Yesterday, in a development that shocked no one, the New York Jets made headlines for the wrong reasons. Several anonymous players called for Peyton Manning to come to New York, and trashed Mark Sanchez in the process. It’s a fitting end to a dreadful season that began with Super Bowl guarantees and ended with a collapse. From one fed-up fan, here’s an open letter to the entire team (after the jump).
A true captain
Soon after the Jets were officially eliminated from the playoffs, the finger pointing began. And no one seemed to receive as much blame as third-year quarterback, Mark Sanchez. In his final three games of the season, Sanchez threw seven interceptions to only five touchdowns. Sanchez only completed two(!!) passes of 30 or more yards during that stretch. Sanchez looked a little hesitant and even a little ‘skiddish’ (thanks Boomer) during his final game against Miami. However, I’m going to give Sanchez a pass for his poor play down the stretch. Instead, the blame will fully taken by two of my favorite people…
Could It Be Mr. T? Rex? Both?
For the third straight season, Rex Ryan failed to deliver on his Super Bowl promise. Ryan’s bumbling Jet team lost its third straight game (sixth on the road) to a resurgent Dolphin team, 19-17. Mark Sanchez threw three more interceptions and has clearly regressed. Offensive ‘captain’ Santonio Holmes was benched in the fourth quarter after having an argument with Sanchez in the huddle. When asked if Holmes wanted to return to the Jets next season, he refused to answer the question. Some ‘Captain’.
No Answers For Mark
The Jets aren’t surprising (or fooling) anyone.
All week long, the Jets have been shooting their mouths off. Rex Ryan has publicly said that his Jet team is better than the Giants. He has called Tom Coughlin one of the ‘greatest coaches ever’, but has been very public with his bashing. Is anyone surprised, though? This is just typical Rex, shooting his mouth off and putting his foot in his mouth after his team blows big games. Speaking of blowing big games, the Giants have been so dreadful over the last six weeks. Outside of Jason Pierre Paul, no one of the Giant defense seems to care. Eli Manning is doing his best, but the Giant defense as a whole has been absolutely atrocious.
With that being said, here are three things to watch for and my pick for the game..
The Jets played in a completely non-competitive game against the KC Chiefs yesterday. Tyler Palko may be the worst starting quarterback I’ve ever seen and the Jets made look (and feel) uncomfortable all game long. Shonn Greene had a huge game, gaining 187 total yards and 1 TD. Mark Sanchez accounted for four touchdowns (two each by air and foot). The Jets 37-10 victory was their second most lopsided of the season.
Besides a great showing, the team lost safety Jim Leonard again for the season. Last year around this time, Leonard suffered a season ending injury, but the Jet defense was able to pick up the slack. This season, Leonard has taken on a larger role and his loss with have a huge effect on the defense.
The 8-5 Jets got some help today, too. Entering today, the Jets sat in ninth place in the AFC. However, the Raiders were steamrolled by the Packers, the Texans beat the Bengals (7-6) on the last play of the game and the Titans (7-6) were unable to rally past the Saints. After Week 14, the Jets do control their own destiny, but have a very tough slate of games, at Philly, New York Giants, and at Miami.
Talk about lucky. Sometimes, you need a little luck in the NFL and the Jets had that luck on Sunday afternoon. The Jets are lucky that Stevie ‘Stylez’ Johnson is a buffoon. The Jets are lucky that Dave Rayner can’t execute on-side kicks. The Jets are lucky Stylez missed not one, but two game winning TD catches in the fourth quarter. The 6-5 Jets are lucky and didn’t deserve to win this game.
I don’t care that Mark Sanchez threw four touchdown passes. I don’t care that Stevie ‘Stylez’ Johnson did the Plaxico Burress dance after his TD. I don’t even care that the Jets won the game. They were supposed to win this game and were supposed to win this one pretty handily. But they didn’t. In typical Jets fashion, the Jet defense (including Revis) was bewilderingly bad against a Bill team that mentally checked out three weeks ago. In particular, I can’t get over Stylez ‘styling’ Revis on his touchdown catch. I thought Revis looked kinda uninterested, but that’s the head coach’s fault if his players aren’t ready to go.
Would You Expect Anything Else?--Getty Images
Sanchez was ‘big’ late in the game, but the fans (including yours truly) was calling for his head in the first half. Sanchez completed only two passes and was routinely short-hopping his receivers. I was ready to see what 41-year-old Mark Brunell could do, but Sanchez saved himself in the third quarter.
