New York Jets Monday Notes – Bryan Thomas Done For Season

A round-up of Jets headlines today –

1. As expected, Bryan Thomas is out for the year with a torn Achilles. It sounds like the Jets will use a committee of Jamal Westerman, Aaron Maybin, Josh Mauga, and Garret McIntyre to replace him. Thomas is a valuable player who does a lot of the dirty work on the defense, but this was likely his last year with the team anyway. Let’s hope one of these young players can step up.

2. The Jets are considering signing tight end Brandon Manumaleuna, who I will just call “Manu” from now on. They could use him as a hybrid tight end/tackle to provide extra blocking…since Wayne Hunter is pretty damn awful.

3. Rex Ryan proclaimed the Jets would return to their Ground and Pound roots from now on. Considering they have 92 carries for 284 yards this season, I will believe it when I see it. However, it should at least help keep Mark Sanchez somewhat more safe and allow their defense to keep them in games.

4. No grade report, because it is all F’s for the offense and all A’s for the defense. No final thoughts on Jets/Ravens tomorrow because this team needs to bury this game and move forward. It is New England week.

Initial Reaction: Jets Put Together Encouraging Performance

The New York Jets were far from perfect in their 27-7 victory over the porous Cincinnati Bengals. Yet, there was a collection of very encouraging signs from both the offense and the defense.

Plaxio Burress was the main story of the night, pulling in 3 receptions for 66 yards including a beautiful over the shoulder 26 yard touchdown. Burress didn’t look anywhere near as rusty as many anticipated he would be. Prior to his touchdown, Mark Sanchez connected with Burress on a back shoulder fade down sideline, which was exciting to see because you can’t stop that route if it is thrown properly to a 6’5 receiver. A big chunk of the Jets third down and red-zone problems will go away if Sanchez and Burress are connecting like they were tonight.

Sanchez put together another good performance, going 12/20 for 173 yards and 2 touchdowns. He did an excellent job spreading the ball around to his top targets, as Santonio Holmes caught a 16 yard touchdown and Dustin Keller led the way with 73 receiving yards, including a 43 yarder off a nice play action fake. The sky is the limit for this passing offense once Burress, Holmes, Keller, and Derrick Mason are on the field together.

The starting defense dominated outside of one drive, where they broke down on a screen pass to Brian Leonard which went for a huge gain that eventually led to a touchdown.Bengals rookie quarterback Andy Dalton struggled and threw two bad interceptions, one picked off by Eric Smith and one by Jim Leonhard. The backups on defense keep Cincinnati off the board. Brashton Satele intercepted a pass and fell a couple yards short of a touchdown. Recently signed linebacker Aaron Maybin also came up with a strip sack, in a play that isn’t going to make Bills fans happy.

Joe McKnight deserves credit for putting together a strong performance and taking a big step towards locking down the #3 running back spot. He scored his first NFL touchdown on a 3 yard reception from Greg McElroy and also had 36 yards on 7 carries.Bilal Powell was quiet with 22 yards on 9 carries. Fifth string running back Chris Jennings actually had the run of the night, breaking off a 69 yarder late in the fourth quarter.

The negatives? The Jets were still inconsistent at finishing drives and struggled on third downs. They stalled at the 26 yard line on the first drive of the game, followed by Nick Folk missing a 43 yard field goal, also they later had to settle for a field goal when they had the ball in the red-zone. The first unit didn’t run the ball particularly well as LaDainian Tomlinson only had 21 yards on 9 carries. On defense, the screen wasn’t defended well and it was disappointing to see them allow a touchdown drive to such a weak offense.

Overall, it was still a step in the right direction and you have to be encouraged with where the Jets currently are at in the pre-season.

Thank God The Pre-Season Is Over: Jets Beat Eagles 21-17

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I think everybody can sympathize with me when I say “Thank god, the pre-season is over.” It wasn’t the prettiest of games tonight but hear is a quick recap:

Joe McKnight doesn’t deserve a spot on the Jets 53 man roster. He is going to get one because the Jets spent a fourth round pick on him but the guy has been terrible this August, simply terrible. He lost three fumbles, including another one tonight that went back for a touchdown. He doesn’t hit the hole hard and runs timid. The guy is more scared of contact than Kerry Rhodes…no wonder he wears #25. Chauncey Washington ran the football the way it is supposed to be run tonight with 56 tough yards on 12 carries. He earned a spot on this roster. Danny Woodhead added 45 yards and a touchdown. He earned a spot on this roster.

Don’t give me any BS standing up for McKnight either. Go back and watch the highlight of his reaction after he fumbled tonight. Look at the way he didn’t go after the ball and look how he hung his head, this guy has been a disaster. The Jets made an absolute mistake by parting ways with Leon Washington and drafting McKnight.

The numbers aren’t going to show it but Kellen Clemens still looked better than Mark Brunell tonight and I am still adamant in my belief that Clemens should be the number two quarterback.

Great night for Matt Kroul who locked himself down a roster spot with two sacks. Vernon Gholston had another active night and clinched the game with a bone crunching sack. I was also impressed with Brian “King Ugly” Jackson. I don’t know if he can stick on the 53 man roster but he could be a good practice squad candidate. Similar to Jackson, Larry Taylor flashed a few times but is probably destined for the practice squad.

In the end, it wasn’t the most exciting pre-season in Jets history. I am just happy it is over.

Bring on the Ravens.

