How can the Jets salvage THIS season?

Discussion in 'New York Jets' started by Jetfanmack, Oct 3, 2012.

  1. Jetfanmack

    Jetfanmack haz chilens?

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    I'm sick of reading all the sky is falling crap. Is it falling? Perhaps, it looks awful right now. Nobody argues that. I'm not even arguing the Jets have a good chance to make the playoffs.

    But rather than bitching and moaning and blaming people, can we have a constructive thread to try and figure out how the Jets can turn it around THIS season to make it at least interesting down the stretch? At 2-2, it's certainly a possibility. At 0-4, sure, make every sky is falling thread you want, but I've seen early-season games almost as bad as last week by teams that ended up making the playoffs.

    OFFENSE
    It's not going to be easy to fix what ails the offense. The good news is that the offensive line has been pretty decent this year. For the most part, Sanchez has had decent time to throw.

    We know when the sky is falling on Sanchez, it doesn't usually end well. But let's look at some things that should improve the offense.

    1. The return of Dustin Keller - Keller is Sanchez's top option when it comes to moving the chains. Holmes is the best playmaker, and Sanchez targets him a lot, but it's been obvious they aren't on the same page football-wise. Keller isn't great, but he will definitely help this team as a weapon Sanchez can trust.

    Keller returning would also shift Cumberland to the #2 tight end spot, which he's more suited for. As the #2 tight end, he'll have better matchups that he can possibly exploit to get open and make plays.

    2. There are other young receivers players who should improve with playing time - Hill is very young. When he gets on the field, he has shown a better ability to get open than many other weapons on the team. When he went down in each of the last 2 games, I was sadder than when Santonio got hurt because I want to see this kid develop into a very good player for us.

    Kerley has shown flashes of being a very nice slot receiver. He's got work to do, but he now may have to be the guy now. Maybe the extra responsibility gets him to step up.

    Even Schilens always showed some flashes in Oakland. He's still only 26 years old, and he's 6'4", 225 lbs. The guy barely played in training camp because of a nagging injury. I don't trust him to stay healthy, but he's not a bad player when he's healthy.

    3. There are unproven running backs that could maybe surprise AKA Bilal Powell. Play this man. We know what Shonn Greene is at this point, and that's a decent back who is playing some of the worst football in his career right now. Bilal Powell isn't a great talent, but he's tough and he fights for extra yards. Grimes has never gotten a shot as a starter. He may suck, but it would have been tough for him to get a shot in Houston, maybe he can surprise with playing time if he gets it.

    Plus, there's McKnight, but it's hard to get optimistic about him if the Jets were willing to try him at cornerback again when our running back position is struggling the way it is.

    Rex has been inflexible when it comes to some players. But he's also never had a season go awry from the start. Shit is already starting to hit the fan and we're 2-2. Another bad loss or 2 and he's going to have to try some new things.

    Tebow

    As for Tebow... If the Jets are 2-4 and the offense looks THIS bad the next two weeks, then I think Tebow could maybe be a spark. He can make some plays with the ball in his hands, and having a guy like Tebow with a couple receivers who can run deep routes might not be terrible. I don't want to bench Sanchez, but if he's still below 50%, excuses or not, it's not a bad idea to try something new. Especially since the Broncos looked similarly bad before Tebow took over and he made the playoffs.

    DEFENSE
    This defense has a slow front seven. We know this. We're going to struggle against fast and quick running backs like Spiller, Hunter, Bush and McFadden. Against more workhorse type backs, I think the Jets can still be decent against the run, despite what we've seen so far.

    1. Cromartie could step up and play the Revis role of 2009 (not as well, obviously).
    Cromartie is tall, super fast and super long. Against teams with tall, fast receivers, Cromartie has shown he can do a good job. He'll throw in some bonehead plays and games in there, but for the most part, he'll do well.

    And it looked like he was willing to jam receivers at the line more last game. As the Jets love to tell us, Cromartie doesn't allow receptions when he jams receivers.

    The biggest problem with the secondary is that there's no one to take Cromartie's role. Wilson has been disappointing. Lankster shouldn't be a nickel back. Aaron Berry is a physical nickel/dime back who can probably help right away.

    However, I'm reminded the Jets made an AFC Championship in 2009 with a bottom 5 QB and Shito Leppard starting in the secondary almost every game. We all yearn for the 2009 defense, but Kyle Wilson isn't really worse than Lito...