A fun stat: The Bills rushed four or fewer rushers on 79 percent of their plays. The Denver Broncos did it only 45 percent of the time last week. See the difference?
The Jets are still ninth place in the AFC and will now travel to Washington to take on the Skins. Winning in Washington is always tough, so we’ll see if Ryan can rally his team.
It’s no secret that Mark Sanchez hasn’t played well this season. During his last two games, Sanchez has thrown three interceptions to only one touchdown, completed only 55 percent of his passes, and taken eight sacks. It’s easy to blame the offensive line, the receivers, the offensive coordinator, but the onus falls on the quarterback’s shoulders and Mark needs to rally his team. Maybe his boisterous head coach started that process this week at practice..
Brunell Being Brunell--AP Photo
Sometimes, you just can’t explain sports. Thursday night’s game was one that you just can’t put into words.
After watching Tim Tebow short-hop passes to receivers and stalling on third down all night, he led the Broncos on a 95-yard, game winning drive to top the Jets, 17-14. The 95-yard drive had everything you could ever want. A near safety by the Jets on the first play. Tebow running and picking up first downs. Revis whiffing on tackles. And a storybook ending for a quarterback who continues to be doubted by most pundits. In the NFL, winning games is the only thing that matters and Tim Tebow has won four of his five starts this season. While most quarterbacks in the NFL have a better passing skill set, Tebow has the ‘It’ factor. Tebow, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Drew Brees all have ‘it’. Hell, you can even argue that Eli has ‘it’. But make no mistake about it, Tebow is a special, special player who will continue to be doubted. While he’ll never admit it, the doubt just makes his fire grow. Don’t ever doubt him..
One player who is being doubted week after week is Mark Sanchez. Sanchez had his second straight horrible game where he threw an interception-returned-for-a-touchdown. Sanchez missed a wide open Dustin Keller in the end zone in the first half and looked absolutely lost after the game. In his post-game presser, Sanchez looked a complete ghost and no longer the kid that was posing for GQ. Sanchez was expected to make the next step in his maturation process this season, but he has taken five steps backwards. He has to pick it up if the Jets are going to go anywhere.
Elsewhere, Shonn Greene hurt his ribs in the first half and didn’t return. Rex spoke in the post-game presser and didn’t really give a whole lot of information. Just same old Rex garbage.
As of right now, the Jets are 5-5 and sit in eighth in the AFC. They are on the outside looking in as the season starts to wind down.
It was good to see Bilal Powell and Joe McKnight fill in and run hard. They’re big time players down the stretch.
What’s Next?: 11/27 vs. BUF
Heading into tonight’s game, the Jets had everything working in their favor. Vegas pegged them as a two-point favorite, NE strong safety Patrick Chung was out with an injury, and the New England pass defense was the worst in the league. To make things even sweeter, New England’s top corner, Devin McCourty left with an injury. This was the Jets time to take over the AFC East..
However, the Jets turned the ball over three times to this make shift defense while Tom Brady threw for nearly 400 yards and three scores against the ‘vaunted’ Jet defense. Rob Gronkowski was damn near unstoppable, grabbing two touchdowns (could have been three) and Chad Ocho Cinco showed signs of life with 65 yards.
The Jets lost 37-16 and it was an ugly, ugly game for the Jets. New England sweeps the season series and essentially sits two games of the Jets after figuring in tie breakers. New England has the easiest remaining schedule, so the Jets will have to settle for the Wild Card (if they make the playoffs).
Mark Sanchez is not a big-time player. He turned in an absolute dud against a makeshift defense. The offensive line isn’t good. This team has a long way to go before ever becoming a good team.
The Jets won’t have much time to lick their wounds as they head to Denver to take on the Broncos on Thursday night. Good luck trying to stop that unorthodox offense.
This is the biggest game of the season for the New York Jets. Installed as a 1.5 point favorite at home, the Jets will look to built off their last two wins and take first place of the AFC East. The Patriots are coming off a last second defeat to the Giants and will look to seek revenge against the city of New York. There’s no love loss between these two clubs as their Week 5 showdown was extremely physical. Two key match-ups stand out for this game. The winner of these match-ups will lead their team to victory:
Could It Be Shonn?--AP Photo
