......I hate the Jets sucks thread, or at least the title. Its just seems so "jet fan-like", with people spouting baseless hatred for no apparent reason. OTOH, it IS interesting to comment on the team which currently provokes the most interest....and who is our main division rival, and the reason why so many of us hated the end of last season. So if we are going to discuss the current state of the Jets,I think it deserves its own thread. But if the mods want to merge it, so be it.
Disclaimer: Prior to the preseason, I am on record as predicting a step back by the Jets this season. While I think the Pats have made some significant upgrades to the team, I think the Jets were relegated to keeping as much of last year's team together as they could, and actually suffered some downgrades at the WR, DL, and OL.
I thought the key for the Jets, if they are to succeed is having Sanchez make a quantum leap in his third year to overcome those issues. So given that here is what I saw after watching the game on line (Bengal local feed) into the middle of the 3rd quarter.
1. the Jets will live and die with Mark Sanchez this season. His play in this game, at least, tells me that HE did NOT make a quantum leap in his most glaring issue, his accuracy. Now lets get this straight. I don't think Sanchez sucks. I think he is a good QB....not ELITE. He is good enough to take a great team to the superbowl, his is NOT good enough to "carry" a lesser team there.
In the game he was 12 for 20, a respectable 60%. However just like last season he was consistently bailed out by some very good catches by his WR. His first pass of the game was a perfect example. He completed a nice in cut to Burress, but the ball was behind him forcing Burress to make a Price-like maneuver to make the grab and effectively eliminated any chance for YAC. Later he converted a 3rd down with a quick simple 4 yd out to Holmes, but the pass was inaccurate forcing Holmes to have completely turn his body to make the catch. Even the TD to Plex was more about the catch than the throw.
BTW- he made some very nice throws as well, especially a long sideline pass to Holmes, the TD to Holmes, and a couple of nice passes to Keller. Again he is NOT a bad QB....as much as we'd like him to be. That said he also had 2 picks dropped
BOTTOM LINE - To date...and that is an important consideration...Sanchez hasn't shown a marked improvement in his accuracy
2. I was predicting that Plexico wouldn't be effective and a significant downgrade over Braylon Edwards. Er....I might have to rethink that a bit.
Plex was very good, no other way to say it. However I STILL think, even at his most effective, Plex isn't an upgrade. He isn't the "field stretcher" threat Edwards was, and while an excellent redzone threat, not better than Edwards who was also an excellent redzone threat.
3. There were a number of guys here who liked McElroy late in this draft. Based on what I've seen in 2 games, there were right. Very poised, very calm under pressure, seems like a good decision maker. In due time he could be THEIR version of Brian Hoyer,
4. Some of the other good things I saw..if you are a Jets fan. That ikid Kerley is a very nice slot WR prospect. Lots of quickness and goes for the ball aggressively. I think he's going to be a good pro...just not this year.
b. they have a 2nd TE named Cumberland who in the 2 Jets games I've seen has flashed well. Very much a Keller clone. Good speed, good receiver, blocking.....not so much. I think they are going to try to get both on the field this season at the same time.
c. No one flashed on their DL last night, but no one ran against them either. Much like last season, the DL was VERY good against the run, but didn't generate any pass rush by itself. That's better than I thought, since they are playing a lot of young inexperienced guys. So far, not as big a weakness as I hoped
d. Revis is STILL Revis..... but on the plus side, Cromartie is still Cromartie. He has trouble with anyone who is quick and can get off the LOS
4. Some of the bad things, that Jet fans should be worrying about.
a. Their OL had a real bad day. LT had 9 carries for just 16 yds...and I was surprised it was that much. The Jets a ZERO running attack in the first half. Not only that, they were positively porous in base pass protection The only time Sanchez truly had time to throw was when he went to play action. The worse offenders were Ducasse and Hunter, though on a replay they showed DBrick beaten badly, and another showed Mangold manhandled
Again, if Sanchez is to improve he's going to have to do it with a weaker OL and no speed on the outside (though that didn't seem to stop the Pats last season
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b. Their first offense was for the most part ineffective. Their defense, or rather the embarrassingly inept Bengal offense (their best player on offense was their punter) constantly gave them great field position. Their first 10 points were gifts from the Bengals. Their only long drive came at the end of the half (99yds) and produced most of the stats that allowed Sanchez to have those respectable numbers It included 3 long passes to wide open receivers
c. Based on last night, this is NOT going to be a great NFL offense. The Jets are going to have to be a top defense AGAIN this year if they have hopes for a championship run. That offense isn't a BAD one, but there are a dozen or more that are better.....again...so far.
d. Their Kicking game specialists are erratic. Not good in an area where consistency is the key to keep your job.. Folk kicked a 50 yder....yet missed badly on a 40 yder....just like last year.
So there you have it. One person's view of what I saw in the Jets/Bengals scrimmage And love em or hate em, they ARE the team we have to get by to win the division. its the first step
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Observations on the Jets scrimmage....
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