Jaws, Hoge, Baldinger: Jets Weak Link = Cromartie

[Rob0729]

To quote Rex Ryan, "I love being right about the guy". I never got the fear that everyone had about this guy. Said he was Lito Sheppard 2.0 and a boom or bust type of player. I was pretty much right.

Here is what Jaws and Hoge had to say:

“Cromartie doesn’t play this right,” Hoge said. “Cromartie has to do a better job at the line of scrimmage by using his hands. He’s an amazing athlete, but fundamentally he is not very good. He doesn’t have the structure to be a consistently great cover guy. He has the skill set to be that but he is not fundamentally sound.”

Ron Jaworski and Sal Paolantonio both noted that when offenses need a big play against the Jets, they throw in Cromartie’s direction

“You’re watching offenses now target Cromartie,” Jaworski said, showing tape from the Patriots’ 45-3 win over the Jets. “Go back to that Monday night beatdown. In the first quarter, when it was still a ballgame, the Patriots got fourth-down-and-3. They decide to go for it. You know why? They like the matchup they’re going to get: They had Deion Branch matched against Antonio Cromartie.”

Hoge and Jaworski both said that Cromartie has great speed and athleticism, but not much else.

“The New England Patriots, what makes them so good?” Hoge said. “If Cromartie and them wanted to race, Cromartie would blow them away. But as far as separation and quickness, the Patriots are superior.”

Added Jaworski, “We all know he’s a great athlete, but he’s not physical.”

Tom Brady will pick on Jets’ weak link, Antonio Cromartie | ProFootballTalk

I don't have Baldinger's exact quotes, but Baldinger, a Jets homer, trashed Cromartie on NFL Networks' Playbook saying he can look good against the bad teams, but gets eaten alive by good teams. He showed film of Cromartie getting totally burned on a comeback route to Branch and how he got totally juked out on the Branch TD.

I do think one of the guys on defense most responsible for giving up all those points the last time the Pats and Jets met is the guy who talked the most. Brady and Branch feasted on him last time and if he is on Branch again, they probably will today.

 

[everlong]

I'm happy he cost the Jets a second........but sad SD will be receiving the pick. AJ knew what he was doing. After his lack of a tackle last year against the Jets sealing the game when they still had a chance I cannot believe the Jets paid this much of a price for this clown. I hope they run and pass in his direction all game long and we get a "I was happy when he was in the game" comment after.

 

[patchick]

Brady and Branch feasted on him last time and if he is on Branch again, they probably will today.

It seems to me that the Patriots are the nightmare opponent for Cromartie, because they don't line up ANYBODY he can just footrace with -- and Brady almost never misses high, thus nullifying Cromartie's height advantage. (IMO one of the untold stories of the interception streak is how many of Brady's tightest passes aim at the receiver's knees, where a miss/drop goes harmlessly to the turf.)

 

[NEPats1]

I caught the last 5 mins of the show and Hoge said he thinks the Jets will bring pressure from the interior of the offensive line. He said that's what the Browns, Jets, and Packers did. They used a play called "Fire X" where they bring 3 guys in the guard-center gap and get in the face of TFB and causes problems.

 

[Rob0729]

I caught the last 5 mins of the show and Hoge said he thinks the Jets will bring pressure from the interior of the offensive line. He said that's what the Browns, Jets, and Packers did. They used a play called "Fire X" where they bring 3 guys in the guard-center gap and get in the face of TFB and causes problems.

Except the Jets don't have the horses in the middle to bring the presure. They don't have a beast like BJ Raji or Shawn Rogers to either occupy blockers (like Rogers did) or pentrate the line (like Raji did).

Also, the Packers rarely rushed more than five guys. The Jets haven't been able to put pressure on the QB without rushing 6 or more for large chunks of this year. Even then, their pressure comes mostly from the outside.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Except the Jets don't have the horses in the middle to bring the presure. They don't have a beast like BJ Raji or Shawn Rogers to either occupy blockers (like Rogers did) or pentrate the line (like Raji did).

Also, the Packers rarely rushed more than five guys. The Jets haven't been able to put pressure on the QB without rushing 6 or more for large chunks of this year. Even then, their pressure comes mostly from the outside.

Yep and they also don't have someone like Clay Matthews who can scream off the edge and require double-teams.

 

[patchick]

Yep and they also don't have someone like Clay Matthews who can scream off the edge and require double-teams.

