N.Y. Jets: Gang Green Airing Their Grievances

From the desk of: WALT MICHAELS REVENGE

WEEK NINE

New York Jets

vs.

Miami Dolphins

FROM

Humidity Stadium

Jets -3 DOLPHINS

Man, is it going to stink at Miami where the NFL's two most offensively inept teams will go head-to-head in a Toilet Bowl of gastronomical proportions.  The Sea Mammals are averaging a league low 11-points per game.  The Jets come in at 11.1 points per game.  How compelling!  But whereas the Jets are actually trying to wins games and failing miserably, the Sea Mammals are trying to lose and doing a damn good job.  Miami is yielding upwards of 34-points a game.  But make no mistake, the Sea Mammals can't wait to inflict damage against their former coach.  I still give Sam Darnold and Gang Spleen the benefit of the doubt.  Jamal Adams will be playing angry.  That may work for or against him.  And expect a heavy, heavy dose of Le'Veon Bell.  Should Adam Gase and the Jets lose, we all know the local media will descend upon them like flies on a steaming cow patty in July.

An Unhappy Maladjusted Gang Green Airs Their Grievances

If nothing else, of this I'm sure: Christopher Johnson is even worse than his brother.  These highly dysfunctional dynasties just don't get it.  Look at the Wilpons; look at James and Daddy Dolan; then look at the Brothers Johnson.  All fail to implement a firm chain of command.

I always thought Woody Johnson was a terrible front office participant.  But Christopher takes the cake.  Instead of entertaining Jamal Adams' meltdown, Christopher Johnson should have been directing his employee down the hall to see the president of football of operations, or worse, the general manager himself.  Having an open door policy is one thing; undermining you're entire operation is another.  You can not have disgruntled coaches, general managers, and players, all bum rushing the owner's office every time they're unhappy with their life situation.

You would have to rewind back 13 years to Eric Mangini/Rex Ryan under Terry Bradway/Mike Tannenbaum for the Jets last state of complimentary front office competence.  Everything thereafter has been and remains today completely disjointed and dysfunctional.  Clearly hiring Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan out of order (again) taught the Brothers Johnson nothing.  Lest we forget after spending over $100 million dollars on free agents general manager Mike Maccagnan hires Adam Gase, who in turn convinces Christopher Johnson his general manager sucks and needs to be fired.  Johnson then empowers Gase with the authority to hire the next general manager.  Outside of perhaps, Daniel Snyder, who does that?

Trick or Treat!

This week Adam Gase will be disguised as the guy pissing off Le'Veon Bell, who's first seven games as a member of the New York Jets can be summed up with two words: rock bottom.  Bell and Gase apparently talked it out.  Unlike the jilted Jamal Adams who is no longer on speaking terms with his general manager nor his head coach.

N.Y. Jets: Mike Westhoff Offers Insight Into Jets Dilemma

From the desk of:   A BLUE BLOODED GIANTS FAN


NEW YORK JETS - Former Coach Mike Westhoff Airs Jets Dirty Laundry.

I Say The Jets Next Move Should Be....

The old saying goes thus - Things must get worse before they get better.  Except if you're part of the Jets that is, where things tend to go from worse to catastrophic.  For Gang Green, the arrival in Dis was thought to be the end of the 2012 regular season, and the subsequent house cleaning.  But then came the recent, and now laughable Ren and Stimpy routine called a press conference.  And today, this....


It was an absolute  M - E - S - S   Mess  -  Mess  -  Mess!


In an interview on a Miami radio station, former Gang Green special teams coach Mike Westoff, characterized the Jets handling of Tim Tebow as an absolute mess.  This just exacerbates the question of who wanted Tim Tebow.  Coach Westhoff offered the Jets neither planned to incorporate, nor practiced to utilize Tim Tebow on offense at any time.  Sure, the Jets talked about it.  But they never followed through.  Or, does this raise the question of whether Rex Ryan and Tony Sparano together, were clueless in their struggle to fit him in?  Westhoff also intimated that Rex and Sparono kind of dumped Tebow on him to make use of.


In my opinion, the more damning aspects of Coach Westhoff's comments strike at the organization's very core.  His words reveal the true state of the Jets and speak poorly of them.  Why?  Because for long Mike Westhoff has been one of the most respected assistant coaches in all the NFL.  Originally, you had to take Mike Westhoff on his word that he was retiring from coaching.  It can now be safely assumed Coach Westhoff was running from the Jets as if the team's practice hangar were on fire.  What is also clear to me at least after grasping the whole of his interview, is he no longer wanted to be a part of the utter chaos that presently consumes the Jets.  Mike Westoff also appeared on the Michael Kay Show Friday afternoon to further clarify himself.  And he continued to bomb away.


Woody Johnson is the genesis of said Chaos.  It is his team.  He is the owner.  However, blame shouldn't be that simplistic.  The organization lost its semblance of normalcy somewhere between the extremes characterized by their two most recent head coaches.  Eric Mangini brought in talent and disciplined them.  But A) - the team underachieved under him, and B) - he was a media cold front.  At the other extreme, Rex Ryan is a turbulent tropical warm front consumed with, and by the daily media maelstrom.  At first, his team overachieved FOR him.  But the talent level under Rex has depleted over the last two seasons, not to mention, they have become quite an undisciplined bunch under his reign as well.


Woody Johnson might be committing a huge mistake by making a new General Manager retain Rex Ryan for at least one more season.  Several very good candidates, one from the Giants who took the Panthers GM position, are already off the market, and rumor is they would have nothing to do with the Jets present situation.  So what exactly is the Jets present situation?


Woody Johnson purchased the team in 2000, and inherited an agreement whereby Bill Parcells would move into the front office, and hand over the head coaching reigns to Bill Belichick.  But Belichick in turn immediately handed Woody Johnson his letter of resignation as HC of the NYJ and bolted for New England.  Al Groh was forced to step in and coach the Jets, which he did for one season and salvaged a respectful 9-7 record.  After the 2000 season, both Bill Parcells and Al Groh left the organization.  Overall under Bill Parcells the team achieved a 39-26 record, and a 1-1 mark in the playoffs.  Bill Parcells left behind Mike Tannenbaum who was originally brought on board to be the team's salary CAPologist.


Woody Johnson then made what many considered a good football decision when he hired Terry Bradway from Kansas City to be the team's new General Manager.  Bradway ushered in the Chad Pennington/Herman Edwards era.  Very simply, Herm may have been a victim of Chad Pennington's limited health and overall arm strength.  I do not want to dig too deeply into those five years.  They were good years by Jets standards even though the era only amassed a 39-41 regular season record.   The Jets made the playoffs in 2001, 2002, and in the 2004 season.  After the 2005 let down, the Edwards and Bradway tandem ceased to be.  Herm Edwards left for Kansas City.  But Woody Johnson retained Terry Bradway within the organization, albeit with a demotion.  But twelve years with the Jets now, he still currently serves as the team's Senior Player Personnel Executive.


By 2006, Mike Tannenbaum had progressed enough through the front office ranks to where Woody Johnson felt compelled to name him the next General Manager of the Jets.  Eric Mangini was then hired out of Bill Belichick's staff in New England to replace Herm Edwards as head coach.  The first season under Mangini was terrific.  The rest of his three year reign was not.  Mike Tannebaum, Eric Mangini, and the Jets compiled a 23-25 regular season record.  Whether inspired by Tannenbaum, or perhaps against Mangini's better judgement or not, the era went down in a blaze of glory with Brett Favr%#!?$vre at quarterback.


Eric Mangini was out.  Mike Tannebaum got to stay.  Rex Ryan is in.  The Jets then trade up to draft Mark Sanchez.  Four years later Rex Ryan stays, Mike Tannebaum is pushed out the door, and Mark Sanchez is the poster child for futility.  The assistant coaching staffs are decimated by firings and mass exodus.  The roster is riddled with questionable talent and bad contracts.  Additionally, the Jets are capped out.


Meanwhile, the office of General Manager has been filled in Jacksonville, Carolina, and San Diego, by who many in the media consider to be stellar candidates.  The Cardinals promoted from within.  Not only have the Jets not settled on a candidate yet, Woody Johnson will let Rex Ryan exercise a measure of approval over the potential hire.


Ponderous!  The Jets hired a firm to line up candidates.  At this point, Woody Johnson is just throwing his money away.  Here's the deal.  Woody Johnson or a firm should not be conducting a GM search.  His President of Football Operations should.  Oh wait!  He doesn't have one.  Exactly.  Because if he did, Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum would have remained linked together.  The hiring and firing of the General Manager is perhaps best left to good football people.  Not Woody Johnson.


