The Jets won a game where they didn't play their best, against a decent team (I don't think the Titans are a bad 0-3. They have talent, unlike, say, the Browns or the Chiefs, and could finish somewhere around 9-7 if they get it together.)
Of anything that happened on Sunday, that is probably the most important. Teams that can manage to win while not playing their best are ones that tend to be playing important games after New Year's.
And make no mistake, besides the special teams, Kris Jenkins, David Harris, and a quarter and a half for Mark Sanchez, the Jets didn't play all that well against the Titans.
The offensive line was particularly bad in this game. There was no room to run for Jones or Washington, and Sanchez was under a lot of pressure. There were also several penalties.
The only good thing to say is that we know this line can play better - it's the same line as last year, and we've seen them play much better than this on more than one occasion.
Next week against the Saints would be a good time to start for them. One way to neutralize a powerful offense is to keep the ball out of their hands. You do that by running the football. You need the offensive line to play well to do that.
Let's talk about Sanchez for a second. Rationally, if we can (and if we can, we'll be in the minority.)
Is he a good quarterback? Yes. He moves well in the pocket and is decently accurate with his throws. He also seems to have a good head on his shoulders - in two games in a row he's been able to bounce back after a stretch of bad play.
Is he flawless? Obviously not. One problem we've seen so far is that he fumbles a bit too often. I think in the Titans game it had less to do with the wet ball and more to do with a combination of relatively small hands and bad mechanics in terms of protecting the ball under pressure.
It stood out in particular because there was one play where Kerry Collins got hit in a similar way that Sanchez did when he fumbled. In Collins' case, he was able to hold on to the ball tightly with one hand while being hit, so it was just a sack, and not something worse.
This will bear watching over the course of the year - ask a Panthers fan if you can win games with a turnover-prone QB.
Other than that, special teams won the game. Two fumbles by the Titans on special teams, two recoveries by the Jets, two TDs. Thanks, Titans return guy.
Next week, I will be in New Orleans with Matt, Greg, and my brother Eric. We will be at the Superdome for the game.
I will report back next week on what transpires.
Game-wise, here's what I'll be looking for:
- What will this defense do against the best offense in football? Do they go with the blitz-heavy style they used against Houston and New England to try and confuse and rattle Drew Brees? Do they play the more conservative style they used against Tennessee? Something none of us have seen yet?
- Can the offensive line bounce back? If the Jets can rush for more than 150 yards, and Sanchez is sacked no more than once, they will be able to win.
- Can I get a po' boy at the stadium? If I can, should I?
- If the Jets win and go 4-0, can anything keep every Jets fan's head from exploding? Because trying to not get overly confident or overly optimistic gets harder and harder with each quality win.
Jets fans have too much history of heartbreak to just buy in completely after only three games. We want to be blindly optimistic, but we know better. We have to keep it in check. But, man, I've got a "f it, this team is f'ing great, I don't care about history, it's different this time" post that's dying to get out.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
A Football Review
Now we are a few weeks into the NFL season and there have been plenty of interesting things that have happened. I don’t like to analyze stuff after the first two weeks, but I think as you get to weeks three and four you can start to see trends and really begin to see who the bad teams are. It is easier to figure out the bad teams and harder to separate the good teams form the mediocre. But anyway, here are some observations:
- Yes Mark Sanchez has played very well but the storyline for the Jets has to be their defense. What Rex Ryan is doing with that D is simply spectacular. I would say under Herm Edwards and Eric Mangini it was hard to figure out what the Jets identity was and I think that’s when coach’s fail. Well under Sexy Rexy it is aggressive, hard hitting defense with bravado. And that is what is leading this team right now.
- Speaking of New York teams, the Giants are a good team with tons of room for improvement, which should probably scare the rest of the NFC. The defense is still banged up, with our best CB not having played a down yet and a running game that has been inconsistent, never mind the fact that we are the worst red zone team in the NFL. All that being said, our QB has been sharp, we are 2-0 in our division, 2-0 on the road and 3-0 overall. Oh yeah, and Steve Smith is fast developing into a big time WR.
- You know who is a really good coach, Andy Reid. He will always have the Eagles in the hunt. He just won a game with Kevin Kolb as his QB, and handily I might add.
- The two most fun Division races to watch this season are going to be the NFC South (Falcons, Saints) and the NFC North (Packers, Bears, Vikings). The Saints are like a video game team on Offense and the Falcons are a very solid team. The Packers are explosive, the Bears are improving and the Vikings are a veteran team with a Hall of Fame QB and the best RB in the game
DAN, DO NOT READ THIS NEX PART
- As the famous song Frosty the Snowman goes: There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found…
Well Brad Childress found an old purple hat and he put it on Favres head. There was still some magic in that thing yesterday. On their own 20, 1:29 to go and no timeouts, that’s the stuff legend is made off. The guy is great, still. Now, he may not be able to do it as consistently as he once did but that situation is exactly why they went out and got him. As good as AD is, he wasn’t on the field for most of that drive, but Favre was and he made the winning play.
DAN, YOU CAN START READING AGAIN
- While we are on the subject of GREAT Quarterback’s fucking Peyton Manning is re-god-damn-diculous!!!!!!! He should have to play with one arm tied behind his back or something. Nobody wins a Super Bowl on their own, so Peyton needs his defense to help, but if he wins another title or two he will go down as the greatest to ever play the position. Superlatives and statistics barely do him justice, just watch him play.
- The AFC South is so bad the Colts could have the Division wrapped up by Halloween.
- Here are the teams with little or no talent: Raiders, Chiefs, Rams, Buccaneers, Redskins and Browns. All those teams are jus awful, bad, terrible awful. The first coaching casualty of the season could be Jim Zorn of the Redskins.
- Congrats to the Detroit Lions. They aren’t all that bad, especially on offense, they do have some weapons. I like Matt Stafford in college and I think he is going to make a solid pro QB.
- The Bungles may be a little better than I gave them credit for, but I still struggle to wrap my mind around that concept because they are the Bungles.
- The QB in my opinion who is fast moving up the chart toward elite is Joe Flacco. That boy can play!
- Yes Mark Sanchez has played very well but the storyline for the Jets has to be their defense. What Rex Ryan is doing with that D is simply spectacular. I would say under Herm Edwards and Eric Mangini it was hard to figure out what the Jets identity was and I think that’s when coach’s fail. Well under Sexy Rexy it is aggressive, hard hitting defense with bravado. And that is what is leading this team right now.
- Speaking of New York teams, the Giants are a good team with tons of room for improvement, which should probably scare the rest of the NFC. The defense is still banged up, with our best CB not having played a down yet and a running game that has been inconsistent, never mind the fact that we are the worst red zone team in the NFL. All that being said, our QB has been sharp, we are 2-0 in our division, 2-0 on the road and 3-0 overall. Oh yeah, and Steve Smith is fast developing into a big time WR.
- You know who is a really good coach, Andy Reid. He will always have the Eagles in the hunt. He just won a game with Kevin Kolb as his QB, and handily I might add.
- The two most fun Division races to watch this season are going to be the NFC South (Falcons, Saints) and the NFC North (Packers, Bears, Vikings). The Saints are like a video game team on Offense and the Falcons are a very solid team. The Packers are explosive, the Bears are improving and the Vikings are a veteran team with a Hall of Fame QB and the best RB in the game
DAN, DO NOT READ THIS NEX PART
- As the famous song Frosty the Snowman goes: There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found…
Well Brad Childress found an old purple hat and he put it on Favres head. There was still some magic in that thing yesterday. On their own 20, 1:29 to go and no timeouts, that’s the stuff legend is made off. The guy is great, still. Now, he may not be able to do it as consistently as he once did but that situation is exactly why they went out and got him. As good as AD is, he wasn’t on the field for most of that drive, but Favre was and he made the winning play.
DAN, YOU CAN START READING AGAIN
- While we are on the subject of GREAT Quarterback’s fucking Peyton Manning is re-god-damn-diculous!!!!!!! He should have to play with one arm tied behind his back or something. Nobody wins a Super Bowl on their own, so Peyton needs his defense to help, but if he wins another title or two he will go down as the greatest to ever play the position. Superlatives and statistics barely do him justice, just watch him play.
- The AFC South is so bad the Colts could have the Division wrapped up by Halloween.
- Here are the teams with little or no talent: Raiders, Chiefs, Rams, Buccaneers, Redskins and Browns. All those teams are jus awful, bad, terrible awful. The first coaching casualty of the season could be Jim Zorn of the Redskins.
- Congrats to the Detroit Lions. They aren’t all that bad, especially on offense, they do have some weapons. I like Matt Stafford in college and I think he is going to make a solid pro QB.
- The Bungles may be a little better than I gave them credit for, but I still struggle to wrap my mind around that concept because they are the Bungles.
- The QB in my opinion who is fast moving up the chart toward elite is Joe Flacco. That boy can play!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
The Terminal Podcast
So I've been away from this site for some time, not that I was missed...
But I was busy. Moving my family to Atlanta, finding employment and thinking up a master plan with nothing but sweat inside my hand...
Anyway, the result is a post that may have made it out with little to nothing to it except confusion.
Point is, here is a link to a podcast featuring yours truly in my new job, bartender at the Terminal, the newest addition to Hartsfield International and the only place where knowledgeable sports fans can gather and not only discuss sports but be quizzed at the same time.
So if you're in between flights and looking to kill some time, check out The Terminal Podcast and let us know what you think. It's still a work in progress.
MAK
----------------
Now playing: Martin Kester - Terminal podcast 9-09
via FoxyTunes
But I was busy. Moving my family to Atlanta, finding employment and thinking up a master plan with nothing but sweat inside my hand...
Anyway, the result is a post that may have made it out with little to nothing to it except confusion.
Point is, here is a link to a podcast featuring yours truly in my new job, bartender at the Terminal, the newest addition to Hartsfield International and the only place where knowledgeable sports fans can gather and not only discuss sports but be quizzed at the same time.
So if you're in between flights and looking to kill some time, check out The Terminal Podcast and let us know what you think. It's still a work in progress.
MAK
----------------
Now playing: Martin Kester - Terminal podcast 9-09
via FoxyTunes
Friday, September 25, 2009
WEEK 4, Saturday Sept. 26
5 Games to Watch
South Florida vs. #18 Florida State- The Noles come off a very impressive win last week at BYU. QB Christian Ponder has limited his turnovers so far this year. South Florida is reeling after the loss of 3 year starter Matt Grothe, the signal calling duties now belong to Frosh BJ Daniels. Coach Levitts Bulls program has leveled off after an impressive 2007 campaign. In order to regain some of that glory they could use a big win in Tallahassee.
#15 TCU vs. Clemson- Keep the clicker handy, oh wait, this game isn’t on television in an egregious error. Well watch the highlight shows because this could be an explosive offensive game. The Horned Frogs are averaging over 40 ppg and running back Joseph Turner has explosive ability. On the other side Clemson is so steady but they have two guys who can score on every touch in offense and special teams in Jacoby Ford and CJ Spiller. Ridiculous stat of the year, CJ Spiller has 15 TD’s of 50+ yards in his career.
#25 Washington vs. Stanford- The ultimate hangover game. Go down in a weird place to play with not a huge fan base coming off the best win the school has had in 15 years and try and keep the momentum going. Stanford has an excellent coach and a ball control offense with tailback Toby Gerhart. I do love Washington’s QB Jake Locker who Pete Carroll called the best QB he has ever faced.
Iowa vs. #5 Penn State- Last year Penn State flying high went into Iowa City and came away with a last second loss to Kirk Ferentz’s Hawkeyes. Penn State has an inside track to the national title game because most of their tough contests, like this one, come in Happy Valley. QB Daryll Clark is the playmaker for the Nittany Lions and he faces a staunch Hawkeye defense, if he continue to be a playmaker then I think PSU may win this game handily.
Illinois vs. #13 Ohio State- Coach Zook’s Illini came into this season with high expectations, but they have gotten off to a slow start. The Buckeyes are not the same team they have been over the last 3 or 4 years so this is sort of a make or brake game for both teams. The winner here will put themselves in position to contend for th Big 10 title, whereas the loser is going to have to circle the wagons to make a successful season. Terrell Pryor and Juice Williams are two of the most explosive QB’s in the country, whomever is more dynamic will lead his team to victory.
4 Players to See
Golden Tate, WR Notre Dame- With Michael Floyd out for a few weeks Tate becomes the go to guy for Jimmy Clausen. Tate ahs 3 TD’s so far this season and is averaging around 15 yards a pass. His continuing improvement is paramount to Notre Dames future success.
Robert Griffin III, QB Baylor- Of all the dual threat QB’s in the country Griffin is perhaps the most spectacular athlete. He was an All-American track star in high school, but has learned to become more of a passer than runner in his time at Baylor. This season he is completing over 60% of his passes. Good accuracy combined with his athleticism makes him a threat on every single play.
Case Keenum, QB Houston- Unknown to most of the country, Keenam threw for over 5000 yards and 44 TD’s last season. He has already upset one Big 12 team and looks to do the same to Texas Tech this week. He is off to another hot start, averaging over 350 yards passing and 7 TD’s in two games. Keenum will be the difference again this week in another big win for the Cougars.
