Another NFL season can mean only one thing here at the Sherman Avenue Block Party: another year of weekly looks into the always-tortured soul of this particular Jets fan.
Before we get into the first week's game, we have to pause to mention the NFL's biggest news - Tom Brady injuring his knee in the first quarter of the first game, ending his season.
And to Patriots fans, let me say heartily: boo-fucking-hoo.
No one shed a tear for me when Vinny tore his ACL in the first game of the year back in '99. No one played me a sad song on the violin after Chad got hurt in '03, and no one tenderly patted me on the back when Chad got hurt again in '05.
So to expect me to have any sympathy for Pats fans, well, you might as well expect me to root for the Germans in the Olympics or to start watching American Idol; it will never happen.
I hope, oh I hope, that the Pats struggle mightily this year. I hope they get to taste what every other freakin' team in the league has had to taste the last 7 years, because they've hardly had to taste it through this dynastic run of theirs - the taste of wasted potential. They got a mouthful of it in the Super Bowl last year, and with no Brady, they may not be able to wash it out any time soon.
At least until they beat the Jets in the Meadowlans next week, while Matt Cassell throws for 350 yards and four touchdowns. Which is inevitable.
But let's not go there yet. Let's talk about the Jets on Week 1, and the very nice win to start the year.
The Good
Brett Favre's first touchdown pass. Sure, I wasn't totally psyched about the move, and I won't back down from anything I wrote about it, but I will say that the Jets haven't had a QB that could make a throw like that since Vinny back in '98, and it was nice to see. Refreshing, even.
The Dolphins only gained 49 yards rushing. The Jets run defense has been terrible for years, and this was a nice start. Plus, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams always kill them with career days. Shutting them down was huge, especially since this was only the first game with all of these new guys (Kris Jenkins, Calvin Pace, Dwight Lowery) starting.
The young guys on defense. David Harris still looks great at LB. Revis and Lowery look good at the corners. Pace looks like he can really get after the QB. Kerry Rhodes is still fairly young at safety. It's early, but these guys looked good in the first game.
The Bad
The pass rush was incosistent. They had four sacks, which didn't happen much last year. But in the fourth quarter, when they needed to get to Chad the most, they couldn't, and almost let them come back and win.
The offensive line was inconsistent. True, Thomas Jones had 101 yards and a touchdown (equalling his total rushing TDs from last year.) But there was too much pressure on Favre throughout the game. They sacked him 3 times, forced him to fumble once, and were in his face seemingly all day. And this wasn't exactly the best defense of all time. If they want Favre to last the full season, they're going to have to keep his 39-year-old ass a lot cleaner than it was against Miami.
The Ugly
The end of the game. Why can't the Jets ever just finish a game out sparing the fans the drama? It's week one and I have to spend fifteen minutes hunched over the bar at the Newport Bar and Grille stressed and pained? I can't live like this.
Mangini's fourth quarter play calling. He was too conservative on offense, and it almost let the Dolphins come back and win it. There was a 3rd and 7 with a couple of minutes left and Miami having no time outs. They throw the ball and get the first down, the game is over. Instead, they run, don't get the first down, and give Miami a chance. Against a better team, the Jets lose a game in the fourth quarter that they should have won.
Mike Nugent. I can't believe they haven't cut him yet. If he misses any other field goal from inside 40 yards this year and someone should find where he lives and throw the rotting corpse of Bucky Buckeye in his lawn and then frame him for the murder.
In the end, though, Chad Pennington did his Chad Pennington thing - looking just good enough to give you hope but not being good enough to actually give you the win. Thanks to Jesus, Allah, Jah, and Christopher Hitchens that he did that for Miami instead.
And as they say, a win is a win. Now go do that, say, 10 or 11 more times and maybe I'll feel better.
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11 comments:
Daniel
Daniel
I accidentily hit enter before I typed my comment.
I did predict the Brady injury in my outlandish NFL predictions so you can thank me for that.