Thoughts On Jets/Redskins: Looks Like 2009

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After watching the Jets starters get extended action last night, it is hard to think we won’t be seeing much of the same things we saw from the team in 2009. The Jets first defense has been rock solid. They can run football but inconsistencies remain in the passing game. Hopefully, the inconsistencies won’t show themselves as frequently as they did in 2009.

First off, it is a huge blow to the Jets defense to lose Calvin Pace. As of now, it sounds like he will only miss the first game or two but still you’d like to be at full strength coming out of the gate. Jason Taylor is nowhere near the complete player Pace is at this point of his career. Staying on the defense, there were definitely too many occasions where there were receivers running wide open down the field. The defense still played very well overall but you know every time one of the Redskins average receivers was running wide open, Mike Tannenbaum was thinking of caving on the Revis negotiations.

Over on the offensive side of the ball, how about LaDainian Tomlinson? It was looking like 2006 out there. You have to love seeing Tomlinson averaging 7.8 yards per carry and Shonn Greene at 4.7 yards per carry. Of course there was still Joe McKnight with his 5 carries for 9 yards and his lost fumble.

Mark Sanchez played great against the Giants after his early interception and has been erratic since then, very similar to 2009. He still continues to lock on his first target occasionally and gets a little jumpy in the pocket. However, there were still some positive sings and he did bounce back with a fourth quarter touchdown pass. Dustin Keller is certainly looking like his favorite target, while he did finally hook up with Santonio Holmes, #10 forgot to tuck the football away. The offensive line also needs to improve in pass protection. I can’t be watching Mark Sanchez rolling around on the ground anymore with geriatric Mark Brunell waiting in the wings.

Despite his shank on the extra point, you still have to be encouraged by Nick Folk’s pre-season. Joe McKnight has looked good on punt returns, which will probably knock Larry Taylor off the roster.

Thoughts On Jets/Panthers Slopfest

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A random collection of thoughts on a game that won’t go down as one of the most fascinating nights in Jets history:

1. It is hard to make an argument that Mark Brunell deserves to be the backup quarterback over Kellen Clemens. I am aware Clemens has seen more time through the first two pre-season games but the bottom line is that he has been sharper, more accurate, and looks like he has more command of the offense. Brunell has looked like…you know a 39 year old quarterback who hasn’t thrown a meaningful pass in three seasons. I still fully advocate keeping Clemens as the #2 quarterback and Brunell as the #3/mentor for Sanchez. Kevin O’Connell can’t be cut fast enough.

2. It has been to easy to be critical of Joe McKnight since he was drafted by the team. However, he did a better job of running north and south last night, along with showing some explosiveness on his long punt return in the fourth quarter. McKnight still must protect the football and he doesn’t handle contact very well but last night was a baby step in the right direction.

3. I am not going to overreact to how poorly the starting offense played. Keep in mind how little time there was in between the Jets first two pre-season games, how little practice time they had before last night and how there was no game planning involved.

4. Vernon Gholston leading the Jets in tackles? It was hard not to be impressed with the effort our first round bust put forward last night. He was always around the ball and finally looked a little aggressive out there. Gholston’s importance has only increased with the season ending injury to defensive end Ropati Pitoitua, which was a shame to see. Pitoitua was probably going to see a big role off the bench and has demonstrated some promise for a young player. TOJ wishes him a speedy recovery.

5. Good showing from Jim Leonhard last night, with a sack and interception. It is easy to forget about the Jets smallest player on defense but his knowledge of Rex’s system and consistency is a key part to what the Jets accomplish on the defensive side of the football.

6. A better night for the rightfully maligned Dwight Lowery and Drew Coleman. Antonio Cromartie also showed a little more physicality and was involved in run support.

7. Very encouraging signs from Nick Folk, going 3/3 on field goals with a long of 49 yards. I still can’t relax about the Jets kicking situation until I see Folk knock down a kick over 40 yards under the bright lights of Monday Night Football in week one.

Instant Reaction: Giants – 31 Jets – 16

Quick thoughts on tonight’s game…

Mark Sanchez played very, very well after his initial interception. He was accurate, in control of the offense, and did a great job of spreading the football around. Jerricho Cotchery, Braylon Edwards, and Dustin Keller all looked particularly sharp and in sync with Sanchez. LaDainian Tomlinson showed good burst on a key third down reception and a touchdown run that was called back. However, Shonn Greene showed why he is the Jets number one running back, by averaging over 5 yards per carry compared to Tomlinson’s 2 yards per carry. Joe McKnight looked very iffy. Kellen Clemens played well and more than I thought he would. Santonio Holmes ate up the Giants second team, which was expected. Smart decision to play it safe with Mangold.

On defense, the depth is a major area of concern. Dwight Lowery and Drew Coleman can’t be relied on. However, Antonio Cromartie looked sharp and nearly had two interceptions. Kyle Wilson had a quiet night, which can be a good thing for a corner. The Jets showed they still have their pass rush and overall looked very good against the Giants first offense. Calvin Pace completely steamrolled Eli Manning, in a hit that will be the primary highlight from this game. Vernon Gholston didn’t record a stat. Jason Taylor got a few pressures.

Larry Taylor looked good as a returner. Nick Folk…I’m not sold yet. He needs to hit a kick over 40 yards first. Eric Smith is a terrific special teams player, who had a great blocked punt tonight.

Revisiting 40 Predictions For 2009 New York Jets Season: How Wrong Was I?