As things stand right now, Terry Bradway is the senior most football executive Woody Johnson has.  And next to Rex Ryan, Bradway is the only football mind Woody has left.  If the Jets keep missing out on qualified candidates for their GM position, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if the Jets are forced to promote from within, and perhaps elevate Terry Bradway to the office of GM once again.  In my opinion, that would be the way to go, and here is why.


Woody Johnson needs to clean up his entire organization and fill it with better football minded people.  Terry Bradway has been here since the 2001 season.  Since then, the Jets are exactly 96-96 over that time.  If you add in Al Groh's 9-7 record from the prior season when Woody first purchased the team, the Jets are now 105-103 in the Woody Era.  But once the Parcells Era ended, thank Rex Ryan for elevating the team to a .500 record because both Herm Edwards and Mangini posted sub .500 marks.  So far Rex Ryan has posted a 34-30 record in four years.  Bradway has been the only constant member of the Jets, more so than Tannenbaum, who's work directly contributed to the product on the field over the last twelve years.  Woody should now attach Rex Ryan and Terry Bradway at the hip and let them sink or swim together.


Why take on a new General Manager from outside the organization at this point?  If Rex and Terry succeed, Fine!  But if they fail Woody can rid himself of both of them, then truly rebuild his organization from the ground up.  He would have a clean slate to work with, and have the luxury of being methodical and getting it done right.  Therefore, his first move should then be recruiting a qualified Team President of Football Operations, and let that person hire the next GM of the Jets.


Why a team president?  Because the Jets have posted a .500 record over the last twelve years!  Because Woody Johnson is an heir of a very different world from outside football.  He is not a Rooney, or a Mara.  In the absence of a good Team President, an unlearned owner operating on his own behalf risks exposing the organization to dysfunction.  Without the GM, the owner is alone.  Look how long it took Daniel Snyder of the Redskins to realize that.  Sometimes this dysfunction  manifests itself in the owner firing his General Manager but leaving his teddy bear head coach on board for the next guy to worry about.  That's not the way to build football teams.  That's the way companies operate in the corporate world.  That's why the economy and the Jets are so messed up.





Mike.BTB

New York Jets: A Blueprint for Disaster

From the desk of:   A Blue-Blooded Giants Fan



NEW YORK JETS:  Striking Out In Their Bid To Secure Nnamdi Asomugha Sent Gang Green Into Tailspin.

How Do You Like Brian Schottenheimer Now?

Tim Tebow is a good place to start this discussion.  Why was he brought here and who wanted him?  The only four suspects involved are Coach Sparano, Rex, Mike Tannenbaum, and Woody Johnson.


Somehow Tony Sparano actually made Coach Brian Schottenheimer look good.  Schotty's departure shed light on Mark Sanchez' game.  Evidently there was a reason Schotty never unleashed Mark Sanchez.  Coach kept the QB, who Pete Carroll claimed was not ready for the NFL, within his limits.  Without Schottenheimer, Mark Sanchez was a complete disaster in his fourth NFL season.


Being methodical and play-calling within an offensive unit's means is easily confused with being boring, unoriginal and/or displaying lack of creativity, and things of that nature.  So in a town like NYC, Schotty wore on the fan base; naturally.  In obvious hindsight, I offer Schotty gave Sanchez structure, in-game management, and direction.  Save the issue of talent surrounding Sanchez for Mike Tannenbaum.  But perhaps it was Schotty who squeezed and manipulated Sanchez into being a capable enough QB that could HELP his team qualify for back-to-back AFC title games.  Clearly by 2011, the talent level around Sanchez started to erode.  And today it is very clear the coaching Mark Sanchez received under Tony Sparano was substandard.  Matt Cavanaugh has been his Mark's QB coach under both offensive coordinators.  If Matt has been the constant for Sanchez, the difference in his performance under Schotty and Sparano are made even more stark.  Tony Sparano was fired in Miami and helped make the Jets worse.  Schottenheimer was fired by the Jets then helped make the Rams better.  Go figure, right?  Schottenheimer had previous experience as a QB coach with the Chargers.  Sparano did not.


The Jets claimed all along Tim Tebow was the back-up to Mark Sanchez.  And to their credit, they handed Mark the season.  They even avoided giving Tebow the ball late in the season.  Even though  Sparano utilized a wildcat system in Miami, whatever the plan for Tim Tebow was, it became very clear to me Tony Sparano had no idea how to implement a two QB system.  There is a big difference. And based on the way Tebow was utilized this season, there was indeed no plan for Tim Tebow; at least no evident plan exhibited by Tony Sparano.


So did Tony Sparano want him around?  Doubtful.  Ditto goes for Rex Ryan.  I do not subscribe to the Wes Welker Effect.  When with the Miami Dolphins, Welker repeatedly burnt the Patriots.  So Bill Belichick traded for him.  Because Tim Tebow was instrumental in defeating the Jets the year prior doesn't make me believe Rex lobbied his GM to trade for Tebow.  Everyone has already chimed in about Rex's ignorance with regards to offense.  But even as the head coach, he strained and often found himself at a loss for words when trying to rationalize Tebow's existence, much less his role.  Rex Ryan straining for words?


The truth about Tim Tebow lies somewhere between Woody Johnson and Mike Tannenbaum.  Whether the GM was just acquiescing Woody Johnson and his bottom line, or whether GM Mike Tannenbaum instigated the trade himself are no longer important.  The GM is gone.  The offensive coordinator should be shown the door shortly.  Tebow will soon be gone too.  And you can't fire the owner.  Rex however, might survive to coach another year depending on the next General Manager.


But what wreckage the former General Manager left behind.  The talent he and Eric Mangini assembled served Rex Ryan well during his first two seasons as coach.  The talent assembled by Rex and Tannenbaum over the last two seasons have not.  Or, they did a poor job replacing outgoing players.  Pick your poison.  But in my opinion, the Jets really did themselves a disservice when they cleared players and cap room in an all-out effort to secure cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.  By the time Nnamdi signed with Philly, quality players left on the open market, much needed by the Jets to fill other holes, were all gone.


And that's how I think the Jets have arrived upon today.


The defense has been solid enough.  But they were asked to do way too much for four seasons.  Their window is now just about closed.  Offensively, the Jets have problems at QB, offensive line, receiver, and with the running game.  If you include Dustin Keller's contract status, the Jets have problems at tight end too.  Great.


The next General Manager of the Jets better eat his Wheaties and brew a lot of coffee.  He has lots of work to do.



Mike.BTB

New York Jets: System Check Reveals Faults Before Take-Off

From the desk of:  A BLUE BLOODED GIANTS FAN

J  -  E  -  T  -  S

Just - Endure - Tannenbaum's - Signings

NEW YORK JETS:  If You Really Want To Know What Woody Johnson's Priorities Are, Fire Mike Tannenbaum.


This is all just one man's opinion of course.  As such, I believe Bill Parcells departed the Jets, and left behind someone who at the time was put in place because of his salary cap savvy.  He was someone however with a limited football background.  That person, Mike Tanenbaum, was eventually promoted to the office of General Manager.  He and Eric Mangini actually started to build something credible.  Their drafting was hit or miss.  But together they generally brought in quality people and good players.  Eric Mangini's personality and coaching style left much to be desired though, so his team stopped responding to him.  No wonder there.  Needless to say, the Jets made a switch and hired Rex Ryan.  And it was a good hire.


I believe Rex Ryan took what was left over from the Mangini era, and with some tweaking by him and Mike Tannenbaum, elevated the Jets into AFC Championship contenders.  In the newest era of Jets Football, the 2009 season was best.  The 2010 season less so.  And then we all know what happened last season.


The differences in personnel from the 2008-2009 Jets to this season are stark.  And many fans are still undecided as to whether the changes have been for the better.  This is what I feel.  There is a certain measure of quality control a GM must maintain.  There is also a certain degree of direction they must exert over their Coaches as well.  The team vision must come from the General Manager; not from the Head Coach, up.  More on the owner's role later.  But for now, Mike Tannenbaum fails on all counts.  Instead, the Jets GM is Rex Ryan's biggest enabler.  For three years he kept feeding Coach Ryan's hearty appetite for controversy.  The newly adopted tact he teamed up with Rex was diametrically opposed to the way he and Eric Mangini conducted business together.


