Green Rewind December 20, 2015

  Jet fans have a lot to be thankful for during this holiday season.  Ryan Fitzpatrick should be near the top of the list. For the second time in three weeks, Fitz led the Jets to a fourth quarter comeback that had Jet fans cringing throughout the game. Two plays defined the 19-16 Jets comeback victory. The first was a 24-yard pick up on a third down pass completion to Quincy Enunwa that kept the drive going and resulted in a three-yard touchdown pass to Eric Decker. The second play was a 43-yard pass completion to Kenbrell Thompkins that helped set up the winning 40-yard field goal by Randy Bullock.  Ryan Fitzpatrick may just be a late bloomer or maybe the term “luck of the Irish” just fits his present situation with the Jets. Before he broke his leg last year with Houston, Fitz had 17 touchdown passes and 8 interceptions in 12 games. So far this year he has 26 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions. But statistics don’t tell the whole story behind Fitzpatrick’s success. Jet fans who have watched every game see how clutch he has been. Whether it is hitting a big 3^rd down pass or just taking off with a gutsy run, he is getting the job done.  Jet fans are now getting used to things such as seeing his helmet fly off at the goal line, looking woozy or bleeding from his nose during the game. Jet fans appreciate everything he has done this season. Great quarterbacks make the players around him great. Fitz isn’t great but his players love him and when you have players like Enunwa and Thompkins making plays during a playoff run, one sees Fitzpatrick’s value. It doesn’t matter to Jet fans if he keeps his beard long, trims it or shaves it, we just want Ryan Fitzpatrick to keep playing the way he is and slide feet first.

  This was one of those games that old time Jet fans kept thinking:

                  “ Just blow the game now and get me out my misery.”

  From the beginning with that Cowboy 33-yard reverse play,  we all knew it wasn’t going to be a cake walk. Matt Cassel (lost that 2008 game to Jets-it was a misprint in last article) was horrible missing Dez Bryant for a touchdown throwing the ball too soon. The Cowboys settled for a field goal. Matt Cassel was so bad he was replaced by Kellen Moore, a 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th string quarterback depending on who you ask. Speaking of bad, the Jets had seven first half penalties, but it was Brian Winters who looked like he was producing a short YouTube video titled:

                                  “How Not To Play Offensive Line In The NFL”

He was plain awful. Quigley had a horrible first quarter punt. After a 12-yard touchdown run by Bilal Powell, the Jets missed the extra point and I could picture GM Mike Maccagnan taking out his rolodex. Earlier in the quarter the Jets missed a 4^th and 1. Their short yardage run offense was pitiful all game. On that play, Jeff Cumberland’s man went right through him.

  The second quarter might have been one of the worse quarters of the year for the Jets and the referees. Brian Winters continued his bad play. Cromartie missed a tackle. Revis got beat by Bryant for a TD. Our short yardage offense continued to be bad. The refs called a horse collar on Calvin Pace when in fact he tackled the player by the sleeve. After a field goal that was good, the refs call an “illegal shift” that had people scratching their heads. Of course the second try was missed and Maccagnan probably started to make his list of kickers.

  The third quarter scoring was just a 38-yard field goal by Dan Bailey of the Cowboys.  For whatever reason, the third quarter was almost a blur to me. I just remember Jets going into the locker room one after another. At one point I thought there was a lobster buffet that the Jets wanted to get to. Brandon Marshall seemed like he was gone forever and my stomach dropped when Mo Wilkerson went into the locker room.

   In the fourth quarter, it was all Fitz. He made a great throw to Enunwa that was called back on a holding call on Breno Giacomini. But Fitz did everything that he needed to do. His pass to Thomkins was the key and give Fitzpatrick credit for seeing the field and hitting him in stride. Thomkins made it interesting juggling the football but then secured it. A great site on that play was seeing Jeremy Kerley on the sidelines jumping up and down. Bullock (he lives another day) hit the winning field goal and an interception by Marcus Williams sealed this nail biter. Give the Jets secondary credit, they had 4 interceptions.

  We have heard all the clichés by now “Good teams win ugly games”, “A win is a win”

Etc. Anyway you look at it, the Jets are getting the job done. We just need a little help and have to finish out the last two games.

Green Tidbits:

On that 33-yard Cowboy reverse, Leonard Williams ran all the way down field to make the tackle. Great hustle!

These one or two bad punts each game by Ryan Quigley are becoming all too common.

Bilal Powell’s first step is looking quicker and quicker each game!

Does Cromartie know when to down the ball on a kick off?

For that matter why didn’t Pryor down the ball on his INT.

Another killer was when Cowboys had 1^st and 25 and got a first down on that Beasley reception.

Give Erin Henderson credit, he stepped in for David Harris and held his own.

Why did it take Chan Gaily 3 ½ quarters to realize the Jets can’t run block against the Cowboys line?

Give Todd Bowles credit, after 7 first half penalties, the Jets had only 1 in the second half.