    2. There are young players in the front 7 who have shown flashes
    Pouha doesn't look like himself. Devito isn't bad, but he's also a pure run stopper and useless vs the pass.

    But Mo Wilkerson has looked very good this year. He's starting to turn into a force. He's 22 years old, and he's not a great pass rusher either, but he's gotten some penetration, forcing double teams and looking good out there for the most part.

    Kenrick Ellis has shown some flashes. He won't add too much in terms of speed, but if Pouha isn't holding up his end of the bargain, there's a potential replacement there.

    Plus, I don't know why he's not playing that much, but Coples has been good when he's been out there. My guess is part of it is because Rex feels confident in the other DLs out there, so he can afford to punish/motivate Coples for not working as hard as he should in practice. The way this season is going, he's going to need to play his talent to salvage the season.

    Then at linebacker, Demario Davis got a little more time it looked like last week. He's going to have to play more. We need to get faster at linebacker, and he's our best option. There are some teams we can get away with it against, but for the most part, we need speed and we need it soon.

    Special teams
    Can it get much worse? Week 1 was great with the punt return, but since then, we've had a terrible roughing the punter, a blocked punt and no real returns to speak of. Can't imagine McKnight wants to go out like this. Westhoff always has good units. I would think he'd be able to pull it together to be better than this.


    Like I said, I don't think the Jets are making the playoffs. But until the Jets are out of it, I'm going to root hard for them. If we somehow pull an upset this week at home, things are looking a lot better.

    Not everyone needs to be fired yet. We're 2-2. If the Jets are as bad as some people think they are, and we're 3-9 in a couple months, then sure, let's think about it a lot more. And it's okay to be critical, but let's not say give up on the season before it's truly gone. That could come in 2-3 weeks, but it's not yet.
     
    #1 Jetfanmack, Oct 3, 2012
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2012
  2. TNJet

    TNJet Well-Known Member

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    You forgot a QB on the bench who needs a shot.
     
  3. Footballgod214

    Footballgod214 Well-Known Member

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    Nice write up fanmack....i posted the following in the 'young guns' thread but it applies here equally well:

    To a degree we've been a victim of our own success...drafting late in the first round over the last 3 years is almost like not have a first round pick. It forces Tanny to roll the dice on players like Kyle Wilson, and roll even more dice to move up to get a 'gifted but unproven' talent like Hill.

    You can't draft a Megatron with the 25th overall pick.

    Looking ahead to the rest of this season, Sparano commented on having Vlad play more and more at LG (20%, 30% 40% over the last 3 games), saying it would not be good to enter 2013 having no idea what we have in our current roster. Sparano sees the value of playing 'the other guys' if for no other reason than to find out exactly what he has in these guys....something he'd never know if the 'starters' were playing 99% of the snaps.

    Second thought is for anyone who's ever played ANY sport and were lucky to have a superstar on their team. You KNOW how easy it is to sit back and wait for the star to come through at the end. Teams with no superstars seem to play harder to a man. Every player on the field feels some true sense of 'they are important'. This is a very difficult mind set to have when you're backed up by a Revis or SB MVP WR Santonio Holmes.

    Crossing off our superstars on both sides of the ball and rounding out the roster with kids that may never have seen the field will require growing pains, but will also result in a 53 man roster that feels important down to the last man standing. Something we've not had in years.

    how many times have we seen our very own Jets decimated by some team that plays a rookie for the very first time and he tears it up with 10000% determination. Well, that's us now.

    CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!
     
  4. dr.velociraptor

    dr.velociraptor Tired of BS

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    On offense I would involve McKnight more, I think he can gain big yardage coming out of the backfield on screens and really perplex defenses. I would give Coples and Wilkerson a lot more playing time, our defense is slow, these guys are fast, strong, and hungry.

    I would cut Tebow most importantly and rally behind our QB, best chance we have for success.
     
  5. 85inthehall

    85inthehall Well-Known Member

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    Run a 2 tight end set wit Keller and Cumberland -- New England is able to hide the flaw at wide receiver with this method.

    Force more athletic tight ends to work matchups...use powell or grimes as running back and use them in the passing game. If you force teams to use safeties, linebackers, or zones to cover tight ends you can exploit the screen game.dump off game.