Mark Ingram, RB Alabama- All the pub goes to WR Julio Jones but Ingram is the engine that runs the Tide offense. He is listed at 212 pounds but is a punishing runner who takes on tacklers like he is 240. He is gaining over 6 yards a carry this year and he is going to need to chew up time and yards to keep the Razorback high octane offense off the field
South Florida vs. #18 Florida State- The Noles come off a very impressive win last week at BYU. QB Christian Ponder has limited his turnovers so far this year. South Florida is reeling after the loss of 3 year starter Matt Grothe, the signal calling duties now belong to Frosh BJ Daniels. Coach Levitts Bulls program has leveled off after an impressive 2007 campaign. In order to regain some of that glory they could use a big win in Tallahassee.
#15 TCU vs. Clemson- Keep the clicker handy, oh wait, this game isn’t on television in an egregious error. Well watch the highlight shows because this could be an explosive offensive game. The Horned Frogs are averaging over 40 ppg and running back Joseph Turner has explosive ability. On the other side Clemson is so steady but they have two guys who can score on every touch in offense and special teams in Jacoby Ford and CJ Spiller. Ridiculous stat of the year, CJ Spiller has 15 TD’s of 50+ yards in his career.
#25 Washington vs. Stanford- The ultimate hangover game. Go down in a weird place to play with not a huge fan base coming off the best win the school has had in 15 years and try and keep the momentum going. Stanford has an excellent coach and a ball control offense with tailback Toby Gerhart. I do love Washington’s QB Jake Locker who Pete Carroll called the best QB he has ever faced.
Iowa vs. #5 Penn State- Last year Penn State flying high went into Iowa City and came away with a last second loss to Kirk Ferentz’s Hawkeyes. Penn State has an inside track to the national title game because most of their tough contests, like this one, come in Happy Valley. QB Daryll Clark is the playmaker for the Nittany Lions and he faces a staunch Hawkeye defense, if he continue to be a playmaker then I think PSU may win this game handily.
Illinois vs. #13 Ohio State- Coach Zook’s Illini came into this season with high expectations, but they have gotten off to a slow start. The Buckeyes are not the same team they have been over the last 3 or 4 years so this is sort of a make or brake game for both teams. The winner here will put themselves in position to contend for th Big 10 title, whereas the loser is going to have to circle the wagons to make a successful season. Terrell Pryor and Juice Williams are two of the most explosive QB’s in the country, whomever is more dynamic will lead his team to victory.
4 Players to See
Golden Tate, WR Notre Dame- With Michael Floyd out for a few weeks Tate becomes the go to guy for Jimmy Clausen. Tate ahs 3 TD’s so far this season and is averaging around 15 yards a pass. His continuing improvement is paramount to Notre Dames future success.
Robert Griffin III, QB Baylor- Of all the dual threat QB’s in the country Griffin is perhaps the most spectacular athlete. He was an All-American track star in high school, but has learned to become more of a passer than runner in his time at Baylor. This season he is completing over 60% of his passes. Good accuracy combined with his athleticism makes him a threat on every single play.
Case Keenum, QB Houston- Unknown to most of the country, Keenam threw for over 5000 yards and 44 TD’s last season. He has already upset one Big 12 team and looks to do the same to Texas Tech this week. He is off to another hot start, averaging over 350 yards passing and 7 TD’s in two games. Keenum will be the difference again this week in another big win for the Cougars.
Mark Ingram, RB Alabama- All the pub goes to WR Julio Jones but Ingram is the engine that runs the Tide offense. He is listed at 212 pounds but is a punishing runner who takes on tacklers like he is 240. He is gaining over 6 yards a carry this year and he is going to need to chew up time and yards to keep the Razorback high octane offense off the field
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Here Come The Warm Jets: Week 2 2009
I come here not to overpraise the Jets.
We will not speak of whether or not it is wise to speak so brashly in the week leading up to the game. That is not for us to speak of, and has been spoken of too much already.
We will not use the word "poise" in a sentence describing Mark Sanchez (except for this sentence, which doesn't count.)
We will not engage in foolish premature chatter about how this one win following the other one win will project to other games many weeks from now.
Let us only speak of what we just saw:
Some wins feel more real than others. For example, do you think Broncos fans felt particularly good about their week one win against the Bengals? Without a lucky bounce, they lose that game. You take the win, but you don't feel solid about it. The Jets had many of those types of wins last year (e.g. the opener against Miami, the Kansas City game, the second Buffalo game.)
This Jets win, though, was because of stellar defense for four quarters. You don't hold the Patriots without a touchdown and keep Tom Brady (even less-than-100%-and-still-a-bit-rusty-and-playing-after-a-short-week Tom Brady) to under 50% in completion percentage on a sunny, good-weather day because you got lucky.
Great defense cannot be faked.
This Jets team has played great defense for two weeks in a row. No touchdowns allowed, not allowing much of a running game, keeping QBs nervous and confused since they don't know where the rush is coming from and if they don't get rid of the ball quickly, they're going to get hit, hard.
Can they keep it up for a whole season? Not impossible - it will depend on a bit of luck in the health department. Possible because Rex Ryan gives the team a swagger, and Bart Scott helps carry it over to the rest of the players. The coach alone can't give the team an attitude - that's why smart coaches, like Parcells for example, always bring some of 'their guys' with them wherever they go. Ryan brought Scott and Jim Leonhard with him. Yes, those guys are both talented, but they also are the embodiment of what Rex Ryan is trying to get the team to do, and the rest of the defense feeds as much off of those two as they do off the coach.
What else did we see this week?
We saw that the Patriots are not quite The Patriots this year, at least not yet. Brady's not 100%, losing Mayo on defense really hurt, and even with Mayo there's a lot of personnel turnover on that side of the ball, and it hasn't quite jelled to play as well as the Pats defense played during their best years this decade. I won't count the Patriots out by any means, but so far they look much more beatable than they have in a long time.
We saw that Darrelle Revis is one of the best, if not the best, cornerback in the league. He has shut down (with some help, true, but still) two of the best receivers in football two weeks in a row. To whit: Week 1 against Buffalo Randy Moss had 12 catches for 141 yards. Against the Jets, 4 for 24. Week 1 against the Jets, Andre Johnson had 4 catches for 35 yards. In Week 2 against Tennessee, he had 10 for 149 and 2 TDs. I can't wait to see what Revis does against New Orleans in two weeks.
We saw that the Jets can win a game on a day when the offense wasn't particularly great. Leon Washington had an awful first half (even if that fumble didn't really look like a fumble - it was so close and unclear on the replay that whatever was called on the field couldn't be overturned.) So did the offensive line, which couldn't open up running lanes and didn't give Sanchez time to throw (the strip sack on the first play was Faneca's fault, not Sanchez's.)
We saw that all Mark Sanchez has to do is not look retarded for the media to fall over themselves to praise him. This isn't to say that I haven't been highly encouraged by the way he's played so far - I like his pocket presence, his mobility, and his arm. But let's not lose our collective minds - it's been two games, and he's been pretty good, at best.
We saw Bill Belichick look really ill after the loss. That was about as enjoyable as anything else I saw the whole weekend, besides my friend Gabe getting married and Brett Favre getting sacked hard a few times.
And, mostly, we saw the Jets win a game that had "typical Jets huge letdown game" written all over it. That was nice, wasn't it?
Tennessee comes to Jersey next. They're 0-2, so they'll be playing like their season is on the line. Plus, they'll remember that the Jets went to Tennessee and gave them their first loss last year (i.e. possibly looking for some revenge.) Meanwhile, the Jets will have a week where they'll be overpraised by everyone (except me, of course.) Yet another game that has a "huge pin in our balloon" feeling about it.
Am I saying I expect them to lose to Tennessee? No. That's the best thing to come out of the first two games - with this defense, I don't expect this team to lose to anyone.
Will I be surprised if they lose to Tennessee? No. That's a good team, an experienced team used to winning and used to dealing with adversity. This Jets team hasn't had to deal with bad times yet.
What I do know for sure is this - just as I am resisting the urge to overpraise them after this Pats win, if they do lose to the Titans, I will try to resist the urge to over-criticize them.
Unless, of course, Sanchez throws four picks and they let Kerry Collins throw for 400 yards. Then the whole thing is off.
We will not speak of whether or not it is wise to speak so brashly in the week leading up to the game. That is not for us to speak of, and has been spoken of too much already.
We will not use the word "poise" in a sentence describing Mark Sanchez (except for this sentence, which doesn't count.)
We will not engage in foolish premature chatter about how this one win following the other one win will project to other games many weeks from now.
Let us only speak of what we just saw:
Some wins feel more real than others. For example, do you think Broncos fans felt particularly good about their week one win against the Bengals? Without a lucky bounce, they lose that game. You take the win, but you don't feel solid about it. The Jets had many of those types of wins last year (e.g. the opener against Miami, the Kansas City game, the second Buffalo game.)
This Jets win, though, was because of stellar defense for four quarters. You don't hold the Patriots without a touchdown and keep Tom Brady (even less-than-100%-and-still-a-bit-rusty-and-playing-after-a-short-week Tom Brady) to under 50% in completion percentage on a sunny, good-weather day because you got lucky.
Great defense cannot be faked.
This Jets team has played great defense for two weeks in a row. No touchdowns allowed, not allowing much of a running game, keeping QBs nervous and confused since they don't know where the rush is coming from and if they don't get rid of the ball quickly, they're going to get hit, hard.
Can they keep it up for a whole season? Not impossible - it will depend on a bit of luck in the health department. Possible because Rex Ryan gives the team a swagger, and Bart Scott helps carry it over to the rest of the players. The coach alone can't give the team an attitude - that's why smart coaches, like Parcells for example, always bring some of 'their guys' with them wherever they go. Ryan brought Scott and Jim Leonhard with him. Yes, those guys are both talented, but they also are the embodiment of what Rex Ryan is trying to get the team to do, and the rest of the defense feeds as much off of those two as they do off the coach.
What else did we see this week?
We saw that the Patriots are not quite The Patriots this year, at least not yet. Brady's not 100%, losing Mayo on defense really hurt, and even with Mayo there's a lot of personnel turnover on that side of the ball, and it hasn't quite jelled to play as well as the Pats defense played during their best years this decade. I won't count the Patriots out by any means, but so far they look much more beatable than they have in a long time.
We saw that Darrelle Revis is one of the best, if not the best, cornerback in the league. He has shut down (with some help, true, but still) two of the best receivers in football two weeks in a row. To whit: Week 1 against Buffalo Randy Moss had 12 catches for 141 yards. Against the Jets, 4 for 24. Week 1 against the Jets, Andre Johnson had 4 catches for 35 yards. In Week 2 against Tennessee, he had 10 for 149 and 2 TDs. I can't wait to see what Revis does against New Orleans in two weeks.
We saw that the Jets can win a game on a day when the offense wasn't particularly great. Leon Washington had an awful first half (even if that fumble didn't really look like a fumble - it was so close and unclear on the replay that whatever was called on the field couldn't be overturned.) So did the offensive line, which couldn't open up running lanes and didn't give Sanchez time to throw (the strip sack on the first play was Faneca's fault, not Sanchez's.)
We saw that all Mark Sanchez has to do is not look retarded for the media to fall over themselves to praise him. This isn't to say that I haven't been highly encouraged by the way he's played so far - I like his pocket presence, his mobility, and his arm. But let's not lose our collective minds - it's been two games, and he's been pretty good, at best.
We saw Bill Belichick look really ill after the loss. That was about as enjoyable as anything else I saw the whole weekend, besides my friend Gabe getting married and Brett Favre getting sacked hard a few times.
And, mostly, we saw the Jets win a game that had "typical Jets huge letdown game" written all over it. That was nice, wasn't it?
Tennessee comes to Jersey next. They're 0-2, so they'll be playing like their season is on the line. Plus, they'll remember that the Jets went to Tennessee and gave them their first loss last year (i.e. possibly looking for some revenge.) Meanwhile, the Jets will have a week where they'll be overpraised by everyone (except me, of course.) Yet another game that has a "huge pin in our balloon" feeling about it.
Am I saying I expect them to lose to Tennessee? No. That's the best thing to come out of the first two games - with this defense, I don't expect this team to lose to anyone.
Will I be surprised if they lose to Tennessee? No. That's a good team, an experienced team used to winning and used to dealing with adversity. This Jets team hasn't had to deal with bad times yet.
What I do know for sure is this - just as I am resisting the urge to overpraise them after this Pats win, if they do lose to the Titans, I will try to resist the urge to over-criticize them.
Unless, of course, Sanchez throws four picks and they let Kerry Collins throw for 400 yards. Then the whole thing is off.
Monday, September 21, 2009
The Giants Two Weeks In
I had wanted to share my thoughts on the Giants anyway, but after reading the preceeding post I was compelled to do so in short order.
With two weeks in the books certain trends are definitely developing. Most alarmingly is the lack of touchdown conversions in the red zone. Also of somewhat glaring concern are the gashing off tackle runs given up to Portis, Jones and Barber.
There is certainly no reason to panic as this 2-0 start is not a mirage but two hard fought divisional victories. The Giants will be a better team by the end of October so any division wins are the proverbial money in the bank.
Quarterback: Eli is certainly unique, he lulls you to sleep with his inaccuracies and seemingly emotionless play but fosters fervor with his ferocity in the clutch moments. Failing to cash in "green zone" opportunities is cause for concern. A stronger running game and more creative play calls would help but he needs to find Boss and look to attack the end zone. It is really difficult to tell if his check downs are warranted without the game film but there are an inordinate number of passes to backs and crossing receivers well short of the goal line. Another thing to watch for is that Manningham and Smith are quicker in and out of their breaks than Plax or Toomer were which requires an adjustment period for Eli. You gotta believe that Eli will be able to adjust to his receivers getting open quicker, the one thing to watch for is he has less room to be wild high than he did with Plax and Toomer.
