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.
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3 comments:
Daniel
First of all I am so freaking jealous that you guys are going to New Orleans, I spent two of the longest drunkest most gamblingest nights of my life there. I have been to the Superdome before and never saw Po’ Boys on the menu, but things may have changed. I do want to remind you though of the last time you and Kohler sat together in a stadium and watched the Jetropolitans play. It was right about then that your seething hatred for all things Brett Favre really began to manifest itself.
Anyway, back to this years “different” team. I do believe some things are different and I think everyone has talked about that with the new coach. As for Sanchez’s fumbling problem I was thinking about that myself this weekend. Rookie/Young QB’s always struggle to hold on to the football when getting sacked. I guess it just has to do with the speed/strength of the NFL guys. In college Sanchez could have poor mechanics holding the football because the likelyhood of getting hit by someone so much bigger and stronger than him was rare. Obviously in the pros everyone is big and strong and I think that is something rookie QB’s don’t realize. After awhile though, I do think they develop those mechanics to protect the football as well as just being more aware of what is going on around them.
As for the gameplan against the Saints I do think you need to run the ball with great efficiency. However, on defense I am not saying get away from being the aggressive type defense that you are, but I was reading a stat on Drew Brees when he gets blitzed over the last 2 seasons and his number are insane. Basically the point is, if you blitz you better sack his ass, because if not his weapons are going to eat up that man to man coverage.
The jets not going blitz crazy had more to do with the Tenn. running game than anything else. Chris Johnson looks fast on TV but seeing him live is completely different. I've never seen a guy run that fast...You have no idea how close he was to breaking a few very big plays. The Jets did a very good job tackling in that game (not counting the Lendale White TD run)and will need to do the same next week. All in all the pass D looked pretty good. The plays that the Titans did make were a result of Collins throwing absolute lasers into coverage. No D could've stopped some of the passes he made during the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Of course watching him finish with 13 or 14 incompletions in a row was nice!! The Jets do need to get a ground game going if they're going to have a chance against the Saints. They just have to keep that offense on the sideline for as long as possible.
-Anonymous Jets Fan
As someone who's covered a basketball game at the New Orleans Arena, which is walking distance from the Superdome, and who also had his honeymoon in the Big East before Katrina...don't overpay for a Po'Boy at the dome.
Walk about two, maybe four blocks to the main strip and a few more feet to Bourbon Street and get one there.
They will be available everywhere of course, but since you're gonna stay in the tourist section (A wise decision), you'll likely overpay for a quality Po'Boy...
Then again, this is New Orleans and you're coming from Chicago - The City of Big Shoulders and bigger prices. So everything should work out just fine.
I'm dying to hear a first-hand account of what the town is like now. Granted, it's a couple years since Katrina but you can't come back from something like that easily. Plus I bet most of the color is out of the city.
And what about the haunted house trips and above ground graves? That's a whole industry that washed away. Maybe they switched it to that...
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