal as the team heads into their week 8 bye.
360 News | Ben | October 26, 2011 2:11 am | Comments (0)
Jets drop third straight in Foxboro
Going into enemy territory against a division opponent is never an easy task for any team. This is especially true when you are in the same division as Tom Brady and the Patriots. Heading into this match-up the recent battles between the rivals have gone to the home teams with the exception of last years playoff game. The Jets were entering last years playoff game with a much different feel than they were this game. Things were looking down for the Jets entering the game and they do not appear much different afterwards. Nobody expected this team to be 5-0 after this part of their schedule obviously, but that is why there was so much emphasis put on winning the game in Oakland. With all this said it has still only been a three game losing streak. This team has the talent to overcome this losing streak, but it is not going to be easy.
I’ll start with the defensive performance from Sunday. The run defensive was once again sub-par. Like the entire team it needs to find consistency. I do believe that the run defense would benefit from the offense being able to extend their drives more often. Having more time consuming drives starts with becoming more efficient at running the ball, currently the Jets are ranked 31st in the NFL for rushing yards per game, which has a direct relationship to the Jets being ranked 26th in time of possession per game. The Jets need to start pounding the ball efficiently, look for them to try to get back to letting Green pound the ball against the Dolphins next week during Monday Night Football.
Jets Games | Ben | October 17, 2011 8:56 pm | Comments (0)