First a few updates:

1. As you can see at the top of the page, we have a new section “2009 Highlights,” which is a collection of season highlight videos made by various people, and some of the best moments of the year from Rex Ryan, Mark Sanchez, Darrelle Revis, Thomas Jones, Shonn Greene, and more. There is enough video in there to keep any Jets fan occupied for hours.

2. Rex Ryan is in the news again, this time for changing his hockey jersey in the middle of a Carolina/Philly game he attended last night…unfortunately for him and all of America that watched Sportscenter today, his stomach popped out…maybe exploded out, is a better word.

3. Follow Turn On The Jets on facebook…because 186 fans isn’t enough.

4. Lost Season 6, Episode 3 “What Kate Does” Thoughts – You will rarely hear me criticize LOST but last night’s episode was a bit of a letdown, maybe it was inevitable after such a strong premiere, but overall I was somewhat disappointed. Basically, you had Sawyer sulking, Kate chasing him, Sawyer sulking some more, Jack asking 9000 questions to Dogen (the Japanese guy in the Temple), and Dogen finding a creative way to avoid answering any of them. The alternate storyline was a little dull and far-fetched at times, although it was clear some things from Kate’s time on the island are popping back into her mind (her looking back at Jack from the taxi, her reaction to seeing the whale in Claire’s bag) and I am assuming the only reason Claire trusted Kate so much was because she felt some type of bond with her. I did like the ending and the return of the “sickness” appearing in Claire, who looks all kind of crazy on the island, and unfortunately Sayid. How much longer is Sayid going to be around if he is about to be taken over by the ”darkness” the guy said? Also, it looks like after 2 seasons of being dragged through the mud, Jack is finally going to become a smart/likable character again.

Revisiting 40 Predictions For 2009 New York Jets Season: How Wrong Was I?

How smart was I back on September 7th, 2009? Let’s take a look at the 40 predictions I made for the Jets 2009 season, and my analysis of them now. I am hoping I at least cracked 50 percent.

1. David Harris will lead the Jets in sacks this season with 9. Calvin Pace will come in second despite missing the first four games, finishing with 7.5.

- It was actually Pace who led the Jets in sacks this season with 8, so at least I was just about on with his numbers. Harris was third on the team in sacks with 5.5, behind Pace and Shaun Ellis who had 6.5….so 0/1.

2. Vernon Gholston will be somewhere between slightly below average and okay during the first four games. He will begin to play better as a situational player when the season progresses, finishing with 5.5 sacks.

- I think my first sentence is a pretty accurate description of Gholston’s play during the first four games, he wasn’t awful but he didn’t make any notable impact. However, I was way, way off on him beginning a situational player and recording 5.5 sacks…0/2.

3. Lito Sheppard will give up alot of plays but also make alot of plays, because of all the balls that will be thrown his way. He will start 16 games and lead the team in interceptions.

- Oh boy, well at least Sheppard did give up alot of plays but he came nowhere near starting 16 games and only had 1 interception, which of course did not lead the team…0/3.

4. Darrelle Revis will be returning Hawaii. He will prove to be a top 3 CB in the NFL this season.

- That is a little better, and of course by Hawaii I meant Miami in the Pro-Bowl. I don’t think anybody could argue that he is a top 3  CB in the NFL, and honestly most people now recognize him as the best overall corner in the league…1/4.

5. Howard Green will be an extremely valuable player off the bench on the Jets defensive line, providing a quality backup to Kris Jenkins.

- It was actually Sione Pouha, who stepped up. Green was cut but eventually re-signed and never made a big impact..1/5.

6. Kerry Rhodes will have a much better year than he did last season but still won’t produce at his 2006 statistical level and won’t be a pro-bowler.

- He didn’t really have a better year than last season, I won’t give myself credit for saying he wouldn’t be a pro-bowler because when I wrote this I thought he would have a much better all-around year than he did…1/6.

7. Jim Leonhard will be a steady, consistent player on the Jets defense but his most important contributions will be as a punt returner.

- Damn, I couldn’t just stop at steady, consistent player on the Jets defense. He was okay on punt returns but had to give up the duty half way through the season because of a hand injury. I am giving myself a 1/2 point on this one…1.5/7.

8. The Jets will sweep the Miami Dolphins this season.

- I am still bitter about this…1.5/8.

9. Thomas Jones won’t match last year’s gaudy numbers but will still finish with a solid 1175 yards and 8 rushing touchdowns.

- He actually exceeded last year’s numbers and finished with 1402 yards and 14 touchdowns, my bad TJ…1.5/9.

10. Leon Washington will have at least 50 more carries this season than he did in 2008, along with 10 more catches.

- Unfortunately because of a leg injury, this didn’t happen…1.5/10.

11. Leon Washington will have 1100 combined rushing/receiving yards. He had 800 last year.

- See Above…1.5/11.

12. Leon Washington will have 2 kick return touchdowns this season. Jim Leonhard will take one punt back.

- I really have to stop talking about Leon…1.5/12.

13. Leon Washington will have a better season than Reggie Bush (sorry, Dan).

- I really, really have to stop talking about Leon Washington…1.5/13.

14. Shonn Greene will start out the season slow but become an important part of the offense in the second half of the season.

- That’s what I am talking about. Greene wasn’t a factor until week 7 but was a key part of the Jets playoff run…2.5/14.

15. Bryan Thomas will very quietly have his best season since 2006, finishing with 67 tackles and 6.5 sacks.

- Not quite, Thomas finished with 53 tackles and 2 sacks…2.5/15.

