Post Game Thoughts: Jets 21 Patriots 30

The AFC East is officially a two team race until further notice, and none of those two teams are the Jets.

Offense

What happened on offense today is just indefensible. The Jets had all of two good drives on offense against a defense that could not stop a high school football team. This is no longer a hiccup there or a bad day there, it is an absolute mess. For the first time all season the Jets got a good effort from the entire offensive line. It was to be expected against this defense, but nonetheless it was a really good day for them. C Nick Mangold, RG Brandon Moore, and LG Matt Slauson absolutely ate up the interior of the Patriots defense. The drove the Patriots defenders back and cleared them out for the run game. It was also evident how much more valuable a player like Jerod Mayo is to the Patriots scheme than either inside linebacker is to the Jets scheme. But the Jets could never capitalize. RB Shonn Greene had a solid enough game. It was the first time this season where he actually looked like a weapon on offense. He hit the holes and started running down the field with the football. He didn’t end up with any big plays, but that’s not his game and he was pretty consistently putting the Jets in good spots on 2nd and 3rd downs. These guys all can get a pass on the day.

But there is no excuse for the play from the rest of the team. QB Mark Sanchez doesn’t look like he is long for the NFL. Either the Jets don’t trust him or there is just no growth from him as a player. This is a downfield passing league and the Jets look like they are afraid to try it until the situation forces them to do it. He had one opportunity early and threw behind WR Santonio Holmes, who just looks like he has no chemistry with Sanchez. Still it’s a catch a 45 million dollar receiver should make. The Jets are running timing patterns and the timing isn’t there with his big targets. Everything is just off between Sanchez, Holmes, and Burress and the receivers are not bailing him out. There is no sense of urgency from these guys unless its within 2 minutes left in the game or quarter. Burress made what looked to be a great grab along the sideline, but clearly his toes came down out of bounds. Most teams would get up to the line and try to get a snap off, but not the Jets. They were in their usual mode or playing. Even with the replay going on the big screen Burress was shaking his head that he caught it. That was the play that really broke the back of the team. The Patriots may have challenged it anyway, but you have to make an effort to snap and the Jets did not. TE Dustin Keller was nowhere to be found in the game and WR Derrick Mason was effectively benched, putting some stock into the theory that he went to the media and said that the players want the offensive coordinator to be replaced. WR Jeremy Kerley did make a touchdown grab and another nice catch in stat padding time.

The team finally showed some flashes late in the game, but that’s what they always do. The sense of urgency goes up and they finally send guys out a bit further and Sanchez flashes the ability to find them. But after three years of this you have to question if these flashes are flashes of potential or simply defensive inefficiency late in games. It never happens early when the Jets need it to happen. The level of play from the QB position is poor. Half the time its like he is not even ready to play a game until midway through the second quarter and the first quarter was his warm up. The sad fact is if Sanchez was the QB of a division rival he would be the punchline to a number of jokes by Jet fans. Right now if Sanchez was a 2nd round draft pick or was a free agent pickup he would be in danger of being benched. The Jets do not have any other option and they have to hope he can be the guy because of the investment in him, but hes not an answer right now. Without the dominant defense or dominant run game he just another guy behind center. It pains me to say it because I want him to succeed so badly, but he isn’t succeeding. He is one of the many problems on the team. Is he capable of the occasional good game? Sure. We saw that in the playoffs the last two years, but you probably could have put 20 or more NFL QBs in that same spot and they would have at least have had the chance to prove they could do it too. Most QBs don’t get as good of an opportunity as Sanchez had the last two years to prove they can do it so they get labeled a bust.

Sanchez always says the right things and he is a really tough kid of the field, but its time for him to start doing the things on the field. I listen to Mark every week in his radio spot and he still just comes across as an unsure QB. He loves to talk about the team aspect of the game, which is true, but as a superstar level QB you have to have a certain arrogance about you. A belief that you can overcome any team deficiency and win that game. You need to have the attitude of a closer in basketball. The guy that wants that final shot and says get on my back and watch me win it for us. That’s not the attitude I get from Mark. I get the idea that he thinks he is just another cog in the wheel. He cant think that way. Maybe it’s a result of how the Jets have coached him, but it just seems to be a big negative. If it doesn’t change Sanchez is not going to be guaranteed of a starting job next season.

