Actually, I think the only thing I heard the Giants announcers say all night that I agreed with was that Lito Shepard was just being lazy and that is why he ended up taking those penalties to stop the receptions.
(advisory: way too long post--Lito doesn't deserve it--read on) About cornerbacks: Al Davis always maintained that you begin "a team" with CB's, not surprising given his offensive pentchant for going 'vertical' (Darrell "the mad bomber" Lamonica et al), while his SB coach John Madden's contention was that you build a team around an offensive line. At that time, CB's (e.g. Lester "The Molester" Haynes and the truly great Mike Haynes) were allowed---along with their superior athletic skills---to take the "bump-and-run" coverage of that day to a 'clutch-and-grab' style...far beyond the 5-yard limit of today; i.e. the rules have changed favoring the WR. That said, about "the corners" of (imho) the greatest modern "D" of today: Any Jet fans attend (and freeeeze their asses off at) the '85 Jets-Bears game at the Meadowlands...excuse me *gulp* Giants Stadium? The Bears cornerbacks were Leslie Frazier and Mike Richardson, hardly 'lock-down' CB's; one of which was from an NCAA-Div-IA school. Long story short: with (granted) looser "CB-allowences," they put their corners out on an island (with Buddy Ryan-def. coor.) and focused their attention on terrorizing--absolutely terrorizing--the opposing QB's. They had Kenny O'B getting his "happy feet" that day. On the other hand, the Jets "Sack Exchange" was giving McMahon fits as well; the only difference was that McMahon instead of ducking and taking a sack, was able to scramble and turn those 2nd down-and-8 scrambles into manageable 3rd-and-3's.....keeping a number of Bear drives alive...and even after getting a 1st down and nothing more, at least gaining an additional 10 years in field position--in a blistering wind--before punting (something not charted in the box score). THAT TEAM--forget the 2001 Ravens!.. great as the Ravens were (in my humble opinion) the '85 Bears set the standard for modern "D" football. On offense: protect the QB (or let McMahon improvise--at times, much to Ditka's rage); on "D": kill the QB! The Bear cornerbacks that day "angled" their foot-stance against/towards the 'inside' route (i.e. against the slant/post) and let the QB (Kenny O'B) try to hit the "longer-to-execute" patterns up the sidelines--using the sideline as the "extra" defender. Quick slants depended on whether Wilber Marshall or the very-underrated Otis Wilson were blitzing or sitting in the flat...and in the middle: Singletary--enough said about that Baylor Bear headhunter. Last Saturday, I saw Lito--early in the 1st qtr (check the film) actually have to "execute" (uggh!) a "360-degree" so as to simply stay with his man during the first 10 yards of the receiver's route; this on Eli Manning's LEFT (weak) side. (sigh). Night Train Lito...yep...but I digress: Dec., '85....it was a brilliant sunny afternoon, bitter cold with a biting wind and 30-yard-long ice sheets on the back side of both team's benches. The final score was 19-6. The game was much closer than that. (sidebar: heading toward the south end, the only TD of the game was when Payton took a swing pass---against a BLATANT CLIP against (#21, Kirk Springs?) that wasn't called---the Bears suddenly had 1st and goal inside the 10. Wind: Pat Lehey hit a 55 yard line drive towards the "sunny" northern goal post. Kevin Butler (NCAA HOF kicker) attempted a 37 yarder towards our end of the field (was sitting with Leon Hess, Donald Trump et al in the 1st row--field level--behind the south end zone; i.e. shit seats with my wife and a Bears fan from outta town....along with a bottle of "10-degree" cognac-ouch!)....anyway, Butler's kick was grabbed by the wind and barely reached the goal line (27 yards away!). I remember reading the papers the next day; the Bear players were being somewhat "hush-hush" with their post-game comments in the Sunday papers; a number of them saying to the effect: "er, I don't wanna say anything....we may be playing them later....." (that's a fact). We played 'em tough. Great team. Dan Hampton was Mark Gasteneau with a Joe Klecko "team-football-warrior" type heart. Both teams...great players on the field that day. The Jets did not embarrass themselves on that field that day....even though (come the 2nd half), their QB had a little more needed moxie/running ability when pressed in the pocket. Bear QB Jim McMahon (sp?) was the game MVP imho. My long-winded babbling aside......when I think of Lito's performance last Saturday, I think of the Lombardi film clip wherein he's grousing about his "D" players not moving their feet: "Grab!...Grab!....Grab!" And "grab" (like Lito) was imho correctly identified by the Giant color commentators (despite their "spin").... just like in basketball when people on "D" are being lazy and are resorting to "reaching" (grabbin') ... they're flat-out not moving their feet. Sorry, but I thought Lito's footwork (stance/lining up, breaking backwards, etc.), was horrific....the guy having to do a "180-degree" turned by a number of (not NE/Buffalo) receivers?....#2 receivers that are not even being covered by Revis? *Gulp*
Adding Lito for a 5th round pick was a great move. He's basically on a 1 year contract if you check out what triggers the the remaining 4 year $26M of it. I believe they also receive an additional pick(3rd rd?) if he gets the 4 year $26M extension. He will be one of the better #2 CBs in the NFL. It's amazing how people expect our #2 CB to be nothing short of perfect. I'm not saying he played well but he will most certainly be an upgrade over last year's dreadful #2s like Toast and a old fat Ty Law. Find me a team with 2 shut down CBs please try hard. Unfortunately you won't wanna know why? Because team's with 2 shut down CBs don't exist. There are a handful, meaning like 3-5, true shut down CBs in the NFL. The word shut down gets thrown around like every #1 CB is Woodson, Deoin or Night Train Lane lol. Lito will give up plays no questions asked he's opposite of Revis and was never a shut down CB at his best to begin with. As he gets more comfortable he will use his hands less. He will get burnt from time to time but will also intercept some passes and make some game changing plays. What more can you expect from a #2 CB in the NFL?
