Nothing really groundbreaking- alot of what he writes has been discussed ad nauseum on this board. /columnists/roderick-boone Boone: Midseason grades for the Jets November 3, 2009 They were the toast of the town and the darlings of the NFL, though it seems like light years ago after their recent struggles. When the Jets got off to that roaring 3-0 start, Mark Sanchez was the steal of the draft who was playing more like a veteran than a rookie and Rex Ryan?s brash confidence was considered an asset, not a detriment. But after dropping four of their last five to head into this week's bye at 4-4, the whispers about Sanchez?s arm strength, the size of his hands and his level of readiness have become more prevalent. Ryan all of a sudden didn?t know what he?s doing, is too cocky and should be taking a more hands-on approach with the offense and special teams, not just leaving his fingerprints on the defense. This kind of roller-coaster ride would probably make the folks at Six Flags Great Adventure stand up and take notice. It?s certainly been an interesting first eight weeks of the 2009 campaign for the Jets. OFFENSE B- They are in the middle of the pack in the NFL in overall offense, ranking 16th with their 342.1-yards-per-game average. But the Jets are tops in the rushing department, gobbling up 177.3 yards per contest, and Thomas Jones is fifth in the league with 704 yards. Sanchez became the first rookie quarterback to open the season with three straight wins but has been up and down, though he?s shown bounce-back ability. Braylon Edwards has been a nice addition with 13 catches for 192 yards and two TDs in his four games as a Jet, and Jerricho Cotchery showed he can be a No. 1 receiver. They still have to find a way to get tight end Dustin Keller more involved, which was finally the case Sunday when he was targeted a team-high 13 times. As for the guys up front, the number of pre-snap penalties needs to be curtailed; the offensive line is getting flagged a bit too often for false starts and illegal shifts. DEFENSE B+ With the exception of giving up the lead three times in the fourth quarter against the Dolphins in the Monday night game in Miami, the defense has played well for the most part. They?re No. 2 in the league in yards allowed at 273.4 per game and are fourth against the pass, yielding 165.2 a game. They?ve given up only seven touchdowns in eight games. After recording only four sacks through the first five games, they?ve picked it up with 10 in their last three. Darrelle Revis, who has two interceptions, continues to be a shut-down cornerback and has locked up some of the league?s elite receivers. The inside linebacker duo of Bart Scott and David Harris already have totaled 81 solo tackles and 4.5 sacks. The Jets lost their big man in the middle when Kris Jenkins was lost for the season with a torn right ACL, but Sione Pouha and Howard Green have helped fill the void. SPECIAL TEAMS C The cold, hard truth is Mike Westhoff?s unit has cost the Jets two games. Punter Steve Weatherford?s botched hold in overtime against the Bills was a crusher and ultimately convinced Westhoff to go with backup quarterback Kellen Clemens as the new holder. They also didn?t get the job done Sunday, letting Ted Ginn Jr. return kickoffs 100 and 101 yards in a game the defense held Miami to 104 total offensive yards. Weatherford?s punts, which average 41.5 yards, have been adequate and he?s downed 13 of his 53 punts inside the 20. Jay Feely is money, making 13 of 15 field-goal attempts. Losing dynamic kick returner Leon Washington for the season with a broken right leg is a big blow and it remains to be seen how well Justin Miller fares. He didn?t show a lot of explosiveness in his first game back as a Jet Sunday. COACHING C+ Ryan has made some good choices, in particular naming Sanchez the starter, and they?re finally getting to his ?ground and pound? approach. But the tough-talking first-time head coach has to get better at his decision-making and needs to utilize his timeouts better. He sometimes shows too much confidence in his defense and goes with his gut more than he should rather than play the percentages, especially in end-of-game management.
How is the "D" only ranked B+ ??? 2nd in the NFL in yardage allowed, 7 touchdown allowed thru 8 games, 4th against the pass .... Do they have to be 1st in EVERY category to deserve an "A" rating ???
So they had 1 rough game and 7 dominant games ... As for the winning score 2x against Miami, they allowed 1 TD and 104 yds the second Miami game ... That game is an A++, not a negative ... I don't agree with the rating, but that's just my opinion
They've had more than rough games. They haven't been truly dominant for a few weeks. Last week was pretty good though. B+ is still high.
No way is the offense higher than a C-. Sanchez fucking gave away several games with picks and fumbles. They've done nothing to earn a B.
if your 2nd in the league in yards allowed and have only given up 7 touchdowns on defense (we've given up 6 on offense/st), you deserve at least an A, my opinion is an A+ if your a top 3 defense. B+ is laughable.
they had a shutout the week before the fins game.. The week before that they gave up 16 pts in 5 quaters almost when the offfense turned it over 6 times...
I agree that a B+ for the defense is an understatement. This defense, with the exception of one game, has been consistently dominant. If you must take anything away from them because of the Miami losses, I'd still give them at least an A-. Honestly, the work they did against the Saints, who everyone would admit is one of the best offenses in the NFL, alone is worth the A.
Ummm .... I'm talking about the DEFENSE .... Other than the 1st Miami game, what game was more than rough ???
Wow, some posters here are plain dumb! This D has given up 92 pts in 8 games to teams that include Patriots, Texans and Saints (a combined 19 against these teams)!!! 1. Jets 92 in 8 games = 11.5 ppg on D 2. Denver 82 pts in 7 games = 11.7 ppg on D 3. New England 84 in 7 games = 12 ppg on D 4. Colts 91 in 7 games = 13 ppg on D How on Earth do we end up with a B+? This D shut down the Texans, who BTW have averaged more than 27 in all other games. It gave 9 pts to Patriots who avg 31.5 in all other games. It gave up 10 pts to Saints who average a whopping 41.5 in all other games. And about the Miami games, we gave up 31 pts in the first game. 9 defensive pts in the second game. Thats a total of 40 pts in two games (20 ppg incase your math is weak) and they average 23 ppg in all other games. Ridiculous is how is would describe some users!! This D gets an easy A+. You know why? The second best D in pts allowed (Denver) has given up 5 turnovers on Offense, while the Jets O has 15 turn overs leaving the D consistently with shorter field to defend. Did I mention the injuries to our CBs, Jenkins, Shaun Ellis and suspensions of Ellis and Pace?
^ Wow.. Thank, God. Someone with an understanding of things. Holy crap, how is this fan base so freaking awful? So frustrating.
Do you watch the games?? I find it very hard to believe that you actually watch these games. SportsCenter doesn't count. Jets_N_Boys summed it up perfectly so no need to add on, but come on.
I'm just wondering what the criteria is for an 'A' on Defense. What teams would earn an 'A' if the Jets only get a 'B+'?
+1 or high five or whatever the hell it is that I see here sometimes. Great post. At the end of the day its one guys opinion. The stats speak for themselves.
you get a B+ when you are 2-3 against sub .500 teams and 1-3 in the division and aren't scoring on defense. its just below elite, which is where this defense lies without Jenkins. Calm down, accept it and it can be an A- or A or A+ from a reporter nonetheless at the end of the season.
You could make an argument to rank the offense lower... and another to rank the defense higher... the team is 4-4 though and it's been a roller coaster for the most part.. sick highs... sick lows. Not really much to argue about on these grades overall. We could use some improvement in all areas.
