Post Game Thoughts: Jets 27 Cowboys 24

Bart Scott said the Jets pulled a big rabbit out of the hat on this one and I think most Jets fans agree. Usually the Jets find a way to lose games like this, but on this night the Jets found a way to win it in spectacular fashion.

Offense Unless you have an ultra elite or super mobile QB, everything begins up front for your team and the Jets front was terrible. Cowboys LB DeMarcus Ware is a special player, but he abused the offensive line and made it extremely hard for Mark Sanchez to feel safe in the pocket and step into his throws. More troubling, though, was the pressure that was coming from the other members of the Cowboy front. RT Wayne Hunter was abysmal. I have no idea how many pressures or sacks he gave up, but it seemed there were numerous plays where it was as if he was not even on the field. Pressure came up the middle as well. The line just looked overwhelmed, bringing back bad memories of 2007. You could see in the Jets gameplan that they didn’t trust the line too much. There was no attempt to establish the run and from the brief glimpses we saw of the running game that was the right decision. .

The Jets passing game is still a work in progress, which should not be a big surprise based on the new amount of pieces in the offense. Sanchez did not have a bad game, but people are going to remember the awful throw that resulted in an interception and the fumble off the 4th quarter sack. As is usual for Sanchez he got off to a terrible start and then got things going when he led the Jets on a big scoring drive at the end of the first half. He wasn’t always on the same page with his wideouts, which is a sign of lockout hangovers more than something with Sanchez, but when he was on he looked really good. The TD to Plaxico Burress was a terrific throw and he should have had a TD to Derrick Mason early in the game, but Mason stumbled in the end zone. There looked to be a number of players have a problem with the turf, which was also a problem early last year, which may have affected Mason. The one thing that Sanchez does need to work on is zoning in on receivers. Early on he seemed to just look for Holmes. Then it was Dustin Keller, who had some big plays on the night. Then it was Mason. Then LaDainian Tomlinson and he was followed by Burress. If Sanchez can mix it up better maybe the offense would look a bit more consistent. .

The flashes when the passing game was clicking were real encouraging signs. Sanchez put up 335 yards with around 300 of it coming in just 3 quarters. Tomlinson looked like a real weapon in the passing game. It was somewhat reminiscent of last year when he started as a backup and by the games end it looked like more offense would come through him. His run off the screen in the second quarter turned the offense around. Sanchez needs plays like that to get going and if Tomlinson can do that for him he certainly will have a big role. The pieces are here for the Jets to be a top level passing team if they can just get more consistent. .

Defense.

Sometimes it’s the things that seem like nothing plays that turn out to be the biggest plays of the game. When S Eric Smith gave up a huge completion to Dallas TE Jason Witten it looked like a sure touchdown. S Jim Leonard tracked him down and tripped him up at the 3 yard line. As a fan you are so aggravated all you think is that he just delayed the inevitable, afterall we saw the defense give up an easy one just like this when the offense turned it over. But that one play saved the football game. DE Mike DeVito forced a Tony Romo fumble at the goalline and NT Sione Pouha scooped it up. That tackle ended up a 7 point swing for the Jets and made all the difference in the game. .

Still the Jets wont be happy for too long when they review the film of the game. Who knows what happened early in this game. The defense was so flat on the opening drive that it looked like Dallas was going to put up 40 points. There was no reason for a defensive team to come out like that at home. The Cowboys picked on the Jets linebackers in the passing game and just marched right down the field. Luckily they settled down after that, though they clearly did not look like a great defense. They let Dallas answer the Jet offense too many times and the Witten play was inexcusable. The coverage issue is always a problem with Smith and this is the kind of play that will quickly see him lose his starting job to Brodney Pool, who seemed to get more snaps at the end of the game. The pass defense overall was not great. Dallas just hit the Jets with a big play attack and the Jets seemed to have a hard time. CB Darrelle Revis made the game winning interception on a great defensive call, though he did give up a few catches in the game. Cowboy WR Dez Bryant made some incredible grabs but you are used to Revis giving up nothing. Antonio Cromartie was victimized a few times, and had an interception wrestled away from him by Miles Austin, turning the play into a touchdown for Dallas. Cromartie had the ball but did a poor job securing it and left it out there for Austin to muscle away. He got an earful on the sidelines about technique. The Linebackers were also victimized and I have a feeling a lot of screens will come the Jets way. .

