Shutting down Pittsburgh's run game is the key here. Given how much we blitz it's basically a given that Roethlisberger is going to beat us a few times, but if we dominate time of possession we'll be in pretty good shape. Plus, when Big Ben is asked to do too much he sometimes takes risks and makes bad throws.
Great thread! That was utterly hilarious how BillsOverJets made that thread making it seem impossible for the Jets to win as if the Bills were world beaters and the Jets were the Dolphins. Too funny! The Steelers seem like they are going to have an off year. They are rebuilding on the oline and secondary is kind of weak, defense is aging. If we can stop the run, we got this. With Mendenhall limited and the line issues, I think we can handle it if we don't commit dumb turnovers.
Reading all of this makes me even more relieved to have won convincingly last Sunday. What a different thread this would be if we were 0-1, facing an 0-2 start. Too bad its their home opener, but we can do this.
The Steelers are the team under pressure on Sunday. Down 0-2 after the home opener with an offensive line in tatters and the defense in a rebuilding phase would look a lot like 8-8 or worse to them.
If there's one thing that's flown under the radar a bit this week, it's how successfully Sparano used the likes of Rueland and Smith to ensure he kept Mark clean, and I expect we'll see much of the same this coming week. He's undoubtedly going to see more pressure than he did last Sunday, and he'll have to work through more reads given the experience/quality in their secondary, but I think if we can get the run game going at all, and can get the play-action working, I like our chances. If I had to wager, I think we see big things from both Holmes and Keller this week....with them leading the way in production.
This is definitely a game thats going to cause wildly different opinions depending on the outcome for both teams. If the Jets lose then the Bills just really suck and the Jets are still pretenders, restart the Tebow clock and they can't stand up to the real teams. If the Jets win then OMG we have a Super Bowl contender and we're going 14-2 and suck it reporters. Something similar for the Steelers too.
I think if the Jets win the media will just roll with the Steelers aren't good this year and the Jets had an easy start to the season. You don't think they're giving up on "the Jets suck" mantra that easily, do you?
The Jets will have to score 40 points on the Steelers, Texans and 49ers defenses before the media gives them any credit whatsoever. People need to just enjoy the season and forget about the coverage, because it's become a joke at this point.
This game provides a real real big opportunity for us......if we can win in Pittsburgh, and then split our games with Houston and San Fran (both at home), we'll have a real good shot at 12+ wins.
Our defense is the key and it will be all season. Field position, stopping the run, putting pressure on Big Ben and forcing him into bad decisions. From what I heard on Monday night, the Steelers have a severely damaged offensive line. Expose the weaknesses on their line. Mendenhall is injured or coming off of injury and Redman is a rookie, stop the run. On offense, protect the football.
This is the most important of the three because its the only one that should have wildcard implications. We can go 1-2 as long as we take this game.
Very good point.....as absurd as it sounds to say this early in the season, this should definitely be a game we play with the mindset that a playoff spot is on the line.
The real problems the Jets have with the media at this point are Tebow and Howard and some long-term assumptions about Sanchez that are constructed on shaky ground. Tebow is going to create churn no matter what the Jets do. The one constant in his career has been media churn. It's just one of the things he brings to the table. Howard is the real conundrum. If the Jets have just an average RT last season they make the playoffs. If they had a good one they'd probably have won a game or two. So the media is conditioned to see the Jets offense (and Mark Sanchez) as bad because of the out-sized contributions to mediocrity that Wayne Hunter made last year. Howard was a late addition to the starting lineup in training camp. It took the Jets forever to admit that Wayne Hunter was a problem and get rid of him. So as late as the second pre-season game the media was still thumping the Jet's offense sucks, Mark Sanchez is mediocre, Wayne Hunter is terrible drums. Herds don't turn on a dime. They kind of wheel into a new vector in a ponderous way. So the media is still wheeling on the difference between a Jet's offense with Hunter at RT and Howard at RT. To complicate matters nobody really knows how good Howard is. He could be below average but looking great in comparison to Hunter or he could be very good, grabbing the bull by the horns in his big opportunity. Nobody knows yet. Then you throw in the factor that despite enormous improvement in the red zone last year, where he was given good coaching and good help on the field, nobody really knows if Mark Sanchez is a good QB or just an acceptable one. The Sanchez is mediocre meme is pretty well established at this point because the comparisons people are drawing for him are mostly invalid. Both of the QB's chosen with him in 2009 are invalid because one of them has one of the greatest WR's of all time who preceded him on the roster by a year, the other had a completely pressure free environment to grow in on a mediocre team without expectations. The QB's he's played against in the playoffs are invalid because they're seasoned vets with lot of experience and lots of post-season experience. It doesn't help that two of them are all-time greats. So Sanchez is living in this pocket of expectations that is largely invalid and as a result he gets picked to pieces when Calvin Johnson fails to miraculously appear on the field for his throws and when Bill Belichik fails to materialize on the sidelines to make damn sure the offense is being run right. So the media has no good way to judge Sanchez other than by his results, which actually have been ok for a young guy in a highly pressurized environment with rotating WR's every year and a head coach who isn't well involved in the offensive scheme and does not own it. I think the Jets are going to need to be very good for a run of games for the wheeling by the media herd to be finished. If the Jets are actually good I think it's one of those things where all-of-a-sudden everybody gets it at the same moment. Like when Sanchez completes a huge TD pass at the end and the Jets beat the 49ers, who will have been everybody's darling going into the game.
It is actually a hair follicle injury he has been nursing since his last head and shoulders commercial....
I absolutely AGREE with this! In my opinion, unless you intend to toss the ball to Sanchez for a deep shot then what is the point of him being on the field? It's one less WR you can throw to or have block decently. Get his ass off the field and get someone in there that can contribute to the play. I don't know, at this point. I should save my commentary until the injury reports hit the presses. The Squeelers look to be a tad injured right now so I am not sure how that's going to affect things. Still such a dangerous team, especially at home coming off a loss, but I'm not sure now. We shall see...and, it looks as if Revis Island will be open so that helps too.
Personally, I feel the Squeelers and Houston are far more needed than the San Fran game. Need as many conference wins as we can. BUT, if you are looking for a validation game...that San Francisco game will be it. EVERYONE has the 49'ers in, at the very least, the NFC Championship game this year...and after watching them destroy the Packers (trust me it wasn't close), it's justifiably as big a game as the 2 N.E. games will be...for perception sake. If we hang with the 49'ers and beat them...perception will do a 180 degree turn. Guaranteed. But...as I said...the Squeelers and Houston are far more important to our playoff standings. I think this mindset is fundamentally what's wrong...dude, the minute you step on the field of the first game of the season...the playoffs are on the line. Period. If our team played with that mindset we'd be hard to stop. :breakdance:
I disagree. There's a huge plus in having Sanchez & Tebow on the field at the same time. Opposing defensive coordinators have to stay honest with there defensive personnel package. If they don't they can get burned. If it's really that big of an issue Sanchez can just step out of bounds after the snap.