    It should also help to disguise the running game a bit and open up play action.

    Holmes and Sanchez completed only 50% of their pass attempts last season...so for every catch he had he also had a bad play his way.

    On defense they have to give young guys a shot, increase speed, and tackle. If they can just tackle they can at least force some known passing situations and maybe get some blitz packages with landry/bell.
     
  6. 85inthehall

    85inthehall Well-Known Member

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    100% agree with McKnight -- they guy is electric with the ball in his hand. If Sporano and the offensive coaching staff can't think outside the box and they try to run a set offense of green for 3 it will be an ugly season.
     
  7. TurkJetFan

    TurkJetFan Well-Known Member

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    i don't think they can salvage this season...

    i know this much for certain...it wont be done by signing veteran FA's that are currently available.
     
  8. b.reyes16

    b.reyes16 Well-Known Member

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    I don't know what good cutting Tebow would do. Even if he isn't on the field, teams do have to spend time preparing for the Wildcat (even if it isn't effective). He is a distraction on the punt team and when he's lined up at TE/WR, teams need to account for him. There is also the factor that if Sanchez continues to suck, I don't think Tebow could be that bad an option.
     
  9. dr.velociraptor

    dr.velociraptor Tired of BS

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    EVERY team has some form of wildcat except teams with top tier QBs it's not a big deal to defend anymore.

    Are you kidding me? Cutting Tebow does a ton
    1. Woody doesn't have his hand forced to start the guy from the media and fans
    2. Sanchez doesn't have to worry incessantly about his job
    3. We don't have to see this gimmick BS nonsense in the middle of a drive

    Tebow was the worst thing they could've done to try and get Sanchez right.
     
  10. b.reyes16

    b.reyes16 Well-Known Member

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    I agree with the bold statement, but I think his presence helps more than it hurts now that he is here.

    What would it look like if they did cut or trade him?

    Media's Take: Jets cut Tebow for putting too much pressure on Mark Sanchez.

    All it does is add fuel to the media fire.
     
  11. dr.velociraptor

    dr.velociraptor Tired of BS

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    Or they cut him because he's been awful, and the wildcat an absolute failure, simple as that...
     
  12. Jetfanmack

    Jetfanmack haz chilens?

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    Cutting Tebow doesn't help the offense run better or the defense stop the run. You can play him less, but we don't play him all that much.
     
  13. dr.velociraptor

    dr.velociraptor Tired of BS

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    EXACTLY isn't it odd that a guy who doesn't even play causes so much controversy and noise? cut it out already...
     
  14. b.reyes16

    b.reyes16 Well-Known Member

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    I put media's take because that is how they would take it.
     
  15. 94Abraham

    94Abraham Well-Known Member

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    Dont be a homer. Sanchez is the arguably the worst starting QB in football right now and he sure as hell better be worrying about his job, whether Tebow is here or not. If a little added pressure is too much to overcome, he has no business being a starter in the NFL anyways. Its sad that people like you are still trying to defend a top 5 pick in his 4th year now making the same mistakes. It shouldnt take 4 years to "get him right".
     
  16. dr.velociraptor

    dr.velociraptor Tired of BS

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    If you read my posts I'm hardly a Sanchez apologist, however Tebow is not the answer all he does is create noise, he isn't legitimate competition for Sanchez, Tebow will never be the franchise QB so why do we invite this nonsense in the media?
     
  17. Nilton

    Nilton Active Member

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    I personally think the only way to salvage the season is to let the young players get playing time. So they enter next year with game experience.
     
  18. 94Abraham

    94Abraham Well-Known Member

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    Well, we all pretty much know Sanchez isnt the answer either. Mine as well give Tebow a legit shot soon if the team is 2-5 or worse. It really cant be much worse then what we are currently witnessing. Maybe Tebow does decent and some team will be dumb enough to ship him off to after this year and take a shot in the draft and getting lucky in getting a real franchise QB.
     
  19. Jeti

    Jeti Well-Known Member

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    If we cut Tebow he's going to New England and you know whats next
     
  20. 94Abraham

    94Abraham Well-Known Member

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    If this team goes 2-5/2-6, you almost have to plan for next year. This year is a wash now without Holmes and Revis. As much as i hate losing, its almost a good thing for this team to get some high picks for a change to start to rebuild, this current roster is nowhere close to competing and they are only getting older.
     

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