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I felt strangely disconnected before this game. I can't think of a time where I wasn't fired up for a Jets game. How can you not be when the last 8 games have had 7 point or less margins, including a come from behind win just a few games ago. But today I just did chores, bills and paperwork, and didn't even think about the game until I looked at the clock and realized it was 12:30. There wasn't any flutter you get before games, or fear that you could lose. It was just, blah. I wonder if any of you guys felt this way too. I can't even imagine how Adolph Goodell is going to react to this one, but as always, I'll look forward to finding out. (if I can find it) 
The title is inspired by the fact that this was just such a workman-like effort by all 3 phases of the game. Nothing spectacular, or highlight reel material, it was just a good team playing a bad team and the good team not allowing the bad team a minute of hope that they could win the game. Lets break it down -
1. OL - Still working hard to improve. The Jets still have 3 very good first round picks playing on that DL, and Harris is still a quality LB. The Pass protection seems to keep on getting better. Once again there was only one sack and it was more a coverage issue. NO one was getting fast pressure on Tom. The images of a battered Tom Brady valiantly getting up after one hit after another from last year's AFCCG are fading fast.
b. The run game however was a different story. We ran the ball 37 times, (that's the good news) but only for 3.1 yds per carry (the bad news), and there weren't any consistent holes for the backs to get through. There were a couple of third and shorts that weren't made and there shouldn't have been against that defense.
2. RB's - You know how much I love LGB, and stuck with him going back to TC. However I thought he looked a little sluggish today, and not nearly as explosive as we've seen in prior games. Nothing drastic, just a number of 2 yd gains that had been 4 yd gains a few weeks ago, Lewis zigged when he should have zagged a couple of times, but overall I'm sure the 16 carries will benefit him going forward. I wish he was more involved with the passing game. He had only one reception. JW, had a nice TD catch, and a bad drop. He had a nice 14 yd run, but it was on 3rd and 20, where you should find some room.
Again, just a very workman like effort for this game by this group
3. Receivers - Only about 25o receving yds, so we won't have a lot of receivers up for OPOW awards. But there were some moments. Prime of course was the first target, the first catch, and the first TD for Matt Lengel, and it was a beauty, because it wasn't one of Brady's better throws, and turned from an easy, walk in TD, into a good recovery by Lengel who had to reach back to get it and keep the DB from knocking it down. Who knew he even had catching skills????
a. Mitchell had very pedestrian numbers which might have been a lot better if he hadn't been interfered with so blatantly on the long pass that set up the end of the half TD. He looked like he was expanding his separation and the Pass was almost perfect. If the DB hadn't held his off hand, he probably would have added about 60 yds to his total. But even beyond that, 2 of his 3 real receptiona were very tough grabs that he made look easy. I keep liking this kid more and more
b. Jules looked he is rounding into playoff form as he starts to inch closer to another 100 catch/1000yd season.
c. You can't hate what you saw from Michael Floyd, 3 targets, 2 tough catches, even if only one counted. The sideline one where he caught the jump ball, just out of bounds, gives us a glimpse into what he can bring to this team. If JG was 6 inches lower with that TD attempt at the end, we'd have had people in AZ muttering into next week.
d. How Gronk like was Marty's TD. Again only 2 catches but, a nice glimpse at what we can expect come the playoffs.
4. QB - A better day for Brady than last week I thought, even though the raw stats don't show it. But in the important areas Brady did well. He looked like his knee and thigh problems were under control. That play where he did his Fran Tarkington imatation and hit Jules deep, was a beauty. And I think all those deep low percentage throws he made today was by design. BTW- if you are too young to not get the Tarkington reference, first feel ashamed, and then google him and learn.
5. General offensive thoughts -
a. I thought a LOT of things the offense did were design in the same "workman-like" manner with the playoffs in mind. Once it was clear how this game was going to go, Josh almost retreated into a shell like a paranoid turtle, so he didn't show much in certain areas. Plays like screens and delays to the RB's didn't exist for the Pats. Lews never became part of the passing game. We stopped going to Bennet after the first quarter completely, even though it was clear to me, he could have done some damage to that Jet Secondary. Nothing fancy or deceptive in the running game. Nothing but our basic stuff in the short game. It was like we just "did the job", won the game, got off the field and showed as little as possible.
b. Given the number of Jet defensive players that would be seen limping to the sidelines during this game, it makes you feel good to see that this offense is not only skilled, but physically tough. That toughness will become more important as the weather deteriorates and the games become more important.
c. You have to love LGB's 1100 yds and 17 TD so far, but I don't think I've seen a player who is having such a great time during the game as Blunt. He runs the ball for a 2 yd gain, gets hit by a half dozen guys, and gets up smiling, toss the ball back to the ref, tells a quip to the guy who crushed him, and gets back to the huddle. NO one is having more fun playing football on this team than LGB. It seems that he is having the same good time on a 2 yd gain as he does on a 10 yarder. He's a joy to watch play, even though I did criticize him a bit above.
