The Jets travel to Pittsburgh this Sunday to take on the
Steelers in their second “must win” game in a row. Coming into this game the
Jets are at a severe disadvantage. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is coming
into the game with a 100.8 QB rating and 11 TD passes and 4 INTs. What is also
scary is that with the big plays the Jets secondary are giving up each game,
Roethlisberger has 5 completions of 40+ yards so far this season. Wide receiver
Antonio Brown has already caught 28 passes in this young season with 4
touchdown receptions. As of this writing the status of Darrelle Revis is
unclear for Sunday’s game. The key to stopping Roethlisberger is to keep him in
the pocket and he must be wrapped up when a defensive player makes contact with
him. We’ve all seen this excellent QB at his best when he is flushed out of the
pocket and when he peels defensive players off him like flies just when you
think he is going to be sacked.
What can you say about the Jet offense? Anymore multiple
interception games by Fitzpatrick and the Jets are obligated to change
quarterbacks. I am not a Geno Smith fan but the interceptions are coming so
fast, a change must be made. The team mistakes the Jets are making are too
numerous to mention and I’m tired of writing about them and tired of listening
to talk radio pundits talk about them. One of the reasons teams have 53-man
rosters is to have depth at key positions and be able to substitute when things
are not going well. When the secondary is so unprepared and the head coach is
not holding his assistants accountable then there has to be a shake-up of
players. If the talent pool to substitute isn’t there, then the general manager
is lacking talent evaluation skills. The bottom line is changes have got to be
made!
Uppers
& Downers
Uppers
1.
Matt Forte & Bilal Powell
Holes are closing as the game goes
on but these two running backs continue to give it 110% though their stats
don’t show it.
2.
Nick Mangold
Last year I was rough on the
“bearded one.” But with an offensive line that breaks down more than not, this veteran is doing a very good
job for a 32-year old.
3.
Quincy Enunwa
Week in and week out it is obvious
that he is our most consistent player. If we had 22 starters play like him, it
would be a different season.
Downers
1.
Lorenzo Mauldin
His playing time is less and less.
He is not making plays like we thought he would. He is doing a great
impersonation of Demario Davis.
2.
Calvin Pryor
In the first 8 games last year he
was playing at an incredible high level. Since then his play has gotten worse
game by game. Whether it is being out of position, not covering the tight end
or slipping on the field, he has been a disaster this year.
3.
Back Shoulder Pass
Ryan Fitzpatrick cannot lead an open receiver and the
opposition knows it.
The Jets and Chan Gailey are becoming too dependent on this
timing play to get a
reception. If the Jet offense continues to overuse the back shoulder pass,
Fitzpatrick’s interceptions (or whoever plays QB) will continue to increase.
What the
Jet scribes are saying…..
Brian
Costello, NY Post
What is amazing about the current Jets’ quarterback
situation is they drafted a quarterback in the second round of the NFL draft in
April. Yet no one is suggesting the Jets turn things over to Christian
Hackenberg right now. He is fourth on the depth chart. If you’re scoring at
home, no other team in the NFL even has a fourth quarterback on their depth
chart. This is because Hackenberg is not ready to play. No one in the Jets
organization believes he is ready. This is not an indictment of Hackenberg, who
by all accounts is working diligently to become better. It is a criticism of the
Jets for selecting him in the second round. There were 15 quarterbacks taken in
this year’s draft. Most of them are developmental quarterbacks — players you
don’t have high immediate expectations, but maybe they figure things out and
can develop into a good player down the line. It is fine to draft these types
of players, but you can’t take them in the second round. The drafting of
Hackenberg with the No. 51 overall pick looks terrible right now. From all
accounts, Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan fell in love with Hackenberg
during the draft process. Some believe the infatuation began when Maccagnan
still was working for the Texans and former Penn State coach Bill O’Brien told
him about Hackenberg. Whatever it was, Maccagnan jumped when he got the chance
to take Hackenberg in April. Now, when the team has a question at quarterback,
no one is suggesting Hackenberg is the answer. This comes in a season when
rookie quarterbacks are doing amazing things around the NFL. Five rookie
quarterbacks have played this season, with four now starting regularly for
their teams….
Again, someday Hackenberg might fit that description, but
not now.
This offseason will be fascinating. Do they bring back
Fitzpatrick, who is on pace for 40 interceptions this season, for another year?