Bottom Line: While maddening at times, there are few Quarterbacks in the league who deliver as regularly in the clutch and even fewer who could do it under the hot lights of New York. For the Giants to win the division and have a shot to play into February he needs to be more productive in the green zone and adjust to his smaller, quicker receivers.
Running Backs: Not much to say other than Jacobs is as fearsome a weapon as there is in football and he continues to improve. Both he and Bradshaw should be able to put up better numbers as teams adjust to respect the growing pass game and can't put 8 in the box on the early downs. Madison Hedgecock needs to continue to pave the way and provide the lead as he's done in the past. Wouldn't hurt for him to hold on to a pass in the flat once in a while.
Receivers: Great start in general. Steve Smith is a premier 3rd down receiver with sneaky speed. Probably as close to a young Amani Toomer as you could hope for but with a better knack for getting downfield between the numbers. Manningham is electric combining great hands, precision and a burst. He was the number 1 at Michigan and is starting to prove that faith will be rewarded. The little I saw of Nicks is impressive, as the season progresses I believe he will pass Hixon for playing time. Hixon's effectiveness as a deep threat is less important with the emergence of Manningham. Hixon has demonstrated game breaking speed but his hands have not always been up to par. What was once considered a big question mark is presenting itself as an asset.
O Line/TE: Simply the best offensive line in the game. Speed of the Cowboys front 7 provided some problems in the run game last night but they kept Eli upright and play with a versatility and precision that drives the offense. Certainly you would like more run production near the goal line in the first two games but improvement will come and they played against two excellent defensive lines. For the team to fully realize its potential Kevin Boss needs to become a more viable option in the pass game.
Defensive Line: Has to be the strength of the team. Somewhat disappointing in the Dallas game with the lack of pressure on Romo leading to sacks and hurries. The losses of Canty and Tuck clearly hurt in the run defense. I dont think teams will succeed running the football against the Giants the way the Cowboys did last night. I also attribute much of the difficulty to the linebackers. While Osi needs to hold the point of attack better on each of the big runs to his side, Michael Boley got sucked inside and walled off. Robbins and Cofield have done a good job getting inside push.
Linebackers: Quite certainly the biggest cause for concern on the team. The Giants went out and got Boley to fill the role that was vacated by Kawika Mitchell. A backer who could equally play the run game and cover. Based on last night I hope he covers better than he plays the run. Iam willing to give him the benefit of the doubt since he missed most of training camp and it was apparently very hot and humid on the field last night. Danny Clark is a little past his prime and I would look for Ryan Kehl, Chase Blackburn and Gerris Wilkerson to start to transition into that spot as the year goes on. Anthony Pierce clearly has limitations but he is the defensive leader and does an excellent job in recognition and audible calls. You can win with Pierce at MLB. This group will go a long way in determining how far the Giants go.
Secondary: Without perhaps its best corner in Aaron Ross and its nickel back Dockery the Secondary has performed above expectation. Other than some tackling issues in one on one situations there is little to complain about. The group lead by prototypical Miami safety Phillips has become opportunistic, holding onto the sure intercepts. Probably the second most pleasant surprise of the season thus far behind the receivers. The lack of depth and growing list of injuries is a substantial cause for concern.
The kicking game is excellent, Feagles is the best directional punter in the history of the NFL and Tynes makes you feel confident every time he lines up a big kick.
You also have to feel good about the Coaching. Coughlin has built a team in his own image, tough, relentless, disciplined and precise. These characteristics, as mujch as any, were the difference between the Giants and Cowboys.
With two weeks in the books certain trends are definitely developing. Most alarmingly is the lack of touchdown conversions in the red zone. Also of somewhat glaring concern are the gashing off tackle runs given up to Portis, Jones and Barber.
There is certainly no reason to panic as this 2-0 start is not a mirage but two hard fought divisional victories. The Giants will be a better team by the end of October so any division wins are the proverbial money in the bank.
Quarterback: Eli is certainly unique, he lulls you to sleep with his inaccuracies and seemingly emotionless play but fosters fervor with his ferocity in the clutch moments. Failing to cash in "green zone" opportunities is cause for concern. A stronger running game and more creative play calls would help but he needs to find Boss and look to attack the end zone. It is really difficult to tell if his check downs are warranted without the game film but there are an inordinate number of passes to backs and crossing receivers well short of the goal line. Another thing to watch for is that Manningham and Smith are quicker in and out of their breaks than Plax or Toomer were which requires an adjustment period for Eli. You gotta believe that Eli will be able to adjust to his receivers getting open quicker, the one thing to watch for is he has less room to be wild high than he did with Plax and Toomer.
Bottom Line: While maddening at times, there are few Quarterbacks in the league who deliver as regularly in the clutch and even fewer who could do it under the hot lights of New York. For the Giants to win the division and have a shot to play into February he needs to be more productive in the green zone and adjust to his smaller, quicker receivers.
Running Backs: Not much to say other than Jacobs is as fearsome a weapon as there is in football and he continues to improve. Both he and Bradshaw should be able to put up better numbers as teams adjust to respect the growing pass game and can't put 8 in the box on the early downs. Madison Hedgecock needs to continue to pave the way and provide the lead as he's done in the past. Wouldn't hurt for him to hold on to a pass in the flat once in a while.
Receivers: Great start in general. Steve Smith is a premier 3rd down receiver with sneaky speed. Probably as close to a young Amani Toomer as you could hope for but with a better knack for getting downfield between the numbers. Manningham is electric combining great hands, precision and a burst. He was the number 1 at Michigan and is starting to prove that faith will be rewarded. The little I saw of Nicks is impressive, as the season progresses I believe he will pass Hixon for playing time. Hixon's effectiveness as a deep threat is less important with the emergence of Manningham. Hixon has demonstrated game breaking speed but his hands have not always been up to par. What was once considered a big question mark is presenting itself as an asset.
O Line/TE: Simply the best offensive line in the game. Speed of the Cowboys front 7 provided some problems in the run game last night but they kept Eli upright and play with a versatility and precision that drives the offense. Certainly you would like more run production near the goal line in the first two games but improvement will come and they played against two excellent defensive lines. For the team to fully realize its potential Kevin Boss needs to become a more viable option in the pass game.
Defensive Line: Has to be the strength of the team. Somewhat disappointing in the Dallas game with the lack of pressure on Romo leading to sacks and hurries. The losses of Canty and Tuck clearly hurt in the run defense. I dont think teams will succeed running the football against the Giants the way the Cowboys did last night. I also attribute much of the difficulty to the linebackers. While Osi needs to hold the point of attack better on each of the big runs to his side, Michael Boley got sucked inside and walled off. Robbins and Cofield have done a good job getting inside push.
Linebackers: Quite certainly the biggest cause for concern on the team. The Giants went out and got Boley to fill the role that was vacated by Kawika Mitchell. A backer who could equally play the run game and cover. Based on last night I hope he covers better than he plays the run. Iam willing to give him the benefit of the doubt since he missed most of training camp and it was apparently very hot and humid on the field last night. Danny Clark is a little past his prime and I would look for Ryan Kehl, Chase Blackburn and Gerris Wilkerson to start to transition into that spot as the year goes on. Anthony Pierce clearly has limitations but he is the defensive leader and does an excellent job in recognition and audible calls. You can win with Pierce at MLB. This group will go a long way in determining how far the Giants go.
Secondary: Without perhaps its best corner in Aaron Ross and its nickel back Dockery the Secondary has performed above expectation. Other than some tackling issues in one on one situations there is little to complain about. The group lead by prototypical Miami safety Phillips has become opportunistic, holding onto the sure intercepts. Probably the second most pleasant surprise of the season thus far behind the receivers. The lack of depth and growing list of injuries is a substantial cause for concern.
The kicking game is excellent, Feagles is the best directional punter in the history of the NFL and Tynes makes you feel confident every time he lines up a big kick.
You also have to feel good about the Coaching. Coughlin has built a team in his own image, tough, relentless, disciplined and precise. These characteristics, as mujch as any, were the difference between the Giants and Cowboys.
The Continuing Evolution of Eli
As everyone who read this blog knows I am a continual defender of Eli, he is my man crush. Eli is a work in progress, as are all careers. Yes there are flashier QB’s (Peyton, Brees, Rivers) there are QB’s who the chicks fawn all over (Big Ben, Brady) but non of that is what Eli is about. He is about leadership and winning as a team, and not to say those other guys arent and I am not saying Eli is the best in the league. I have argued that since his playoff run he is in the upper echelon of QB’s and he keeps making improvements every year.
Last night midway through the 2nd quarter I was embroiled in a text-a-thon with my good friend Mr. Reinitz and all he was doing was complaining about Eli. This throw was bad, and that throw was bad, he needs to play better blah blah blah. I tried to calm him down and tell him to wait until the end of the game to completely analyze his performance. He complained about the Giants red zone inefficiency (which is a concern), and as always blamed everything on Eli. Not to say anything of the offensive line who for some reason cant block inside the 20 or some of the most uncreative play calling in the world by Kevin Gilbride. All that, along with Eli’s pkay inside the 20 has contributed to a heavy dose of Lawrence Tynes FG’s, but it is not Eli exclusively. The people who hate Eli always make him the blame for everything. Damn him for interrupting Taylor Swifts speech.
Again, what we all forget is the harder the spot, the more hectic the situation the type of guy you want in the pocket is a guy like Manning. Calm, cool, collected, trusting in his line, backs, receivers, all of them. He threw a ball last night after scrambling to a guy I have never heard of. His overall numbers were excellent, 25/38 65% 330 yards and 2 TD’s. His fourth quarter numbers were even more ridiculous, 10-12 83% 140 yards and 1 TD and the game winning drive with under 4 minutes to go.
Below are his numbers from 2005-2009, his totals, his 3rd down numbers and his 4th quarter numbers. They are completion %, INT’s, and QB Rating
As you see he just continues to improve (obviously this year is a small sample size).
Totals
52.8---17---75.9
57.7---18---77.0
56.1---20---73.9
60.3---10---86.4
67.2---1---103.2
3rd down
51.2---7---71.5
47.6---7---64.9
58.3---7---73.3
62.0---2---93.1
73.9---0---146.9
4th quarter
57.2---4---85.7
61.2---8---72.1
55.7---6---74.3
63.6---2---93.8
77.3---0---123.3
Last night midway through the 2nd quarter I was embroiled in a text-a-thon with my good friend Mr. Reinitz and all he was doing was complaining about Eli. This throw was bad, and that throw was bad, he needs to play better blah blah blah. I tried to calm him down and tell him to wait until the end of the game to completely analyze his performance. He complained about the Giants red zone inefficiency (which is a concern), and as always blamed everything on Eli. Not to say anything of the offensive line who for some reason cant block inside the 20 or some of the most uncreative play calling in the world by Kevin Gilbride. All that, along with Eli’s pkay inside the 20 has contributed to a heavy dose of Lawrence Tynes FG’s, but it is not Eli exclusively. The people who hate Eli always make him the blame for everything. Damn him for interrupting Taylor Swifts speech.
Again, what we all forget is the harder the spot, the more hectic the situation the type of guy you want in the pocket is a guy like Manning. Calm, cool, collected, trusting in his line, backs, receivers, all of them. He threw a ball last night after scrambling to a guy I have never heard of. His overall numbers were excellent, 25/38 65% 330 yards and 2 TD’s. His fourth quarter numbers were even more ridiculous, 10-12 83% 140 yards and 1 TD and the game winning drive with under 4 minutes to go.
Below are his numbers from 2005-2009, his totals, his 3rd down numbers and his 4th quarter numbers. They are completion %, INT’s, and QB Rating
As you see he just continues to improve (obviously this year is a small sample size).
Totals
52.8---17---75.9
57.7---18---77.0
56.1---20---73.9
60.3---10---86.4
67.2---1---103.2
3rd down
51.2---7---71.5
47.6---7---64.9
58.3---7---73.3
62.0---2---93.1
73.9---0---146.9
4th quarter
57.2---4---85.7
61.2---8---72.1
55.7---6---74.3
63.6---2---93.8
77.3---0---123.3
The Continuing Evolution of Eli
As everyone who read this blog knows I am a continual defender of Eli, he is my man crush. Eli is a work in progress, as are all careers. Yes there are flashier QB’s (Peyton, Brees, Rivers) there are QB’s who the chicks fawn all over (Big Ben, Brady) but non of that is what Eli is about. He is about leadership and winning as a team, and not to say those other guys arent and I am not saying Eli is the best in the league. I have argued that since his playoff run he is in the upper echelon of QB’s and he keeps making improvements every year.
Last night midway through the 2nd quarter I was embroiled in a text-a-thon with my good friend Mr. Reinitz and all he was doing was complaining about Eli. This throw was bad, and that throw was bad, he needs to play better blah blah blah. I tried to calm him down and tell him to wait until the end of the game to completely analyze his performance. He complained about the Giants red zone inefficiency (which is a concern), and as always blamed everything on Eli. Not to say anything of the offensive line who for some reason cant block inside the 20 or some of the most uncreative play calling in the world by Kevin Gilbride. All that, along with Eli’s pkay inside the 20 has contributed to a heavy dose of Lawrence Tynes FG’s, but it is not Eli exclusively. The people who hate Eli always make him the blame for everything. Damn him for interrupting Taylor Swifts speech.
