1. "I am not mentally prepared to lose this game." This phrase, uttered a few weeks ago by Fred Kirsh on PFW in progress, has now become part of a Pats fans lexicon. It was perfect. So as we enter the weekend (I don't work Fridays
) I want to say it loud and clear.
I AM NOT MENTALLY PREPARED TO LOSE THIS GAME"
2. There is a LOT of pressure building up for this game, but the interesting thing is the greatest pressure isn't on the team, but on its FANS. Sure it would be a disappointment and an upset, but the TEAM can lose this game and still look back at a remarkable season, AND look forward to being even better NEXT season. However for us fans it would be as crushing a defeat as the one we experienced vs the Giants in superbowl whatever.
No I'm serious. Players get to turn the page....we CAN'T. It would mean having to deal with the most obnoxious, mean spirited fans in the league, not only for the off season, but even a 16-0 regular season wouldn't erase the stench of a loss on Sunday. I for one am NOT ready to deal with that kind of pain for a full year.
Jet fans aren't dealing with this kind of pressure. The fact that most of the treads at JI deal exclusively with trash talk and "cheating" show that they are hoping for the best but are expecting the worst. Most have already come to terms with what SEEMS to be the inevitable. A loss on Sunday would turn them into mutant giant piranhas , and we would be the raw meat thrown into the river for dinner. NOT a pleasant vision.
No my friends, we MUST win THIS game. A loss further down the road would hurt too, but it would be something we could deal with. BUT NOT ON SUNDAY. Not the Jets.
2, I think Rex has been masterful in steering the media away from the tough questions with all his "its personal" talk. Notice how he hasn't had to deal with questions about his QB, or the relatively recent failures of his defense (Pats Chicago). I know this stuff will get old VERY SOON, but for now he's a pleasant diversion. Still we can start to see the seeds to the start of his demise being planted. But for the present - Good Job Rex, you have a future in
PR as a spin doctor.
3. Cromartie on the other hand DID cross the line. He made it too personal, and in a very uncouth way. But here's what I don't understand. Why isn't anyone outraged by the fact he's taken offense to someone pointing a finger at him. WHAT A LAUGH. Its like a being in kindergarten and rushing to your mother saying "Tommy's pointing his finger at me. Mommy make him stop!," WHAT a whining little girl!
But the end result is Brady is unfairly being pictured as a serial taunter, and a bad sport. Its almost like its open season on Brady whose only crime in my opinion, is really bad hair. TOM BRADY- Finger pointer. I mean when you think on it for a bit, its ludicrous....just ludicrous
You have to go back to 2006 and the SD taunting scandal to find something as stupid. That was when the Pats got hammered for supposedly "taunting" the Chargers after getting a most unexpected win on their home field. In that case LT found it unsportsmanlike for the Pats to be mocking the "lights out" dance. In other words he was upset that the Pats mocked an action that was designed to TAUNT the opposing team after a sack. So in other words LT thought it was OK for HIS team to taunt during the game, but was wrong for the Pats to throw it back in their face, after it. It was LUDICROUS. But it was accepted. Just as this myth has been. Go figure
4. I don't buy into the common wisdom of the Jets as major rivals who will be with us for a while. I don't see it. This is it for the Jets IMHO. This is their ONE shot at getting past us. After this I see it all going down hill fairly quickly. The "gap" will start to widen again. Here's my case.
a. The Jets (from what I hear) have only around 35 players signed for next year and have only about $40MM available to fill a roster for next season (assumes a $150MM cap) OTOH the Pats have about 44 players signed and will have about $50MM to fill their roster. Now I may be off in my figures, but the bottom line is that the Jets aren't in the best of shape as far as the cap is concerned, while the Pats are in decent shape. Those in the know can feel free to correct me.
b. I read a post which showed that all but 2 of the Jets front 7 will be over 30 next season (DeVito and Harris), and there is little depth behind them. Its a very scary situation, especially when you compare it with the Pats, AND your team is build around a strong D
c. Holmes, Edwards, Harris, Smith, are just 4 of the Jet FAs next season that they must sign just to stay level with their current talent level But the Jets WILL NOT be able to sign everyone due to their impending cap situation. This means that THIS is the most talented Jet roster we can expect to see in the near future.
