That cuts both ways. The Jets have several young players with very good talent that played roles on last years team that will be called on to play a much bigger role on this years team. We had a LG starting for the first time and finished the year with a new starting RT who did well and will start. Lowry stepped in at Safety and did a nice job and will play a much bigger role this year at that position. Wilson unlike McCourty was asked to play man instead of zone, he will play a bigger role in the nickle this year. McKnight is likely to play a much bigger role this year. Development of players is always going on in the NFL. The Jets have a very talented group of core players who are signed who are without question elite talent.
IMO the jets are NOT a better team on paper than last year, however, u do not have to be a better team to win. so i say so what. until brady goes down OR sanchez attains marino like success - neither of which are very likely - the jets will be second fiddle in the AFC east. but as we know the post season matters most and the jets have proved that the last 2 years. 2 things will need to happen this year to get over the hump - first we need to get a break somewhere regarding home field - the top seed has to stumble and if the jets are in seed 2 or 3 - they can sneak right in there with the advantage. second - injuries will be a huge factor as always and if they stay relatively healthy again that will secure a postseason spot and pave the way for at least a 3rd consecutive AFCCG.
yes, mankins is elite.... that said, the jets have 2 or 3 elite players on their line, which is leaps and bounds better then the pats line. im not sure wilfork is elite anymore. he was, now he is just good. he isnt even in on most passing downs.
That's crazy. Wilfork is 28, at the peak of his career. His number of tackles last year was a personal best. He was even playing a lot of end last year to fill in for injuries elsewhere.
I understand that both teams have young developing players. I'm not trying to "count" that talent on one team and not the other. Last year it war commonly pointed out (by both sides) that the jets had a far more talented team across the board, but the pats had an elite qb and a history of "scrappy" pverachieving players. This was somewhat true for the following reasons: The pats were starting unproven players at both CB positions, TE, and both ILB and OLB. The Jets had two #1 receivers And ESPECIALLY true near the start of the season because LT was still hot. It seems like Jets fans are still quick to make this argument based on its applicability last year, however many of these factors have changed, and looking at the rosters right now I would says that they are fairly even.
he is 28, but its also his 8th season. in the NFL age is about snaps as much as age. and you can see it on the field, that while he is still a very good player, he is no longer an elite nose tackle. you can run on the pats right at him, in the past you couldnt do that. he also doesnt play pass downs nearly as often as in the past. good, but certainly not elite. not like say revis or mangold, who are #1 in the NFL at their position
other then mccourty on one side at CB, not a lot has changed. pats linebackers are still a very weak unit.
They also got back Bodden on the other side to start at CB. He was pretty excellent in 2009, but missed all of last year with dislocated shoulder. Their LB play is probably their biggest weakness. I would assume that's why they went to the 4-3 look primarily - they have more D-line talent than LB talent available, although Mayo is supposed to be good.
No we are not better than last year, but we have the ability to be just as good. which makes us Superbowl contenders. Im fine with it.
Seeing as we're talking Pats in here, La Canfora is reporting that they're meeting with Housh. I don't understand that at all.
Wilfork is every bit an elite nose tackle. You could run the ball against us because teams were able to double team him and effectively block our 3rd and 4th string DLs that were playing beside him due to injuries... I don't often question other poster's knowledge of football, but did you really watch the pats last year even on an occasional basis and try to make that point???
Mankins and Mangold are both dominant interior lineman, anyone who would argue otherwise is a idiot. Same goes for Vince Wilfork, that guy is a beast. Haynesworth also has the potential to be elite, especially when he's playing for a contract. The Jets don't have any D lineman that could be considered elite. Jerod Mayo and Sebastian Vollmer were both all-pros last year (Vollmer's first year starting no less,) that's something David Harris and DBrick have never been able to claim. It would be absurd at this point to claim McCourty is on the same level as Revis, but there aren't many CBs in the NFL who are closer. We'll see what kind of second year he has. I don't expect many people here to agree with this, but there is no way I'd pick Cromartie over Bodden if I were making a team. The Patriots' safeties are MUCH better I think Holmes is a better player than Welker, but he's never produced at the level Welker has. I can't put a huge disparity between the two of them. There's also that Brady guy. All in all I don't see a huge difference in elite talent, both teams are well stocked in that category.
