PIGSKIN ~ WEEK 8 and the J-E-T-S

My Basket-O-Bagels is a heavy plus 9 for the season.  I am 6-0 on my SMEAR of the WEEK.  My Smears are worth three Bagels a game, so if you do the math you'll find that I'm slightly under .500 on the Sunday Dockets as those games are worth one bagel in the oven each.  This week the NY Jets take on the Packers and the NY Giants have a BYE week.


The WEEK 8 Bagel Roll-Out:
(Saturday's NYDN Line)

JETS -6 (packers)
LOSS 9-0 Packers

broncos +3 (49ERS) *London, England
LOSS 24-16 49ers

COWBOYS -6 1/2 (jaguars)
LOSS 35-17 Jaguars

LIONS -2 1/2 (redskins)
WIN 37-25 Lions

panthers +3 (RAMS)
LOSS 20-10 Rams

dolphins +1 1/2 (BENGALS)
WIN 22-14 Dolphins

CHIEFS -7 1/2 (bills)
LOSS 13-10 Chiefs  o.t.

titans +3 1/2 (CHARGERS)
LOSS 33-25 Chargers

CARDINALS -3 (bucs)
LOSS 38-35 Bucs

RAIDERS -2 (seahawks)
WIN 33-3 Raiders

PATRIOTS -7 (vikings)
WIN 28-18 Patriots

steelers +1 (SAINTS)
LOSS 20-10 Saints


12 bagels into the oven (season +9) ~ Last week 6-7. 
Last week I nailed pick-of-the-week (6-0 for season).


*POST GAME:
Ooof!  Big blow to the Bagel Basket.  Tonight's game can't even save me.  I'm 4-7 on the Sunday afternoon games.  HOWEVER...I did hit my Shmear of the Week!  I am now 7-0 with my pick of the week.  My Sunday record brings me down to a +6 but because I hit the Shmear that props me right back up to a +9.  So, before tonight's game gets figured in, my day is a wash.  I am still in the negative zone for the weekly games.  Thank goodness for the Shmear to save my credibility.

*PITT Steelers final is in.  Take away another bagel and I'm left with +8.


SHMEAR of the WEEK:
PATRIOTS -7 (vikings)
*WIN  (I am now 7-0 on the season)


..And thanks to FOX and Cablevision as I was finally be able to watch Football again!




Pre-Game:
NYJ ~ Jets May Hit Turbulence.

I hate to be the killjoy Debbie Downer of this flight but I'd hate for anyone to get too far ahead of themselves; not me as a Giant Fan nor members of Fan Green.  This is not a must win game for the Jets, but I will dub it a 'buckle-down' game.  A loss to the Packers wouldn't be the worst thing to happen being it's out of Conference.  But that's not what I'm predicting here.  I'm just cautioning Air Rex, especially coming off a Bye week, buckle down because the Patriots are right on your tail.  They play the Vikings who, with or without Brett 'Favbrevabr', will be a compromised team.

Both the Jets and Patriots have 5-1 records but the Jets hold the advantage winning their last head-to-head match-up.  Around the Conference, the Titans are 5-2; the Steelers are 5-1; the Ravens are 5-2; and AFC West leading Chiefs are 4-2.  This crowd is bound to get even more boxed in by sundown tomorrow and that's without figuring in the Colts.

I would love to feel a lot better about the Jets' situation but the other teams just don't let me.  I root worried, remember?  I'm a Giants fan but I treat the Jets as the brother I actually do get along with.  So I wouldn't think any differently as a rooter.

The differences between success and failure are very subtle.  And as great as a Jets fan can feel right now, because yes, the team looks dynamite, when you look around and realize you haven't gained any separation between you and the competition, there is precious little to no room for error.

Victories in times like this are what make seasons great.  As I said, the subtle things in life make the biggest difference.  I hope the slight variance in routine a bye week can cause isn't the difference in this game.  The Packers are not to be taken lightly and the Patriots are coming. - The Patriots are coming.

In other matters, Derrell Revis said he's 100% now and Coach Rex warned any Packer Fans against wearing Cheese Heads saying it would probably be a bad idea if they did.  He's probably right.  Don't say Coach didn't tell you so.

Have a Happy Football Sunday All!

FINAL

Green Bay Packers  9

New York Jets          0

*Post-Game:
Return to your seats; The Capt. has put the "Fasten Your Seat Belt" sign on.

Well?

I don't do I told you so's.  I just hate Bye Weeks.  But I did warn you.  Didn't I?

Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes;  I pointed out the Jets didn't have any room for mistakes this week.  Not so much because of what they have been doing, or not doing.  There's little to complain about when you have an impressive 5-1 record.  It's just that the Patriots have woken up and now with this loss, the Jets find themselves behind them in the standings.  The damage could be worse as I pointed out in my pre-game comments.  This loss is to a non-Conference opponent.  The Jets still hold the advantages with-in their division.

They didn't seize the moment.  The Bye Week looked like it sucked all the momentum they had in them right out.  How else would you explain 9-0?

The defensive effort was predictably present.  Green Bay only had three field goals for all their efforts.  The Jets even ended the game leading in most of the offensive statistical categories.  But the Jets also led in the in the worse, most harmful category; turnovers.

This was a game Mark Sanchez needed to win by himself.  It's like that in the NFL.  The best laid plans usually go to hell on Sundays right after kick-offs.  He threw two interceptions today; something he's minimized this year.  Receivers dropped several more costly and critical pass attempts.  Both Mark and his receivers were not up to the task this week.  Unfortunately that's the way it looks in the books.

The Jets also fumbled the ball three times this afternoon but managed to get only two of them back.  One fumble went the other way.  The combined turnovers were their undoing.

I didn't call this a must win game remember?  I called it a "the JETS Had Better Buckle Down This Game" affair.  The conversation regarding D-Generation REX changes now.  I'm sorry but it does.  The Jets are behind the Patriots and flying in formation with the rest of Conference wings.  They are no longer cruising in rarefied air.

Now because of this loss, you have to care the Dolphins, Chiefs and Raiders all won today.  The Titans lost while the (5-2) Ravens sat out their Bye.  With a win today these results would have mattered a lot less.

Good pilots know how to navigate turbulent skies.  Mark Sanchez is going to have to prove he's capable behind the controls of this Steel Bird...(yes..., again) in the coming weeks.  Mark Sanchez will be one of the good ones in this League.  There's no doubt.  But the next thing he needs to learn in order to elevate his craft is the art of Seizing The Moment.

MIKE.BTB