ESPN (Golic) Jets team to beat in the AFCE

[PatsFanSince74]

Ok, so what am I allowed to tell you?

Fact is, they shouldnt have been there.

"shouldn't have been there?" What does that mean? NFL seasons are full of breaks and calls and lucky/unlucky breaks that people complain about and lead them to say one team or another "shouldn't have been there." It's the losers' lament.

Bottom line is that the teams that are there, are there. Whether you or I or anyone else thinks they "should" or "shouldn't" have been there is irrelevant.

In this case, the Jets, whether or not they should have been there, equipped themselves well in the playoffs. The Patriots, whom you and I would agree should have been there, did not. As meaningless as it is, the Jets deserve to be considered "ahead" of the Patriots at this insignificant point.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

How many of you would have been O.K. if the Pats slipped in the playoffs in 2008 if Favre and the Jets had won that game against Miami?,you would have been happy and all braggin about the East Title then with nothing to say about them being lucky to get in.

Thats what kills me about people sometimes,hypocrites

Teams get in because they put themselves close enough to get in,I hate the Jets but they played good enough and close enough to get in last year regardless of the Bengals and Colts efforts or lack of per say,had they got in at 8-8 it would have been different,they put themselves in a position which many other teams failed to do.

 

[Rob0729]

I don't see why you can't compare the YPC averages between the two. Greene had less chances to run the football against the same competition and had a higher average on his carries than Jones did. The first time Greene had an opportunity to run the ball more than 10 times, he reeled off 144 yards in the game. By the end of the year, he had shown enough to effectively split time with Thomas Jones. By the playoffs, he supplanted Thomas Jones. In two playoff games he reeled off 263 yards and 2 TD's DESPITE the fact that the opposing defenses knew that the Jets were going to take the ball out of Sanchez's hands and put it directly into his. He constantly faced eight men stacked in the box and still put up that type of production while Jones spent that time on the sidelines watching the game. As for the Indy game, he only had 10 attempts and still managed to bring home a 4.1 YPC average. He probably would have had more had the Jets not fallen behind as quickly as they did in the second half and had to entrust in Sanchez to win the game.

As for Jones being the best RB on the team last year, it's really simple. He was effectively the ONLY featured RB on the team for the first 11 weeks of the season. The guy had 301 carries and is a good RB. I'm not suprised that he was able to turn in the stats that he did. However, Greene is younger and is a more powerful runner than Jones is. I'm pretty confident that, by the time the 2010 season is over and barring injury, Greene will turn in an equally, if not more impressive, performance. Meanwhile, Thomas Jones is going to turn 32 and isn't getting any younger. His salary on top of Shonn Greene's performance in the playoffs made him expendable. As for the BJGE assertion, that's pretty irrelevant. The majority of us with a brain knew that BJGE was not a very good RB before 2009 began. Jets fans now know what they have in Shonn Greene and how well he can perform in crunch time when teams are putting eight guys in the box (something that BJGE didn't see in his time here).

You can't compare YPC against two RBs with two very different roles. Is Thomas Jones running on third and 1 or Shonn Greene. If the Jets did a delayed draw on third and long, who got the ball. In 2004, Kevin Faulk had the same YPC as Corey Dillon did. Does that mean they are comprehible back. Fact of the matter is third down and change of pace RBs tend to have higher YPC because they are not in in short yardage situations and they are not in the during obvious running downs as much. If you judged each team'sd RBs by YPC, most teams' best RB would only be getting 10-15 carries a game.

As for your predictions of how well Greene will do, you are stating opinions, not facts. You are basing those opinions based on two games. We have no idea how he will perform when he is the guy and teams gameplan for him. We do not know how he will hold up over a 16 game season because he does run a way that could potentially open him to injuries. Look at Joseph Addai. You look at a year and a half worth of production and you would think he was going to be a superstar. Since midway through his second season, he has been average at best but mostly mediocre. And you are judging Shonn Greene on two games.

As for Thomas Jones age and getting older. There is no denying that. That isn't the point. Even if he returned, his production has declined. We have no idea if the return of Jones or giving Greene the reins, was going to give them a 1400 yard, 14 TD back. We won't know until the season starts.

You are speculating based on two games. Your speculation could be spot on or even an underestimate, but the fact of the matter is that Shonn Greene hasn't shown he can carry the rock 250-300 times in a season and he hasn't been the primary focus of defensive gameplans over the league yet. Until we get a better book on the guy, we do not know if he will live up to his potential. The way he runs the ball, he does leave himself open to a lot of potential injuries. If Faneca and/or Woody get old this season (both are well into their 30s), that will hurt him too.

The guy has tons of potential, but he wouldn't be the first guy to look great for a very short stretch only to fade into obscurity.

 

[Rob0729]

How many of you would have been O.K. if the Pats slipped in the playoffs in 2008 if Favre and the Jets had won that game against Miami?,you would have been happy and all braggin about the East Title then with nothing to say about them being lucky to get in.

