Pats vs Jets very early thoughts

[billikens]

To me, this team feels a lot like the 2001 team. Brady dinking and dunking. When he does that, not only does he move the ball, control clock, etc., but also fires everyone up. Leadership and teamwork. I think the entire team is a lot more confident now than it was at the start of the season, particularly the young defense. Good coaching and plenty of time to game plan this one, played at home with revenge on their minds, puts it to the Patriots to me. Of course, on any given Sunday... so I'm not predicting anything. The Jets are pretty freakin' good - their record speaks for itself. But this will not be the first game all over again, that's for sure. Rex Ryan better wipe that spit eating grin off his face. He has a game ahead of him. And Belichick, Brady & Co. really want to win this one at home. Go Pats!

 

[SVN]

Well they signed him as an undrafted free agent, put him on the map with hard knocks and almost surely would have had him back on the roster at some point this year.

But your right they never gave the guy a chance.

apparently he didnt fit their offensive scheme because they had mcknight but fits the pats scheme
Rex Ryan: 'I've got a ton of respect for Danny Woodhead' - Extra Points - Boston.com

 

[Rob0729]

apparently he didnt fit their offensive scheme because they had mcknight but fits the pats scheme
Rex Ryan: 'I've got a ton of respect for Danny Woodhead' - Extra Points - Boston.com

Personally, I think it all came down to McKnight being a fairly high draft pick and annointed a Leon Washington replacement when he was drafted. I think it was based on pure preseason production and work ethic, the Jets would have cut McKnight and kept Woodhead.

 

[Rob0729]

Ryan barely had room for him last year.. I remember him saying something along the lines of him "Making it very hard to cut him"

He did not want to cut him this time.. But when you play the numbers game sometimes you have to let go of a player you don't want to. I am not sure if they regret it but McNight was a third round pick... But has not played..

McKnight could still be a very good player for them but as you said I think it was based solely on reputation..

and to our benefit.

Hey, I'm not really blasting Ryan for picking McKnight over Woodhead. Most coaches will choose the high draft pick rookie over the undrafted player even if the undrafted player clearly is outplaying him. Very few coaches ever admit quickly that their high draft picks are mistakes and will give them every chance to improve (Vernon Gholston anyone?). That does allow some nuggets of players to get dumped on the open market. Teams just have to find them.

McKnight could turn into a good player. Based on his lack of production on the field and his appearances on Hard Knocks, it looks like he has a long way to go though.

 

[Warren1985]

mcKnight just doesnt seem like he has the heart or desire to succeed!

Woodhead is a very hard worker and doesnt expect things to be easy, Im glad we have him on our team!

 

[Rob0729]

Gholston turned out to be a bust for what the Jets expected from him.. But I do recall Pats fans desperately wanting him.. Just shows like with Woodhead many things are crapshoots..

Anyway sometimes players find a role even when they don't meet expectations. Gholston had a very nice game the other night. And has had some consistancy as a role player. Not what they signed up for but if you can get a role player it can't hurt I suppose..So he might stick around anyway.

But he will "NEVER" be what they drafted him for..

In Woodhead the Jets let their next "Wayne Chrebet" go. I think they already rue it.

What fans want in the draft is irrelevant personally. We don't scout them other than what we can see on TV every Saturday. We don't interview prospects and their coaches and teammates. We don't know more than a fraction of the neccessary information needed to make an informed pick.

As for Gholston's performance this year, he has been decent as a role player, but the Jets may have passed on several much better players for his position over the last three years because they were trying to find a role for him rather than just giving up. Instead of finding a player who fit their system perfectly, they have been trying to make Gholston fit their system in any way possible.

I can speak for myself. I never wanted Gholston. Looking deeper at his college production, he was not a player who tried every down and was limited in what he did. He basically jumped up the charts because of one game vs. Jake Long and his incredible combine numbers. Have to say I am happy with Mayo and think the Jets blew it not drafting him over Gholston.

 

[Rexorcism]

Gholston turned out to be a bust for what the Jets expected from him.. But I do recall Pats fans desperately wanting him.. Just shows like with Woodhead many things are crapshoots..

Anyway sometimes players find a role even when they don't meet expectations. Gholston had a very nice game the other night. And has had some consistancy as a role player. Not what they signed up for but if you can get a role player it can't hurt I suppose..So he might stick around anyway.

But he will "NEVER" be what they drafted him for..

In Woodhead the Jets let their next "Wayne Chrebet" go. I think they already rue it.

The minute the Pats signed him I knew he was going to be the Welker of RB's.

I'm happy for him though, he deserved a shot somewhere...just wish it wasn't the Pats.