At the heart of the matter, Mike Tannenbaum's transactions have brought discord into the clubhouse for the last two seasons running.  In 2009, less behaved athletes were still kept in check by guys like Kris Jenkins, etc.  For the most part, those safeguards fail to exist today; not in decent numbers anyway.  His locker room refurbishment has also earned him a full range of criticism.  And the Jets as a whole dominate the tabloids sometimes for all the wrong reasons.


There is no coincidence regarding the down tick, or the fall off if you will, from 2009 to last season.   As more Mangini era players fell by the way side, Mike Tanenbaum kept importing increasingly questionable talent and difficult characters.  He in effect transformed the locker room; not Rex Ryan.  Tannenbaum was the one who relaxed quality control.  A head coach, be it Mangini or Rex Ryan, can ask for the moon.  That doesn't mean they'll get it..., if you catch my drift.  It's up to a GM to keep a Coach's whims in check as well.


Lastly, for a man once considered a CAPologist, I believe Mike Tannenbaum's spending savvy has devolved right along with his quality control.  He wastes his Jets dollars most unwisely these days. So overall, I'd have to conclude by saying instead of progressing, the Jets are now in the midst of regressing under Mike Tannenbaum.


I do like Rex Ryan as a coach.  There is only so much of what ails the Jets that I'm willing to put on him.  Aside from all the other extraneous stuff Rex brings to the table, I believe he squeezed every bit of success he possibly could from the last three rosters he was given.  This season however, he really, really has his work cut out for him.


Will the hiring of new Offensive Coordinator Tony Sparano help the Jets?  With regards to former Coach Schottenheimer, yes.  Will he help with regards to the Offensive Line?  If you limit the discussion to technique, accountability, and preparation, he might.  But if we're talking about ability, don't make me laugh.  It is very simple.  The Offensive Line has to prove they can protect Marc Sanchez better; if at all.  Because if they don't, and make Marc Sanchez look bad in the process, the organization is going to quite literally hand the ball off to Tim Tebow.  And in my view, if Tebow takes over the helm, the Jets will crash and burn.


With all the positions that needed attention this past off-season, and depending how much you like Sanchez, Mike Tanenbaum acquired the one player the Jets needed least.  Ponderous.  At the same time Mike Tannenbaum is devolving by his own doing, the Offensive Line caused Marc Sanchez to devolve as a quarterback as well.  Upgrading the Offensive Line, and finding Sanchez a suitable receiver should have been the GM's concentration; not acquiring Tim Tebow.


In effect, Marc Sanchez took a step backwards last season, partly of his own doing.  But others definitely contributed.  Tannenbaum certainly helped.  He took away Sanchez' favorite receivers, and gave him headaches.  Coach Schottenheimer helped.  He gave Marc Sanchez misdirection.  Then if you want to point at not having an able running game to supplement Sanchez last season, I will point right back at the Offensive Line.  Not only couldn't they protect the quarterback last season, they equally failed to provide any daylight to run through.  It is all relative.  It all starts up front.


If the Offense is inefficient this season, the Defense in turn won't be able to hold up.  They can only do so much.  Outside of the obvious lack of a pass rush, there are no real concerns for the Jets on Defense. They will be good.  But if they are consistently having to retake the field after repeated three-and-outs, or something to that effect, the Defense will surely wear down.  No conditioning program on the planet will prepare Bart Scott for Jets ineptness on Offense and the toll it will take on his own body when the Defense is asked to do too much.


If acquiring Tim Tebow is a sick way of circumventing an ineffective Offensive Line and their plan for shaking free of their bigger problems, they are running directly into a fire.  If things go awry this season, Mike Tannenbaum must go.  It will be then, and only then, Woody Johnson reveals his true priorities.  He's the one in the Control Tower.


So what to make of the man who champions "one can never have enough Tebow....."?  I'll say this about Woody - he is making it increasingly difficult to decipher whether he wants a top flight football team, or a second rate headline maker.  For truth be told, Mike Tannenbaum is also Woody Johnson's biggest enabler.  And therefore, Mike Tannenbaum is in a conundrum.  The GM himself also made it difficult to determine whether the he is commitment to bettering the team, or finding unique and imaginative new ways to sell Woody's undersold tickets.  He is good at skirting the issue because he speaks well without saying much.


If things go badly this season, I'd like to see the GM talk his way out of this one.  But I say if you really want to know what Woody Johnson's priorities are, Mike Tannenbaum needs to be fired.  But who fires Tannenbaum?  He serves Woody so well.  And there-in lies the biggest problem facing the Jets - not personnel.


Good luck this season Jets fans.  Try really really try hard to..........

Just  -  Enjoy  -  The -  Season

Mike.BTB

New York Jets: Please Clean Up After Your Dog

From the desk of:   A BLUE BLOODED GIANTS FAN

SNOOPY BOWL PREVIEW ~ Giants vs. Jets

NEW YORK JETS:  Oh No He Didn't?!

The Sanchise Calls Out His O-Line.

The Only Thing I Can Think Of, That Is Big, Green,

And Entertaining, Is GUMBY Damn It!

Did Marc Sanchez call out his Offensive Line on TV during the second half of Saturday's game against the Giants?  Upon further review, I think he did.

"....they gotta stop a four man rush.  It's that simple." - or something to that effect, is how he phrased it.

Those are biting words my friend, and an easy way to lose friends.  As a matter of fact, almost everything he said into the microphone Saturday night was directed at the Offensive Line.  The Giants sacked Jets quarterbacks seven times in last night's exhibition.  They got to Sanchez three times, and got hold of Tim Tebow another four times.

At least Sanchez got caught by the Giants' starters.  In the first half, he was greeted in the backfield by Jason Pierre Paul, Osi, and Justin Tuck, which is quite understandable.  But in the second half, the Offensive Line allowed the Giants to corral Tim Tebow another four times by guys named Adewale Ojomo, who had two sacks, William Hill, And Matt Broha.  To get run over by that line-up guarantees a week chock-full-o criticisms.  And the only way the criticisms will stop, is if the Jets take the field next week, and actually show they can play this game.

Poor guy.  Marc Sanchez is trying really, really hard to exert himself now that Tim Tebow is here, isn't he?  His words might carry some more weight if he hadn't thrown that pick-six though.  The Jets QB may have single-handed won a place on the Giants' roster for rookie, #38-Jayron Hosely, with that play.  Jayron Hosely took Sanchez, to-the-house.  He returned a Marc Sanchez INT seventy-seven yards for a touchdown in front of Gang Green's crowd.

Marc Sanchez had six offensive opportunities to matriculate the ball up the field.  Six times, the Jets failed to score points.  And on their way to halftime, Steve Weatherford reminded his old team just how huge of a mistake they committed by not signing the now Giants Punter.  In this Giants fan's eyes, Steve Weatherford was Big Blue's runner-up MVP of last season.  In the first half of Saturday's game, the Jets watched their punter, T.J. Conley, shank punt after punt after punt.

In the second half, at least Tim Tebow moved the Jets close enough to score a field goal.  And on the passes he did connect on, he looked a little crisper than Sanchez as well; just a little.  There was the obligatory interception, of course.  But at face value, there were a lot a cheers for Tebow when he took the field for the first time.  Like Sanchez, even Tebow had a word or two for his Linemen.  On one occasion after getting sacked, he popped up and got pretty animated, and seemed to be directing his ire towards his front guys.  The QB controversy only gets worse from here.

I put much of the blame for this mess on Mike Tannenbaum.  And if I'm ranking the one's most responsible, indeed Tannenbaum is number one.  But then comes his boss, Woody Johnson.  After the owner I start blaming players.  And at the bottom of my blame list, would be Head Coach Rex Ryan.

Since reaching back to back AFC Championship games, the Jets have done more to devolve back into the green primordial ooze of futility than assembling a squadron of qualified Jets.

Right now, I can only think of one thing that is Big, Green, and entertaining.  And that would be Gumby damn it!  I'm not a Jets fan, but even I was annoyed at Gang Green's play Saturday.  That goes for all of them.  The Jets have a potential disaster on their hands.  So buckle up, make sure your trays are in their upright positions.  When the oxygen masks drop on Opening Day, kiss your season good-bye and brace for impact.

And by the way, the Giants are upset the Jets didn't clean up after themselves after pooping in their house.

Mike.BTB

Pre-Season Pigskin: Giants vs. Jets

From the desk of:   DO  IT FOR THE DUKE

THE SNOOPY BOWL - III

NEW YORK GIANTS

vs.

