You guys should venture over to the Pats Forums. I read posts like this, and it just boggles my mind that fans can be this fucking stupid. "And there defense, which declined a lot from 09 to 10 is going to decline again as the lost their best DL, best pass rusher and a bunch of depth and have added nothing of note." "I think the Jets have crested for this cycle. They have lost talent on theDL and OL and at Wr, and even at RB. There is no depth behind Sanchez, and are extremely thin everywhere. Sooner or later injuries will hit them, unlike the past few seasons. I would not at all be surprised to see them recede to around 8-8. I could also see the Dolphins climbing to around 8-8, if things break well for them. So it is not a two team race. it is a ONE TEAM race as the Pats have improved over the past two seasons, from 11-5, to 14-2, to 15-1+? So its a ONE Team race, like the Colts always seem to have in their division." Just felt like posting these..
I don't blame you for feeling pissed at some of these quotes, especially the one's predicting a lousy Jets record. BUT the fact is that some of these statements have a ring of the truth don't they? The title of the thread asks "Are the Jets are better this year" , not COULD they be better . Well the fact is that "on paper" they simply aren't. Do you KNOW you are better at RT. Do you KNOW you are better in your WRs? Do you KNOW you are better on the DL? COULD you bet better? Sure, but you won't KNOW until the season progresses . It seems to me that the that Jet fans are relying on Sanchez to make a quantum leap in his QB play and be capable of carrying it to a new level in order to overcome these other issues It COULD happen, but you don't know.. Also you are RELYING on several rookies and vets who have NEVER had to be significant contributors before. Again they COULD all come through. Why not the the Pats had several guys last year that fit the scenario, and most came through The Bottom Line here is -If you are being honest, you would have to admit that there are a LOT more questions that need to be answered positively for the Jets to be better, than you had last season.
I dont care if we arent better "on paper" because paper doesnt show shit. Is it going to show cromartie in a second year, Pool in a second year, Kyle wilson improving, Revis HEALTHY, Pace healthy, and most importantly Mark's improvement? I only think we lost one starter, being Braylon. Ellis was nothing more than a rotational guy, and woody is old and coming off a knee injury. We retained more than we thought we would be able to do, preserving our core for 4-5 years. I would say this was an underrated offseason by many, along with the teams improvement
Man it is too bad you Pats fans weren't here to keep us Jets fans grounded January 17th 2011. Where were you?
I agree that in paper they are not a whole lot better but having some players back and pace being fully healthy I think they can perform a lot better than they did last year. If Sanchez and the offense can have more consistency and actually score in the red zone this year then they will be much more than just a great defensive team
Yeah, I hate the idea of evaluating a team "on paper". A Pats fan certainly shouldn't do that after seeing the ways his team actually improved several times after cutting loose players that outsiders would find integral to the team's success. Our core vastly remained the same. We've seen what we're like with the OL that will head out on opening day, so his comment on that one is a bit inapt. People consistently point to our DL and WR corps, but they ignore the fact that we maintained the vast majority of the former. Aside from Wilkerson, we have the same starting group, and we now have depth players that are actually ready to contribute. We didn't just bring in a bunch of unknowns; these are guys who have been developing within the system. While 2/3 of our main three are new in the receiving corps, the same is true. We've built for the future and have been bringing along players who have reportedly stepped forward in camp. It should make for an interesting Monday night game. The more important thing, though, is that there's a reason why we have high turnover in the receiving corps and on the DL: those are the positions in which we opted to spend 4 of our 6 draft picks this year. The two go hand in hand. We had a demonstrated need to get younger on the DL and a desperate need for depth, and we had a need to bring in young WR who could presumably build a relationship with Sanchez and give him 4 years of consistency. We addressed both of those needs this offseason. People can argue that we don't look better on paper for this year, and that's true in the sense that we didn't throw money at FA in the same way, but it also certainly doesn't tell the whole story.