Thats what kills me about people sometimes,hypocrites

In fairness, the Pats won 11 games in 2008. By fluke luck that happens every 20 years or so, the Pats didn't get in with 11 wins. There is a difference between getting 11 wins and having to hope someone else wins a game to get into the playoffs than getting into the playoffs with a 9-7 record and winning your final two games against teams who rested starters because they had nothing to gain by playing them. I don't get your comparison.

A better comparison would have been 2002 when no one in the AFC East deserved to win the division and the Pats had to hope the Packers beat the Jets and then win the AFC East with a 9-7 record.

In 2008, the Pats most definitely deserved to get into the playoffs. It was only bad luck that they didn't get in. You win 11 games, you have earned any playoff berth you get.

 

[captain stone]

I agree. The '08 Pats were the first team to not make the 6-team conference POs after winning 11 games. The '09 Jesters, OTOH, are the dictionary definition of Sneaking into the POs.

Now, did the Jesters make better use of their opportunity than the Pats did? Absolutely.

Would they have beaten Baltimore? Not as easily as they beat the Bungles, even if they played at the Meadowlands.

Would the Pats have beaten the Bungles? They would've had a better chance against them than against the Murderers (allegedly), that's for sure. Any karma they might've had for the POs was destroyed when Welker was injured.

 

[ausbacker]

I couldn't give a rats arse who is the team to beat in the off-season. I've never seen opinion pieces win games for teams.

 

[stcjones]

Video: Jets are AFC East team to beat - AFC East Blog - ESPN



"ESPN's Chris McKendry and Mike Golic discuss what AFC East team has fortified itself the best so far this offseason. Golic likes the Jets because of their running game, great defense and the acquisition of cornerback Antonio Cromartie.

"Basically, it's 'Mark Sanchez, don't screw it up,' " Golic said."

Very accurate and realistic viewpoint by golic here....jets d is better and tighter than ours at this point.....their inning game is superior as well...and whoever posted...they lost the main part of their running game in Thomas Jones.......have u heard of shonn green? Trust me...they won't miss a step there...only areas we have advantages right now is QB....and coaching. Unless something dramatic changes with FA/draft...jests will be team to beat. With pats and doofins chasing...

 

[Clonamery]

Very accurate and realistic viewpoint by golic here....jets d is better and tighter than ours at this point.....their inning game is superior as well...and whoever posted...they lost the main part of their running game in Thomas Jones.......have u heard of shonn green? Trust me...they won't miss a step there...only areas we have advantages right now is QB....and coaching. Unless something dramatic changes with FA/draft...jests will be team to beat. With pats and doofins chasing...

The only opinion I would trust from Golic is what the best steak sauce is.....

It's a NY show.

 

[NJPatsfan26]

the jest are the team to beat? they are the team to beat when it comes to themselves.

 

[spacecrime]

How many of you would have been O.K. if the Pats slipped in the playoffs in 2008 if Favre and the Jets had won that game against Miami?,you would have been happy and all braggin about the East Title then with nothing to say about them being lucky to get in.

Thats what kills me about people sometimes,hypocrites

what is your problem? Because people are unhappy or happy with the way a game ended does not make them hypocrits. You need to consult a dictionary to see what a hypocrit is.

If for once in your life you would stop and actually think for a few seconds before posting you might not come across as such a tool.

Consider:

The Pats lost a game to the Jets in 2008 in OT when they never got the ball in OT. The way Cassel was going at the end, every Pats fan watching KNEW that had we won the coin toss we would have won that game. I do not recall an uproar to change the OT rules. We were disappointed, yeah, what fan wouldn't be? Had we won we would have been happy, Yeah. News Flash: That is not being a hypocrit. That is being biased or prejudiced or favoring one team over another.

Now fast forward. The same thing happens to Favre and all of a sudden the rules are changed. What would a resonable person conclude about the timing?

That the rule was changed because of Favre sitting on the sidelines, that's what.

People think the rule was changed because it was Favre who lost, and that the NFL didn't care when Cassel lost.

How in the ---- does that make anyone a hypocrit?

Seriously.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

The only opinion I would trust from Golic is what the best steak sauce is.....

It's a NY show.

spoken like a true homer.......just plug your ears

trying to figure out which pats LB's would actually make the jets squad....mayo maybe? who else

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

53.8%, 2,444yds, 12TDs, 20INTs, 63 Rating, 26 sacks, 10 Fumbles - 3 lost

The team to beat in any division requires a QB play better than these stats Sanchize posted last year. The hype and glory in NYC assumes he'll improve dramatically since he'll be more experienced but there's no guarantee this will happen. More likely is a marginal improvement and that's it. For example, go check out Flacco's stats from his first year, they were very good, much better than Sanchize and Flacco improved his second year not but in leaps and bounds as Sanchize would have to do become a real threat. Even in Henne's first year as a starter he outdid Sanchez in virtually every stat! You won't see Mike and Mike bringing that up any morning soon.

Notable is that Sanchez has his lowest rating/quarter in the fourth - crunch time, Jets fans.