NEW YORK JETS

SATURDAY:

BATTLE OF THE SWAMP LANDS

Eli Manning: Is Now Beyond the Coach

On Kevin Gilbride, and an Offensive Line Preview

N.Y. Jets: Still Trying to Paint the Town Green

NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS:  Defending Champions Out To Silence New York Jets..., Again.


What possessed these two franchises to share a stadium?  On the one hand, you can blame Jim Dolan for effectively blocking the West Side Stadium project.  On the other hand, I can appreciate both owners not wanting to foot the cost of a new stadium alone.  But as far as the Giants go, why would they want to share?  And as the Jets go, what were they thinking?  It makes sense then, that maybe this is why Woody Johnson rubber stamps Mike Tannenbaum's efforts to turn his team into the East Coast Neo-Raiders, while John Mara runs his organization as if he was born into the business.


Not only are the two owners diametrically opposed to each other, the General Managers couldn't be more different.  Each team's head coach couldn't be more different from each other.  And the way each team's players conduct themselves, couldn't vary any more than they do.  What's great about this arrangement though, is these two organizations now hate each other like never before.


So lets get it on!


Lets speak in truths here.  The Jets are still trying to get to where Giants roam.  That's a tough spot to be in; just like their stadium situation.  Living in someone else's shadow can wear a man down; much less fifty-three men, plus staff.  And don't look now, but I'm sure someone is busy painting the latest Giants' Super Bowl graphic on the wall next to their locker room.  Yes, the same wall the Jets must walk passed on the way to their locker room.


Curtains anyone?


This is pre-season, so you can't walk away from this game lamenting results.  What we're doing here is paying attention to isolated players and personnel packages.


From the Giants, I'd like to see the Offensive Line show me some cohesiveness, even though, there are no strangers within the unit this season.  And I'd like to see David Wilson and Da'Rel Scott handle most of the rushing.  Defensively, I need Prince Amukamara to show me so much more than he did in the first pre-season game.  Because of horrible footwork and bad body positioning, Prince spent the first pre-season game against the Jaguars getting burnt like toast.


From the Jets, I would imagine the most important thing this week is the play of Marc Sanchez and his ability to put up points.  Only Marc Sanchez can quiet all the Tim Tebow constant chatter.  If Marc plays well, Tebow becomes inconsequential, and all the talk dies down; to a point.  After all, this is NYC we're talking about.


What strikes me as odd, is the Jets were/are one of the most successful teams in the red zone with Marc Sanchez taking snaps.  So why would you change up with Tebow?  It seems counter-productive to me.  Be that as it may, since there are two QB's, I'm curious to see where exactly on the field each QB is given his chance.  My thinking is Tebow would be a safe way to play in the Jets own end.  But once they cross midfield, I think Sanchez will dominate that time.  Who knows.  I do know the season will be crazy due to Tebow's mere presence alone.


And, like the Giants, the Jets' Offensive Line needs to be markedly better this season than they have been.  The Jets return with basically the same crew, and Shonn Greene as the feature back.  I do think Coach Sparano will improve them as a unit.  I think Coach Sparano will put Marc Sanchez into far better situations than Coach Schotty did as well.  Defensively, I'd be paying attention to the play of the linebackers.




Mike.BTB

N.Y. Jets: Still Trying To Paint The Town Green

From the desk of:  A BLUE BLOODED GIANTS FAN 

J - E - T - S

Just - Enjoy - Tanenbaum's - Signings

OR

Just - Enjoy - The - Shenanigans

NEW YORK JETS:

Was It Over When The Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor?

When we last saw them in December of 2011, the frat brothers of D-Generation Rex were in the process of getting caught red-handed, holding brushes and spray cans, while trying to paint the town Green.  The way last season ended was just the latest in a series of setbacks.  For at their zenith two years ago, Gang Green threw a most debaucherous toga party in New England, and did things which they'd eventually forgive themselves for.  You should have seen them.  They felt so ashamed - an all time low.


In retaliation for snide remarks a Patriots' nerd made regarding Rex Bluto's best gal, and her pretty feet, Bart D-Day Scott, and Boon Sanchez, retrofitted the Jets, and unleashed an aerial bombardment down upon Wes Welker, and greater Beantown, that some fans in Foxboro are still hiding from.  Then for good measure in the after-party, they imposed themselves and danced with other people's dates, served alcohol to under age women at the party, and performed acts so heinous decorum does not permit me to discuss them here.


Indeed, the more raucous residents of Big Blue House on the Prairie never felt more high than on that night against the Patriots.  But since that game, all their grade point averages have dropped, and more and more, it appeared as if seven years of college were heading down the drain; especially after they killed that horse last season.  But you can't keep their spirit down, now can you?  At least not Rex Bluto's you can't.  Because for him, it wasn't over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor, now was it?  For Rex, not talking about about himself, the Super Bowl, or how great his team stands to be, is a conversation not worth having.  That said, Rex Bluto, Hoover Tanenbaum, Woody Otter Johnson, and the rest of the Jets are back.  And this time, D-Generation Rex is rolling with their newest pledge, Pinto!


If you're a Jets fan, you can't help but admire with bewilderment, the thoroughness of the job, fraternity president and Jets General Manager Hoover Tanenbaum has done with this team.  Make no mistake.  This most motley collection of class clowns, entitled brats, and media dramatists exists by design.  But why?  Well?  Being that Hoover Tanenbaum sits at the head of his own class, he'll be made to stand in front of the Dean's desk.  Problem is, there is no Dean!  Woody Otter Johnson is the one with the twelve inch check book in that black doctor's bag he keeps behind the bar.  In other words, this is Woody's cucumber, and if he thinks his is bigger than yours, that's all that matters to him.  And so far, he seemingly likes the way the semester is going.


Regardless of what I think, here they are!  View them in all their Green incredulity.


There are players on this team that pollute the atmosphere down to a molecular level.  Good luck with that.  However still, the 2012 Jets will perhaps be the most unique gathering of fifty-three players dressed in green shirts and tight white pants you might ever witness as a fan.  Of which, I'm not one.  So let's get this out of the way before the season begins.  I am a Giants fan.  But I am not a hater.  I have never harbored ill will towards the Jets.  But I will be covering the Jets this season the best I can as a source of entertainment.  Because heaven knows they are a major source of material.  Are you guys happy about that?  ....I digress.


Of course, there is the newest pledge, Pinto Tebow.  He's the one running around camp with a devil on one shoulder scheming for Boon Sanchez' job, and telling Tebow to take off his shirt in the rain.  And on the other shoulder sits and angel, getting him to say all the right things to the media, and stick to his core values.  Boon Sanchez is dejected already, so look out.  His main supporter, Rex, hasn't been too faithful lately.  And should Boon Sanchez fail at any point this season, that could very well open the door for Pinto to take his job.  That's when things will get totally out of control.  That's when kegs start crashing through the windows.  And if Woody isn't really careful, Pinto Tebow just might deliver his daughter to the doorstep of his house in a shopping cart, ring the bell, and rush away.  Because after all, isn't rushing the ball what Tim Tebow does best?


In four months from now, don't cry when someone puts their arm around you and says, "You f#cked-up!  You trusted us." Or, if luck has it, as Otter once championed, "..what's needed is a real futile and stupid gesture be done on some one's part....."  And the Jets feel they're just the guys to do it.

SATURDAY,

AUGUST 18, 2012

Pre-Season Game Two:

Battle in the Swamp

NEW YORK GIANTS

@

NEW YORK JETS

FROM

Giants Stadium!

Mike.BTB

N.Y. Jets ~ 2012 Guaranteed to be a Memorable Season

NEW YORK JETS:  Write This In Stone; The 2012 Jets' Season Will Be One of the Most Tumultuous Campaigns in Team History.



Jet Fans, let's get right to the heart of the matter.  The triumvirate of Rex Ryan, Mike Tannenbaum, and Woody Johnson, are turning your team into a circus.



Let's lead off with the Head Coach, shall we?  In just speaking of this last season alone, Rex Ryan remained disconnected from the offensive side of the ball.  He antagonized his "little Brother" and paid a Big Blue price for it late in the season.  Then on the heals of back-to-back AFC Championship appearances, Rex's team failed to make the playoffs for the first time since taking over.  Once the season ended, certain players started airing out their dirty laundry to the Media.  And when questioned about his team's alleged grievances, Rex Ryan denied knowing problems existed amongst his players and pleaded ignorance to any simmering locker room animosities.  It just never occurred to him that his locker room was in dire need of an attitude adjustment.  And to me, that's a failure to capture the pulse of the team.  But how could he, when he himself was involved in a falling out with his offensive coordinator and was constantly jostling with the Media and creating his own controversies?



