------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NO 'PAT' ANSWERS FOR MANGINI'S CREW Jat Greenberg- NY Post November 18, 2008 THE New York Jets and their fans can carry a grudge better than even Thomas Jones last week carried the ball. Thus, Thursday night in Foxborough didn't have to be the game to end all games, as long as it was the game perceived to end all Patriot head games. Sweet? Absolutely, never mind that the Jet defense would have given up a lot more than 31 points had not the Pats ruined two more long second-half drives with a fumble and a bad snap; never mind Eric Mangini silver-plated the arch enemies' one final and successful opportunity by running Jones with a long two yards to go before punting the ball back to New England with 1:04 remaining. Under center, and under wraps, was the game's all-time passing leader, who had thrown short passes safely and effectively most of the night. But, for the third straight play, Jones got the ball and was stopped by a team enjoying more than a sneaking suspicion. Fortunately, Kerry Rhodes can call a coin far better than twice now (at Miami and Foxborough) Mangini and Brian Schottenheimer have called a play when a game could have been salted away with a little imagination. So the Jets purged the Pats, at least until New England wins at Miami this week and potentially moves back into a first-place tie. That's not to say that in the meantime, there isn't something to be said for the work of Brett Favre and Dustin Keller. But there will be much more to brag on should the Jets win Sunday in Nashville. That's not because the undefeated Titans are the 1978 Steelers or even the 2007 Patriots. Actually, it's more because of what happened to those Pats in Glendale and has continued to since. No Tom Brady, Rodney Harrison, Laurence Maroney and Adalius Thomas has left Bill Belichick only in the middle of the AFC muddle. And what a muddle it is, even if the Titans have risen three games above it to 10-0. They are smart, resilient, opportunistic and better than the Patriots as currently constituted. But having scored 54 fewer points than the Jets, the Titans are not exactly the 1962 Packers. Likewise, the 2008 Jets will not become the 1968 Jets if they win this. As the Steelers struggled past disappointing San Diego to get to 7-3, and as the Dolphins and Colts had to squeak past Oakland and Houston, respectively, to reach 6-4 while the 6-4 Ravens were proving far overmatched by the Giants, it became more obvious than ever how winnable the AFC is. Favre is settling in, as is his offensive line, both better signs for the Jets than even their schedule, which still sends them to play the bad 49ers and worse Seahawks in the final four games. Of course, we have been trashing that schedule for some time now, while failing to point out nobody has a tough one in this conference. You can almost flip a coin between any of two potential AFC title-game participants and, as long as Kerry Rhodes is calling it, you almost like the Jets as well as anybody. And they will prove their worthiness if they beat the Titans, even lose a close one that doesn't turn on some late, fatal, blunder. Thanks much more to what the Browns did against the Giants than anything the Jets do Sunday to Tennessee, somehow we don't think the 1972 Dolphins are sweating their annual champagne party. Such is the opportunity in front of the Jets, not because the Titans are that good, but because there are reasons to believe they are not the 1994 49ers. jay.greenberg@nypost.com
I'm sorry, what was the writer's point? He changed direction more often than Leon Washington on a return.
It's not like an article from the 1978 NY Times, but it was as hard to comprehend as how many uncatchable balls Jerricho Cotchery makes. It certainly wasn't the 1940 first edition of Newsday which in itself doesn't compare to the 1801 NY Evening Post. Moron! Fire this guy please!
The idea that we won the game only because of a coin toss in OT, is frankly, stupid. Jay Greenberg = FAIL.
Greenberg is a terrible journalist. Last week he wrote an article about Zherdev of the Rangers and it was the worst written article I have ever read.
These are all of the teams with seasons he mentions, not to mention all of the teams from this year that he throws in there too: 1978 Steelers 2007 Patriots. 1962 Packers 2008 Jets 1968 Jets 1972 Dolphins 1994 49ers How is the average football person supposed to make sense of all of that? Horrendous article.
Yea...that article was brutal...I stopped reading halfway just cause I couldn't figure out WTF he was trying to say.