d. Next season will bring the deepest and most talented FA class the league has seen. The Pats will be in much better shape than the Jets to take advantage of it.
e. Assuming the Pats win on Sunday, they will draft FIVE quality prospects next April, before the Jets draft their 2nd player. That is NOT a formula that helps the Jets become better than the Pats.
f. And then there is the QB. The fact that he's a sub par QB today doesn't mean he will aways be a 55% passer. Remember Ben used to have a relatively low completion percentage. He can improve, PLUS he's shown he HAS the ability to play well at the critical end of games. That cannot be disputed. But what also can't be disputed is that it is MORE likely that he develops into the next Chad Pennington (a good QB, but one that can't carry a team) than a Drew Brees (who can)
So I guess what I'm saying is that Sanchez COULD become a QB that you could win a superbowl with, given the right team, but he isn't going to take you there. And it might be a while before he has this much talent.
g. SGreene is a good RB, but he hasn't proven, like they hoped, that he can carry the load as the main RB of a team built around the run....and behind him they have nothing but Joe McKnight.
At the start of the year, it looked like the Jets were among the most talented teams in the league, clearly more talented than the Pats, and the most talented Jet team in recent memory. 4 months later, its become clear that the Pats closed that talent gap, and the Jets will have a hard time sustaining the talent the currently have, while the Pats are in position to widen the gap further.
No my friends, Rex was right, this IS the year the Jets can win the Superbowl, because if they don't, then it might be a while before THEY threaten the Pats again.
5. Rex did a great job in Indy shutting down the Colts. We shouldn't overlook that. Especially since Manny had ALL his so called weapons with the exception of a single receiver (Clark). No excuses Peyton...though the media will throw you the injury crutch anyway.
The Pats OTOH create many more problems than the Colts did so I tried to think of how Rex would attack the Pats offense this week. Will he blitz or will he max protect as he did vs Indy. Well the easy answer is a little of both. But the key for the Jets is neither. The key is how well they will be able to DISGUISE their intentions.
There is nothing easier for a DB to do than cover a WR running a zone route when you are in man. Just as its easier to cover a route designed for man to man defense, when you are in a zone.
So I see Rex designing his schemes to fool Brady and even more importantly his receivers into misreading the coverages they are running. There are combination coverages you could design that do that. For example, the Pats run motion across the formation to see if anyone follows him. If someone does, the QB will think its a good indication that its a man coverage....but it doesn't have to be.
You will also see overloads that look like impending blitzes that don't occur. This is designed to get the QB to make a quick throw into a 5 under zone that will eat it up, even if its completed.
A key here is that the D doesn't have to fool BOTH the QB and receiver. If only ONE makes a misread, the play is likely to fail, often with disastrous results . So a well designed disguise doubles its chance for success, because TWO players have to make the correct read. I'm less worried about Welker and Branch, but VERY concerned about the 2 rookies that will be so key to our passing attack.
6. But the more the game seems to change, the more it remains the same, because ultimately this game is going to rest on the old adage of which team can run the ball and which team can stop the run.
I don't think the Jets can possibly win the game unless they rush for over 150 yds. At the same time I don't see how the Pats can lose if they can rush over 100
7. Don't even think that the Jets are intimidated by the big loss in December. At that level they are way to competitive for that. I'm sure they broke down the that film, and they where shown how this mistake and that mistake that THEY made would have turned the entire game around. By that Wednesday, EVERY Jet player would have been convinced that it wasn't the Pats that beat them, but they beat themselves....and they know how to correct the problem.
The Jets are going to come into Foxboro just as confident that they will win the game as they did in September and again in December.
BOTTOM LINE - its all about THIS game. What happened before, good or bad.....doesn't matter. God help us if we lose.
Idle thoughts - pre-game
Linear Mode