OK, if you (my new best friend) wanna base our exchange on (e.g., Islip H.S. vs. whoever the phuck served as your L.I. "home-comming rival") ...then fair enough...you obviously played your "glory days" against much...much...better "comp" then I....."you my daddy" ....ok. Miami Edison...Miami Jackson.....(played for the 'ok' Miami Norland VIKINGS).... but, pleeze... (no knock on the great emerging N.Y. teams--and Don Bosco (NJ) that I now root for).... that said, BK: hEy LI. stud: \l;xsmirk:/.. I, the "grandpa" simpson, 'rostered' during the Carl Selmer "dark days" of the The 'U' ....... er, and you, Mr. "Grandson Simpson" new-to-the-fold "grandson simpson" (who-never-played-in-the-original-Orange-Bowl-superstar?) ..... ? ...... You wanna ridicule "this ol' man" (with your "grandpa simpson" swipe) 'bout me playing in the same stadium that my Jets pounded the Colts in Super Bowl 3?....fine. "U" win. To TGG at-large: sorry; I'm done. DevTeam: thx, I'd like to kick back a "rinse" or two and chirp 'about the Jets's of the '70's, '80's, '90's, '00's, etc., without the clueless fanboy spin. Regards.
The Jets did well to get Lito Sheppard. I don't think there's anything to worry about. He'll do fine.
Great post Joe. I agree w/you. Great D = Primary object is stop the run and hurt the QB on every play.
I know he was playing against a #3 receiver but he looked pretty good today and had some solid tackles, Lowery didn't allow one catch either and Strickland looked solid.
I guess that's why we kept so many DBs. There was plenty of plays where it seemed like Revis, Shepperd, Strickland, and Lowery were all on the field
I knew Sheppard would be fine. Granted it's 1 game, but he did excellent in coverage due to his ability along with our rapid fire pass rush. We had 8 QB hits on Schaub he was shitting his pants lol. Couple of real solid tackles and caught the easy INT because our pass rushers were playing like bulls and the Matt Schaub was wearing red all day lol. Sheppard's skill set is the perfect complement to Shut Down. Great pick up.
Yeah, Sheppard played well, he made some plays and was effective in coverage. In fact, the entire secondary played well. I was particularly impressed with Leonhard.
Folks. It's very simple. Take a monster pass rush, throw in blitzes from different players, hit the QB until he is rattled, and add one shut down corner. With that formula you can play defense with grandma as a DB and you won't give up plays. Pressure on the QB makes DBs into stars. The Jets haven't put pressure on the QB like they did today since the Sack Exchange.
While your assessment is dead on, as I always say "The Best cover corner is a Pass Rush" You can't just chalk it up to that. LITO was where he needed to be on every play. Also, He was the 1st to stop the screens when hi dove into 2 Linemen and blew it up by himself. I think JETS fans listen to much to what's said on TV and don't go by what they see on tv. Sometimes it seems as if people don't actually watch the games.
Anyone else surprised by Donald Strickland? I thought I remembered him doing poorly in coverage preseason and just all around unimpressive; I couldn't pick the guy out of a lineup but he had a huge day today. A FF and that hit on Shaub that caused the interception, and a couple of solid tackles. Not bad Mr. Strickland.