Again, what we all forget is the harder the spot, the more hectic the situation the type of guy you want in the pocket is a guy like Manning. Calm, cool, collected, trusting in his line, backs, receivers, all of them. He threw a ball last night after scrambling to a guy I have never heard of. His overall numbers were excellent, 25/38 65% 330 yards and 2 TD’s. His fourth quarter numbers were even more ridiculous, 10-12 83% 140 yards and 1 TD and the game winning drive with under 4 minutes to go.
Below are his numbers from 2005-2009, his totals, his 3rd down numbers and his 4th quarter numbers. They are completion %, INT’s, and QB Rating
As you see he just continues to improve (obviously this year is a small sample size).
Totals
52.8---17---75.9
57.7---18---77.0
56.1---20---73.9
60.3---10---86.4
67.2---1---103.2
3rd down
51.2---7---71.5
47.6---7---64.9
58.3---7---73.3
62.0---2---93.1
73.9---0---146.9
4th quarter
57.2---4---85.7
61.2---8---72.1
55.7---6---74.3
63.6---2---93.8
77.3---0---123.3
Last night midway through the 2nd quarter I was embroiled in a text-a-thon with my good friend Mr. Reinitz and all he was doing was complaining about Eli. This throw was bad, and that throw was bad, he needs to play better blah blah blah. I tried to calm him down and tell him to wait until the end of the game to completely analyze his performance. He complained about the Giants red zone inefficiency (which is a concern), and as always blamed everything on Eli. Not to say anything of the offensive line who for some reason cant block inside the 20 or some of the most uncreative play calling in the world by Kevin Gilbride. All that, along with Eli’s pkay inside the 20 has contributed to a heavy dose of Lawrence Tynes FG’s, but it is not Eli exclusively. The people who hate Eli always make him the blame for everything. Damn him for interrupting Taylor Swifts speech.
Again, what we all forget is the harder the spot, the more hectic the situation the type of guy you want in the pocket is a guy like Manning. Calm, cool, collected, trusting in his line, backs, receivers, all of them. He threw a ball last night after scrambling to a guy I have never heard of. His overall numbers were excellent, 25/38 65% 330 yards and 2 TD’s. His fourth quarter numbers were even more ridiculous, 10-12 83% 140 yards and 1 TD and the game winning drive with under 4 minutes to go.
Below are his numbers from 2005-2009, his totals, his 3rd down numbers and his 4th quarter numbers. They are completion %, INT’s, and QB Rating
As you see he just continues to improve (obviously this year is a small sample size).
Totals
52.8---17---75.9
57.7---18---77.0
56.1---20---73.9
60.3---10---86.4
67.2---1---103.2
3rd down
51.2---7---71.5
47.6---7---64.9
58.3---7---73.3
62.0---2---93.1
73.9---0---146.9
4th quarter
57.2---4---85.7
61.2---8---72.1
55.7---6---74.3
63.6---2---93.8
77.3---0---123.3
Friday, September 18, 2009
WEEK 3, Saturday Sept. 19
5 Games to Watch
#8 Cal vs. Minnesota- The Cal Bears think they can challenge the Trojans for Pac-10 supremacy. This interesting road game against a fast improving Minnesota team. The Gophers had a good road win at Syracuse and home win against Air Force. Third year QB Adam Weber has been impressive and a lackluster Cal defense may struggle with him. Cal, like most Pac-10 teams, wants to air it out and on the turf in Minneapolis this could be a high scoring affair.
Florida State vs. #7 BYU- We all know about the Cougars big upset to start off the season. They followed that up by drubbing Tulane and now they invite the big bad Seminoles into Provo. Really, the Noles in Provo? Ten years ago this would have never happened. The Seminoles searching for glory’s past opened with a thrilling loss to the Miami Hurricanes. Unfortunately they had Jacksonville State next on the schedule, who lead the game with under 5 minutes to go. The Noles escaped with a 19-9 victory and now better be ready for the strong right arm Max Hall.
Connecticut vs. Baylor- Baylor has perhaps the most spectacular playmaking athlete in the country in QB Robert Griffin; in a game last season as a true Frosh he ran for over 200 yards and 2 TD‘s. He helped lead the Bears to a victory in Winston-Salem in the opening game of the season. Now Randy Edsall’s Huskies come calling. Uconn may be down a little this year, but it is still a stern test for the Bears allowing another BCS team into their house.
Kansas State vs. UCLA- K-State has found some renwed enthusiasm behind their program with the unretirement of legendary coach Bill Snyder. Though he lost his signal caller to the 1st round of the NFL Draft the fans in the little apple still think they can be a bowl team. UCLA come off an impressive road win in Neyland Stadium, however they lost the services of their starting QB Kevin Prince. Should be an interesting game for two teams fighting for some national relevance.
Navy vs. Pittsburgh- The Pitt Panthers have a shot to win the Big Least, which isn’t saying much. As we saw Navy is for real after hanging with the Buckeyes in the horseshoe during week one. We know Navy is going to run, run and then run some more. The want to play ball control and try and keep the score down. Pitt held Buffalo to only 67 yards rushing last week, and they are a team that likes to keep it on the ground. Pitt itself has a stud running back in Dion Lewis who is averaging over 7 yards a carry.
4 Players to See
Mike Hartline, QB Kentucky- Wildcat fans are expecting big things form Hartline this season. He came in with a big reputation and solidified the starting job midway through his Sophomore season, last year. The Cats want to stay relevant in the SEC East and to do so Hartline needs to improve on his 9/8 TD/INT ration and his 55.3% completions. This week he takes on a weak Louisville team in preperation for the Gators next week.
Marshwan Gilyard, WR Cincinnati- Other receivers may get more press, but Marshwan Gilyard is as good as anyone in the country. Last year he caught 81 balls for 1200 yards and 11 TD’s. He has picked up where he left off last season with 14 catches and 3 TD’s in two games. This week he and QB Tony Pike take the show on the road to Corvallis to take on the Beavers in an intriguing match-up.
T.J. Yates, QB North Carolina - Yates, like Hartline above, was brought in with a big reputation and has finally wrapped his arms around the starting job as a Junior. His career to this point has been unspectacular to say the least. Last week in a nice win over Uconn he showed some that potential, completing 71% of his passes but threw 2 interceptions. This week the Heels have their last tune-up before ACC play starts so he needs to get his act together.
Taylor Mayes, S Southern Cal- The Trojans travel up to Washington to take on one of their own in head coach Steve Sarkisian. Mays is as good a safety as there is in the country in both run and pass defense. Huskies QB Jake Locker has thrown the ball well this year but with Mayes lurking it may be harder.
#8 Cal vs. Minnesota- The Cal Bears think they can challenge the Trojans for Pac-10 supremacy. This interesting road game against a fast improving Minnesota team. The Gophers had a good road win at Syracuse and home win against Air Force. Third year QB Adam Weber has been impressive and a lackluster Cal defense may struggle with him. Cal, like most Pac-10 teams, wants to air it out and on the turf in Minneapolis this could be a high scoring affair.
Florida State vs. #7 BYU- We all know about the Cougars big upset to start off the season. They followed that up by drubbing Tulane and now they invite the big bad Seminoles into Provo. Really, the Noles in Provo? Ten years ago this would have never happened. The Seminoles searching for glory’s past opened with a thrilling loss to the Miami Hurricanes. Unfortunately they had Jacksonville State next on the schedule, who lead the game with under 5 minutes to go. The Noles escaped with a 19-9 victory and now better be ready for the strong right arm Max Hall.
Connecticut vs. Baylor- Baylor has perhaps the most spectacular playmaking athlete in the country in QB Robert Griffin; in a game last season as a true Frosh he ran for over 200 yards and 2 TD‘s. He helped lead the Bears to a victory in Winston-Salem in the opening game of the season. Now Randy Edsall’s Huskies come calling. Uconn may be down a little this year, but it is still a stern test for the Bears allowing another BCS team into their house.
Kansas State vs. UCLA- K-State has found some renwed enthusiasm behind their program with the unretirement of legendary coach Bill Snyder. Though he lost his signal caller to the 1st round of the NFL Draft the fans in the little apple still think they can be a bowl team. UCLA come off an impressive road win in Neyland Stadium, however they lost the services of their starting QB Kevin Prince. Should be an interesting game for two teams fighting for some national relevance.
Navy vs. Pittsburgh- The Pitt Panthers have a shot to win the Big Least, which isn’t saying much. As we saw Navy is for real after hanging with the Buckeyes in the horseshoe during week one. We know Navy is going to run, run and then run some more. The want to play ball control and try and keep the score down. Pitt held Buffalo to only 67 yards rushing last week, and they are a team that likes to keep it on the ground. Pitt itself has a stud running back in Dion Lewis who is averaging over 7 yards a carry.
4 Players to See
Mike Hartline, QB Kentucky- Wildcat fans are expecting big things form Hartline this season. He came in with a big reputation and solidified the starting job midway through his Sophomore season, last year. The Cats want to stay relevant in the SEC East and to do so Hartline needs to improve on his 9/8 TD/INT ration and his 55.3% completions. This week he takes on a weak Louisville team in preperation for the Gators next week.
Marshwan Gilyard, WR Cincinnati- Other receivers may get more press, but Marshwan Gilyard is as good as anyone in the country. Last year he caught 81 balls for 1200 yards and 11 TD’s. He has picked up where he left off last season with 14 catches and 3 TD’s in two games. This week he and QB Tony Pike take the show on the road to Corvallis to take on the Beavers in an intriguing match-up.
T.J. Yates, QB North Carolina - Yates, like Hartline above, was brought in with a big reputation and has finally wrapped his arms around the starting job as a Junior. His career to this point has been unspectacular to say the least. Last week in a nice win over Uconn he showed some that potential, completing 71% of his passes but threw 2 interceptions. This week the Heels have their last tune-up before ACC play starts so he needs to get his act together.
Taylor Mayes, S Southern Cal- The Trojans travel up to Washington to take on one of their own in head coach Steve Sarkisian. Mays is as good a safety as there is in the country in both run and pass defense. Huskies QB Jake Locker has thrown the ball well this year but with Mayes lurking it may be harder.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
A Voice of Change
As most of my loyal readers of my two blogs know I don’t often do obituaries, I don’t think everyone deserves to be remembered and then there are some that I am not qualified to write a remembrance of, like Michael Jackson. Last night in a Connecticut hospital one of the pivotal voices of the most important musical generation passed away due to complications with chemotherapy. The voice was that of Mary Travers of the famed folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary.
Mary performed during the early 50’s as a backup singer to folk legend Pete Seeger. In 1961 in Greenwich Village the group Peter, Paul and Mary was formed. The became an instant success and helped revive the genre of folk music. Their first album was released in early ‘62 with the Seeger classic “If I had a Hammer.” They shot up the charts and in early 1963 all three of their albums were in the top six selling LP’s on the billboard charts. Their most timeless song was the tale of a little boy’s innocence lost in “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
They also where instrumental in the career of musical pioneer Bob Dylan and supported his music. On their third studio album the released their version of two Dylan written songs, “Blowin in the Wind” and “Don’t Think Twice its Alright.” Peter Yarrow claims that it was Mary Travers who was the political champion of the group. She was a fierce defender of civil rights and one of the original voices of the anti war generation. During the famed March on Washington the trio performed Dylan’s “Blowin in the Wind.”
The group split in 1971 to pursue solo careers. Mary released 5 solo albums that never resonated with critics or fans like the trio had. In 1978 the group got back together and over the past 30 years released 17 albums and toured extensively. Their new incarnation was known a lot more for recording progressive children’s music as education and racism among children became major causes for the group.
Travers and her partners were the unmistakable harmonious voices of a generation. Their music and activism helped shape the time they lived in and touched the music world forever. The death of Travers reminds us all that the generation that helped bring us so much social change and reform is getting older and they will be missed.
“If you miss the train I’m on, you will know that I am gone,
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles”
MARY ALLIN TRAVERS
NOV. 9, 1936 - SEPT. 16, 2009
Mary performed during the early 50’s as a backup singer to folk legend Pete Seeger. In 1961 in Greenwich Village the group Peter, Paul and Mary was formed. The became an instant success and helped revive the genre of folk music. Their first album was released in early ‘62 with the Seeger classic “If I had a Hammer.” They shot up the charts and in early 1963 all three of their albums were in the top six selling LP’s on the billboard charts. Their most timeless song was the tale of a little boy’s innocence lost in “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
They also where instrumental in the career of musical pioneer Bob Dylan and supported his music. On their third studio album the released their version of two Dylan written songs, “Blowin in the Wind” and “Don’t Think Twice its Alright.” Peter Yarrow claims that it was Mary Travers who was the political champion of the group. She was a fierce defender of civil rights and one of the original voices of the anti war generation. During the famed March on Washington the trio performed Dylan’s “Blowin in the Wind.”
The group split in 1971 to pursue solo careers. Mary released 5 solo albums that never resonated with critics or fans like the trio had. In 1978 the group got back together and over the past 30 years released 17 albums and toured extensively. Their new incarnation was known a lot more for recording progressive children’s music as education and racism among children became major causes for the group.
Travers and her partners were the unmistakable harmonious voices of a generation. Their music and activism helped shape the time they lived in and touched the music world forever. The death of Travers reminds us all that the generation that helped bring us so much social change and reform is getting older and they will be missed.