16. Shaun Ellis, Marques Douglas, Mike DeVito, and Ropati Pitoitua will be a surprisingly solid defensive end rotation.

- They did prove to be a good rotation, especially after Kris Jenkins went down. Ellis had 53 tackles and 6.5 sacks. Douglas had 64 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 4 TFLs, and a TD. DeVito was a good role player off the bench. Pitoitua wasn’t much of a factor…3.5/16.

17. The Jets will split with New England for the third time in four years.

- Yes they did…4.5/17.

18. Somebody on the offensive line will miss a few starts this season, exposing the Jets lack of depth at the position.

- Fortunately, I was wrong about this. For the second year in a row, the entire offensive line started every single game…4.5/18.

19. Tony Richardson, the ageless wonder…will start another 16 games.

- He did and hopefully he will be back for another 16 next year…5.5/19.

20. Jerricho Cotchery will just barely get 1000 yards receiving and finish with 5 touchdowns.

- Cotchery finished with 821 yards and 4 touchdowns. He would have been at 1000 but he missed 2 full games and a large part of another…5.5/20.

21. Brad Smith will have less than 10 catches this season.

- He finished with 7 catches for 63 yards…6.5/21.

22. Dustin Keller will be joining Darrelle Revis in Hawaii, finishing with 67 catches, 850 yards, and 7 touchdowns.

- Keller was an under-utilized part of the Jets offense, finishing the regular season with 45 catches, 522 yards, and 2 touchdowns. He did step up in the playoffs, adding a touchdown in each game…6.5/22.

23. Mark Sanchez’s stats will look very similar to Joe Flacco’s last season. The Jets high paid rookie will finish with 15 TD’s, 11 INT’s, 2980 yards passing, and a 62.0 completion percentage.

- Maybe if he played the way he did during the playoffs all year this would have been true. Sanchez finished the regular season with 12 TDs, 20 INTs, 2444 yards, and a 53.8 completion percentage…6.5/23.

24. David Clowney will catch at least 2 touchdowns of 40 yards or more.

- He only caught one touchdown this season, and it was for 34 yards…6.5/24.

25. Chansi Stuckey won’t have stats that will impress anybody because of his low yards per catch average, but will be a valuable 3rd down weapon for the Jets.

- He was traded after week 4…6.5/25.

26. The Jets defense will give up more big plays than expected but will have more sacks, interceptions, and defensive touchdowns than in 2008.

- It was actually nearly the opposite. They didn’t give up a ton of big plays but finished with 32 sacks, 17 interceptions, and 1 touchdown. In 2008, they had 41 sacks, 14 interceptions, and 3 touchdowns…6.5/26.

27. Despite having a better backup than he did last year, Kris Jenkins will start out slow because of missing most of the pre-season and will start 14 games this year, not the full 16.

- He only ended up starting 6 games before sustaining a season-ending injury…6.5/27.

28. Brian Schottenheimer will be extremely conservative the first 5-6 games of this season, frustrating fans. However, as Sanchez gets more comfortable the Jets offense will begin to resemble its 2006 form.

- It was almost backwards of this. The Jets offense became more conservative as the year went on…6.5/28.

29. Steve Weatherford won’t finish the season as the Jets punter….will he even finish this article as the Jets punter?

- He actually did finish the year as the Jets punter…6.5/29.

30. The Jets will split with the Buffalo Bills this season.

- Yes, they did…finally got one right…7.5/30.

31. Bart Scott will be a quality player and bring a nasty attitude to the Jets defense but he will be outplayed by David Harris at inside linebacker.

- Two in a row? Here we go…8.5/31.

32. Thomas Jones will catch another 30 passes this season.

- He only caught 10 passes this season…8.5/32.

33. Mark Sanchez’s inexperience will cost the Jets a couple of winnable games in the first half of the season. His talent level and growing comfort in the offense, will steal them a late season game they shouldn’t win.

- It didn’t really work out like that…8.5/33.

34. The Jets will enter their week 9 bye as a 4-4 team and not be considered a serious playoff contender.

- Yes, they did enter the week 9 bye as a 4-4 team and weren’t considered a serious playoff contender…9.5/34.

35. Similar to the 2006 team, they will rally to a 6-2 finish and end up as a 10-6 wild card team.

- They rallied to finish 9-7 as a wild-card team, so I am giving myself that one…10.5/35.

36. They will either upset the Colts or Pats on the road in the second half of the season, not both. Their other second half loss will be at home to Atlanta…so yes, I am saying they win in Buffalo (aka Toronto), Tampa, and take care of the Panthers at home in the second half of the season.

- Not bad…11.5/36.

37. Most Improved Player Offense – Dustin Keller.

- I am not really sure who their most improved player was, but it wasn’t Dustin Keller who saw his numbers go down…11.5/37.

38. Most Improved Player Defense – Bryan Thomas, David Harris

- I would probably say Sione Pouha was their most improved player…11.5/38.

39.  Pro-Bowlers – Darrelle Revis, Dustin Keller, David Harris, Leon Washington (kick returner), Nick Mangold

- Right about Revis and Mangold…wrong about the other three…11.5/39.

40.  The Jets won’t add another veteran receiver this season, but it will be top priority in next year’s off-season.

- They added Braylon Edwards after week 4…11.5/40.

11.5 out of 40? Not pretty.

No Video Today…just check out the new “2009 Highlights Section” for all the video you need.