 

[Garbanza]

On paper, the Jets have the better talent. Sorry, it's true. A great game plan can over come that though (hopefully).

D-backs - BIG edge, Jets
Safeties - even
D-line - Edge to the Jets because they have Taylor (and Taylor always give the Pats fits)
Lbs - Jets
O-line - run blocking, edge Jets. Pass blocking, edge Pats
Rb's - Jets
Recievers - Jets
TE's - we have two than can catch and one that blocks like nobody's business, they have Keller (who I think will be key for them if they can get him the ball). Edge Pats...although Keller running loose in the middle of the field (where the Pats are most vulnerable) does not bode well.
QB - Pats

I think this will be a chippy game. Hoping for an injury free game (on both sides)

 

[jmt57]

Previewing Patriots vs. Jets - CSNNE.com

Tom Curran and Mike Giardi discuss concerns for the Pats, focusing on Sanchez' receiving options: Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, and Dustin Keller.



Patriots-Jets Monday Night Matchup on Dec. 6 Will Pave the Paths To Playoffs - NESN.com

Jeff Howe gives us his first in a series of ten installments previewing the game; this one focuses on playoff implications.

Think about those ramifications: If the Patriots beat the Jets and then take care of business during the last four weeks of the regular season, they'll have a week off to start the playoffs and then host a divisional game, likely avoiding Baltimore in the process. But if the Patriots fall to the Jets, they'll open up on the road at a place like San Diego, Indianapolis, Oakland or Kansas City. And if they win there, they probably head to New York to face the well-rested Jets.

Those are two vastly different roads to the AFC Championship game.

Plus, the Patriots have advanced to four Super Bowls in the last decade, and each time, they opened the postseason with a first-round bye.

This isn’t just unique to New England, either. Since the league instituted a wild-card playoff format in 1970, just eight wild-card teams have won three playoff games to advance to the Super Bowl (nine wild-card teams have advanced to the Super Bowl overall, but the 1975 Cowboys only needed two playoff wins to get there). And only five wild-card teams have finished the job and won the Super Bowl.

 

[Little Bill]

Our squad can score like the 1999 Rams. It's going to be about getting enough timely stops against an average offense. This game will write the story on whether or not we're worthy to get to another super bowl.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

On paper, the Jets have the better talent. Sorry, it's true. A great game plan can over come that though (hopefully).

D-backs - BIG edge, Jets
Safeties - even
D-line - Edge to the Jets because they have Taylor (and Taylor always give the Pats fits)
Lbs - Jets
O-line - run blocking, edge Jets. Pass blocking, edge Pats
Rb's - Jets
Recievers - Jets
TE's - we have two than can catch and one that blocks like nobody's business, they have Keller (who I think will be key for them if they can get him the ball). Edge Pats...although Keller running loose in the middle of the field (where the Pats are most vulnerable) does not bode well.
QB - Pats

In the real world of results, according to football outsiders, the Pats have the second most efficient offense in modern history only to the 2007 Pats while the Jets are mid pack, dead average. So trying to compare each player on a team becomes moot as this is a team sport.

On defense the Pats are close to the bottom and the Jets are #8, which is good but nothing special. No indication that this defense is built to stop an all time great offense.

Special team is pretty close, with the Jets having an 'edge' and both units being pretty good.

The Pats have proven they can beat anybody without Moss, and the Jets have proven to be 'scrappy'.

This whole individual talent stuff is not seeing the forest but focusing on one tree at a time. That is why the jets fans like it.

 

[Uncle Rico]

On paper, the Jets have the better talent. Sorry, it's true. A great game plan can over come that though (hopefully).

D-backs - BIG edge, Jets
Safeties - even
D-line - Edge to the Jets because they have Taylor (and Taylor always give the Pats fits)
Lbs - Jets
O-line - run blocking, edge Jets. Pass blocking, edge Pats
Rb's - Jets
Recievers - Jets
TE's - we have two than can catch and one that blocks like nobody's business, they have Keller (who I think will be key for them if they can get him the ball). Edge Pats...although Keller running loose in the middle of the field (where the Pats are most vulnerable) does not bode well.
QB - Pats

I think this will be a chippy game. Hoping for an injury free game (on both sides)

Sounds pretty much like Jamie Dukes's assessment on NFLN; he was pretty darned adamant about it too. (Edit: As 5 Rings indicates, sometimes the sum is greater than the parts!)

Funny how Rex is playing up the "everyone says (the Pats are) the best" angle and his team is just a bunch of hard-working underdogs. IIRC, Jets are the ones who assembled a team of All-Stars over the off-season while the Patriots first loaded up on rookies and second-year players then overhauled their offense starting three weeks into the season.