“If you miss the train I’m on, you will know that I am gone,
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles”
MARY ALLIN TRAVERS
NOV. 9, 1936 - SEPT. 16, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Jeter’s Quest…for 4,000
Now all you Yankee haters are going to not want to read this thinking this is just the incoherent ramblings of an overzealous Yankees fan. But Jeter’s most recent accomplishment, becoming the all time Yankees leader in hits, allows for us to start think about his place in the history. He is the all time leader in hits for a shortstop, passing Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio earlier this year, and now he has surpassed Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Joe Dimaggio among others to be the most prolific hitter in the history of the sports most famous and accomplished franchise.
The next milestone is the 3,000 hit mark. A mark that 27 players in the history of the game have reached, and one milestone that has not been marred by the “steroid era” (Rafael Palmeiro being the only player who has tested positive to reach that mark). Jeter is probably going to the next to reach that mark, though Ken Griffey Jr. is 30 hits closer than Jeter. The only other current player likely to reach 3,000 hits is Alex Rodriguez who is two years younger than Jeter and already has over 2,500 hits.
During the game the other night Steve Phillips was the one to mention that Jeter has an outside shot at 4,000 hits, which when you first hear that number seems so mind numbingly impossible. The only two people with 4,000 hits are Ty Cobb and Pete Rose, the next closest is Hank Aaron with 3,771. Jeter is in his 15th season at age 35 and will reach the 3,000 hit plateau early in 2011, his 17th season, so on the surface it seems unlikely for Jeter to get 4,000, but just follow me for a minute.
Jeter has played in an average of 154 games per season, not taking into account the 2003 season where he played in only 119 games. That season he missed 6 weeks because of a freak shoulder injury he suffered in a collision at third base. That was the only major injury of his career and he has shown no ill effects from it, two years later playing in a career high 159 games. So health shouldn’t be much of a concern, now lets look at production.
Jeter averages 197 hits per season, and there is no reason to think that production will take a sharp decline anytime soon. In fact, over the past 4 seasons he has averaged 202 hits per year. If Jeter were to have 3 more seasons at his current production (197) that will put him at 3,337 hits. Now lets say as he approach’s 40 he starts to take on a decline, not playing as many games and his hits declining to 155 for another 3 seasons, that leaves him at 3,802 hits.
I think those are conservative estimates, and if Jeter is still producing at a decent clip I don’t see why he wont try and go for this mark. Normally I agree that Jeter doesn’t care about individual accolades, highlighted the other night when he said he wasn’t thinking about the hits record because his team was losing 2-0 at the time.
It will be very interesting to see if will go for that mark. Some people have said he is still behind the Yankee greats Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle, Berra etc. However, if he were to make a run at 4,000 or even reach that mark he would be among the 2 or 3 greatest Yankees of all time.
The next milestone is the 3,000 hit mark. A mark that 27 players in the history of the game have reached, and one milestone that has not been marred by the “steroid era” (Rafael Palmeiro being the only player who has tested positive to reach that mark). Jeter is probably going to the next to reach that mark, though Ken Griffey Jr. is 30 hits closer than Jeter. The only other current player likely to reach 3,000 hits is Alex Rodriguez who is two years younger than Jeter and already has over 2,500 hits.
During the game the other night Steve Phillips was the one to mention that Jeter has an outside shot at 4,000 hits, which when you first hear that number seems so mind numbingly impossible. The only two people with 4,000 hits are Ty Cobb and Pete Rose, the next closest is Hank Aaron with 3,771. Jeter is in his 15th season at age 35 and will reach the 3,000 hit plateau early in 2011, his 17th season, so on the surface it seems unlikely for Jeter to get 4,000, but just follow me for a minute.
Jeter has played in an average of 154 games per season, not taking into account the 2003 season where he played in only 119 games. That season he missed 6 weeks because of a freak shoulder injury he suffered in a collision at third base. That was the only major injury of his career and he has shown no ill effects from it, two years later playing in a career high 159 games. So health shouldn’t be much of a concern, now lets look at production.
Jeter averages 197 hits per season, and there is no reason to think that production will take a sharp decline anytime soon. In fact, over the past 4 seasons he has averaged 202 hits per year. If Jeter were to have 3 more seasons at his current production (197) that will put him at 3,337 hits. Now lets say as he approach’s 40 he starts to take on a decline, not playing as many games and his hits declining to 155 for another 3 seasons, that leaves him at 3,802 hits.
I think those are conservative estimates, and if Jeter is still producing at a decent clip I don’t see why he wont try and go for this mark. Normally I agree that Jeter doesn’t care about individual accolades, highlighted the other night when he said he wasn’t thinking about the hits record because his team was losing 2-0 at the time.
It will be very interesting to see if will go for that mark. Some people have said he is still behind the Yankee greats Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle, Berra etc. However, if he were to make a run at 4,000 or even reach that mark he would be among the 2 or 3 greatest Yankees of all time.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Here Come The Warm Jets: Week 1 2009
Anyone else see that coming?
I mean, sure, it wasn't unreasonable to pick the Jets to win this game. Houston is improving, but they're not an elite team by any means.
But did anyone see the Jets just flat-out dominating them like that?
Make no mistake, this was about as dominating a win as the Jets have ever had. I could even tell that trying to watch the game while there were forty of my relatives at my parents' house.
How dominating? All you need to know are these numbers:
# of points scored by the Houston offense: 0
Yards gained by the Jets offense vs gained by the Houston offense: 462 - 183
Turnovers by Mark Sanchez: 1
Sacks of Mark Sanchez: 0
The defense was outstanding. They were aggressive, they were mean, and they stole the will of the Texans early on. In the first series, Bart Scott hit Matt Schaub really hard right as he threw it. That set the tone. David Harris was terrorizing anyone on Houston that thought about trying to gain some yards. Kris Jenkins owned the middle. Darrelle Revis completely eliminated Andre Johnson from the game, and he's one of the top receivers in football.
This is what we hoped the defense would look like under Rex Ryan. Hard hitting, aggressive, intimidating, and fun to watch.
The offense was solid if unspectacular. The running game wasn't great in the early part of the game, but by the second half they wore the Texans down (see: Thomas Jones' 38-yard TD late in the game.) Cotchery and Stuckey did some great things, especially after the catch. Dustin Keller was a potent threat.
And Sanchez looked good. Nothing really to complain about, given he's a young rookie starting his first NFL game, on the road.
So, yeah, this win feels good. Really good. Startlingly good.
That said: one game does not a season make.
We don't have to go back too far in Jets history to know that. Just think about the difference last year between the Tennessee game (dominating win - are we the best team in the AFC?) and the Denver game (holy crap this team blows) which were only one week apart.
Which means there is no need to get too far ahead of ourselves. This game was very promising. Now let's see if it can continue.
The questions to ponder going into next weekend's game against the Pats:
- Can Darrelle Revis do to Randy Moss what he did to Andre Johnson?
- Can the linebackers disrupt Tom Brady's rhythm?
- Can Kris Jenkins dominate the middle every game as he did in this one?
- Will the Jets be able to run the ball consistently against a better defense like the Pats have?
- Can they reduce the number of third and longs? (they had too many of them in this game, and while Sanchez was excellent on these in this game, you can't count on that happening all the time.)
- Can they reduce the number of penalties (10 for 80 yards in this game = not good at all, also, see above about third and longs)?
- Can Sanchez continue to not turn the ball over very much?
- Can Rex Ryan fire the team up every week as well as he did this week, or, how do teams that use emotion like this handle the dog days of the schedule?
Ah, you know, what? Let's stop with all the questions, and just savor the moment. We can fire up the pessimism-mobile after the Pats game, if we have to.
The Jets, for one day, looked as good as any team in the NFL. That's good enough for the early part of the first week of the season.
I mean, sure, it wasn't unreasonable to pick the Jets to win this game. Houston is improving, but they're not an elite team by any means.
But did anyone see the Jets just flat-out dominating them like that?
Make no mistake, this was about as dominating a win as the Jets have ever had. I could even tell that trying to watch the game while there were forty of my relatives at my parents' house.
How dominating? All you need to know are these numbers:
# of points scored by the Houston offense: 0
Yards gained by the Jets offense vs gained by the Houston offense: 462 - 183
Turnovers by Mark Sanchez: 1
Sacks of Mark Sanchez: 0
The defense was outstanding. They were aggressive, they were mean, and they stole the will of the Texans early on. In the first series, Bart Scott hit Matt Schaub really hard right as he threw it. That set the tone. David Harris was terrorizing anyone on Houston that thought about trying to gain some yards. Kris Jenkins owned the middle. Darrelle Revis completely eliminated Andre Johnson from the game, and he's one of the top receivers in football.
This is what we hoped the defense would look like under Rex Ryan. Hard hitting, aggressive, intimidating, and fun to watch.
The offense was solid if unspectacular. The running game wasn't great in the early part of the game, but by the second half they wore the Texans down (see: Thomas Jones' 38-yard TD late in the game.) Cotchery and Stuckey did some great things, especially after the catch. Dustin Keller was a potent threat.
And Sanchez looked good. Nothing really to complain about, given he's a young rookie starting his first NFL game, on the road.
So, yeah, this win feels good. Really good. Startlingly good.
That said: one game does not a season make.
We don't have to go back too far in Jets history to know that. Just think about the difference last year between the Tennessee game (dominating win - are we the best team in the AFC?) and the Denver game (holy crap this team blows) which were only one week apart.
Which means there is no need to get too far ahead of ourselves. This game was very promising. Now let's see if it can continue.
The questions to ponder going into next weekend's game against the Pats:
- Can Darrelle Revis do to Randy Moss what he did to Andre Johnson?
- Can the linebackers disrupt Tom Brady's rhythm?
- Can Kris Jenkins dominate the middle every game as he did in this one?
- Will the Jets be able to run the ball consistently against a better defense like the Pats have?
- Can they reduce the number of third and longs? (they had too many of them in this game, and while Sanchez was excellent on these in this game, you can't count on that happening all the time.)
- Can they reduce the number of penalties (10 for 80 yards in this game = not good at all, also, see above about third and longs)?
- Can Sanchez continue to not turn the ball over very much?
- Can Rex Ryan fire the team up every week as well as he did this week, or, how do teams that use emotion like this handle the dog days of the schedule?
Ah, you know, what? Let's stop with all the questions, and just savor the moment. We can fire up the pessimism-mobile after the Pats game, if we have to.
The Jets, for one day, looked as good as any team in the NFL. That's good enough for the early part of the first week of the season.
Monday, September 14, 2009
The Week in Review, 9/7-9/13
(And why we love Sports)
During this week I listened to interviews, saw news stories, or heard extensive talk on these negative sports subject: Pete Rose gambling, Donta Stallworth manslaughter, Michael Vick dog fighting, six Toledo players gambling on their own games, possible labor strife in the NFL and the always dreaded PED’s in baseball. All that stuff just wears me out when listening to talk radio, watching television or just discussing sports with my friends. But, like that one golf shot you hit every round, something always brings us back, and that is the great games and performances.
This week college and pro football (maybe the two most popular sports in America) started, the baseball season is winding down and looking toward another season of great playoff action, and some of the individual sports are coming to exciting conclusions of their seasons. Tennis is in the heart of the US Open, to me the two best weeks in all of tennis, golf’s newly tweaked Fed Ex cup system with Tiger Woods in the thick of things is coming to a conclusion and even if you are an Auto Racing fan the Race for the Chase came to head this weekend in Richmond.
MONDAY
Florida State and Miami capped off the opening weekend of college football with an instant classic. Miami drove down the field with under 5 minutes for the go ahead touchdown. FSU then marched right down inside the 10 yard line with less than :30 seconds to go. Miami got 4 straight stops to win the game, in heartbreaking fashion for the Noles.
In Flushing, American teen sensation Melanie Oudin continued her miracle run at the US Open, by defeating the #13 see Nadia Petrova.
TUESDAY
One of the slower days of the week. Just action at the US Open, where recently unretired Kim Clijsters continued her march toward winning the US Open as an unseeded player. Also, Rafael Nadal and Frenchman Gael Monfils played a brilliant 4 set match.
WEDNESDAY
Up in the Bronx just across the street from where so much baseball history was made, this night the new Yankee Stadium experienced its first night that will live in Yankee lore. Derek Jeter, the consummate professional, had a three hit night (not out of the ordinary) tying him for the all time hits record by a New York Yankee. Jeter has quietly climbed the list of all time greats for the greatest franchise in sports, and on this night he tied the immortal Lou Gehrig; in typical Jeter fashion with a hit to the opposite field. The crowd gave him a rousing ovation, including the visiting Rays, but Jeter was reluctant to accept the applause because his team was trailing at the time. What else would you expect?
In another borough the magical run of Melanie Oudin came to an end. As always the appreciative New York crowd gave her a well deserved ovation. There is nothing quite like tennis in Flushing, Queens on a cool summer evening in September.
THURSDAY
The NFL season got kicked off between the two best teams in the AFC from last season. The Steelers and Titans had a typical hard fought defensive battle which came down to overtime. As expected, Ben Roethlisberger lead his team down the field for a game winning field goal, much like last years Super Bowl game winning drive. No matter what has happened in the game Big Ben can always have a great drive at the end, its simply amazing.