He remains unaccountable for a team that continues to lose it's identity - an identity (see Ground and Pound) that he never truly established, or, committed to, in the first place.  Over all, what the Jets have achieved so far under Rex has been arrived at more so through his words, than through deeds.



That's the outsiders view.  But I'm a local.  I get Rex Ryan and I like Rex Ryan, even though you folks know I'm a Giants Fan.  None of this should come off as hatin' either.  I understand Rex's in-game, and his methods.  He's cool with me.  But the record speaks for itself, and sometimes you need to be called on the carpet just to keep you honest.  I will say this though - his style has a short life span.  And a General Manager can only exasperate the situation by continually bringing in the wrong kind of players.



Mike Tannenbaum deserves his third-share of blame; if not more.  I believe Mike Tannenbaum bears the most responsibility for last season's disappointment.  And it is precisely because there has been no philosophical consistency from him.  I get no sense he has a coherent plan.  What I see is more of a Fantasy Football approach these last two seasons.  He also strikes me as a swinger.  When Eric Mangini was still coach, Tannenbaum operated with a more conservative and business like tact.  With Rex, Tannenbaum has again taken on his Head Coach's persona; if not in similar fashion to Rex's overt brashness, but through his splashy, risky, yet fearless transactions.



He put together a fine team in 2009, but has literally spent the last two seasons sabotaging it.  More and more he's proving himself to be exactly who Bill Parcells thought he was bringing to the Jets; a CAPologist - and nothing more.  He is nifty with numbers, and is extremely well spoken.  But with each passing season as GM, he's proving himself to be an inadequate team builder.  I say that because I feel he caused this team to take a series of backwards steps.



Somewhere in between Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum lies the curious case of Braylon Edwards. By the time of initial his signing, Tannenbaum was already committed to taking chances on players with a checkered past.  As things worked out, Braylon would have run through walls for Rex in addition to working well with Mark Sanchez.  The Jets then decided Santonio Holmes was who they really wanted.  But with Santonio in, and Braylon, and Jerricho Cotchery out, Peace; Love; and Harmony; left the building.  That, if anything, seems representative of Mike Tannenbaum's plan.  And well, in two short seasons, his transactions have polluted the locker room.  And now the Jets are considering a return of Braylon Edwards again.  That's what you call a circle folks.



Look what the decent from 2009 has done to your quarterback.  Mark Sanchez took major strides backwards last season.  But if you dig a little deeper than just the prevailing opinions about him, you would know so many things around him failed or broke down; to include his offensive coordinator.  But only QB's get blamed.  While everyone is busy dumping on Mark Sanchez, a sub-par offensive line goes largely unspoken about.  And now through their actions, the head Coach and the GM have given every indication they are about to turn on their quarterback.  In football terms, the contract extension the Jets gave Sanchez was more like a kiss of death.  The organization can spin this any way they want.  Mark Sanchez is now walking a tight rope without a net.



Sometimes locker rooms get polluted because you populate them with the wrong kind of people for the wrong reasons.  There's always the business side of Football to contend with.  And that's where the owner comes in.  Many believe Woody Johnson is the instigator of some questionable moves made by the Jets.  After all, he has a brand to sell.  And many think he encourages his organization to conduct it's business in a manner that strikes me as more flamboyant, than fundamental.  Overt attention grabbers and trying to win the back pages of the tabloids are not what winning football teams are made of.  But this is exactly what the Jets are being accused of.  Starved for attention in the shadow of the N.Y. Giants, many accuse Woody Johnson himself for taking the team down this path.



THIS IS THE WORLD....  Tim Tebow is now a part of.  And the fact Rex Ryan, Mike Tannenbaum, nor Woody Johnson were on hand at Tebow's press conference was plainly and simply - negligent; if not laughable.



What starts now is something of a completely different matter.  What dynamics Tim Tebow will, or will not bring to the Jets' offense, remains to be seen.  It is only March, and what we already know is that the Jets' 2012 season will be one of the most tumultuous campaigns in the organization's history.






Mike.BTB

N.Y. JETS ~ A Clash For TITANS

THE SNOOPY BOWL - I

NEW YORK GIANTS

vs.

NEW YORK JETS

THE MET-LIFE GAME OF DEATH

NEW YORK JETS:   We Have a Penalty.  Prior to the Game, Failure to Keep Mouth Shut - Head Coach of the Green Team.  Penalty to be Assessed Saturday Afternoon.

Never before have the Giants taken on the Jets; or the Jets against the Giants;  -  depending upon which allegiance you subscribe to; where both teams had so much at stake.  It's a game in which both teams have everything to gain, along with everything to lose.  They're two desperate, wounded animals, while each is unknowingly more frightened than the other.  Who then is better than Met-Life to draw up and underwrite a policy for Saturday's upcoming East Rutherford Riot.  For in the aftermath of this game, one of these two team's seasons will surely die.

Rex Ryan already stepped out of line and prematurely cut the ribbon on Snoopy Bowl I.  He said the Jets are the better team and have been for two years now.  I don't listen to him much.  I'd rather take up issue with those who overzealously attack Rex for every word he says.  At least he gives it straight.   I'm a Giants Fan but I'm not a Jets Hater.  Although sometimes you fans make me sick.  But I'm mildly interested in the Jets' success just as long as it doesn't interfere with my interests, of course.

Rex is an interesting cat.  I get what he's up to.  If the Media is too busy with him, it leaves his team with more time to concentrate on preparation.  That works to a point.  But everyone can still see what happens on the field with their own eyes.  Additionally, by supporting his players and propping them up the way he does, he creates an "us against the world" mentality.  He gets his guys to want to jump in front of a bus for him.  And in doing so, perhaps gets more out of a player than a player thought he could give.  When you multiply that by a roster, what you're left with is a confident and rambunctious team.

I'm only one guy, and with all the other stuff I like to keep tabs on, I admit, the Jets have suffered the most.  I haven't necessarily posted about you guys all season long.  But that doesn't mean I don't see what's going on.  In my weekly PIGSKIN predictions, I always made sure to include a lengthy paragraph in-lieu of a dedicated post.  As a matter of fact, last year's playoffs were some of the more fun games to write about; especially that second Patriots game.  So like I said, the only thing that came between this blog and the Jets was a lack of time.

I'm not bragging at all here, just merely trying to point out that I think I have a grasp of your team and maybe even more so than my own team.  Whether I picked for or against the Jets, I am 12-1 picking Jets games this season against the spread.  WooHoo...yeah I know.

Go back and you'll see I said point blank, they'd lose three straight games against the Raiders; Ravens; and Patriots.  And that only after that, will they straighten out.  Not because I don't think they're a good team.  I thought that because there were too many changes to the roster and Tanenbaum strayed from a successful formula that almost worked the year before.

There it is.  I think Mike Tannenbaum over-shot your bid for a Super Bowl this year.  I think he tinkered too much.  But I'm not saying you can't win a Super Bowl.  I merely think you had a better shot last season.  I think last season will prove to have been the best shot once this present assemblage of players gets purged somewhere down the line.

J  -  E  -  T  -  S

Just  Enjoy  Tannenbaum's  Signings

That's what I said back then.  And I stand by it.  The Jets are a good team with a good Coach.  But Mike Tannenbaum out-thought this one coming into 2011 I'm afraid. 

I'm also not about to start ripping Marc Sanchez.  Do I think he's up to snuff?  Not really.  But the Giants went through a lot of growing pains with Eli also.  And you can't take four road playoff victories off his young resume.  Things will start to click for him a lot more next season.  Don't forget how little college experience he had.  On the job training can be a brutal endeavour in the NFL .

Can Marc Sanchez beat the Giants over the top Saturday?  Probably, every one else has.  So why shouldn't he?  Perhaps the new two-headed Offensive Coordinator; Shotty-Moore; can find the right plays that suit his touch.  Can the Jets burn the Giants' linebackers in coverage; especially with Dustin Keller?  Yep.  Everyone else has.  Will Marc Sanchez have enough time to find all these receivers behind a troublesome Offensive Line?  Probably.  The Giants' pass rush is currently MIA.  Osi Umenyiora will miss another game and Justin Tuck is a compromised player right now.  So.., yeah, Marc Sanchez might have enough time to see things develop down field.