6 DL/LB's - I know it looked at time like Robinson and Powell were running rampant over the Pats, but when the dust cleared the RB's just managed 96 yds on 27 attempts for just a 3.5 ypc average. So in the end the run D did the job again. The pass rush had some great pressure in the first half including 2 sacks, but like the offense seemed to go very vanilla in the 2nd half and wound up with only 2 for the game. Not a whole lot of pressure compared to the last 2 weeks, but again I think that was by design.
a. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the DL was that the Pats played most of the game without its, best DLman. It came to light in BB's presser that Malcom Brown didn't play in this game until the last series (coaches decision). : We will never know exactly what happened here, because BB never throws his players under the bus, or gives the media anything unnecessary. but it is interesting to note that the Pats allowed only 3 points without BOTH their best LB and DLman.
b. Kudos to ERoberts who had 11 tackles and assists in the game which was his best since early in the season.
c. Kudos to Van Noy and McClellin. Van Noy had 7 Tackles and assists and could have had a couple of more. He had to go check his knees after Powell buckled him a couple of times with some great moves. McClellan ended up with only a couple of tackles but had several pressures/hits.
Both are becoming a bit more important to this defense with every passing week.
DB's - Even BETTER than last week. Foutes was constantly whining about the Jets drops, and there were a couple (just like the Pats had), but some of the things he was calling drops were well covered players, and passes that were tightly contested, DESPITE perfect throws. Both Butler and Rowe had great picks, because of their great coverage.
a. I can almost hear Eagle fans whining "Why didn't he ever look like that when he was here". Rowe had at least one good year in Philly IIRC, but was simply horrible for a stretch before he came here. It's taken a long while, but Rowe's play has improved SIGNIFICANTLY over the last half of the season, and it should be noticeable to even the most casual observer how far he's come since the start of the seaon. You have to wonder what they are doing wrong in Philly that we can rehabilitate TWO guys who were simply BAD with the Eagles and make them into key contributors with us (Rowe and Chung)
b. Malcom says, "Take THAT, you pro bowl voters." He too seems to be taking his game to even a higher level as we close in on the playoffs.
c. You can never hate watching Jordan Richards and Nate Ebner be your 2 Safeties and watch them do a good job at the end of this game. People make fun of Tavon Wilson because he wasn't good enough to get on the field here. Maybe the reason wasn't that he sucked, but rather he was behind 3 very good S's. BTW- he's having a great year as a starter in Detroit. He even has 1o more Tackles than Hightower.
d. we even saw Cyrus Jones show some tight coverage at the end. I think this kid can be a player, but baring injury, it won't happen for him until next season.
7. ST- Great special teams today. KO coverage was outstanding. Punt coverage was outstanding. The Ghost hit his FGs and was masterful with his KO's. It will never get any play from the analysts, but our special teams are often visibly better than most of our opponents, just because of their great consistency. When the games get even more contested in the Playoffs, that's an important advantage, why BB seems to expend so much effort to make them that way.
8. General observations;
a. I can imagine JG checking his computer to get the Oakland score and go, Oh F*ck, just like I did when I just checked myself and saw them up 34-14. Looks like more mop up duty for him next week
b. Bills managed to lose another close one. I hate Rex as much as the next guy, but unless they know they can get their dream HC, and I have no idea who THAT might be, Buffalo would be fools to let him go.
c. It might have been done with blue smoke and mirrors, but Matt Moore has lead the Dolphins to 2 straight 34 point days. That team is real, having won 9 of their last 1o. The Pats BETTER bring their A game next week. These aren't your usual Phins, and Gase isn't another bad AFCE HC.
d. HOOORAYY for the Browns.
e. The Titans were a team I felt would be a tough out in the playoffs, but their season ended with Mariota being carted off, plus a loss against the Jags. BTW this should be a good lesson for us to remember that ANY NFL team can be hard to beat. The Titans were the new hot team in the AFCS going into this game, and now they are dust.
f. What a waste of a Gene Steratore visit. Another competent effort by that crew as usual. I think they were into the 2nd quarter before they dropped their first penalty flag. I saw the Pats get one hands to the face flag that I thought was weak, and the Jets get one defensive holding call that was equally weak, but that was about it. If this crew did every Pats game, not only would they be called fairer, they would be a lot easier to watch.
g. I would have liked it better if JG had been allowed to sling it in at least one series in the 4th quarter. He made a nice read on his TD pass attempt to Floyd, but it was a touch too high.