And yes I agree wholeheartedly about that 3rd and 7 play near the end of the game. It was 3rd and 2 and you called a runing play but there was a false start, so then it got moved back too 3rd and 7 and you have Brett Favre, Hall of Famer, you throw the ball in that situation. Miami had 1 TO left and called it immediately upopn the conclusion of the play so an incomplete pass would not have been that significant of a difference in clock time.
Right when that happened I called my brother and said you have an all time great at QB, you put the ball in his hands. When the clock was winding down the ball was in Jordans hands, sometimes he shot it, or sometimes he hit an open man like Steve Kerr in the 93 Finals, but you let the great player make that decision.
I have to say you got a lot of the analysis wrong here. I thought the offensive line played amazing. The hole on the right side (Woody) was open all day long for a 5 yard gain and they basically ran at will during the td drive to open the half. The sacks were a result of Favre calling for the wrong protection. After the game he stressed very hard that the sacks were a direct result of him not knowing the proper calls (I love the guys candor and honesty by the way). I know the 3rd and 7 seems like an easy pass play there but they had horrible field position and if Favre threw an interception there (he's been known to do that) the Dolphins would've had an easy time getting into the endzone with a time out to spare. Plus even if he threw a pass and it didn't result in a first down everyone would've said he should've ran to get rid of the time out and kill the clock a bit. It's a no win situation unless you convert. As much as I'm tired of Nugent did you realize that he mad 26 of 28 fgs under 50 before last week. For some reason his worst games have always been the opener (look it up), but him saying he couldn't kick an extra point and then coming back later in the game to kick one was pretty lame by him....As for Brady...I agree with you 100%...boo fuckin hoo...and fuck Curt Schilling while we're at it too.
I forgot...the pass rush at the end was more of a result of the Jets playing a prevent then anything...they just weren't rushing the extra guy and were dropping everyone back into coverage (not that it worked or anything). I agree though, the play calling was way too conservative at the end but I'm hoping that was more a result of them not having a kicker and them just trying to get out of there as quick as possible. Lowery is a stud by the way, but did you hear Gholston's name once during the game? That was a bit concerning. Calvin Pace is going to be a beast this year though.
As far as the sacks being a result of Favre calling the wrong coverage vs. the line not blocking well - I can buy that, I suppose.
Some of it, too, is due to the fact that there are two new guys starting on the line, so there is always going to be growing pains (and sure, kudos to Favre for taking the blame instead of saying that everyone was a little shaky on day one.)
Though I don't know how you can refute that the line was inconsistent. That means that they did some things really well, but not everything. There's still work to do, which is expected with new starters and a new QB.
I do think it's promising. It wasn't as bad as the line was last year, and they should stand to get better as the year goes on.
As far as the conservative play calling - we saw years of it under Paul Hackett/Herm. We've been beaten by it too many times. The point is, you have a Hall of Fame QB with a great arm, and receivers with good hands. Take some risks and trust in your guys. I don't need to remind you that this is what Belichick has done with Tom Brady the last seven years.
I am still not getting enough credit for predicting a Tom Brady injury. Shouldnt I be receiving lavish gifts from AFC East fans all across the nation?
And who is the anonymous that also roots for the Jets, or has years of marijuana abuse lead to Dan creating an alternate personality that somehow still tortures itself by being a Jets fan?
Thanks Kris! A game-worn Lionel Manuel jersey is in the mail!
I find it hard to dislike Brady though. He's like Jeter only he likes long-term relationships. He doesn't do many ads unlike the Manning schmucks. He plays hard, he plays well, and he doesn't rip his teammates or the media.
Somewhere on Sherman Avenue, Moms D is practicing throwing out patterns to Big Ron.
I agree Andrew, I dont dislike Brady either, I just dislike the Patriots and their head coach with such a passion and it was so good to see them get completely humbled in the Super Bowl.