Brady stands head and shoulders above Henne and Sanchez, and Buffalo doesn't have a QB, and 'everyone' says you must have very good QB play to excel in the NFL, so I'll worry about Jets being the team to beat some other day, meh.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

53.8%, 2,444yds, 12TDs, 20INTs, 63 Rating, 26 sacks, 10 Fumbles - 3 lost

The team to beat in any division requires a QB play better than these stats Sanchize posted last year. The hype and glory in NYC assumes he'll improve dramatically since he'll be more experienced but there's no guarantee this will happen. More likely is a marginal improvement and that's it. For example, go check out Flacco's stats from his first year, they were very good, much better than Sanchize and Flacco improved his second year not but in leaps and bounds as Sanchize would have to do become a real threat. Even in Henne's first year as a starter he outdid Sanchez in virtually every stat! You won't see Mike and Mike bringing that up any morning soon.

Notable is that Sanchez has his lowest rating/quarter in the fourth - crunch time, Jets fans.

Brady stands head and shoulders above Henne and Sanchez, and Buffalo doesn't have a QB, and 'everyone' says you must have very good QB play to excel in the NFL, so I'll worry about Jets being the team to beat some other day, meh.

brady also saved his worst for the 4th quarter last year.......

I'm not going to anoint sanchez as anything, but to think he is not capable of improving is about as wishful as one can get......as a rookie, brady did not exist.....so to use this as any kind of argument is a little silly.....manning threw for 28 INTs his rookie season even though he had marvin harrison and the biggest binky in the world called marshall faulk(86 receptions) in the backfield

to say that sanchez is going to suck just as bad next year does not sound realistic

 

[Sivy]

brady also saved his worst for the 4th quarter last year.......

I'm not going to anoint sanchez as anything, but to think he is not capable of improving is about as wishful as one can get......as a rookie, brady did not exist.....so to use this as any kind of argument is a little silly.....manning threw for 28 INTs his rookie season even though he had marvin harrison and the biggest binky in the world called marshall faulk(86 receptions) in the backfield

to say that sanchez is going to suck just as bad next year does not sound realistic

Actually it sounds totaly realitic.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Actually it sounds totaly realitic.

Why do you think Sanchez is unlikely to improve? Granted he certainly had the handcuffs on, but he played under control on the road and made plays in some pretty intense playoff action. In terms of improving upon last season, those performances should warrant some optimism.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

Actually it sounds totaly realitic.

mmmkay........LOL

 

[tanked_as_usual]

Why do you think Sanchez is unlikely to improve? Granted he certainly had the handcuffs on, but he played under control on the road and made plays in some pretty intense playoff action. In terms of improving upon last season, those performances should warrant some optimism.

I am not saying that there is anything etched in stone at this point, but you look at the jets and you can really say that from this point, the pats have their work cut out for them in terms of maintaining their position atop the AFC east......you can also say that it would not be any kind of suprise if the jets did finish ahead of the pats......

one thing people need to realize is the general situation of the jets and them moving into their new stadium....there are alot of expensive seats that remain unsold, and they are doing their damndest to make them more attractive......hence the acquisition of tomlinson.......whether these moves have been the right ones for the jets remains to be seen, but if they do work out, they will be tough

 

[RobertWeathers]

I am not saying that there is anything etched in stone at this point, but you look at the jets and you can really say that from this point, the pats have their work cut out for them in terms of maintaining their position atop the AFC east......you can also say that it would not be any kind of suprise if the jets did finish ahead of the pats......

one thing people need to realize is the general situation of the jets and them moving into their new stadium....there are alot of expensive seats that remain unsold, and they are doing their damndest to make them more attractive......hence the acquisition of tomlinson.......whether these moves have been the right ones for the jets remains to be seen, but if they do work out, they will be tough

I thought the Jets were a worthy foe before the Cromartie or LT signings. They did do a decent job drafting last year as well.

I hate to say it but the Jests seem to know what they are doing down there.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

I thought the Jets were a worthy foe before the Cromartie or LT signings. They did do a decent job drafting last year as well.

I hate to say it but the Jests seem to know what they are doing down there.

that's what put you over the top ? the cromartie and lt trades. ! one moron and one guy with nothing left. the two guys who probably were most responsible for the chargers losing that playoff game TO THE JETS, along with the kicker ? wow !

 

[RobertWeathers]

that's what put you over the top ? the cromartie and lt trades. ! one moron and one guy with nothing left. the two guys who probably were most responsible for the chargers losing that playoff game TO THE JETS, along with the kicker ? wow !

Lets look at the Jets objectively and unemotionally for a moment....

-Cromartie is not the player everyone thinks he is but he is capable of good CB play. We all know he can't tackle worth a damn. Opposite of Revis hes is a fine #2 CB. If he gives them 6 picks and decent play they Jets did a good job in upgrading the spot. Plus he comes cheap.

-As a backup RB w/ 150 or so carries, LT can still give you something. He is a downgrade to Thomas certainly, but Greene is their #1 RB now.

-The Jets have drafted well. Greene and Sanchez should be more productive than last year.

-The Jets had the #1 D in the NFL. They may not be as good as last year, but should still be very good.

-The Jets did well in the playoffs (they were lucky to back into it, but did what they needed to do when it counted).

I never said those deals put the Jets over the top. However, you are kidding yourself if you don't think they are a legitimate pre-season threat to challenge the Pats for the division title. Miami too.