Defense

Despite giving up 30 points there were times when the defense looked dominant. In the middle of this game they had Tom Brady completely confused and he could not find an open receiver on the field. CB Darrelle Revis was incredible when they showed him in coverage. I have never seen a guy cover someone the way Revis covered Wes Welker on certain plays. How a corner can anticipate what a guy like Welker is going to do before he even does it is beyond me. I can’t imagine that there has ever been a better player. Deion Sanders may have had a better reputation, but Revis covers every type of player in every position imaginable on the field. The play where he chased Welker down to save a touchdown was just amazing. 99% of “star” players quit on that play, but not Revis. Revis was disgusted that he passed him off to a safety that stopped paying attention and made the stop himself. The pass rush clearly improved against New England. LB Jamaal Westerman probably had his best ever day rushing the QB in racking up two sacks against Brady. He brought a different dimension than Bryan Thomas would normally bring. The defensive backs got pressure. DE Ropati Pitoitua had a sack. By the end of the second quarter you really felt the Jets were going to win the game because the Patriots were lost.

The game changed on the big Welker catch, which was a blown coverage by S Eric Smith. He had deep responsibility but inexplicably got caught looking in the backfield. He is not supposed to do that until he sees the runner break past the first line of defense with the ball in his hand. Smith seems to have a play like this every week and in the NFL one or two big plays a game can make all the difference. Still he wasn’t the only bad point. S Jim Leonhard blew a tackle and there were far too many penalties on the defense. Some of the penalties are justified, such as the pass interference called on CB Donald Strickland, but others were not. It seems as if officials were told to really pay close attention to the physical play of the corners and it has bit the Jets time and time again. Rookie DE Muhammad Wilkerson looked to be targeted in the running game and both DE Mike DeVito and NT Sione Pouha missed a big tackle or two.

But the defense kept the Jets alive for a long time until they gassed out from being on the field so much. Most of those players that had some bad plays made a number of good ones, DeVito in particular was very good. CB Kyle Wilson also showed some flashes. He made a great play on Welker, knocking the ball out of his hands and had some good coverage in other spots. This is a tough assignment for him because the Patriots offense is so complex, but he at least has shown that he can contribute to the defense in some manner. Sure the defense is going to get killed for not stopping New England at the end of the game, but they had no legs left at that point and there was some bad personnel decisions made with the Jets playing pass while the Pats were running right at them.

The one apparent thing with the defense is that they do miss those veteran players who were here the last few years. The Trevor Pryce’s and Shaun Ellis’ of the world. The depth is no longer there up front and in games like this it takes its toll. In 2009 they had the players to deal with being on the field a lot and maintain a tough level of play. That’s gone now with the backups being starters and nobody really being elevated into their old positions. They are not as tough in the run game. LB Bart Scott looks a lot less effective than he has the last two years. Scott is now 31 years old and he has played a very physical style of play for years. Add in the fact that he has played 19 games in each of the last three years and maybe its taking its toll. LB David Harris has also been disappointing. The Jets needed him to stop BenJarvus Green-Ellis but he never did. Harris is a very good north-south player, but if he is asked to go east-west he loses a lot of his effectiveness. He is always a half a step too slow to make that TD saving tackle. It has hurt them in their run defense.

But had the offense played just a bit better the defense would have been the story of the game for once again confusing Brady and having the Patriots number. However, its also clear that the Jets can not just rely on the defense to carry the team for a full game. The defense needs help. They cant keep playing from behind or be forced to hold a team to nothing. These guys now need a margin for error and only the offense can give it to them.

Special Teams Joe McKnight had another huge return which helped set up the Jets second score of the game. The Jets special teams unit is really incredible. I don’t want to take anything away from McKnight, but he is going to get all the credit when the guy who deserves it is special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff. I know the Jets fans know how good he is, but I think the rest of the league and most of the media is blind to it. He makes return guys millionaires. He got Chad Morton a nice contract from the Redskins. He let Justin Miller keep a job. He made Leon Washington look like he deserved millions a year. He got Brad Smith a nice deal with Buffalo. Now hes doing it with McKnight. Luckily the Jets front office understands it and they let all these guys walk, but he really is great and deserves more accolades.

Besides McKnight, P TJ Conley had a bad day. Short punts and too many return chances. The Jets did give up a big return off one of his punts. More days like that and Conley will end up out of a job. It’s a thankless job, but you have to perform and he didn’t do it today.

Coaching What can you really say. Rex still does some things that make you scratch your head when he overthinks the defense. The 12 men on the field penalty off a time out is just inexcusable. Later on they had a play with 14 guys on the field, dropped it down to 12, and then ended up with 10. Somehow Brady didn’t realize it and called a time out, but that doesn’t make it any better. Belichick outguessed Ryan in certain situations. Ryan seemed to think that the Patriots would continue to rely on the pass, but they did run the football. When they found a particular defensive package that they liked they went hurry up to keep it on the field and attack it with a great deal of success. Those things happen and you have a great QB and great coach on the other side of the field so its something that you can live with.