Getting to the QB remains a challenge. LB Calvin Pace seemed to have a few pressures early and then vanished. LB Bart Scott brought pressure from the middle early as well, but that was about it. The highlight of the night had to be the run defense. Though Dallas is not known as a running team, the Jets front did a good job in that regard holding RB Felix Jones to under 3 yards a carry. Scott was very good against the run, though he did get run over covering a pass play. The run defense is definitely going to make teams 1 dimensional but they have to find a way to generate a pass rush to really capitalize on it. Had Romo not had his usual prime time meltdown the pass rush was going to be big focal point of the critique of the Jets in the media. .

Special Teams.

Besides the Leonhard play the two biggest plays came on special teams. Joe McKnight ran untouched to the punter and blocked a punt which Isaiah Trufant scooped right up and ran for a touchdown that tied the game. K Nick Folk then sealed the game with a huge 50 yard field goal. The announcers were even questioning if the Jets should try the field goal because of the risk associated with missing, but Folk would have been good from 60 against his former team. It was a job saving kick and he had to be under huge pressure. If he misses that kick and the Jets don’t win the game he is getting replaced. There was nothing to speak of in the return game for either team. .

Coaching Were the Jets ready to play? Probably not. Rex Ryan complained about the lack of training camp atmosphere in Florham Park and it seemed to show in the teams play. It took the offense almost 30 minutes to show up and the defense was a mess early. But you have to give Ryan credit for keeping his team up and competing. Not many teams believe they can come back from the challenges the Jets faced tonight. You look up at that scoreboard and see yourself down 7 and about to go down 14 with little time left and naturally you get down, but the Jets didn’t. They fought and created a turnover and then blocked a punt to steal a game they probably had no business winning. .

There were a few moves that stood out. He quickly made the coverage change from Cromartie on Bryant to Revis on Bryant before Bryant was going to kill the Jets. Ryan realized that the Jets offensive line isn’t where it needs to be to run the football and he more or less abandoned the run, which was the right move. The timeout to change personnel at the goal towards the end of the first half was also a great move. Even though they were not running the ball they brought in Shonn Greene to force Dallas to put more focus on the run. They should have scored on the first pass play and did score on the second play. But the biggest thing he did was show trust in his QB. When Sanchez threw that interception Ryan didn’t get spooked and take the ball out of Sanchez’ hands and hope his defense would win him the game. They used 1 run just to keep the D honest and then went right back to the passing attack, which led to a touchdown. That would not have happened the last two years. .

Overall.

Big credit should go to that home crowd tonight. This was a real football crowd. It was louder than any crowd since the 2009 win against New England. It made the stadium really feel like a home for the first time. They caused a few penalties and rattled Romo. The Jets gave them almost no reason to cheer but they never gave up hope and remained loud all night. They deserve a game ball. .

The last time I can remember a Jets team coming up with a win like this was the 2002 season opener against the Buffalo Bills which the Jets had no business winning, but two Chad Nortonkick returns made the difference. Good teams don’t always have great games, but the real good teams fine ways to win those subpar games and that’s what the Jets did on this night. They got plenty of help from Dallas to do it, but a win is a win. .

The Jets certainly have a lot of work to do on both sides of the ball before we write them into the Super Bowl, but they threw for over 300 yards and survived an epic failure on the offensive line. With the veteran salary guarantee now gone as we move into week 2 I would expect the Jets to bring in a number of bodies to take a look at this week. You are not going to bench a guy for a really bad game against Ware, but the Jets need insurance in the event Hunter needs to be replaced permanently. Right now they have no other option, but they will not settle for this level of play again. .

What is good is that the Jets have two weeks against teams with lower expectations before they hit the meat of the schedule. You hope that is enough time for the Jets to work out the kinks and be ready to fly when they start facing the playoff teams. There are enough positives to be encouraged and to build on after this win and its sure much nicer to build off a win than a loss.

Go Jets!