College football had a wacky and wild Thursday night ACC match-up. Down in Atlanta the Clemson Tigers took on the Rambling Wreck. In the first half this game was all Georgia Tech. They scored on an 80 yard option play, a fake field goal and then Clemson lined up for a long FG but instead tried to pooch punt the ball and a Tech return man was waiting on it and took it 90 yards for a TD. Down 24-0 it looked as if Clemson would just get their doors blown off……not so fast my friend. Something clicked in the Clemson offense and they began to git big plays to CJ Spiller and Jacoby Ford en route to scoring 27 straight points. But Georgia Tech came back and kicked a game winning FG with under a minute to go, just a wild college football game
FRIDAY
Nothing too significant happened, no major college or pro football, tennis was rained out. Derek Jeter officially broke Gehrig’s record and his teammates stormed out of the dugout to congratulate him, a very classy move. All of what happened was just prelude to an unbelievable weekend to come.
SATURDAY
First we will talk about the lesser sports or individual sports if you will. Tiger Woods who started the week in second place in the Fed Ex cup standing decided enough was enough and shot a course record 62 to pull ahead at the BMW championship. In Flushing Kim Clijsters was in the process of owning Serena Williams when Williams flipped her lid. She repeatedly threatened a lines woman who called her for a foot fault and then was docked a point which happened to be match point. To me this was total bush league and just a way for her to end the match because she knew she was beaten.
Now to college football. Where to start? Houston rousing 21 point 4th quarter performance to beat #5 Oklahoma State (I’M A MAN). Georgia and South Carolina playing another classic as the usually do, ending when Stephen Garcia couldn’t put the Cock in the end zone on 4 consecutive plays inside the ten. The Clash in Columbus where true Frosh Matt Barkley calmly lead his team down the field in front of 100,000+ hostile fans scoring another victory for Southern Cal over Ohio State. Or the two former college powers Michigan and Notre Dame trying to recapture their glory. Looking like a Notre Dame victory most of the evening until the legend of Tate Forcier was born. Scrambling around like a mad man and hitting receivers on the run Forcier took his team right down the field throwing the game winning TD with 11 seconds to go. The best part of the game was Forcier celebrating with Coach Rodriguez and saying, “I told you so! I fucking told you so.”
SUNDAY
The first day of the NFL season provided us with plenty of storylines.
- Mark Sanchez and the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS, which I am sure you will read more about tomorrow in Dan’s weekly segment
- Obviously the Vikings, and how little they need Favre to do most games. Just hand the ball to AD (yes AD, his nickname AD, All Day).
- The unspectacular debut of Jay Cutler.
- The spectacular start of the season for Drew Brees. The Saints are like a video game. Now they have to figure out how to play defense, because they gave up 27 points to the Lions
- The calm cool easy victory for the NY Giants. They just win games. Why, because they have the best offensive and defensive lines in the entire game.
- The McNabb injury coupled with the falling of Jake Delhomme, will he or the Panthers recover?
- Matty Ice and the Falcons with new addition Tony Gonzalez
- And of course, the Bungles. Only the Bungles could lose that game in that fashion
Should be another great season of NFL football.
But again with all that negativity swirling around the sports world we have a week like this past one, that brings fans so much chance for joy.
During this week I listened to interviews, saw news stories, or heard extensive talk on these negative sports subject: Pete Rose gambling, Donta Stallworth manslaughter, Michael Vick dog fighting, six Toledo players gambling on their own games, possible labor strife in the NFL and the always dreaded PED’s in baseball. All that stuff just wears me out when listening to talk radio, watching television or just discussing sports with my friends. But, like that one golf shot you hit every round, something always brings us back, and that is the great games and performances.
This week college and pro football (maybe the two most popular sports in America) started, the baseball season is winding down and looking toward another season of great playoff action, and some of the individual sports are coming to exciting conclusions of their seasons. Tennis is in the heart of the US Open, to me the two best weeks in all of tennis, golf’s newly tweaked Fed Ex cup system with Tiger Woods in the thick of things is coming to a conclusion and even if you are an Auto Racing fan the Race for the Chase came to head this weekend in Richmond.
MONDAY
Florida State and Miami capped off the opening weekend of college football with an instant classic. Miami drove down the field with under 5 minutes for the go ahead touchdown. FSU then marched right down inside the 10 yard line with less than :30 seconds to go. Miami got 4 straight stops to win the game, in heartbreaking fashion for the Noles.
In Flushing, American teen sensation Melanie Oudin continued her miracle run at the US Open, by defeating the #13 see Nadia Petrova.
TUESDAY
One of the slower days of the week. Just action at the US Open, where recently unretired Kim Clijsters continued her march toward winning the US Open as an unseeded player. Also, Rafael Nadal and Frenchman Gael Monfils played a brilliant 4 set match.
WEDNESDAY
Up in the Bronx just across the street from where so much baseball history was made, this night the new Yankee Stadium experienced its first night that will live in Yankee lore. Derek Jeter, the consummate professional, had a three hit night (not out of the ordinary) tying him for the all time hits record by a New York Yankee. Jeter has quietly climbed the list of all time greats for the greatest franchise in sports, and on this night he tied the immortal Lou Gehrig; in typical Jeter fashion with a hit to the opposite field. The crowd gave him a rousing ovation, including the visiting Rays, but Jeter was reluctant to accept the applause because his team was trailing at the time. What else would you expect?
In another borough the magical run of Melanie Oudin came to an end. As always the appreciative New York crowd gave her a well deserved ovation. There is nothing quite like tennis in Flushing, Queens on a cool summer evening in September.
THURSDAY
The NFL season got kicked off between the two best teams in the AFC from last season. The Steelers and Titans had a typical hard fought defensive battle which came down to overtime. As expected, Ben Roethlisberger lead his team down the field for a game winning field goal, much like last years Super Bowl game winning drive. No matter what has happened in the game Big Ben can always have a great drive at the end, its simply amazing.
College football had a wacky and wild Thursday night ACC match-up. Down in Atlanta the Clemson Tigers took on the Rambling Wreck. In the first half this game was all Georgia Tech. They scored on an 80 yard option play, a fake field goal and then Clemson lined up for a long FG but instead tried to pooch punt the ball and a Tech return man was waiting on it and took it 90 yards for a TD. Down 24-0 it looked as if Clemson would just get their doors blown off……not so fast my friend. Something clicked in the Clemson offense and they began to git big plays to CJ Spiller and Jacoby Ford en route to scoring 27 straight points. But Georgia Tech came back and kicked a game winning FG with under a minute to go, just a wild college football game
FRIDAY
Nothing too significant happened, no major college or pro football, tennis was rained out. Derek Jeter officially broke Gehrig’s record and his teammates stormed out of the dugout to congratulate him, a very classy move. All of what happened was just prelude to an unbelievable weekend to come.
SATURDAY
First we will talk about the lesser sports or individual sports if you will. Tiger Woods who started the week in second place in the Fed Ex cup standing decided enough was enough and shot a course record 62 to pull ahead at the BMW championship. In Flushing Kim Clijsters was in the process of owning Serena Williams when Williams flipped her lid. She repeatedly threatened a lines woman who called her for a foot fault and then was docked a point which happened to be match point. To me this was total bush league and just a way for her to end the match because she knew she was beaten.
Now to college football. Where to start? Houston rousing 21 point 4th quarter performance to beat #5 Oklahoma State (I’M A MAN). Georgia and South Carolina playing another classic as the usually do, ending when Stephen Garcia couldn’t put the Cock in the end zone on 4 consecutive plays inside the ten. The Clash in Columbus where true Frosh Matt Barkley calmly lead his team down the field in front of 100,000+ hostile fans scoring another victory for Southern Cal over Ohio State. Or the two former college powers Michigan and Notre Dame trying to recapture their glory. Looking like a Notre Dame victory most of the evening until the legend of Tate Forcier was born. Scrambling around like a mad man and hitting receivers on the run Forcier took his team right down the field throwing the game winning TD with 11 seconds to go. The best part of the game was Forcier celebrating with Coach Rodriguez and saying, “I told you so! I fucking told you so.”
SUNDAY
The first day of the NFL season provided us with plenty of storylines.
- Mark Sanchez and the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS, which I am sure you will read more about tomorrow in Dan’s weekly segment
- Obviously the Vikings, and how little they need Favre to do most games. Just hand the ball to AD (yes AD, his nickname AD, All Day).
- The unspectacular debut of Jay Cutler.
- The spectacular start of the season for Drew Brees. The Saints are like a video game. Now they have to figure out how to play defense, because they gave up 27 points to the Lions
- The calm cool easy victory for the NY Giants. They just win games. Why, because they have the best offensive and defensive lines in the entire game.
- The McNabb injury coupled with the falling of Jake Delhomme, will he or the Panthers recover?
- Matty Ice and the Falcons with new addition Tony Gonzalez
- And of course, the Bungles. Only the Bungles could lose that game in that fashion
Should be another great season of NFL football.
But again with all that negativity swirling around the sports world we have a week like this past one, that brings fans so much chance for joy.
Friday, September 11, 2009
WEEK 2, Saturday Sept. 12
5 Games to Watch
Stanford vs. Wake Forest- This game may be a little off the radar for most, but the Cardinal travel cross country in an interesting early season match-up. Wake is on the verge of starting 0-2 at home against two BCS conference teams (losing to Baylor last week). Signal caller Riley Skinner is a an experienced 3 year starter but this is probably the weakest Deacon squad. Stanford under coach Jim Harbaugh has steadily improved and have a dynamic running back in Toby Gerhart and a superb Frosh QB. It should be a real competitive game that Wake needs desperately to win
UCLA vs. Tennessee- Last year this game really signified the end for Phillip Fulmer as the Bruins beat Tennessee last year. New coach Lane Kiffin has brought his share of problems to Knoxville but has always brought a swagger back to the Vols. They look impressive in week 1, albeit against Western Kentucky, but the rolled up nearly 400 yards on the ground. To most people this is a match-up of maybe to two biggest douche bag coach’s, but it is also an early season test for both to see if they can compete in their respective leagues.
#17 TCU vs. Virginia- This game is important for one reason and one reason only. It could signify the end for Coach Al Groh. He was hanging on to his job by a very thin thread coming into this season and a home loss in week one to FCS opponent William & Mary certainly put him on a seat hotter than Lucifer’s throne. The Horned Frogs bring in an outstanding football team and have the chance of blowing out the Hoo’s in their own building. If this is a loss by anymore than 15 points I think Groh will be fired before “The Sports Reporters” airs Sunday morning.
Oregon State vs. UNLV- The Beavers want to become a Pac-10 title contender and nationally recognized. They are taking a calculated risk by going on the road to play UNLV. The Reb’s have one of the best dual threat QB’s in the country in Junior Omar Clayton. The Beavers need to rely heavily on their running game which features one of the toughest runners in the country in Jaquizz Rodgers. The Beavers need to use this as a statement game that they are for real.
Duke vs. Army- Is Kris really telling us this is a game to watch? Yes, yes I am. Okay it is not a sexy match-up, but I am a geek for the service academies. They are completely outmanned in today’s world of 350 lb. college lineman so whenever they do well I like it. Duke sputtered out of the gate under second year coach David Cutcliffe losing to Richmond. Now he has to go to Michie Stadium on the banks of the Hudson, no more beautiful place to be on a fall afternoon. New Army Coach Rich Ellerson could lead his team to a 2-0 start for the first time in over 20 years which is why this game is important.
4 Players to See
AJ Green, WR Georgia- Green was the SEC freshman of the year last season and is poised to have another big year. Green struggled in the opener at Oklahoma State as did most of the Georgia offense. Green is a South Carolina native and was involved in a major recruiting battle between Georgia and South Carolina. Last year Green caught three balls for 61 yards against the Gamecocks, look for him to have a bigger game this year against a young South Carolina secondary.
Todd Reesing, QB Kansas- Reesing has been one of the most prolific QB’s in the country over the past 2 seasons, throwing for 3,000+ yards and 30+ touchdowns. Reesing now has an opportunity to move up the ranks in the Big 12 and get some recognition with Sam Bradford being hurt last week. The UTEP Miners had one of the worst pass defenses on the country last year so Reesing should have a big game this week.
Tim Hiller, QB Western Michigan- Hiller is seen as an NFL prospect after throwing for 3700 yards and 36 TD’s last season. He is a big guy, 6’5 234 lbs, with one of the strongest arms in the country, last season he threw for over 300 yards each and 4 TD’s against two BCS opponents (Nebraska, Illinois). He has a chance to take his team into Big 10 Country for the second year in a row and get a victory.
George Selvie, DE South Florida- Perhaps the best pass rushing End in the country, Selvie has been a star since the day he set foot on campus. He is the active career leader in tackles for a loss in the country with 61 and second in sacks with 26.5. Selvie has increased his weigh tto about 260 lbs. this year to add strength to his already blinding speed off the edge. Look for Selvie to have another big season, more like his sophmore year were he had 14.5 sacks.
Stanford vs. Wake Forest- This game may be a little off the radar for most, but the Cardinal travel cross country in an interesting early season match-up. Wake is on the verge of starting 0-2 at home against two BCS conference teams (losing to Baylor last week). Signal caller Riley Skinner is a an experienced 3 year starter but this is probably the weakest Deacon squad. Stanford under coach Jim Harbaugh has steadily improved and have a dynamic running back in Toby Gerhart and a superb Frosh QB. It should be a real competitive game that Wake needs desperately to win
UCLA vs. Tennessee- Last year this game really signified the end for Phillip Fulmer as the Bruins beat Tennessee last year. New coach Lane Kiffin has brought his share of problems to Knoxville but has always brought a swagger back to the Vols. They look impressive in week 1, albeit against Western Kentucky, but the rolled up nearly 400 yards on the ground. To most people this is a match-up of maybe to two biggest douche bag coach’s, but it is also an early season test for both to see if they can compete in their respective leagues.