The offensive playcalling was a disaster. Rex earlier in the week said he stays out of it and would stay out of the playcalling. I hate that. He’s the coach and he has to be more than just a sounding board. The situational playcalling by offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer was atrocious early in the game. You cant excuse it. The Patriots are the worst down the field passing defense in the NFL and the Jets are calling 4 and 5 yard slants. It made no sense. You had a running game gaining yards for a change and he is going empty backfield shotgun on 3rd and short. The play designed to screen to FB John Conner on 3rd and 2 may have been the worst call of the game. Did the play design work? Yes, but you also have to understand your personnel and the magnitude of the game. It should have come as no surprise that he would drop the ball.

The short attack just made no sense. It let New England settle the game down rather than taking the game to them. The way the line played the Jets actually had the opportunity to wear down the Patriots but they constantly tried these little dink passes early on in 3rd and short and it never worked. You try to establish an identity and you found a weakness in the middle of the D-Line but you don’t stick with that weakness. It was terrible. If the Jets convert even one of those early 3rd downs maybe it’s a different game, but you have to make a call that works in that spot. You have a QB playing bad football and WRs he isn’t on the same page with and you call timing patterns? Its going to fail 75% of the time.

Every team in the NFL knows that the Patriots have no pass rush and don’t cover for any extended period of time. Every team in the NFL attacks it and has at least two receivers gaining close to 100 yards. The Jets passed for a total of 166. Its totally unacceptable. If you have no faith in the QB then run the football. If you have no faith in the run game then take chances with your high priced receivers. The Jets play as if they have the personnel of the Cleveland Browns. With the type of playcalls being made the Jets would have been better off letting Holmes walk and having a receiving corps of Jerricho Cotchery, Brad Smith, and Jeremy Kerley. That’s how unimaginative the offense is.

Overall To be honest this game hurt far less than the last two losses. I think most of us accepted the reality of the team last week and this just validated it. The team isn’t physical and the offense is miserable. New England is a really good football team and for most of the game the Jets competed with them. But the problems seem pretty deep rooted and I think we can safely say the window that opened in 2008 did close in 2010.

There is a lot of turnover in the NFL every season. The only meaningful holdovers from that 2008 team which set the stage for 2009 and 2010 are Ferguson, Mangold, Moore, Pace, Harris, and Revis. You can add Sanchez, Leonhard, Scott, and Pouha to the 2009 list. That’s well over 50% turnover in your starting lineup. It’s a different team. New faces. New attitudes. It just isn’t clicking yet this year. This is hopefully the start of a new window of opportunity for the Jets.

The Jets can still make a run at the playoffs. This was a tough stretch on the road and the Jets failed, but they still have 5 divisional games left and if they win them all they are right up at the top of the division. The Jets have 5 games against teams that they should be better than, which is 7 wins if they take care of business. The Chargers, Giants, and Redskins are not exactly world beaters either. So as crazy as it sounds 10 wins is not out of the question if they can fix a few things on offense and give the defense a breather. They don’t look like a SB contender but you never know how things can turn out if you make the dance.

Ryan has to also keep the inhouse fighting to a minimum. Clearly Mason is a problem, but after another stinker like this one there are going to be more problems. LaDainian Tomlinson has always been a stand up guy but he will be honest if asked about the problems. Holmes and Burress may not attach their names too it but they will go after both the OC and the QB. The defense is also going to have a rift with the offense if things are not handled well by the staff. Mason’s contract is fully guaranteed for the season, but it would not stun me if the Jets were to release him to prove a point to the team about buying into the system. He should not have a big relationship with anyone on the team to where they look at it the way they did the moves with Alan Faneca and Thomas Jones and get upset, but they may have to send a message and he is the likely fall guy.

The Jets play the Dolphins next week in a must win game. Miami has always been a tough matchup for Ryan, which is strange since the Jets have been so much more talented in his two years he has been here, yet they are 1-3 against Miami. Ryan seems to have a habit of taking them too lightly and then having to eat crow after the game. With the Jets reeling hopefully that wont happen this week. Miami is 0-4 and at this point a successful season is 2-14 with the 2 wins coming against the Jets. The Jets can’t overlook anyone right now. Next week could be the difference between fighting for 10 wins or fighting for a top 10 pick in December. Let’s hope for the best . Go Jets!