So far everything that could go right has gone right. Defense great - check. Sanchez much better than expected right off the bat - check. No serious injuries in camp or early games - check. Opposing QB's playing even worse than you would expect them to even with all the pressure - check. Luck on the bounces - check (as an example the opening play of the Pats game for the Jet's O could easily have been 7-0 Pats.) Basically everything that could go right has. If this keeps up we're going to the Super Bowl.
I think you are dead on except I don't think things have been as perfect to be the reason for all the success. For instance the O Line has not picked up where they left off last year when it comes to the running game. The Jets have struggled to get the running game going. Now I'm sure many will point to the fact that we are starting a rookie QB and teams are stacking the line. I'm not sure thats totally correct. I would compare the lucky bounces of the Patriot games to be equal on both sides. Yeah, it could have been 7-0, but that play in an instant could have been Sanchez having his arm going forward..it wasnt..but it was close. Washington's fumble could have easily been ruled down by contact...and it would never have been overruled. There was not a true camera angle so the call was the call. Bart Scott's personal foul call was bullshit. I thought it was an even game with no real luck on either side. On the other side of the coin, we opened up without our best d line pass rusher in Ellis and won. We have won without our best outside linebacker threat, Pace. Besides Sanchez playing much better then any of us thought he would at this point, I'm really not that surprised other then the D has come together faster....and the receiver position hasn't been an Achilles heel...yet. The running game late against the Texans was just a defense that was finally burned out keeping them in the game. The running game has done nothing from the start. That will get better as the respect for Sanchez increases. Should get really interesting around here if the Jets win this weekend come week 4....that might be the game of the year up to this point.
Just another clarification. I know people have said I have nothing to apologize for, and I completely agree. I haven't apologized, and I never will for anything I say. I do, however, admit when I'm wrong, which is the case here. Other people have chimed in with the same reasoning I had coming into the year expecting early losses and a tough road. That was realism, not just darksiding. There were enough reasons to be skeptical of success this season before it started. Fortunately, everything has broken our way so far. We've been healthy, our D had gelled instantly, and Big Dirty doesn't understand that he's not a veteran. I don't think Super Bowl talk is legit yet. Same for talk of Cotchery being a #1. There's a lot of work ahead, but we'll see where it takes us. For now, I'm just enjoying the ride.
There is still a lot of football left. After the Pats game last year, this team looked like a championship contender. I knew this team was better than what the pundits were saying. This team returned 6 pro bowlers. However, I am a bit worried about the rest of the season. Sanchez has far surpassed any early expectations, but he will undoubtedly have bad games this year that could probably cost us wins because defenses will throw schemes and blitz packages that due to his inexperience could cause him problems. But then again, he just faired well against the greatest football mind of this era.
I'm kinda holding my breath waiting for the other shoe to drop on Sanchez as well. He's gotta have a game or two this season at least where he gets mugged or beat down. It will be interesting to see how he fares in that kind of adversity, but I'm really encouraged considering what he's been up against so far. Reading the stat line from the New England game it doesn't read like much, but those handful of plays after the half and the fact he didn't give the game away at some point were all the difference in winning or losing that one.
You're in the same position that any longtime observer of the Jets was in as of kickoff of the first game. It was too much to hope that everything would break our way, and yet so far it has. I'm on the happy express also and just hoping it stays on the tracks. The biggest thing I'm seeing so far is oviously the defense. Ryan clearly understood what the Ravens did to disrupt opposing QBs. He didn't invent that defense but he's probably the best person at running it. What I want to know at this point is how Marvin Lewis has screwed up the defensive build in Cincinnati so badly. He's the guy who more than anybody else built the Ravens defensive plan and he should have been able to take it and turn it into a winner there with 5+ years to stock the defensive cabinet at this point. Lewis, BTW, coached the Steelers linebackers before he got the job at Baltimore as DC. He knows this stuff inside out. How you explain the failure at Cincinnati is beyond me.
It's great to have a rookie Qb who is doing great. One of the I would not say darksider concerns, but a realistic one, though, is that opposing DC's have not seen much of him. As they have more game film to work with, somebody might figure out the way to best defend against him. The last two games the opponents, at least in the first halves, were primarily concerned with stopping the run. Sanchez has been able to get off some nice conversions, and Cotch and Keller, with Leon and TJ also catching some balls, have been up to the task. Stuckey is more a mixed bag. But so far no other wideouts have caught even a single pass. Jus sayin...
Only the Ravens preseason game exposed anything that would surprise me about Sanchez in the near future. But as Brady found out...not sure if there is a qb that could look very good against that type of pressure. I could be crazy...in fact...I probably am...but Sanchez is a different makeup then other rookies that have come in and done at least good. He has the ability to do things that they cant. He has the footwork..he can escape the rush..and he amazingly throws a nice ball on the run. Yeah, I guess rookie bumps could be coming. Im just not sure from what direction.
haha i just mentioned that to a friend of mine the other day. Even he noticed the bounces seem to favor the Jets for once. But its those kinds of breaks that make a very good team a great one. Its an odd part of the game.
Vinny's helmet got the Jets the AFC East title in 1998. I'm absolutely convinced of that and I still do not understand how the officials looked at that replay and gave the Jets a TD. It was the closest thing to a "fix is in" play that I have ever seen the Jets get.
You make your own luck. That's why the ball bounces our way now. We're playing better football. As a result, things break our way more often. Right place, right time. But more than that, you see the change in officiating. While the phantom unneccessary roughness call went against us, we weren't called for a single roughing the passer on Sunday. I believe Abyzmul said it earlier that he was sure on a few plays that we'd get flagged. Yet we didn't. Such is the advantage of being the "better" team. (Keep in mind, this isn't necessarily a conscious "the fix is in" thing on the part of the zebras. You'll notice this same behavior in any sport. The better teams get the close calls. It's just human nature.)
The officials didn't look at the replay, that play is the biggest reason why we now have instant replay. I remember being in the stadium that day and thinking it was a TD without question. I didn't realize until I got home later in the night what a major fuck up it was by the officials. I smiled, thanked the football gods and passed out.