#17 TCU vs. Virginia- This game is important for one reason and one reason only. It could signify the end for Coach Al Groh. He was hanging on to his job by a very thin thread coming into this season and a home loss in week one to FCS opponent William & Mary certainly put him on a seat hotter than Lucifer’s throne. The Horned Frogs bring in an outstanding football team and have the chance of blowing out the Hoo’s in their own building. If this is a loss by anymore than 15 points I think Groh will be fired before “The Sports Reporters” airs Sunday morning.
Oregon State vs. UNLV- The Beavers want to become a Pac-10 title contender and nationally recognized. They are taking a calculated risk by going on the road to play UNLV. The Reb’s have one of the best dual threat QB’s in the country in Junior Omar Clayton. The Beavers need to rely heavily on their running game which features one of the toughest runners in the country in Jaquizz Rodgers. The Beavers need to use this as a statement game that they are for real.
Duke vs. Army- Is Kris really telling us this is a game to watch? Yes, yes I am. Okay it is not a sexy match-up, but I am a geek for the service academies. They are completely outmanned in today’s world of 350 lb. college lineman so whenever they do well I like it. Duke sputtered out of the gate under second year coach David Cutcliffe losing to Richmond. Now he has to go to Michie Stadium on the banks of the Hudson, no more beautiful place to be on a fall afternoon. New Army Coach Rich Ellerson could lead his team to a 2-0 start for the first time in over 20 years which is why this game is important.
4 Players to See
AJ Green, WR Georgia- Green was the SEC freshman of the year last season and is poised to have another big year. Green struggled in the opener at Oklahoma State as did most of the Georgia offense. Green is a South Carolina native and was involved in a major recruiting battle between Georgia and South Carolina. Last year Green caught three balls for 61 yards against the Gamecocks, look for him to have a bigger game this year against a young South Carolina secondary.
Todd Reesing, QB Kansas- Reesing has been one of the most prolific QB’s in the country over the past 2 seasons, throwing for 3,000+ yards and 30+ touchdowns. Reesing now has an opportunity to move up the ranks in the Big 12 and get some recognition with Sam Bradford being hurt last week. The UTEP Miners had one of the worst pass defenses on the country last year so Reesing should have a big game this week.
Tim Hiller, QB Western Michigan- Hiller is seen as an NFL prospect after throwing for 3700 yards and 36 TD’s last season. He is a big guy, 6’5 234 lbs, with one of the strongest arms in the country, last season he threw for over 300 yards each and 4 TD’s against two BCS opponents (Nebraska, Illinois). He has a chance to take his team into Big 10 Country for the second year in a row and get a victory.
George Selvie, DE South Florida- Perhaps the best pass rushing End in the country, Selvie has been a star since the day he set foot on campus. He is the active career leader in tackles for a loss in the country with 61 and second in sacks with 26.5. Selvie has increased his weigh tto about 260 lbs. this year to add strength to his already blinding speed off the edge. Look for Selvie to have another big season, more like his sophmore year were he had 14.5 sacks.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
2009 QB Rankings, Preseason
We did this twice last year and it is back. We will do a preseason, midseason and end of the season ranking for all QB’s who start a game in the league. We have both Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson on this list because Eric Mangini doesn’t want to name a starter. Again, these are Ron DeBlasio’s rankings exclusively and are his intellectual property. Before people start screaming about the first name you will see, remember the Favre pick is career based. The guy is a no doubt, first ballot hall of famer, all time great and even if he played until he was 90 (which he might) he would always be in the highest category. Two interesting things to note, he is buying the Aaoron Rodgers kool aid, but is down on Matt Schaub, interesting!
ELITE- Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger
ABOVE AVERAGE- Eli Manning, Donovan McNabb, Matt Ryan, Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers, Kurt Warner, Joe Flacco, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees
AVERAGE- Tony Romo, Byron Leftwich, Matt Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Matt Hasselback, Chad Pennington, Kerry Collins, Carson Palmer
TERRIBLE- Jason Campbell, Jake Delhomme, Mark Bulger, Matt Cassel
THIGPEN- Shaun Hill, Trent Edwards, David Garrard, Matt Schaub, Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson, JaMarcus Russel, Kyle Orton
ELITE- Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger
ABOVE AVERAGE- Eli Manning, Donovan McNabb, Matt Ryan, Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers, Kurt Warner, Joe Flacco, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees
AVERAGE- Tony Romo, Byron Leftwich, Matt Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Matt Hasselback, Chad Pennington, Kerry Collins, Carson Palmer
TERRIBLE- Jason Campbell, Jake Delhomme, Mark Bulger, Matt Cassel
THIGPEN- Shaun Hill, Trent Edwards, David Garrard, Matt Schaub, Brady Quinn, Derek Anderson, JaMarcus Russel, Kyle Orton
Monday, September 7, 2009
Here Come The Warm Jets: 2009 Season Preview
And so it begins.
The days get shorter, the air cooler, women's clothing less revealing.
The 2009 NFL season approaches.
With another NFL season, you'll get another season of Jets blogging by me here at the Block Party. If you've followed us here for a while, you know what that means: reasonably intelligent football analysis mixed with shocking amounts of cynicism, bitterness and spewed invective.
As I enter my 23rd year of Jets fandom, I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank my 9-year-old self, who decided that long passes were more fun to watch than all-time-great defense, and thus chose to like the 1986 Ken O'Brien-Al Toon-Wesley Walker Jets instead of the LT-et al Giants. Instead of 3 Super Bowls and myriad playoff appearances, I got to live through the Rich Kotite, Bruce Coslet, Pete Carroll, Herm Edwards, and Eric Mangini eras. Nice job, 9-year-old me - apparently you decided then that you didn't want there to be an 80-year-old me, since no dedicated Jets fan can possibly have a heart and intestinal system that will last that long.
Well, hey, let's not get depressed about this year's team before it's necessary. Instead, let's take a look at the team as it looks now before the season starts.
The Coach
A good a place as any to start looking at this year's team, as we begin the Rex Ryan era. I have to say, I'm really psyched about this particular coach, as much as I've been since Bill Parcells came in 1997.
First of all, Rex Ryan is funny. Funny people go a long way with me - I'm much quicker to forgive your flaws if you can make me laugh. Now, let's be real - I don't want to have the funniest guy ever to lead my team to three 8-8 years in a row or anything. But I would like to have fun being a fan. This is supposed to be entertainment; if I wanted something really serious, I'd read articles about Afghanistan or Darfur.
If one thing could definitely be said about the Eric Mangini era, it's that it wasn't fun. He is a Bellichick disciple who likes to keep everything so secretive and cryptic that you'd think he was working in the Cold-War-era CIA and not for a football team. It was frustrating for us as fans, and it was ultimately frustrating for the players, too (they quit on him terribly the end of last year.)
And it's not like he's learned his lesson, by the way. What headline do I see on ESPN.com today? "Browns starting QB's ID hush-hush." Really? "Hush-hush?" What are you, naming an envoy to a secret meeting between the Syrians and the Israelis?
Anyway, Rex Ryan doesn't do it that way. He cracks jokes. He is self deprecating, and doesn't take himself so seriously. At the same time, he's a football guy through and through, which will give him credibility with the players. Also, he's a defense-first guy, and has the pedigree to back it up. If he can get the Jets defense anywhere near what the Ravens defense has been these last several years, there will be some very, very happy Jets fans (yes, Jets fans can be happy. It happened, once, around 1998 I think.)
Bringing his defensive philosophy? Great. Keeping the same offensive coordinator, so the team doesn't have to learn yet another new system? Very smart, considering the relative age and talent of the offensive players, and that Brian Schottenheimer, while not without flaws, is still a pretty creative and talented offensive coordinator. Bringing on the guy who the "46" defense was named after as a defensive backs coach? Awesome.
The Defense
As mentioned above, along with Rex Ryan comes his defensive philosophy, which consists of creating confusion for the opposing team's quarterback and offensive line, in terms of not knowing where pressure may come from on any given play. It also encourages speedy attacks as opposed to the 'read and react' style Mangini favored the last three years.
Do the Jets have all the pieces in place this year to run this defense as effectively as the Ravens did the past several years? Probably not, but it may not be as far off as it could be. Bringing on Bart Scott and Jim Leonhardt from the Ravens will help, since they're both familiar with the system and still young enough to play it (I'm so glad they got Scott instead of Ray Lewis, who only has so many good games left in him.)
It will also depend on how good David Harris, Kerry Rhodes, and Darrelle Revis really are. So far, these guys all look like they could be all-pro level for many years. This system should suit their talents well. Now they have to deliver.
The most worrisome part of the defense are the health of Kris Jenkins and lack of depth on the defensive line, as well as some big questions at the other cornerback spot (i.e. can Lito Sheppard be good again? If not, is there anyone else that can be at least average there?) There's also still the issue that the linebackers aren't great in coverage, which was a huge problem last year particularly exploited once Jenkins wore down towards the end of the year.
All that said, there's a lot of reason to be optimistic about the defense. There's no reason not to have faith that Rex Ryan can't recreate his defense with the Jets. At least not yet.
The Offense
This is what we know about the offense:
The offensive line is the same as last year. As are the running backs, with the addition of a talented rookie in Shonn Greene.
With this offensive line, Thomas Jones led the AFC in rushing last year, and Leon Washington averaged 5.9 yards per carry. They also allowed a sack on 5.4% of pass attempts, which was a bit better than the league average of 5.9%.
So we know the team is going to run plenty, and presumably pretty effectively.
We also know that Mark Sanchez, a rookie who only played one year of college ball, is the starting QB.
In preseason, Sanchez looked pretty good. It looked like he has a decent pocket presence and a strong enough arm. He's also a rookie, and bound to make mistakes.
So, basically, we have no idea what he'll be like.
He'll be asked to be a credible enough passing threat so that teams can't stack the line to stop the run. He'll also be asked to protect the ball, and keep turnovers to an absolute minimum.
He also has to do this without a lot of proven talent in the receiving corps. Jerricho Cotchery is very good, Dustin Keller looks ready to break out, but after that it's all unproven young guys like Chanci Stuckey and David Clowney.
What does this mean? If the Jets are lucky, it means an average offense to go along with what they hope to be a better-than-average defense. Teams have done very well with that formula. If the Jets aren't lucky, it'll mean a team like some of those Ravens teams where the atrociousness of the offense couldn't be overcome by their superior defense.
The Schedule
It's a much harder schedule than last year. Period.
Looking through it, you can only point to maybe two 'easy' games: the Raiders on October 25 in Oakland and the Bengals at home the last weekend of the year.
Otherwise, there's games against Tennessee, the Colts, Atlanta, New Orleans, Carolina, Tampa, and Jacksonville, along with the two annual games with the Pats.
I'm not sure how good Carolina, Tampa, or Jacksonville are going to be, but no matter what, it's not going to be easy, certainly not compared to last year when they played certifiably awful teams like the Rams and Kansas City.
Basically, Rex Ryan isn't going to get to ease into it. If he's going to do well his first year, he's going to have to earn it.
The Outlook
Between the new coach, the rookie QB, and the schedule, I'd say we're looking at 9-7 and just missing the playoffs as a best case scenario for the year. More likely is something around 7-9.
Either way, this year isn't about winning it all this year (though it'd be nice, don't get me wrong.) This year is about getting Sanchez a year of experience, getting the team playing in this defensive system for a year, and figuring out who can play in it and who can't.
It'll be about building a brand new culture for the team. Rex Ryan will be most successful in this job if he can make this team match his fiery and fun personality. In a press conference recently, he said the following:
Of course, if they go 3-13 and look like a mess doing it, I'll be the same as I ever was.
Either way, you should have fun watching it happen each week here. So keep coming back!
The days get shorter, the air cooler, women's clothing less revealing.
The 2009 NFL season approaches.
With another NFL season, you'll get another season of Jets blogging by me here at the Block Party. If you've followed us here for a while, you know what that means: reasonably intelligent football analysis mixed with shocking amounts of cynicism, bitterness and spewed invective.
As I enter my 23rd year of Jets fandom, I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank my 9-year-old self, who decided that long passes were more fun to watch than all-time-great defense, and thus chose to like the 1986 Ken O'Brien-Al Toon-Wesley Walker Jets instead of the LT-et al Giants. Instead of 3 Super Bowls and myriad playoff appearances, I got to live through the Rich Kotite, Bruce Coslet, Pete Carroll, Herm Edwards, and Eric Mangini eras. Nice job, 9-year-old me - apparently you decided then that you didn't want there to be an 80-year-old me, since no dedicated Jets fan can possibly have a heart and intestinal system that will last that long.
Well, hey, let's not get depressed about this year's team before it's necessary. Instead, let's take a look at the team as it looks now before the season starts.
The Coach
A good a place as any to start looking at this year's team, as we begin the Rex Ryan era. I have to say, I'm really psyched about this particular coach, as much as I've been since Bill Parcells came in 1997.
First of all, Rex Ryan is funny. Funny people go a long way with me - I'm much quicker to forgive your flaws if you can make me laugh. Now, let's be real - I don't want to have the funniest guy ever to lead my team to three 8-8 years in a row or anything. But I would like to have fun being a fan. This is supposed to be entertainment; if I wanted something really serious, I'd read articles about Afghanistan or Darfur.