Super Bowl Friday Thoughts/NFL Playoffs 2010 Recap

 

First a few updates:

1. Rich Cimini wrote an article today discussing Chad Pennington returning to the Jets next season as a backup. He discussed it with Pennington, who admitted it would be tough but said it was a move he would definitely consider. I am all for Pennington coming back. First off, I can get some use out of his jersey that I still own in the pre-season and when he is playing mop-up duty against the Dolphins and Bills next years. Did I just say mop-up duty against teams the Jets went 1-3 against last year? Yes, I did. There isn’t going to be anymore 5 interception games or fluke Ted Ginn Jr touchdowns. Second, Pennington is an upgrade over Kellen Clemens.

2. When Leon Washington was talking about playing next season with the Jets, he discussed going back to returning kicks. Personally, I’d rather just leave Brad Smith back there and let Leon worry about offense. One thing the Jets offense missed in a big way last season was a screen game and running backs catching the ball out of the backfield in general (8 receptions for Thomas Jones or 0 for Shonn Greene during the regular season).

3. Follow Turn On The Jets on facebook…everybody is doing it…well, 183 people now are. (I told you I was putting this up with every post).

4. The Game Highlights section has been somewhat ripped apart by videos being taken down on youtube. I will be revamping that into something different next week.

Super Bowl Friday Thoughts

First off…let’s look back at the 2010 Playoffs. Personally, my two favorite weekends of the year are wild-card weekend and divisional weekend. I consider them holidays. Unfortunately, outside of our Jets most of the games were letdowns. Jets/Bengals got things started off right with an exciting 24-14 game, in which I got to watch a bunch of bitter Giants sulk in their recently purchased Chad Ochocino Johnson jerseys. I was expecting a great Saturday night game between Dallas and Philly but my Super Bowl pick decided to get completely blown out. Clearly, Andy Reid made zero adjustments from the two previous losses his team had to the Cowboys. Beyond that, nobody ever wants to see Cowboys fans happy…Maganellis.

Outside of anything Jets related, there was nothing I enjoyed more this NFL season than the first quarter of the Ravens/Patriots wild-card game. Nothing beats watching Bill Belichick be completely out-coached and standing there gawking on the side-line while Tom Brady throws interception after interception and keeps fumbling…great stuff. After the Belichick/Brady meltdown this year in a home playoff game, can we say the Pats dynasty is on the way out? I think you can, their defense isn’t good. They don’t have a running back. Wes Welker might not be back for the start of the next season and Randy Moss is a slouch. The Packers/Cardinals game was obviously very exciting, although it was pathetic how bad both defenses were. It was also frustrating to watch “Fake Defensive Player of the Year” Charles Woodson and the rest of his secondary get torched for 51 points, 379 passing yards, and 5 passing touchdowns. One last time, it was a complete joke that Darrelle Revis didn’t win that award this year.

Divisional weekend? Saints vs. Cardinals was a complete beatdown. On top of that, I had to watch Reggie Bush have a monster game, after ripping him all off-season and saying Leon Washington was better. One thing you have to say about Bush, is that there is a reason everybody was so “shocked” to see him play so well and run so hard…because he hasn’t been doing it his entire of NFL career. You shouldn’t decide to run hard one day, you should be doing it every game, especially when you are the #2 pick in the draft. Colts/Ravens was a disappointing game because I was obviously routing for the Ravens since I wanted a home AFC Championship Game.

On Sunday, it was nice to see Dallas remember they can’t win a big game and get blown out by the Vikings. To top it off, we got to see Keith Brooking and his stupid pre-game chant (we gonna hit them in nose, we gonna hit them in face….give me a break) leave a river of tears on the field. Of course, the late game on Sunday was just terrific and turned out to be the best overall game of the weekend. You can’t beat the defensive beatdown the Jets put on the Chargers in the second half and Shonn Greene rumbling through the Chargers secondary.

Everything about Championship Sunday was great right up until Peyton Manning got the ball back down 17-6. Fortunately, I got a little joy later that night watching Brett Favre choke away the NFC Championship Game…which brings us to Colts/Saints.

1. I think this game goes one of two ways: 1) We have an all-time game, an absolute shootout where the team with the ball last wins…something like 45-42 or 2) the Colts fall behind a little early, Manning reacts and then the Colts roll in the second half to a double-digit victory.

2. The only way the Saints are winning this game is if they find a way to out-score Manning because they aren’t stopping him.

3. My predictions:

• Super Bowl MVP – Peyton Manning (A real stretch, I know)
• First touchdown – Pierre Thomas
• Final Score: Colts – 41 Saints – 30

Another Jets Highlight Tape

Turn On The Jets 2009/2010 Season Awards: Moments

First a few updates:

1. The Jets fined Rex Ryan $50,000 for flipping off a group of hostile Miami fans over the weekend. There is no further action expected from the NFL. Hey, at least Ryan didn’t pull a Ron Artest/Stephen Jackson and run into the crowd.

2. Mark Sanchez talked about his decision to get knee surgery today. Basically, the main piece of news is that the surgery will allow him to stop wearing a brace during games.

3. Speaking of Sanchez, head over to www.nfl.com/PepsiRefresh or text his name to P-E-P-S-I, to vote for his off the field program to receive a $100,000 grant from Pepsi. Sanchez is supporting Juvenile Diabetes/Type 1 Diabetes which hits close to home here at TOJ since my little sister has the disease. You have until midnight Friday to cast your vote so take 5 seconds of your day and do it right now….then come back to read the rest of the article.