Can the Jets run the ball against the Giants?  It's going to be harder to do than passing against them.  But it can be done.  If all the Jets are looking for is ninety or so yards rushing from Shonn Green, he should get it.  The Giants have actually tightened up on the run considerable since early to mid-way through the season.  If Shonn Green was able to rush for seventy-three yards against Philly last week, he should be able to hit ninety against the G-Men.  And that happens to be just slightly above the Giants' rush against average of  +/- eighty-six yards per game.  Fact is, Shonn Green above anyone else, will help Marc Sanchez out the most.

Defensively, I think the Jets can really limit the Giants' running game.  One reason is because they can.  Another reason is the odds Kevin Gilbride ignores the run are good.  The Giants are also down to their third-string Tight End.  Let's just say the Jets have been covering Tight Ends this season from afar.  Last game, the TV posted a stat of all the League's Tight Ends whom had superlative days against the Jets.

Elsewhere, the Jets sure as hell aren't getting to the QB either.  They haven't all year.  Eli will have time to throw, and as a result I think there will be some company on Revis Island this week.  The Giants Fan in me says Kevin Gilbride will ask Eli to throw the ball upwards of thirty-five to forty times.  So I'm sure there will be a pass or two begging to get intercepted.  But no pass rush and no Jim Leonard at Safety calling signals will definitely work in Eli Manning's favor.  However, I never discount Rex's ability to dial up a unique game plan to hunt down, in this case, Eli with.

Do I have a prediction?  No!  Not even as a Giants fan.  I have no clue is going to win this game.  At least today I don't.  Therefore Jet fans, I hope you guys play an amateurish, pathetic, and overall poor game.  Those are my hopes.  But good luck to you all the same. 

See you on the streets.

Mike.BTB

N.Y. JETS ~ REX's JETS get Grounded and Pounded

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL ~  Pittsburgh Steelers 24;  NEW YORK JETS 19


Bad ROAD TRIP:   Mind If We Dance With Your Dates? 

Not only didn't Otis Day and the Knights not "love" the Jets - They didn't even recognize the Jets when they walked in.  Showing up to that club was a bad idea from the start.  As soon as they walked in, the music stopped and all eyes were on them.  They settled in anyway for what was most likely going to be a very weird night. 

Once the music kicked-up again, one patron made it very clear he didn't want to talk and that he didn't go to college.  Another guy pulled out a switch-blade.  They had their tabled ripped out of the floor in front of them and to top it all off, had their dates taken away from them for a dance with strangers. 

When LEAVING! became the smart thing to do, they smacked up the car, along with a few others in the parking lot, in their attempt to flee and left the girls from Dickinson College behind to walk home alone.

Yes, the night was an unmitigated disaster; we know.


It's over Man; (Big Ben) Dean Wormer dropped the big one!  For Coach Rex Blutarsky and his Green Fraternity, I guess it IS seven years of College down the drain after all.  The Jets wound up tripping over their own marbles - all 10,000 of them.  The DeathMobile was really a Green Edsel in disguise.  And now,  there's no breaking beer bottles over Coach Blutarsky's head trying to cheer-up Flounder and getting him to stop crying about wrecking his brother's '64 Lincoln.

I think BOONE said it best and spoke for all, when he so eloquently said,

"You F%?#ed Up!...You Trusted Us!"


OK - So college was a complete waist of time for everybody, but Man! - wasn't it fun while it lasted?  Many of those characters from the movie all left Faber College behind to lead very different lives, just as free-agency will disperse some of this team's current players.  But the memory of their mayhem never went away and the memory of two great games against the Colts and Pats shouldn't either.  What the Boys achieved in one semester was Classic and something we who saw it, will remember for the rest of our lives.  When the pain subsides from this loss, Jet fans will look back on this season with endearment and acknowledge it for the Classic that IT was.

The horse, the toga party, the Mayor's daughter, the food fight, Dean Wormer's wife...  They were all worth it in the end even if they never got a chance to graduate.  So to Coach Blutarsky and the Boys..., Thanks for a great time.




NEW YORK JETS:  A Final Quiet Flight Home.

With a Better First Half, They Could Have Been
The TITANS of N.Y. Again!

So what happened out there?

Rex elected to defer the Kick-Off as is his custom.

Then, the Steelers proceeded to pounded out massive yardage running the ball and Big Ben capitalized on key downs by rumbling outside the Pocket. The Steelers went on a 9:06 minute drive ending in an opening possession touchdown.  Things went down hill from there for the Jets.  A Mark Sanchez fumble and return for a touchdown by Pittsburgh exacerbated the score and everybody went into halftime with the Steelers leading 24-3. 

The Jets Defense was plagued by poor tackling allowing over 100 yards rushing in the first half alone.  Offensively, the Jets could only gain ONE net positive yard running the ball and could not capitalize on a Big Ben interception.

In the second half, they gained back respectability.  Mark Sanchez, Shonn Greene and the Defense worked to get 16 more points on the scoreboard making the contest a 24-19 affair.  The Defense held the Steelers scoreless in the second half and scored two points of their own with a Safety.

And then the biggest point of contention of the night would be Coach Schottenheimer and what happened at the goal line.  Because after that, the Steelers got the ball back and Big Ben rolled out one final time to get one more first down and secure the win for Pittsburgh.

That's the game, basically in a nut-shell.


Of note is, in spite of a horrible QB Rating, Big Ben had a most remarkable and disruptive game out of the pocket.  He not only ran for yardage, he rolled out and threw accurately on the run and controlled third down for the Steelers.

He dared throwing Darrelle Revis' way, which I thought he would.  And Revis really should have come down with an interception.  But two Big Ben interceptions, in the end, didn't come back and doom the Steelers.  Instead, all his other work outshines the numbers he's credited with in the box-score.

The Steelers' Defensive performance in the second half?  How much of the Jets comeback can be attributed to Pittsburgh sitting on a 24-3 lead?  It's hard to say.  Rex said the Jets made zero half-time adjustments because he thought things would turn around as it was.  Well, they did.  I'd like to think Shonn Greene made a difference and again, Sanchez had a great game.  You can say...If It Weren't For The Fumble-6 and What Went Wrong Down On The Goal Line..., the Steelers' Defense could have potentially blown it also.  So, I do believe the Jets comeback was real and not something the Steelers allowed for the sake of an expiring clock.


BUT, WHAT REALLY HAPPENED OUT THERE?

Well, I'll start with my own Preview: ~ Steel City Showdown.  If you take a second and go through it, it's still what I feel today and now I'm just questioning why Schotty wasn't as aggressive as I think they needed to be.

These teams almost mirrored each other.  I thought both defenses would remain stout, tough and stingy.  I knew Sanchez and Big Ben would be main reasons either team won.  And we all knew both teams would try to impose the running game on each other.  Actually...blah blah blah.  I didn't anticipate the Jets tackling so poorly in the first half and that's as much the reason why they lost as any.  You can point to a myriad of things actually.

You want a short list?

* The Goal Line Stand
* the Roughing the Kicker penalty
* a huge Cotchery drop
* a Mark Sanchez fumble that went for 6 points the other way
* not capitalizing on the first Big Ben INT.
* Pittsburgh rushing for over 100 yards in the first half and the Jets only gaining ONE
* poor first half tackling
* continued devotion and false-hope in LaDainian Tomlinson and not pounding with Shonn Greene
* not one pass to Braylon Edwards for nearly the first three quarters of the game
* etc  etc

** But they did hold the Steelers scoreless in the second half.

Here's the real point I want to bring out of my Preview.  I thought the Jets needed to take numerous chances down field in order to shake loose the running game for them. 

Here's some of what I said in my preview:

"And now, against the Steelers, Mark Sanchez has to win a game for the Jets by his lonesome. Mark and his Receivers will become the focal point of the Jets Offense because I think the Steelers will hold true, and limit the Jets' running game to low yardage. Mark is going to be responsible for managing 1st and 3rd downs while they try and squeeze something out of their running game. This is not to say they shouldn't be trying to enforce the run-first tact, but I do think they'll be managed.

So how do you combat the Steelers defense?  Well, they are very aggressive.  So I say you meet it with aggression.  I say be bold.  You have to make then back off the run other wise they will take it away from the Jets and tee-off on Sanchez.

I think Schotty is going to have to get a little West Coast on Pittsburgh.  Use the Steelers' aggression against them.  Screen passes, draw plays, scatter-passes to Shonn Greene out of the back-field, and a whole bunch of slant and crossing patterns.  But I really think Schotty and Sanchez need to take a lot of chances over the top. As a matter of fact, the very first play the Jets have from scrimmage should be "The Bomb".  Honest!  I would take multiple gambles going over the top.  That's what you're going to have to do if the Jets want to shake their running game loose.  Then hopefully by the 2nd half, the running game can find some daylight and run with power.

