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.