Here Come The Warm Jets: Week 2

It was your classic Godfather 3 game for the Jets.

“Just when I thought I was out….”

The team couldn’t have looked worse for the first three quarters. Kellen Clemens was beyond awful. He held the ball too long, he couldn’t read blitzes, he overthrew open guys, he got screen passes batted down. The Jets defense made Kyle Boller look like a real QB instead of the disaster he actually is (then again, this defense can make Joey Harrington look good, which they did last year.) Why does every guy have to have his career best against the Jets?

I was watching the game alone at this bar in Chicago. I was texting with my man Greg, lifelong Jets fan, who was watching the game at a bar in Seattle (oh, modern world!)

The gist of the text message conversation was:

DAN: I hate Kellen Clemens. I hate him.
GREG: Well, at least now we know he’s not the answer. Who do we draft next year?
DAN: I don’t even know. The guy from USC?
GREG: What about the guy from Louisville?
DAN: Whoever it is, he’s going to suck for us.

There was nothing to feel good about in the first three quarters, except that Nugent looked pretty good on the 50-yard field goal he hit in the first half. But as Greg said, “It’s pretty sad when your kicker is the best thing on the team.”


“…they pull me back in!”

All of a sudden in the fourth quarter, they start playing like a competent football team. The defense starts to make some stops. The offense makes some big plays, Thomas Jones hitting some holes, Clemens hooking up with Cotchery (who can really play.) They get the score to 20-13. They have enough time to get the ball back and a chance to score. We are in this thing. We have a chance.


Michael Corleone has a heart attack and slumps to the kitchen floor

We all know how this game ended. There were four key drops that killed their chances.

Most of the media only focused on three of the drops, the Coles one that was a tough catch but on his hands, and McCairens having two horrible ones including the last one that bounced off his hands in the end zone and into Ray Lewis’ to end the game.

The fourth drop was also huge, though. After they scored the touchdown to make it 20-13 they tried an onside kick. Nugent hit an absolutely perfect onside kick, as beautiful as I’ve ever seen. He hit the ball directly down off the tee and it bounced high up in the air about 10 or 11 yards away. Brad Smith jumps up with a perfect chance to haul it in, no one from the Ravens up there with him to get in the way. It bounces off his chest and the Ravens knock it away. If Smith catches that, they have great field position with 4 minutes left and a much better chance to score. But it was not to be.

So they were awful. Then they were great. But not great enough. Classic Jets game.

Now what do we know?

We know that Clemens can be a good QB once he gets some more experience. Unless that "holding on to the ball too long" thing is not a correctable problem. Then he will be a very injured QB.

We know that the team did this sort of thing last year in Week 2 against the Pats, and it was a sign of good things to come. This year, we’ll see if the signs of life are fleeting.

We know that their next two games are winnable against Miami and Buffalo.

We know they have to win them both or we know I’ll be thinking about the draft before Halloween.

We know this Miami game is going to be torture. Oh, such exquisite torture.