Take a look at Holmes playoff production vs. Welker. Brady, hasn't been close to the playoff performer he has been in the regular season since Weiss left and BB stopped getting the opposing teams signals. As great a playoff performer as he was in the early years, he has the biggest choke in SB history a failure to make the playoffs and 2 1 game and dones on his recent resume. Brady hasn't exactly struck fear in playoff teams the last several years.
Welker: 8.5 rec/game, 67.5 yd/game, 0.50 TD/game Holmes: 3.6 rec/game, 56.6 yd/game, 0.71 TD/game I don't really see anything surprising here, both have stats which are reflective of the type of receiver they are, which quite frankly shouldn't even be compared in the first place. Last I checked, "choking" in a three point, 0 int superbowl loss is still one step better than anything that sanchez has done. Also, is it really accurate to say that Brady "missed the playoffs" in 2008? Brady has sucked in the playoffs the part two years... you can leave it at that. There is no need to bullshit the rest of the story. His post was about comparing "elite" talent on the teams, and pointing out that it is comparable. I don't think anything you said contradicts that.
For those talking about injuries, Don't act like the Jets haven't had their fair share of injuries. With Kris Jenkins and Jim Leonhard, the defense is a different beast entirely. Not to mention that Calvin Pace was hurt in the first preseason game, missed significant time and was never himself after that.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000...pected-veterans-top-list-of-nfls-best-corners http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2011-06-05-nfl-best-cornerbacks_N.htm http://espn.go.com/blog/afcsouth/post/_/id/23050/power-rankings-top-10-nfl-cornerbacks http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/top-10-cornerbacks-in-n-f-l/ Notice any patterns? McCourty is on all these lists, Cromartie is on none of them OK, my first point would be that it's stupid to compare two players entirely on 7 and 4 career games. That's hardly a fair sample size, considering both have been in the league for a while. But whatever, I'll play your game. Holmes 7 games 25 402 5 Welker 4 games 34 270 2 Welker gets more catches for more yards and Holmes gets slightly more TDs. That's hardly any kind of evidence to conclusively state Holmes is significantly better. Remember, I already admitted Holmes is the better player, I just said the difference wasn't all that great. Holmes is top 15, Welker is top 20. As for Brady, your post is factually incorrect. It was Matt Cassel failing to make the playoffs, the only time Brady did that was in 02. As far as his playoff performances, the last three certainly haven't been his finest, I'd have to be a fool to argue otherwise. Yet, in spite of that, if I have to win one football game, I'm still gonna take him over Mark Sanchez. Or pretty much any other QB. You can feel free to disagree with that if you like, it's JMHO.
Jonathan Joseph also doesn't make any top ten lists, McCourty is ranked higher than Tramon Williams on three of the four, one of the lists has Champ Bailey ranked higher than Revis and Cortland Finnegan in 6th. Forgive me if I treat them with skepticism they clearly demand. McCourty's a heck of a talent, but if he was playing for any other team there's no way as a rookie he makes anyone's top ten list.
I think there's very good reasons to expect an improvement in safety play for the Jets this year. Leonhard was out for a chunk of last season, and he is the most important player among the safeties. Pool was merely okay last year, but did show some improvement late, so he might well be more of a factor in year two. E Smith is also much improved from early last year. If Plax remains a question mark, your assessment of wideout makes some sense, but I think it much more likely he will not remain a question mark. I also question that NE has a significant advantage at TE. The bottom line in comparing the two teams, though, is whether Sanchez improves enough to make up for the disparity that has existed heretofore at Qb. If he does, the Jets could well win the division and earn a bye, which as we have seen is instrumental in improving the odds of going to the SB. If not, expect more of the status quo ante.