 

[karguy85]

I think we will be able to score early. We just need to stop the Jets from keeping up. We have to find a way to force Sachez into making bad decisions. I think it will be a similar gameplan on defense to the Steelers gameplan except maybe a little bit more conservative since Sanchez is nowhere near the quarterback Roethlisberger is.

 

[DaBruinz]

On paper, the Jets have the better talent. Sorry, it's true. A great game plan can over come that though (hopefully).

D-backs - BIG edge, Jets Not as big as you claim.
Safeties - even Edge Pats. Sorry, but Leonhard and Pool aren't as good as Sanders/Chung/Meriweather
D-line - Edge to the Jets because they have Taylor (and Taylor always give the Pats fits) Except that Taylor is playing LB, not DE. Can you even name anyone on the Jets D-line without looking it up?
Lbs - Jets Only slightly to the Jets because of the ages of Spikes and Cunningham.
O-line - run blocking, edge Jets. Pass blocking, edge Pats
Rb's - Jets Hmmm.. I think this is a push as Woodhead is a better receiver and 3rd down back than anyone the Jets have. Tomlinson is only slightly better than BJGE, though comparing them is unfair since they are different types of backs.
Recievers - Jets why is the edge to the Jets? The Pats have Welker and Branch to Edwards and Holmes. Look at what they've produced..
TE's - we have two than can catch and one that blocks like nobody's business, they have Keller (who I think will be key for them if they can get him the ball). Edge Pats...although Keller running loose in the middle of the field (where the Pats are most vulnerable) does not bode well. Hernandez = Keller.. You add Gronkowski who is a superior blocker and as good a receiver as Keller and then Crumpler, who has shown he's still has the hands and its the Pats in a landslide.
QB - Pats

I think this will be a chippy game. Hoping for an injury free game (on both sides)

Methinks that your post was you trying to come off like an anti-homer. Instead, it just makes you look uninformed. The Jets are a good team, no doubt. They wouldn't be 9-2 otherwise. But how good remains to be seen.

 

[sarge]

I think one thing that gets totally left out is that the Jets have not beaten near the competition that the Pats have.

Forgetting head to head for just a moment, other then the Ravens and the Packers, who they lost to, they have not faced a team the Caliber of Pitt, Indy or even Sandiego for that matter.

In the first half Pats vs the Jets, Brady was moving the ball with ease, spreading it around.

In the second half with Revis out, Brady kept forcing the ball to a double covered Moss when other players where open on the field. I thought I read somewhere after the game that Brady admitted to forcing the ball to Moss thinking Moss would just go up and get it with Revis out.

Not saying the Jets are a bad team at all. What I am merely pointing out is they are un-proven. If they go out and beat the Pats and Steelers, they will be proven!

But if the Pats sit in that soft zone like they did against the Lions, it won't matter cause Sanchez will torch them and the Jets will score every possesion.

Just my take.

 

[Little Bill]

My early Prediction is 27-23 Patriots

 

[zipster9]

On paper, the Jets have the better talent. Sorry, it's true. A great game plan can over come that though (hopefully).

D-backs - BIG edge, Jets
Safeties - even
D-line - Edge to the Jets because they have Taylor (and Taylor always give the Pats fits)
Lbs - Jets
O-line - run blocking, edge Jets. Pass blocking, edge Pats
Rb's - Jets
Recievers - Jets
TE's - we have two than can catch and one that blocks like nobody's business, they have Keller (who I think will be key for them if they can get him the ball). Edge Pats...although Keller running loose in the middle of the field (where the Pats are most vulnerable) does not bode well.
QB - Pats

I think this will be a chippy game. Hoping for an injury free game (on both sides)

Is anyone confident that our new kicker, Shayn Graham, in kicking well in the upcoming Jets game? I mean, if it comes down in tying or wininng a game, with a 40yd field goal?

Watching his kicks, he seems to push too much to the right side of the middle-uprights...

 

[jmt57]

here is the video
NFL Videos: More complete team: Jets or Pats?

Thanks, I meant to post that earlier today.


I think what Dukes - and many fans - are confusing is 'number of familiar names' with 'this unit is better than that unit' when making these comparisons. The best example of that is when he (or many fans) compare the running game.

Another thing I believe he (and again, many fans) are basing their opinions on is performance of teams from previous years. So in the RB example he and others are still basing their opinion on 2009 stats, when the Jets led the league or were near the top in rushing yards per game, rushing touchdowns and yards per carry - while the Pats were not nearly as high in any of those categories

 

[SVN]

couple more interesting links

Jets need new plan to cover Brady's weapons - Jets Blog - ESPN New York

The best of the Jets-Patriots rivalry - Jets Blog - ESPN New York