Great win, of course. We got out fairly healthy, and we have a reason to be interested in the next game. It WILL be for something, plus we have some questions to still answer down in Miami. I look forward to you comments and responses, as usual. Let's begin.
The title is inspired by the fact that this was just such a workman-like effort by all 3 phases of the game. Nothing spectacular, or highlight reel material, it was just a good team playing a bad team and the good team not allowing the bad team a minute of hope that they could win the game. Lets break it down -
1. OL - Still working hard to improve. The Jets still have 3 very good first round picks playing on that DL, and Harris is still a quality LB. The Pass protection seems to keep on getting better. Once again there was only one sack and it was more a coverage issue. NO one was getting fast pressure on Tom. The images of a battered Tom Brady valiantly getting up after one hit after another from last year's AFCCG are fading fast.
b. The run game however was a different story. We ran the ball 37 times, (that's the good news) but only for 3.1 yds per carry (the bad news), and there weren't any consistent holes for the backs to get through. There were a couple of third and shorts that weren't made and there shouldn't have been against that defense.
2. RB's - You know how much I love LGB, and stuck with him going back to TC. However I thought he looked a little sluggish today, and not nearly as explosive as we've seen in prior games. Nothing drastic, just a number of 2 yd gains that had been 4 yd gains a few weeks ago, Lewis zigged when he should have zagged a couple of times, but overall I'm sure the 16 carries will benefit him going forward. I wish he was more involved with the passing game. He had only one reception. JW, had a nice TD catch, and a bad drop. He had a nice 14 yd run, but it was on 3rd and 20, where you should find some room.
Again, just a very workman like effort for this game by this group
3. Receivers - Only about 25o receving yds, so we won't have a lot of receivers up for OPOW awards.
But there were some moments. Prime of course was the first target, the first catch, and the first TD for Matt Lengel, and it was a beauty, because it wasn't one of Brady's better throws, and turned from an easy, walk in TD, into a good recovery by Lengel who had to reach back to get it and keep the DB from knocking it down. Who knew he even had catching skills???? a. Mitchell had very pedestrian numbers which might have been a lot better if he hadn't been interfered with so blatantly on the long pass that set up the end of the half TD. He looked like he was expanding his separation and the Pass was almost perfect. If the DB hadn't held his off hand, he probably would have added about 60 yds to his total. But even beyond that, 2 of his 3 real receptiona were very tough grabs that he made look easy. I keep liking this kid more and more
b. Jules looked he is rounding into playoff form as he starts to inch closer to another 100 catch/1000yd season.
c. You can't hate what you saw from Michael Floyd, 3 targets, 2 tough catches, even if only one counted. The sideline one where he caught the jump ball, just out of bounds, gives us a glimpse into what he can bring to this team. If JG was 6 inches lower with that TD attempt at the end, we'd have had people in AZ muttering into next week.
d. How Gronk like was Marty's TD. Again only 2 catches but, a nice glimpse at what we can expect come the playoffs.
4. QB - A better day for Brady than last week I thought, even though the raw stats don't show it. But in the important areas Brady did well. He looked like his knee and thigh problems were under control. That play where he did his Fran Tarkington imatation and hit Jules deep, was a beauty. And I think all those deep low percentage throws he made today was by design. BTW- if you are too young to not get the Tarkington reference, first feel ashamed, and then google him and learn.
5. General offensive thoughts -
a. I thought a LOT of things the offense did were design in the same "workman-like" manner with the playoffs in mind. Once it was clear how this game was going to go, Josh almost retreated into a shell like a paranoid turtle, so he didn't show much in certain areas. Plays like screens and delays to the RB's didn't exist for the Pats. Lews never became part of the passing game. We stopped going to Bennet after the first quarter completely, even though it was clear to me, he could have done some damage to that Jet Secondary. Nothing fancy or deceptive in the running game. Nothing but our basic stuff in the short game. It was like we just "did the job", won the game, got off the field and showed as little as possible.
b. Given the number of Jet defensive players that would be seen limping to the sidelines during this game, it makes you feel good to see that this offense is not only skilled, but physically tough. That toughness will become more important as the weather deteriorates and the games become more important.
c. You have to love LGB's 1100 yds and 17 TD so far, but I don't think I've seen a player who is having such a great time during the game as Blunt. He runs the ball for a 2 yd gain, gets hit by a half dozen guys, and gets up smiling, toss the ball back to the ref, tells a quip to the guy who crushed him, and gets back to the huddle. NO one is having more fun playing football on this team than LGB. It seems that he is having the same good time on a 2 yd gain as he does on a 10 yarder. He's a joy to watch play, even though I did criticize him a bit above.