.....So, against the Steelers, this Offense may have to get out of it's element.  What Jet fans can hope for is that Schotty's play sheet has everything on it that Mark does best and that a few of those plays find their way.  Because even though the Jets beat the Steelers in the regular season, remember two points came on a Safety and another touchdown was scored on a kick-return. So, Mark Sanchez will have to engineer more than 13-points this time around.

........On Offense, Nothing Ventured; Nothing Gained.  If I'm Rex I'm playing this game ultra-aggressively.  This is for the AFC Championship. Rex wants to win this time.  The Team wants to win this time. Their fans want them to win this time.

So I say TAKE IT! I say try and overwhelm them. I say launch a couple a balls deep early, and see if Braylon Edwards or Holmes can pull down a pass and inflict an early body blow. Because that's the way this has to be.   It has to hurt. The Jets need to make the Steelers think about something else other than the run......"

Well, that's what I said.  That's how they scored on Holmes' touchdown.  They tried only a few down-field passes in the first half.  Braylon Edwards I believe blew a route on one of them but more glaring is the fact he didn't have a reception for most of the first three quarters of the game.  But Coach Schottenheimer never really gave the deep threat a chance while the play was there waiting for them all night!  The Steelers secondary isn't great aside from that guy with a lot of hair.  And so what happened?  The Steelers took the run away from the Jets allowing them ONE yard rushing in the 1st half and they tee-d of on Sanchez causing a fumble-6.  Coach Schottenheimer didn't do enough to make the Steelers' defense think differently.  He needed to be more aggressive and pick on their corners with deep passes.  Why else did Mike Tannenbaum bring in Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes in the first place?  This was supposed to be the game where they improved upon the Offensive disappearance in last years' Championship game.  This was the game; not any other before this!

Then, there was The Goal-Line Stand.  Again, I believe Coach Schottenheimer got it all wrong.  Of course he got it all wrong.  People in Mongolia knew he got it wrong.  Every unborn Jet Fan will come to learn how wrong he got four plays that ran his team into the ground and kept them out of the Super Bowl.  Say what you will about the first half.  Yes it went bad, but too often we are reminded it's not how you start; it's how you finish.  Ask the Giants for a lesson in that (See Eagles). 

Why did this team and Coordinator rely so heavily on LaDainian Tomlinson based on greatness from years gone by?  Shonn Greene has been the young legs propelling the Jets running game ever since LT began to disappear mid-way through the season.  He should have been featured, not only in the first half, but on the goal-line hand-off that went to LT instead.  There were for downs, one yard, three feet and Glory to go.  Shonn Greene should have been choice one, two, three and four.  But Coach Schottenheimer elected to hand the ball off to someone who once upon a time would have flown over the pile, but this time couldn't use his walking cane to pole-vault onto a sidewalk.  Do we have to rehash the two pass calls?  Let's not, right?

Execution during the most critical, crucial moments of a game is the mark of a Champion.  But even great players need help.  Winners are still needy of a Coach putting them into position where-by they can make greatness transpire on the field.  Sanchez had himself a great day regardless of his coach and in that critical time, the QB needed and demanded more and better from his Coordinator.

Brian Schottenheimer didn't do that.  Instead, during those critical four downs near the goal line, I felt, I observed, someone who operated with a complete lack of urgency and didn't rise up to the challenge of the moment.  The play selection is a wholly different matter for which he deserves his very well deserved criticism.

I'm not a Jets fan so I'm perhaps not qualified to fan-dump someone's job.  But I do know you Jet fans have been complaining for years about this guy.  He drives you as crazy as Kevin Gilbride does me...and I don't blame you.



And what to make of the season now?

There's alot of opinions about players, Rex and the season to occupy space with.  Maybe a lot of that gets dealt with in the future. 

For now, I'll leave it at this:

If the Jets had not beaten the Colts in the first playoff game, Coach Rex and the Jets would have been pointed at, laughed at, ridiculed and mocked.  A decades' worth of new jokes and immature, but funny ways to manipulate J-E-T-S would have been arming a new generation of 13-year-olds' ridicule towards the team to use against their friends for a decade to come.

Had they lost to the Patriots, their fortitude would have been questioned; everything would have been questioned.  They, the verbal participants of Trash Talk Week, would have gotten destroyed by the media.  As a matter of fact, the whole thing would have been a complete disaster.  We'd still be sheltering ourselves from the fall-out.  A comprehensive, all-out media Blitz would have be brought upon JetsNation with a loss in Foxborough.

And now that the Playoff run has ended with a loss to the Steelers, I just want to reach into my pocket, pull out a pack of candy Life-Savers, and offer you one.  There's nothing to be embarrassed about.  No one should be receiving any more criticism than the routine Blah Blah blah...that usually follows a season that doesn't end with a Super Bowl.

Don't be so hard on yourselves.  Being in the Final Four is fun and the ride was great.  Sports, after-all, are more about failure, than anything else.



Mike.BTB

N.Y. JETS ~ STEEL CITY SHOWDOWN

NATIONAL    FOOTBALL    LEAGUE

American Football Conference

Championship Game

NEW YORK JETS

vs.

Pittsburgh Steelers

No Pain; No Gain.  Enjoy the Violence!

The way I see it, there's only two ways either team will be going to the Super Bowl; - Bruised and Battered.

This is going to hurt.  After Sunday, some players may never be the same again.  This game is going to cost some of these players a day or two on the back end of their careers.  If FATE once said they were due to retire on a Friday, after this game, there will be players who will now be retiring on a Tuesday.  For sixty minutes tomorrow evening, eleven-man packages of Black vs. GREEN, will be running around trying to render each other stupid with pain.  And the arctic front expected for Game Time will make the pain sting and last - all - night. 

This road to the Super Bowl has been particularly hard on the Jets without a home game.  But they've been here before and this is the last road game for them, because the Super Bowl is a home game for everybody. But whichever team wins, I don't think they'll be up for much celebrating an AFC Championship versus just being contented with having survived the night.  These games are very different in that respect.  They're brutal.

The Super Bowl is a Tuxedo and spit-shined shoes.  The Super Bowl is the showcase; the polished brass; the lipstick, glitz and glam; - It's the perfectly cut diamond. 

The Championship Games are the mining operations; the digging deep within yourselves; the grinding, pitfalls and hazards of trying to find that rough, ugly, uncut pigskin diamond that will be manipulated to expose brilliance.  It's about boots, gloves, drills, picks, and shovels.  There really is no glory here.  It's just about getting dirty and being damn proud of it..  I think I just unwittingly described Steel Town.

The Conference Games can be worse yet..  They're primal.  It really is survival of the fittest.  There is hunter; and there is prey.  It's a very fine line as to which team is which at any given time.  And that can change on a dime.  The Conference Championships are about surviving your rivals, foes, enemies, and tormentors.  They comprise the majority of your schedule.  They are in you division.  These are teams you play not just once, but twice, and on occasion three times.  They are your direct competitors trying to deny you.  It is through them a team must go in order to play for the ultimate prize.  These games are primitive.  It is the lion and the hyena fighting over the same football; sometimes it's lion versus lion.  The Championship Games are about killer instinct and camouflage, cunning and guile.  Those are also all traits needed to survive in the Concrete Jungle (of New York City), home of the JETS.

For the loser of tomorrow's game, it will be a devastating and bitterly cold-hearted way to end the season.  They'll have the next six months to defrost and let the bad memory thaw and melt away.  For the Victor, the game will be a pleasurable but very painful reminder of the sacrifice needed to make it to the Big Show.

There is no escaping the pain that awaits BOTH teams Sunday night.  They embrace it; distribute it...and seem to thrive in it. There are 330 million people in America and less than 1% of us can do what these players do.  But yet for such a small fraternity of gifted athletes, they all try to knock the snot out of each other.  That makes for a great game.

If you thought the silence coming out of both camps over the week was dead, this game will more than quench your thirst for carnage.  Enjoy the Violence!




Big Ben may not be as cerebral as Manning or Brady, But he's Bigger, Tougher, Bolder, and Crafty like a Fox.

Peyton Manning is a BRAIN connected to an arm that can throw footballs.  Rex Ryan was right.  You can't out-prepare him.  He's the smartest QB in Football.  But he's so damn cerebral, he can out-think himself, or at times just get plain 'ol out-thunk, because guys like him program themselves and when you go off-road, they can short circuit.  Rex Ryan showed how to do that two weeks ago.