I still love your disdain for the Manning family, they are the same as Brady. They just go out and play the game the right way, they don't rip their teammates, they play hard and prepare themselves well but you have said before you have always had some sort of disdain for Peyton, so I would imagine that has a crossover effect on the whole family. But come on, their commecials ar ehilarious because they are the worst actors ever. Just think about the pile of money Archie sleeps on every night.
Peyton doesn't rip his teammates except for that "idiot kicker" remark.
The Brothers Manning have incredibly annoying body language. Peyton acts like he never made the mistake, the receiver ran the wrong route or his lineman missed a block. Eli hangs his head like a beaten dog whenever he screws up. Peyton sat on the sidelines for the final 1:30 2006 AFC Championship Game and he couldn't watch. He just held his head and looked at the floor while Tom Brady was trying to drive the Pats to a win. Thus Peyton is a spineless jellyfish.
When the Yankees are about to be eliminated in the playoffs, Jeter always stands as close to the field as he possibly can, leaning over the dugout fence. He says that he hates losing so much, and that he needs to feel every second of being eliminated so he stands as close to the field as he can to absorbi it all so that it hurts, and so that he will work harder next year so he doesn't have to feel that pain again. Neither Manning has that sort of intensity. They would rather make ads for Gatorade, cell phones, DirectTV, Preparation H, Vagisil, Tony's Body Shop, Zoltan's House of Fortune Telling Supplies, and whatever other company will give them a check to sell some crap I don't need.
I also feel like both Mannings had a lot handed to them because their dad was a pro QB. That's not their fault, but it's still annoying.
Ok, i'll cave on the line being inconsistant, but the improvement over last year is exponential and they're only going to get better. As for the conservative play calling...I'll agree with you if it's week 6 and they're still playing like that. But if you're a coach and your qb is saying that he's messed up the protection calls a couple times already because he just isn't familiar with the terminology and all of the plays just yet, would you call for an aggressive play with the game on the line or go conservative? For now conservative is just fine with me with a lead in the 4th quarter....and I'm anonymous because I read this at work and if I sign in the page will get blocked. For some reason it works if I don't log in...I'll give you a hint...I'm a tall jew who likes a good buzz and being lazy.
Andrew
It is all in how you read things, and since you dont like the Manning brothers you read into everything they do in a negative light.
It is no different than the Jeter/A-rod stuff. Down 10 in the top of the 9th if Jeter leads of the inning with a homerun he is praised for always fighting and scrapping till the end. If A-Rod does the same thing there is a huge headline on the back page of the post that says "Thanks for Nothing" or something along those lines, and A-Rod is ripped for only hitting meaningless homeruns.
Just like getting on Peyton for "ripping" his "idiot kicker" who was actually the one that tore Mannning and the rest of the team to shreds on a drunken tirade. Manning was, as he put it, in the midst of a great career milestone being able to throw TD pass to the greatest receiver of all time and some reporter is Jim Gray-ing him about Mike Vandehjagt's big mouth.
Brady is praised for his passion when he screams at teammates and is seen as intense, so was Dan Marino; universally lauded for his fire and burning desire that manifested itself in him ripping his shitty skill postion players on a routine basis as they walked off the field.
You, not liking Manning, admittedly, just see it as Manning acting selfish and as if he does nothing wrong.
Then on the other hand you criticize Eli for acting the exact opposite way, basically questioning his leadership because he hangs his head when he leaves the field after something doesnt go his way. Eli certainly doesnt yell and scream at his teammates and that is seen as having a lack of passion, but he is ceribral and keeps his emotions on a even keel outwardly. Internally he has a passionate desire to win and those statements come from coach's and players on all levels that Eli has competed on, much like a guy named Bill Russell who didn't yell and scream but drove himself to such lengths internally to try and keep his emotions in check that he vomitted before almost every game of basketball he ever played.
Leadership and desire can manifest itself in different ways for everyone. But when you like someone you praise them as positive qualities on their behalf and when you dislike someone you look at them as character flaws.
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