The defense should be much more consistent this season. For one thing, we should have a healthy Darrelle Revis for the entire season (since he hasn't been holding out through training camp). Also, Antonio Cromartie and Kyle Wilson both have a season in the system under their belts now. Our safeties are average but Leonhard plays above average in this defense and Eric Smith and Brodney Pool should form a pretty nice combo. I see the biggest improvement coming from the defensive line. In addition to Pouha and DeVito, Wilkerson and Ellis should both make an impact as rookies this season (I also like some of the PS players). However, I don’t see our linebacker play improving much unless Calvin Pace being a hundred percent healthy has as much of an impact as some people are saying and if Jamaal Westerman can transform into an impact pass rusher on the other side. I really think the defense taking that next step forward is really dependent on Westerman because we've tried to pair Pace on third downs with Gholston and Jason Taylor and neither of those experiments really worked out. As for the offense, I'm cautiously optimistic. You would think the offense would be automatically better with Sanchez and Greene now entering their third years, but the lack of continuity at receiver is a little concerning. Holmes and Keller are going to have to lead this group since it’s going to be difficult to depend on a 34 year old receiver that's been in prison for two years and a 37 year old receiver who is probably due for an injury. I’m hoping that Cumberland can be that big target that comes out of nowhere to form a tight end tandem with Keller similar to the one the Pats have, but obviously that’s wishful thinking. The run game, on the other hand, I think is going to be awesome this year. The Terminator hype has been building for a while now but I really believe that he can be a difference maker for this team this year. Most people would say that a fullback isn't as big of a difference-maker as an offensive lineman but look at Vonta Leach blocking for Arian Foster last year or Lorenzo Neal paving the way for LT for years. The only question I have on offense (besides the receivers) right now is at right tackle. Now, I wasn’t a big fan of making Wayne Hunter the unquestioned starter coming into camp but that doesn’t mean I don’t think he’s a solid player. I think Vladimir Ducasse will wind up starting some games for us this year and I still do believe he’ll be the long-term solution at right tackle but for now I guess we’ll just have to wait-and-see. Overall, I think the offense will be the major key in deciding whether we’ll get over that AFC Championship hump this season.
Ellis played 832 snaps last year - more than any other defensive lineman for us. He was a starter for us - not a rotational guy under any sense of the term.
Lol at pats fans talking about on paper. On paper trading Randy Moss and replacing him with Deion Branch is a retarded move. Didnt seem too retarded... Until the playoffs at least.
What makes me laugh is that Pats fans evaluate us based on a Jets worst case scenario, but completely gloss over their own team's shortcomings and potential problems: What if someone says hello to Albert Haynesworth at a traffic light, and he gets out of his car and chokes them to death? What if Danny Woodhead gets cast as an Oompa Loompa in the new Willy Wonka on Broadway musical? What if Gisele becomes unhappy with the length of Tommy's hair, and forces him to retire and move to Brazil for an emergency bikini wax and extensions? And what if, try as they might, Vince Wolfork's uniform pants simply cannot take the stress of stretching over that mass of flesh any longer, and they explode, taking Vince and his KFC bucket with them? All of these things could, and should, happen to the Patriots this year.
Kyle Wilson will be tons better in year 2. Holmes will now have a full season with Sanchez. Revis is there for an entire camp. Cromatie year two in this system. Ducasse in year 2 will be a quality back-up. Two stud draft picks for the defensive line. If you don't count Plaxico and Mason - one year contracts - this team got alot younger. All these little things add up to a better team on the field this year. Still much of this season rides on the arm of Sanchez. If Sanchez can improve to a top 10 QB and not start every game slow like he just woke up the Jets could dominate alot of teams this year.
There will be quite a few questions this year. Will Sanchez continue to progress? Will our WR's be able to stay on the field? Will the loss of Ellis disrupt our DL? Will the other RB's step up? I believe we will be solid on offense, great on defense, and solid on special teams.
yea, but this situation is a bit different then evaluating a team with tons and tons of changes. for our team, we know what we have since its mostly the same. We are returning 8 of 11 starters on offense. We are returning 9 of 11 starters on defense. We replaced: Richarson with Connor Edward with Plaxico Woody with Turner S. Ellis with Wikerson Pryce with Devito I think most would agree connor from trich is a wash and we wont miss much with turner. on defense pryce and ellis were more rotational players, but there was alot of veteran smarts and grit there. basically, are we better "on paper" comes down to how well plaxico and mason do compared to edwards and cotchery. Defensively i think we will be ok, guys more farmiliar with the team and a health revis/pace makes that kind of a lock. but offense there are more question marks. how will greene do with more carries? how will plax and mason do, and will they stay healthy? how much does sanchez improve? i think because we have so little turnover, going by paper isnt as pointless as usual. and looking at it, i dont think its all that crazy to say we arent much better