4. Great stuff here: http://www.thejetsblog.com/2010/02/03/salary-cap-myths-misconceptions-faqs-part-one/ on the off-season rules for the uncapped year and how they affect the Jets.

5. Lost Season, Episode 1/2 “LA X” Thoughts – Damn, what a premiere. I think we all kind of expected the alternate reality/reset storyline but it is weird how they have it running parallel to the castaways being shot back into 2007 because of the bomb. How are these two storylines going to converge? While I expected to see some type of reset action, I never expected to see the island at the bottom of the ocean. Clearly, setting off the bomb had larger ramifications then preventing Oceanic 815 from crashing which is also shown by the differences in some of the characters (Hurley being lucky, Desmond on the plane, No Shannon on the plane, etc). Also it definitely looked like Jack was having some deja vu on the plane and knew something might be off. It was nice to get confirmation that Locke (or the guy who took him over) is the smoke monster and finally see the Temple. However, we still got about 10000 new questions to answer now. Why does whomever Locke is now want to go home? Where is his home? How come Sayid was dead and is now alive? How did Juliet know “it worked?” And on and on. If all this sounded like Chinese to you, too bad it is the final season of Lost and I’m writing about it.

6. Follow Turn On The Jets on facebook….everybody is doing it…well at least 179 people are.

Turn On The Jets 2009/2010 Season Awards: Moments

Welcome to day three of the TOJ Awards for the 2009/2010 New York Jets season. Monday we honored the Jets best and worst players on each side of the ball. Yesterday, we looked at the best and worst games of the past season and today we will be looking at the best and worst moments/individual plays of the past year.

Offense

Top Five “Holy Sanchize, We Got A Quarterback” Moments

 

5. Second Half Kickoff – After a 3/5 for 15 yards first half against the Patriots in week 2, Sanchez hits Jerricho Cotchery with a beautiful throw on a skinny post for a 45 yard gain on the first play of the 3rd quarter to move the Jets down to the Pats 11 yard line. Two plays later he dropped an equally impressive pass to Dustin Keller for a 9 yard touchdown to give the Jets a 10-9 lead en route to a 16-9 victory.

4. Rebound Performance – After a terrible game against the Saints in the Jets first loss of the season, Sanchez responded on Monday Night Football with 172 yards, a touchdown and no turnovers. Despite the loss, he showed an ability to push the ball down the field on a 53 yard completion to David Clowney and a 34 yard completion to the newly acquired Braylon Edwards.

3. Buckets – Returning from injury, Sanchez dropped a picture perfect pass to Braylon Edwards for a 65 yard touchdown against the Falcons to give the Jets a 7-3 lead in the first quarter. The rest of the day was ugly but that one completion was hopefully a sign of things to come for the next few years.

2. Make A Play – With the Jets trailing 7-3 in the 4th quarter of the Divisional Playoffs to the Chargers and facing a 3rd and goal from their 2 yard line, Sanchez went play action saw all of his options covered, rolled out…continued to roll out, waited and then fired a missile to Dustin Keller in the back of the end-zone for the go-ahead touchdown. A big time play in a big time spot. (I Know the video clip is from a weird angle, but look at all those Jets fans celebrating, I thought this was a San Diego home game?)

1. The Big Stage – On the road in the AFC Championship Game, Sanchez makes a statement with both his first half touchdown passes. On the first, he hits Edwards in stride for a 80 yard touchdown and more impressively on the second, he stands in the pocket, takes a monster hit and delivers a perfect throw on an option route to Dustin Keller for a touchdown, giving the Jets a 14-6 lead.

Top Five “What The Hell Is Going On Out There” Moments

5. Anybody But Him – Rookie running back Shonn Greene fumbles behind the line of scrimmage and the ball bounces directly to Jason Taylor who runs it back for a 48 yard touchdown, promptly forcing Jets fans everywhere to throw up.

4. Really, Another One? – Mark Sanchez throws his 5th interception of the game against the Bills on a rainy Sunday afternoon in overtime, leading to them kicking the game winning field goal in a gut-wrenching loss.

3. Face-Catch – On a prime-time Thursday night game Braylon Edwards drops a wide-open 70 yard touchdown when he lets the ball bounce of his face mask. Fortunately, he responded with a touchdown later in the half and the Jets went on to win 19-13.

2. Just Ugly – Sanchez throws a ridiculously horrible interception out of his own end-zone in New England with the Jets down 24-14 to end any chance of a comeback. He scrambles around for 10 seconds and instead of throwing it away, throws it directly to Brandon Merriweather.

1. Yes, Yes…No – Wild-Card weekend, the Jets appear poised to tie the game at 7 on a perfect 50 yard pass from Mark Sanchez to Braylon Edwards, unfortunately Edwards forgets to catch the ball.

This probably fits somewhere in this list, also…

Top Five “Ground and Pound” Moments

 

5. Opening With A Bang – The Texans appear ready to get back in the game after scoring a touchdown to cut the Jets lead to 17-7, fortunately Thomas Jones rips off a 34 yard run to extend the Jets lead to 24-7 and puts the nail in the coffin.

4. TJ, Run Our Play – The Jets need 1 yard to clinch a Divisional Round win over the heavily favored San Diego Chargers, despite sitting for most of the 4th quarter the Jets insert Thomas Jones for a crucial 4th and 1 with the instructions to “run our play”, Jones gets the ball behind a pulling Alan Faneca and gets 2 yards…clinching a Jets win.