6 DL/LB's - I know it looked at time like Robinson and Powell were running rampant over the Pats, but when the dust cleared the RB's just managed 96 yds on 27 attempts for just a 3.5 ypc average. So in the end the run D did the job again. The pass rush had some great pressure in the first half including 2 sacks, but like the offense seemed to go very vanilla in the 2nd half and wound up with only 2 for the game. Not a whole lot of pressure compared to the last 2 weeks, but again I think that was by design.
a. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the DL was that the Pats played most of the game without its, best DLman. It came to light in BB's presser that Malcom Brown didn't play in this game until the last series (coaches decision). :
We will never know exactly what happened here, because BB never throws his players under the bus, or gives the media anything unnecessary. but it is interesting to note that the Pats allowed only 3 points without BOTH their best LB and DLman.b. Kudos to ERoberts who had 11 tackles and assists in the game which was his best since early in the season.
c. Kudos to Van Noy and McClellin. Van Noy had 7 Tackles and assists and could have had a couple of more. He had to go check his knees after Powell buckled him a couple of times with some great moves. McClellan ended up with only a couple of tackles but had several pressures/hits.
Both are becoming a bit more important to this defense with every passing week.
DB's - Even BETTER than last week. Foutes was constantly whining about the Jets drops, and there were a couple (just like the Pats had), but some of the things he was calling drops were well covered players, and passes that were tightly contested, DESPITE perfect throws. Both Butler and Rowe had great picks, because of their great coverage.
a. I can almost hear Eagle fans whining "Why didn't he ever look like that when he was here".
Rowe had at least one good year in Philly IIRC, but was simply horrible for a stretch before he came here. It's taken a long while, but Rowe's play has improved SIGNIFICANTLY over the last half of the season, and it should be noticeable to even the most casual observer how far he's come since the start of the seaon. You have to wonder what they are doing wrong in Philly that we can rehabilitate TWO guys who were simply BAD with the Eagles and make them into key contributors with us (Rowe and Chung)b. Malcom says, "Take THAT, you pro bowl voters." He too seems to be taking his game to even a higher level as we close in on the playoffs.
c. You can never hate watching Jordan Richards and Nate Ebner be your 2 Safeties and watch them do a good job at the end of this game. People make fun of Tavon Wilson because he wasn't good enough to get on the field here. Maybe the reason wasn't that he sucked, but rather he was behind 3 very good S's. BTW- he's having a great year as a starter in Detroit. He even has 1o more Tackles than Hightower.
d. we even saw Cyrus Jones show some tight coverage at the end. I think this kid can be a player, but baring injury, it won't happen for him until next season.
7. ST- Great special teams today. KO coverage was outstanding. Punt coverage was outstanding. The Ghost hit his FGs and was masterful with his KO's. It will never get any play from the analysts, but our special teams are often visibly better than most of our opponents, just because of their great consistency. When the games get even more contested in the Playoffs, that's an important advantage, why BB seems to expend so much effort to make them that way.
8. General observations;
a. I can imagine JG checking his computer to get the Oakland score and go, Oh F*ck, just like I did when I just checked myself and saw them up 34-14. Looks like more mop up duty for him next week
b. Bills managed to lose another close one. I hate Rex as much as the next guy, but unless they know they can get their dream HC, and I have no idea who THAT might be, Buffalo would be fools to let him go.
c. It might have been done with blue smoke and mirrors, but Matt Moore has lead the Dolphins to 2 straight 34 point days. That team is real, having won 9 of their last 1o. The Pats BETTER bring their A game next week. These aren't your usual Phins, and Gase isn't another bad AFCE HC.
d. HOOORAYY for the Browns.
e. The Titans were a team I felt would be a tough out in the playoffs, but their season ended with Mariota being carted off, plus a loss against the Jags. BTW this should be a good lesson for us to remember that ANY NFL team can be hard to beat. The Titans were the new hot team in the AFCS going into this game, and now they are dust.
f. What a waste of a Gene Steratore visit. Another competent effort by that crew as usual. I think they were into the 2nd quarter before they dropped their first penalty flag. I saw the Pats get one hands to the face flag that I thought was weak, and the Jets get one defensive holding call that was equally weak, but that was about it. If this crew did every Pats game, not only would they be called fairer, they would be a lot easier to watch.
g. I would have liked it better if JG had been allowed to sling it in at least one series in the 4th quarter. He made a nice read on his TD pass attempt to Floyd, but it was a touch too high.
Great win, of course. We got out fairly healthy, and we have a reason to be interested in the next game. It WILL be for something, plus we have some questions to still answer down in Miami. I look forward to you comments and responses, as usual. Let's begin.
