Honestly, they have a ton of healthy (as far as we know) weapons, momentum, luck and swagger. Don't kid yourself, that counts for a lot. But we also know it's not too hard to get into Favre or Mangini's head.
Momentum may not help them much as they're coming to our house and they're a team we hate more than even the Giants.
We'll watch this game as part sporting-contest and part freak-show.
Swagger is as likely to be a chink in the armour as an assist in getting the win (see SB42). It may help playing against undisciplined teams, but that's not the case this week.
Health is in their favour, but I absolutely will not rule out Woods stepping it up at OLB. Not after what I've seen in the games
so far this season.
And sometimes they get lucky. But I suspect we all know how luck works on our side of the Ball. Bill has one thing in common with Harvey Dent...
(as two-face he reminds me of a slender, more handsome Eric Mangini)
Check out this tidbit from a man who knows,
Michael Lombardi:
Quote:
|
Dan Henning, the offensive coordinator of the Dolphins, once told me, “If you don’t have tendencies on offense, you are not any good.” And Dan is right. That’s what drives me crazy when I see the huge color-coded play lists like the one Brad Childress carries around, and then watch his team not be able to execute ten pass plays. When I was with Bill Belichick in Cleveland, he would sit down on Monday with both coordinators and go over the call sheet of the game, matching up how many times during the week we worked on the play called. He wanted to use different formations and different looks, but run the same plays. And that is the true essences of keeping it simple. It comes down to execution and fundamentals, which is why the Patriots have improved so much since week one of the season.
|
Maybe it's always been simple. We see them run similar plays numerous times and wonder how they don't get stopped. Different looks is how. In his press conference after the game, Trent Edwards said:
Quote:
|
We need to give a lot of credit to that defense, they are obviously very talented, very skilled. They play hard, they play fast, and they show a lot of different looks. For me, on a few plays here and there, it is confusing to know what their coverages are, what their fronts are, and they do a great job of disguising that. That is what they are good at, and they continued to do that today against us.
|
On offense and defense, we have plays that our players, from UDFA's to Elite Veterans, can execute to near perfection from numerous formations and personnel groupings. Losses to the team should affect this, but it is becoming more and more apparent that every guy on this team is ready for just about any situation. I addressed this in my fantastic, but unheralded rant "
Of Limos and Lunchpails".
The Jets have the personnel advantage to win this game, no doubt about it. Losing to us would hurt twice as bad because of of that.
The real question is this: Can the Jets play a full 60 minutes of intellectual, fundamentally sound, situational football? When I look at that aspect of the competition, I can't help but think that "on paper" is just about the only way the Jets can win this game.
[/end time-killing prognosticatorial homily]
On Paper The Jets Should Win This Game. On The Field It's Another Story.
Linear Mode