Do they turn the reins over to Petty or Hackenberg? Do they bring in a veteran
free agent?
Rich
Cimini, ESPN
When LaDainian Tomlinson visited the New York Jets training
camp in his role as an NFL Network analyst, he was bullish on his former team's
chances of overtaking the New England Patriots in the AFC East. One of the
reasons he cited was the chemistry between Ryan Fitzpatrick and offensive
coordinator Chan Gailey. Well, scratch that.
Tomlinson now believes it's time for Geno Smith to replace
Fitzpatrick, who has thrown nine interceptions in the last two games. In a
mini-rant on the NFL Network, Tomlinson acknowledged Brandon Marshall’s public
support of Fitzpatrick, but the future Hall of Famer still wants to see
Fitzpatrick benched. Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has had a rough go in
the last two games, throwing nine interceptions.
"I get it, though, B," Tomlinson said. "I get
it. You're a loyal guy. And that's your quarterback. But you know what?
Honestly, it's time. Instead of J-E-T-S, you guys have got to start going
G-E-N-O. That's right: It's time for Geno.
"You can't throw nine picks in two weeks and think you
can keep your starting job. Meanwhile, Geno Smith beat you out (last year), and
he's still on the bench. Come on, man. Roll it. It's time to get Geno in there,
because Ryan Fitz-tragic is taking over, and it's not good."
Technically, Smith didn't beat out Fitzpatrick in 2015. As
the incumbent, Smith was handed the title of "presumptive starter,"
but everything changed when his jaw was broken by I.K. Enemkpali. You know the
rest. Tomlinson's opinion is worth noting because he played for
the Jets (2010-11) and because ... well, he's LaDainian Tomlinson. In August, I
asked him about the Jets' chances and this is what he said:
"If there's ever a year to knock off the Patriots, it
has to be this year for the Jets or for somebody else to win this division. It
has to be the Jets. When you think about it, they have enough experience on
both sides of the ball. If Ryan can play at the level he played last year --
and maybe just a little bit more -- they should do it. They should do it. He's
had his best years under Chan Gailey. That's why I'm so optimistic.".
Manish
Mehta, NY Daily News
Todd Bowles didn't drop any expletives one week after his
profanity-laced post-game assessment in Kansas City, so let me do the honors:
The Jets were sh--ty. Again. They should be embarrassed
after a one-legged quarterback took a supposedly elite defense to the woodshed.
They should be ashamed of an offense that laid another egg. They should figure
out what the heck is going on with a secondary that couldn't cover Del Boca
Vista residents these days. The Jets were the punchline of a 27-17 joke of a
loss to the Seahawks and their wounded leader Sunday in front of ticked-off
paying customers, who emptied out of MetLife Stadium long before this ugliness
became official. Jets fall to 1-3 as Seahawks dominate, Fitz throws three INTs
"We beat ourselves two weeks in a row," Todd
Bowles said. "We have to fix that."
The Jets followed up their eight-turnover calamity against
the Chiefs with only three this time.
Progress? More like pathetic.
The 1-3 Jets reached the quarter pole of the season with a
litany of concerns. They've navigated a daunting six-game stretch to begin the
season like a bunch of blind men in the wilderness. Maybe they can correct
their avalanche of errors. Maybe the film will provide clues to patch up the
cracks that have them slowly, but surely sinking into irrelevance.
"It's obviously not somewhere we want to be right now,
not somewhere where we'd thought we'd be," said Ryan Fitzpatrick, who had
three fourth-quarter interceptions to give him nine picks in the past two
weeks. "But nobody is going to feel sorry for us. So we can't sit here and
pout about it."
The season isn't lost two days into October, but it's closer
than most of them think if they don't reverse course in a hurry. Expectations
in the wake of a 10-win season were justifiably high, but Bowles is coaching a
bunch of underachievers making way too many mistakes on a regular basis to be
taken seriously right now. Bowles' secondary, carved up from jump street this season,
gave up six passes of at least 20 yards, including a couple of 40-plus.
Miscommunication. No communication. Busted coverages.
Raise your hand if you're tired of hearing the same
explanations for why the back end was brutal.
@GreenRewind

This weeks newsletter is sponsored by Amazon Prime Instant video and Marty Schupak's sports instructional videos. Always free on Amazon Prime!

This weeks newsletter is sponsored by Amazon Prime Instant video and Marty Schupak's sports instructional videos. Always free on Amazon Prime!
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