Tom Brady is another master game planner under the guidance of Bill Belichick.  He and Simon Bar Sinister have their Offense down to a science.  But he too was confused by the Jets and their schemes.

Both quarterbacks were harassed, hit, confused and out-coached.  Both QB's also stayed stationary in the pocket due to their confusion and paid for it.  Thinking too much kept them holding out for a play until they fell under the pressure.

Ben?  He's big, bouncy and doesn't fall.  And most lethal to the Jets, he doesn't think as much and is the boldest QB they'll play.  He's a crazy cat who thrives on busted plays.  He won't stick around in the pocket if he has daylight..  He'll run in a blink of an eye.  And for a big guy, he rumbles.  He also throws well on the run.  The guy can actually do it all.  Yes, he's a freak which makes him a big Football dummy (in the most complimentary sense of the word- you know what I mean).  Guys like him ruin everything.

In the pocket, he presents more problems.  He's got a gun for an arm and it's accurate.  He's very under-rated as a pocket passer; Very.  And he takes hits (and more hits).  We watched Manning and Brady fold like cheap poker tables under the threat of being hit.  Ben will stand there till the last second and make a pass, and absorb the hit he knows is coming;- get up and do it again...and again.  It's just an advantage he has with his size.  Growing up we called these guys Big Joooch.  They were indestructible.

He's bold and has been successful at it.  Remember that pass to Santonio Holmes in the Super Bowl?  Of course you do.  And you know there were others.  He almost did it to the Jets when they played last.  He had the ball in his hands in the closing seconds and almost beat the Jets.  That would have been a crushing defeat for the J-E-T-S indeed.

Here's the biggest truth about Big Ben, - We are inside his Era.  He has a pair of Super Bowl wins in the recent past.  The Patriots last Super Bowl win was 6 years ago.  Ben has won his two since. 

Big Ben is still showing everybody what time it is.



This is the game.  The JETS need MARK SANCHEZ to seize the moment!

Remember Pete Carroll saying Mark Sanchez wasn't ready for the NFL when he got drafted out of USC?  He wasn't ready all the way to an appearance in the AFC Championship Game in his rookie year.  But the Jets were held scoreless in the second half against the Colts last year. 

Many said he still wasn't ready this year, and that he certainly couldn't guide a team past two Hall of Fame QB's in Peyton Manning and Tom Brady during the same playoff run.   Well, he stayed unpolished enough and inexperienced enough to make it into his second consecutive AFC Championship Game.  He's got some late game heroics from the regular season under his belt and is now 4-1 for his career in the playoffs while playing all those games on the road.  How ya like me now?

What I saw last Sunday was a quarterback taking two and three step drops, winging spirals and completing 64% of his passes while topping things off with three touchdown passes.  It wasn't Brady.  It was Sanchez.

Brady?  I watched him take seven step drops and take all day on his way to getting wrecked.  Not everything will be able to work off the quick slants and Mark will surely get harassed by the Steeler's pass rush.  There will be times he'll need to stand tall and deliver a pass knowing he's about to get pounded.  That's how you become great;  by doing things that are hard.  That's why they get paid the big bucks, because the game hurts.

The biggest stat for Sanchez in the Patriots game was no turnovers.  The Jets had no turnovers and won.  It's so cliche but so true.  Don't be afraid to punt.  A battle of field position is manageable, but the turnovers disrupt everything.

And now, against the Steelers, Mark Sanchez has to win a game for the Jets by his lonesome.  Mark and his Receivers will become the focal point of the Jets Office because I think the Steelers will hold true, and limit the Jets' running game to low yardage.  Mark is going to be responsible for managing 1st and 3rd downs while they try and squeeze something out of their running game.  This is not to say they shouldn't be trying to enforce the run-first tact, but I do think they'll be managed.

So how do you combat the Steelers defense?  Well, they are very aggressive.  So I say you meet it with aggression.  I say be bold.  You have to make then back off the run other wise they will take it away from the Jets and tee-off on Sanchez.

I think Schotty is going to have to get a little West Coast on Pittsburgh.  Use the Steelers' aggression against them.  Screen passes, draw plays,  scatter-passes to Shonn Greene out of the back-field, and a whole bunch of slant and crossing patterns.  But I really think Schotty and Sanchez need to take a lot of chances over the top.  As a matter of fact, the very first play the Jets have from scrimmage should be "The Bomb".  Honest.  I would take multiple gambles going over the top.  That's what you're going to have to do if the Jets want to shake their running game loose.  Then hopefully by the 2nd half, the running game can find some daylight and run with power.

I don't think either team will be scoring too many points, but I do think those points are going to have to come in large part, through the air.  Big Ben is Bold and Daring and things seem to work-out when he takes chances.  So, against the Steelers, this Offense may have to get out of it's element.  What Jet fans can hope for is that Schotty's play sheet has everything on it that Mark does best and that a few of those plays find their way. Because even though the Jets beat the Steelers in the regular season, remember two points came on a Safety and another touchdown was scored on a kick-return.  So, Mark Sanchez will have to engineer more than 13-points this time around.

Here it is kid.  This game has your name written all over it.  It's Go Time..!




BLITZ Them Till They Cry!

Defensively, both teams are in Lust with the Blitz.  Expect to hear that word a lot Sunday.  This time unlike against the Colts and the Patriots where I though they should lay back and punish receivers, I think Rex can get back to Blitzing the way he likes to and sell out.

Again, I think the Jets should be ultra-aggressive.  And Pittsburgh is the type of Offense that Rex can employ his traditional Blitz packages against instead of having to get so crafty these last two games.  If I'm Rex, I'm going to get down-right Blitz Stupid. 

Finally, this is the game for REX's Corners to shine.  Revis Island will claim another victim and he may finally see some action coming his way.  Like I said before, Big Ben is a nut and he is defiant enough and daring enough and brave enough to throw Darrell's way, mostly because the two time Super Bowl Champion isn't afraid to fail.  When Big Ben sees one of Big Rex's Blitz packages coming his way and he spots the single coverage, Antonio Cromartie and Darrelle Revis might give the Jets the advantage in this department they'll need.

Ben is daring, but he can be induced into mistakes, and if you pester him enough up front, the Corners and Safetys might be able to snatch one or two passes away from the Steelers.

If the Steelers are going to make Sanchez beat them, well then the Jets have to make Ben beat them.  This ia just a game where you have to meet the Steelers head on and execute your plan with more intensity than the Steelers, because their plan is the same.

These teams are two trains speeding towards each other and the collision is going to be terrific..

"Can't Wait!" - Bart Scott



As A Matter of Fact....

Stupid;  That's the point about this game.  Game plans are rendered stupid in a game like this.  Both teams know each team wants to run the ball.  Both teams know they will be Blitzing any thing that moves.  Both teams understand their quarterbacks will have to win this game for them.  And both teams will be throwing the kitchen sink at each others QB's. trying to stop him.

It's pretty hard disguising a sink.  That's why schemes, deception and masking Blitzes really don't matter Sunday.  These guys are just gonna line up and play Physical Football and leave the Chess Match to the guys in city parks.

On Offense, Nothing Ventured; Nothing Gained.  If I'm Rex I'm playing this game ultra-aggressively.  This is for the AFC Championship.  Rex wants to win this time.  The Team wants to win this time.  Their fans want them to win this time.

So I say TAKE IT!  I say try and overwhelm them.  I say launch a couple a balls deep early, and see if Braylon Edwards or Holmes can pull down a pass and inflict an early body blow.  Because that's the way this has to be.  It has to hurt.  The Jets need to make the Steelers think about something else other than the run; ...like pain.  Because nothing in life is easy and the things we love in life usually hurt the most.


So go out there; Embrace the moment... And Seize the Day!

The Steelers six Super Bowl Trophies mean nothing Sunday.  The Jets lone Lombardi Trophy means nothing Sunday.  The only thing that matters are the sixty minutes they'll spend on Heinz Field when the sun goes down Sunday and who can endure the most pain trying to win the right to play one final game.

..And Finally, only now have we arrived at the moment when we see if all Mike Tannenbaum's transactions have made any difference.

It's report card time for the GM.  The only way to answer whether Tannenbaum's moves will have paid off is to play the game.  Everything he did since last year's Campionship Game ended has been geared towards surviving the next sixty minutes of hell this year.


There's nothing left to say or do now.  All that's needed is for the Football to be kicked-off, starting one of the most important games in New York Jets Football history.... and we'll take it from there.





Mike.BTB