3. Welcome To The NFL – After a quiet 6 weeks, Shonn Greene breaks on the scene with a 144 yard, 2 touchdown performance against the Oakland Raiders.

2. Somehow, We Still Lost – Thomas Jones has a career day against the Bills, racking up 210 yards. However, somehow the Jets still manage to lose 16-13.

1. Boom – With the Jets holding on to 10-7 lead in the fourth quarter, Shonn Greene steamrolls Chargers safety Eric Weddle and rumbles for a 53 yard touchdown, capping it off with a mock LaDanian Tomlinson celebration…beautiful.

Defense

 Top Five “Revis Island” Moments

5. Slouch – In week 2, before the injury that apparently made Randy Moss so lazy this year, Darrelle Revis out-jumps him for a beautiful interception down the sideline…with no safety help.

4. Slouch Part 2 – After completely owning Terrell Owens all game on Thursday Night Football, Revis clinches a Jets 19-13 victory by intercepting a deep ball attempt for Owens.

3. He Deserved An Easy One – The great ones always catch a break, against the Panthers a ball bounces right off Steve Smith’s foot into the hands of Darrelle Revis who easily runs it back for a touchdown.

2. Ocho-Stinko – Change your name back to Chad Johson, after shutting down ”Ochocinco” down in week 17, Revis follows up with an encore performance in the playoffs, including an acrobatic interception over Johnson down the side-line.

1. He Caught That?  – I am still not sure how Darrelle Revis came up with this interception against Vincent Jackson in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Top Five “Swaggalicious” Moments

5. The Whole Team Felt It – Despite an up and down season, Kerry Rhodes came up big in the Divisional playoffs with a huge sack of Phillip Rivers on a 3rd down in the fourth quarter. Rex Ryan later said, “when you hit the quarterback like that, the whole team feels it.”

4. Where Are You Going – David Harris makes a ridiculous move to sack Matt Schaub in week one, setting the tempo for the Jets defense the rest of the season.

3. End Of Game Stand – Despite struggling at the end of games most of the season, the Jets defense held firm against Tom Brady and the Patriots in week two, culminating with Dwight Lowery knocking away a fourth down pass and the whole stadium going insane.

2. For A Second I Thought We Had Him – The Jets get to the untouchable Peyton Manning two times in the first quarter of the AFC Championship game, with 2 sacks by David Harris. Unfortunately, Manning figured them out and Rex Ryan didn’t have a Plan B.

1. Momentum Swing – Jim Leonhard comes up with a huge interception against the Chargers late in the third quarter, leading to the Jets taking the lead and never looking back.

Overall

Season High Point – Calvin Pace blows up Joseph Addai, forcing a fumble deep in Colts territory with the Jets already up 14-6 against the heavily favored Colts. Tell me you didn’t think we were going to the Super Bowl after this play, yet it wasn’t meant to be cause it was all downhill from there. Other high points were going right down the field on the Bengals in week 17 to start the game because you knew we were en route a blowout and the playoffs…Beating New England in week 2…Watching Shonn Greene rumble for that 53 yard TD against the Chargers.

Season Low Point – I can’t decide between Manning giving the Colts the 20-17 lead in the AFC Championship game because you knew at that point he couldn’t be stopped or Tony Gonzalez scoring to apparently knock us out of the playoffs or the beating we took in New England that apparently knocked us out of the playoffs or watching scrub Ted Ginn Jr score on 2 kick returns.

Personal Favorite Moment – Wild-Card Weekend, I was surrounded by 12 people routing adamantly against the Jets. After the Bengals made the score 21-14, everybody was literally screaming in my face when the Jets got the ball back, yelling about how another meltdown was coming and so forth, fortunately two plays later Mark Sanchez hit Dustin Keller for a 45 yard gain, which let me turn around and give a big  “Shut the ‘Eff Up” to everybody.

Turn On The Jets 2009/2010 Season Awards: Games

First a few updates:

1. Mark Sanchez will be getting surgery on his left knee in a couple of weeks. The expected recovery time is two months, which should make him ready to go by April. Unfortunately, he will miss the first month of the off-season program. Regardless, it is better for the long term that he gets his knee taken care of now. He will be ready for OTAs in May and June and of course by training camp.

2. There has been some talk floating around about the Jets working to get Nnamdi Asomugha since he talked about the potential of pairing up with Darrelle Revis at the Pro-Bowl (andbrought to light potential tampering chargers by mentioning he talked to Rex Ryan about it). However, I don’t think this is happening. The Jets aren’t trading multiple draft picks again. Yes, it is a nice thought to have the two best corners in the NFL on the same team but it would just cost too much for a team that needs to add depth through the draft.

3. Along similar lines, many people are talking about the Jets acquiring Julius Peppers which is another thing is almost definitelynot happening. Beyond the Jets limitations because of the Final Eight Rules, I am not crazy about signing a 30 year old to play a position he has never played before.

4. Can I get me some season 6 LOST? Big premiere tonight and yes every week I will typing some type of recap/opinion of each episode in the update section.

5. Daily reminder…follow Turn On The Jets on facebook for extra commentary and links to things you should be reading on a daily basis.

Turn On The Jets 2009/2010 Season Awards: Games

Welcome to day two of the TOJ Awards for the 2009/2010 New York Jets season. Yesterday we honored the Jets best and worst players on each side of the ball. Today, we will be looking at the best and worst games of the past season and tomorrow we will be looking at the best and worst moments/individual plays of the past year.