...or for that matter, a Nick Collins at safety. Green Bay is the remaining defense that matches up toughest with the Patriots, by far.

The Jets, with their tough ILBs and athletic corners, are much better equipped to take on a team like Pittsburgh. Good luck getting there.

 

[RobertWeathers]

...or for that matter, a Nick Collins at safety. Green Bay is the remaining defense that matches up toughest with the Patriots, by far.

The Jets, with their tough ILBs and athletic corners, are much better equipped to take on a team like Pittsburgh. Good luck getting there.

I said 3 weeks ago that GB is going to the SB.

It's gonna happen. They are a very, very good team.

 

[Dunnieboy]

Except the Jets don't have the horses in the middle to bring the presure. They don't have a beast like BJ Raji or Shawn Rogers to either occupy blockers (like Rogers did) or pentrate the line (like Raji did).

Also, the Packers rarely rushed more than five guys. The Jets haven't been able to put pressure on the QB without rushing 6 or more for large chunks of this year. Even then, their pressure comes mostly from the outside.

as you know i am a Jets fan ... you are both spot on ... since KJ went down we have need to bring 5 or 6 to get pressure.

I hope that we scheme some help for AC because he will get smoked by Welker.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Cromartie did save their collective asses last week with his cameo return. That said, the Patriots as constituted since week 5 are a matchup mismatch for the JETS. They were built to stop the 2007-2009 Patriots who struggled to get much more than blocking from the TE position and had two main weapons, one of which could be taken out of the game entirely in one of two ways - coverage and pressure. They beat the last vestiges of that team in the Meadowlands in week 2 before Bill pulled the trigger on the 2010 offense. NE isn't that team anymore. This offense has too many targets in the short to intermediate range game for most defenses to stop enough of them consistently. The TE's now make contributions all over the field as receivers and blockers. There are two complimentary options in the short to mid range not to mention better blocking options in the run game. They can pass or run out of so many sets and spread you while fielding personnel who can block and run proficiently.

The truth is the JETS have a lot of weak links on both sides of the ball not to mention on the sidelines. They've been more lucky and opportunistic than good this season. Can they be lucky and opportunistic today? Sure, but it will be alot harder to get by on that against this team as opposed to the shell of the Indianapolis Colts they faced last week.

 

[patchick]

the Patriots as constituted since week 5 are a matchup mismatch for the JETS. They were built to stop the 2007-2009 Patriots who struggled to get much more than blocking from the TE position and had two main weapons, one of which could be taken out of the game entirely in one of two ways - coverage and pressure. They beat the last vestiges of that team in the Meadowlands in week 2 before Bill pulled the trigger on the 2010 offense. NE isn't that team anymore. This offense has too many targets in the short to intermediate range game for most defenses to stop enough of them consistently. The TE's now make contributions all over the field as receivers and blockers. There are two complimentary options in the short to mid range not to mention better blocking options in the run game. They can pass or run out of so many sets and spread you while fielding personnel who can block and run proficiently.

+1. The Patriots' nifty trick of transforming their TE roster from arguably the league's worst to best in one season has really done a number on this matchup.

 

[SVN]

FWIW cromartie has picked of brady more than once in his career. for all his liabilities he can make atheltic plays sometimes which pats need to be wary about. Watching brady last few games, how he was fitting the ball in small tight windows, he better be on his game because lot of times there was really very good coverage and brady was fitting them right in.

 

[reflexblue]

It seems to me that the Patriots are the nightmare opponent for Cromartie, because they don't line up ANYBODY he can just footrace with -- and Brady almost never misses high, thus nullifying Cromartie's height advantage. (IMO one of the untold stories of the interception streak is how many of Brady's tightest passes aim at the receiver's knees, where a miss/drop goes harmlessly to the turf.)

Me too, in the beginning of the season there were comments that he wasn't throwing well, that he was throwing at the receivers feet. Thats what it looked like to, but little did i/we know there was a method to his madness.

 

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[sebman2112]

I caught the last 5 mins of the show and Hoge said he thinks the Jets will bring pressure from the interior of the offensive line. He said that's what the Browns, Jets, and Packers did. They used a play called "Fire X" where they bring 3 guys in the guard-center gap and get in the face of TFB and causes problems.

Wouldn't this basically be the same defensive scheme the Giant's used against NE in the SB a few years ago? I would have to think BB's come up with a few things to counter that approach by now....