If one thing could definitely be said about the Eric Mangini era, it's that it wasn't fun. He is a Bellichick disciple who likes to keep everything so secretive and cryptic that you'd think he was working in the Cold-War-era CIA and not for a football team. It was frustrating for us as fans, and it was ultimately frustrating for the players, too (they quit on him terribly the end of last year.)
And it's not like he's learned his lesson, by the way. What headline do I see on ESPN.com today? "Browns starting QB's ID hush-hush." Really? "Hush-hush?" What are you, naming an envoy to a secret meeting between the Syrians and the Israelis?
Anyway, Rex Ryan doesn't do it that way. He cracks jokes. He is self deprecating, and doesn't take himself so seriously. At the same time, he's a football guy through and through, which will give him credibility with the players. Also, he's a defense-first guy, and has the pedigree to back it up. If he can get the Jets defense anywhere near what the Ravens defense has been these last several years, there will be some very, very happy Jets fans (yes, Jets fans can be happy. It happened, once, around 1998 I think.)
Bringing his defensive philosophy? Great. Keeping the same offensive coordinator, so the team doesn't have to learn yet another new system? Very smart, considering the relative age and talent of the offensive players, and that Brian Schottenheimer, while not without flaws, is still a pretty creative and talented offensive coordinator. Bringing on the guy who the "46" defense was named after as a defensive backs coach? Awesome.
The Defense
As mentioned above, along with Rex Ryan comes his defensive philosophy, which consists of creating confusion for the opposing team's quarterback and offensive line, in terms of not knowing where pressure may come from on any given play. It also encourages speedy attacks as opposed to the 'read and react' style Mangini favored the last three years.
Do the Jets have all the pieces in place this year to run this defense as effectively as the Ravens did the past several years? Probably not, but it may not be as far off as it could be. Bringing on Bart Scott and Jim Leonhardt from the Ravens will help, since they're both familiar with the system and still young enough to play it (I'm so glad they got Scott instead of Ray Lewis, who only has so many good games left in him.)
It will also depend on how good David Harris, Kerry Rhodes, and Darrelle Revis really are. So far, these guys all look like they could be all-pro level for many years. This system should suit their talents well. Now they have to deliver.
The most worrisome part of the defense are the health of Kris Jenkins and lack of depth on the defensive line, as well as some big questions at the other cornerback spot (i.e. can Lito Sheppard be good again? If not, is there anyone else that can be at least average there?) There's also still the issue that the linebackers aren't great in coverage, which was a huge problem last year particularly exploited once Jenkins wore down towards the end of the year.
All that said, there's a lot of reason to be optimistic about the defense. There's no reason not to have faith that Rex Ryan can't recreate his defense with the Jets. At least not yet.
The Offense
This is what we know about the offense:
The offensive line is the same as last year. As are the running backs, with the addition of a talented rookie in Shonn Greene.
With this offensive line, Thomas Jones led the AFC in rushing last year, and Leon Washington averaged 5.9 yards per carry. They also allowed a sack on 5.4% of pass attempts, which was a bit better than the league average of 5.9%.
So we know the team is going to run plenty, and presumably pretty effectively.
We also know that Mark Sanchez, a rookie who only played one year of college ball, is the starting QB.
In preseason, Sanchez looked pretty good. It looked like he has a decent pocket presence and a strong enough arm. He's also a rookie, and bound to make mistakes.
So, basically, we have no idea what he'll be like.
He'll be asked to be a credible enough passing threat so that teams can't stack the line to stop the run. He'll also be asked to protect the ball, and keep turnovers to an absolute minimum.
He also has to do this without a lot of proven talent in the receiving corps. Jerricho Cotchery is very good, Dustin Keller looks ready to break out, but after that it's all unproven young guys like Chanci Stuckey and David Clowney.
What does this mean? If the Jets are lucky, it means an average offense to go along with what they hope to be a better-than-average defense. Teams have done very well with that formula. If the Jets aren't lucky, it'll mean a team like some of those Ravens teams where the atrociousness of the offense couldn't be overcome by their superior defense.
The Schedule
It's a much harder schedule than last year. Period.
Looking through it, you can only point to maybe two 'easy' games: the Raiders on October 25 in Oakland and the Bengals at home the last weekend of the year.
Otherwise, there's games against Tennessee, the Colts, Atlanta, New Orleans, Carolina, Tampa, and Jacksonville, along with the two annual games with the Pats.
I'm not sure how good Carolina, Tampa, or Jacksonville are going to be, but no matter what, it's not going to be easy, certainly not compared to last year when they played certifiably awful teams like the Rams and Kansas City.
Basically, Rex Ryan isn't going to get to ease into it. If he's going to do well his first year, he's going to have to earn it.
The Outlook
Between the new coach, the rookie QB, and the schedule, I'd say we're looking at 9-7 and just missing the playoffs as a best case scenario for the year. More likely is something around 7-9.
Either way, this year isn't about winning it all this year (though it'd be nice, don't get me wrong.) This year is about getting Sanchez a year of experience, getting the team playing in this defensive system for a year, and figuring out who can play in it and who can't.
It'll be about building a brand new culture for the team. Rex Ryan will be most successful in this job if he can make this team match his fiery and fun personality. In a press conference recently, he said the following:
I think that’s been the key for when I’ve been successful as a coach. We’ve always had that sense of pride in that room. That’s what I’m trying to do for the whole football team to really have that pride in each other and have that pride in being a jet. That’s something that I always talked in Baltimore was “play like a Raven.” I should’ve patented that bad boy [laughter]. That was something that I strived to do when I was there for many years. I sensed it and I think our guys really bought into that.
That’s what we’re trying to have here, to “play like a Jet.” It’s going to mean something. It’s going to mean that we care about each other. It’s going to mean that you’re going to get everything we’ve got and they’re not doing that for selfish reasons, they’re doing it to take care of each other. And when you play this year, you’re playing against a football team, not a group just of individuals. We’re going to play as a football team.
"Play like a Jet" used to mean something entirely different, and not necessarily positive. If all he does this year is get that to fundamentally change, I think I'll find a way to be much less bitter as a fan.Of course, if they go 3-13 and look like a mess doing it, I'll be the same as I ever was.
Either way, you should have fun watching it happen each week here. So keep coming back!
Friday, September 4, 2009
WEEK 1, Saturday Sept. 5
5 Games to Watch
Missouri vs. Illinois- Mizzou is coming off its best 4 year stretch in football but doesn’t have a dynamic QB like Brad Smith or Chase Daniels anymore, so it will be interesting to see how good Gary Pinkle’s team is. A lot of people are picking the Illini to have a huge year. We know Ron Zook can assemble talent; Senior QB Juice Williams and Junior WR Arrelius Benn figure to be one of the best tandems in all of college footbal
5 Alabama vs. 7 Virginia Tech- Clearly the premier matchup of the weekend. Some are touting the Hokies for a national title shot and this game could ruin that before we get to Labor Day. The Hokies are playing for conference pride also. For the second year in a row the NC State Wolfpack looked miserable against a middle tier South Carolina team to lead off the season, and last year in this game the Clemson Tigers fumbled on the opening play and got embarrassed. Alabama may have the best defense in the country and just found out that their starting receivers will be eligible for te game.
11 LSU vs. Washington- Les Miles takes his bayou bengals across the country to face new coach Steve Sarkisian’s Huskie squad. Sarkisian was a successful assistant at Southern Cal and has a big time talent at QB in JakeLocker. Locker is big and strong and can run the ball as well as throw it. The Huskies will find out a lot about their team going against a speedy SEC opponent. Coach Miles needs to find a steady QB and testing it out on the road will give him a good idea if he has a good one.
Cincinnati vs. Rutgers- The Big East isn’t as good as the Pac-10, Big 12 or SEC but it will be one of the most competitive conferences in the land. Two of the leading candidates to win it all this year are Cincy and Rutgers who meet to start the season here. Many experts think Greg Schiano’s team could go undefeated because of a favorable schedule including getting this game at home. Both teams are replacing starting QB’s so it will probably be a low scoring contest.
8 Ole Miss vs. Memphis- Ole Miss is the darling pick of the season with top flight QB Jevon Snead and the fact that they were the only team to beat the invincible Florida Gators last year. The Reb’s always start the season off playing regional rival Memphis and some times the game is a whole lot closer than people expect. Memphis has a decent squad but the opportunity to knock of the darlings of college football could provide for an exciting early season game. I think we will see if Ole Miss is for real right off the bat.
4 Players to See
Josh Nesbitt, QB Georgia Tech- Nesbitt took like a duck to water under first years coach hkjjhjhj option offense last season. The Rambling Wreck bring back most of their team from last year and Nesbitt could be the most dynamic player in the ACC with his dual threat ability. The one thing he needs to work on is completing a higher percentage of passes this year.
Paki O’Meara, RB Iowa- Okay, so who is Paki O’Meara and why would you be talking about him? Well Shonn Greene was the best RB in the country last year rushing for 1800 yards and propelled Iowa to an Outback Bowl route of South Carolina.. The Hawkeyes are ranked in the preseason for the first in a few years and they usually have a proven ground attack. Jewel Hampton was supposed to replace Greene but hurt his knee and out for the year, so that duty falls to O’Meara who in two seasons has accumulated 62 yards and 2 TD’s.
Joe Cox, QB Georgia- A fifth year senior who will finally get his crack at running the Dawgs offense. He is replacing one of the best QB’s in school history and #1 NFL Draft Pick Mathew Stafford. Cox has only thrown for 400+ yards in limited duty in his time in Athens but Coach Richt is confident in his knowledge of the offense and leadership ability. Starting off on the road in Stillwater Cox will be tested early.
Gerald McCoy, DT Oklahoma- Perhaps the best defensive player in the country, McCoy controls the line of scrimmage. This years Sooner defense is much stronger than the last few years and that is due to McCoy staying for his junior season. McCoy isn’t a stat hog but a complete disruptive force in the middle of the field
Missouri vs. Illinois- Mizzou is coming off its best 4 year stretch in football but doesn’t have a dynamic QB like Brad Smith or Chase Daniels anymore, so it will be interesting to see how good Gary Pinkle’s team is. A lot of people are picking the Illini to have a huge year. We know Ron Zook can assemble talent; Senior QB Juice Williams and Junior WR Arrelius Benn figure to be one of the best tandems in all of college footbal
5 Alabama vs. 7 Virginia Tech- Clearly the premier matchup of the weekend. Some are touting the Hokies for a national title shot and this game could ruin that before we get to Labor Day. The Hokies are playing for conference pride also. For the second year in a row the NC State Wolfpack looked miserable against a middle tier South Carolina team to lead off the season, and last year in this game the Clemson Tigers fumbled on the opening play and got embarrassed. Alabama may have the best defense in the country and just found out that their starting receivers will be eligible for te game.
11 LSU vs. Washington- Les Miles takes his bayou bengals across the country to face new coach Steve Sarkisian’s Huskie squad. Sarkisian was a successful assistant at Southern Cal and has a big time talent at QB in JakeLocker. Locker is big and strong and can run the ball as well as throw it. The Huskies will find out a lot about their team going against a speedy SEC opponent. Coach Miles needs to find a steady QB and testing it out on the road will give him a good idea if he has a good one.
Cincinnati vs. Rutgers- The Big East isn’t as good as the Pac-10, Big 12 or SEC but it will be one of the most competitive conferences in the land. Two of the leading candidates to win it all this year are Cincy and Rutgers who meet to start the season here. Many experts think Greg Schiano’s team could go undefeated because of a favorable schedule including getting this game at home. Both teams are replacing starting QB’s so it will probably be a low scoring contest.
8 Ole Miss vs. Memphis- Ole Miss is the darling pick of the season with top flight QB Jevon Snead and the fact that they were the only team to beat the invincible Florida Gators last year. The Reb’s always start the season off playing regional rival Memphis and some times the game is a whole lot closer than people expect. Memphis has a decent squad but the opportunity to knock of the darlings of college football could provide for an exciting early season game. I think we will see if Ole Miss is for real right off the bat.
4 Players to See
Josh Nesbitt, QB Georgia Tech- Nesbitt took like a duck to water under first years coach hkjjhjhj option offense last season. The Rambling Wreck bring back most of their team from last year and Nesbitt could be the most dynamic player in the ACC with his dual threat ability. The one thing he needs to work on is completing a higher percentage of passes this year.
Paki O’Meara, RB Iowa- Okay, so who is Paki O’Meara and why would you be talking about him? Well Shonn Greene was the best RB in the country last year rushing for 1800 yards and propelled Iowa to an Outback Bowl route of South Carolina.. The Hawkeyes are ranked in the preseason for the first in a few years and they usually have a proven ground attack. Jewel Hampton was supposed to replace Greene but hurt his knee and out for the year, so that duty falls to O’Meara who in two seasons has accumulated 62 yards and 2 TD’s.
Joe Cox, QB Georgia- A fifth year senior who will finally get his crack at running the Dawgs offense. He is replacing one of the best QB’s in school history and #1 NFL Draft Pick Mathew Stafford. Cox has only thrown for 400+ yards in limited duty in his time in Athens but Coach Richt is confident in his knowledge of the offense and leadership ability. Starting off on the road in Stillwater Cox will be tested early.
Gerald McCoy, DT Oklahoma- Perhaps the best defensive player in the country, McCoy controls the line of scrimmage. This years Sooner defense is much stronger than the last few years and that is due to McCoy staying for his junior season. McCoy isn’t a stat hog but a complete disruptive force in the middle of the field
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