Best Defensive Game – October 4th At New Orleans, Loss 24-10

A loss for the best defensive game of the year? Absolutely, people always forget how well the Jets defense played in this game because of the loss but remember Mark Sanchez directly handed 14 points to the Saints. How about the Jets going into the building of the NFC Champions and holding the Saints to 10 offensive points, Drew Brees to 190 passing yards with 0 touchdowns, and Marques Colston to 33 receiving yards? Remember this is a team that scored 48 points at home against the Giants and 38 at home against the Patriots, with Drew Brees throwing for 371 yards.

Honorable Mentions – September 13th At Houston, Win 24-7, January 17th At San Diego, Win 17-14

The Jets shut out the Houston in their building, remember their only points came on an interception/fumble return. Beyond that, they just physically dominated them from start to finish. The Texans turned out to be a 9-7 team that had one of the league’s best offense. Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson both started in the Pro-Bowl (yes, Matt Schaub actually started in the Pro-Bowl), on this day Schaub threw for 166 yards with a INT, and Johnson had 35 receiving yards. Against the Chargers, the Jets were the first team to hold them under 20 points all season and came up with two huge INTs and 2 big sacks late in the game. This probably should have won the award, the only thing holding me back was the 344 total yards allowed, oh well…all three games were impressive as hell.

Best Offensive Game – January 9th At Cincinnati, Win 24-14

This was the game it all came together for the Jets offensively. Mark Sanchez was nearly perfect (12/15, 182 yards, 1 TD) with 2 of his 3 incompletions being dropped passes. Brian Schottenheimer called his best game of the season, with well-timed play action passes and a few good counter calls. Shonn Greene exploded for 135 yards and a touchdown. Thomas Jones chipped in 34 yards and a touchdown. Dustin Keller re-emerged with 99 yards receiving and a touchdown. Jerricho Cotchery was brilliant on third down and finished with 6 clutch catches for 67 yards. Braylon Edwards only finished with 2 catches for 15 yards, but if he rememberd to catch the football he would have finished with 65 yards and a touchdown and Sanchez would have been around 240 passing yards with 2 touchdowns.

Honorable Mention – November 1st Vs. Miami, Loss 30-25

An extremely painful loss but an all-around great game by the Jets offense. Sanchez had his best statistical game (20/35, 262 yards, 2 TDs), Thomas Jones ran for 102 yards and chipped in a 28 yard reception. Dustin Keller had 76 yards with a touchdown. Braylon Edwards had 74 yards with a touchdown. Jerricho Cotchery had 70 yards. Hopefully, this will be a nice preview of what the Jets offense could be next year with a little more Shonn Greene and Leon Washington thrown in…could be scary.

Most Painful Loss – November 1st At Miami, Loss 30-25

While we are on the topic of the second Miami game. I don’t know about you but it made me sick to see the Jets swept by an inferior Dolphins team in their own building, beyond all the offensive stats I just mentioned how about these stats for Miami on offense: Chad Henne 12/21, 121 yards and he was sacked 6 times, Ronnie Brown had 27 rushing yards, Ricky Williams had 27 rushing yards, no wide receiver on their team had more than 18 yards receiving. The Jets completely dominated this game but lost because they forgot how to cover kicks. Ted Ginn Jr is terrible 14 games a year but for reason always finds a way to make a big impact when he plays the Jets.

Honorable Mention – December 20th Vs Atlanta, Loss 10-7, January 24th At Indy, Loss 30-17

Everybody in the building on December 20th knew the three missed field goals would come back to haunt the Jets. Everybody knew Atlanta was driving down that field to win 10-7 and everybody knew on that fourth down play they were throwing to Tony Gonzalez, and yet we decided to move to zone coverage. At the time it seemed like the season was over (as Rex Ryan can attest to). Obviously, the actual season-ending loss in the AFC Championship Game hurt, especially because it felt like we were on our way after Calvin Pace caused that fumble in the 2nd quarter. However, we settled for a field goal, Peyton Manning led the Colts down the field in about 2 seconds and the rest is history.

Most Satisfying Victory – September 20th Vs New England, Win 16-9

The stadium was completely out of control in a good way on this day. It was one of the few Jets games I attended, where the crowd had a major impact on the game, forcing consecutive delay of game penalties at one point and contributing to 89 total penalty yards for the Patriots. It was the first time we beat New England at home since 2000 and showed the week one domination over Houston was no fluke. Hopefully, this will become a regular thing over the next few years as the Jets pass the Patriots as the best team in the AFC East.

Honorable Mentions – January 3rd vs. Cincinnati, Win 37-0, January 17th At San Diego, Win 17-14

I would have put beating Cincinnati to make the playoffs in the top spot because that was an awesome night at the Stadium, but I felt that win was expected. There was no way in hell the Bengals were beating the Jets that night. The New England win wasn’t expected at the time because how could you think the Jets were going to be New England when they have owned them at the Meadowlands for so long? Obviously, upsetting the Chargers and proving without a doubt we belonged in the playoffs was also a sweet day.

Most Boring Game – December 13th at Tampa Bay, Win 26-3

At one point in this game, Matt Slauson snapped the ball to Kellen Clemens who completed a pass to Matthew Mulligan, not exactly something we thought we’d see in December. Basically, the Bucs were simply awful and the Jets completed dominated which was of course fun to watch but the Jets offensive game-plan mirrored a 5th grade pop-warner one more than it even usually did. Beyond that, Kellen Clemens is just brutal to watch.