I'm not going through the roster, naming each player like Philly Stackz. No reason. But barring a Rex Ryan meltdown, this team has the attitude that the '09 team did. Different players, different dynamic, same anger at the world. The defensive line is so flexible that no QB knows what alignment they will end up in when the ball is snapped. The LB corps has a ton of talent and experience. The secondary is a wildcard, much youth and little experience, aside from Patterson and Landry. But they are cocky and athletic. And HUNGRY. The defensive schemes that Rex throws at opposing teams this year are going to surprise even the most stubborn of naysayers. I'm looking at Cman and champ. ======== I think it goes without saying that the offense hinges the success of this team. Is Geno really making the strides that the coaching staff boasts? If he is, then this team is going places. Maybe not the AFCC, but certainly the playoffs. This is the best RB corps the Jets have had since a certain Hall Of Famer was on the roster. The Jets have a very solid possession receiver in Decker, a threat that only Kerley could boast of last season while being much shorter. And a ton of competition behind them. Plus, there is a really promising goldmine of receiving talent at TE. The offensive line is an area of concern. The guard positions were scary last season. Now there is a dogfight going on there, three different young players vying for one spot and maybe the other one that Colon is supposedly set to play. We may not find 2 new guards this season, but I would bet the house that the Jets are going to find a true answer at LG this year, and that people stop worrying about that spot. ======== Special Teams. It's time to forget Mike Westhoff. We've been lamenting his loss for a couple of years. Now the Jets really have a stockpile of talent to make a dent in the STs world. An all world kicker, who the fuck knows at punter, a bunch of killers on the coverage teams, and new young return men who will NOT let us down. Okay, maybe that last part is wishful thinking, but maybe not. ======== What can go wrong? Everything, just the same as every other team. The Jets can kill it this year, or they can fade. The Falcons were supposed to be one of the best teams in the league last year and they took a poop in their own mouths all year. Quarterback is the most obvious point of failure. But it's not the only position that can hurt this team. Wide receiver can really shit the bed if Decker gets blanketed all year or injuries hamper that squad the way they did last season. The RBs can't run from shotgun all this season like they did last year and be effective. The inexperience in the defensive secondary can kill this team if it is not managed well by Rex Ryan. He pretty much killed his own defense by relying on an injured and pussyboy Cromartie last season. Will he be stubborn or practical? ======== The sky is the limit, but so is the sewer. I guess it depends on how you view their approach. Where do you see them?
Good post Biz. Agree 100%. Sky or Sewer. This is a young team that could go either way, and a rare chance to declare your allegiance before a single snap of the pigskin. TGG seems divided between the Sky and the Sewer. One group will get to say hahahaha to the other. Biz, since this is your thread, please start a Poll so we can declare ourselves in one camp or the other (with no asterisk allowed): Sky: 10-6, POs Sewer: 6-10, Rex is fired
Well as it stands right now I think we're anywhere from a 6 win team to a 10 win team. Sky to me would be 12 wins. Only way I think that happens is if Geno turns into the franchise QB were all hoping for. Sewer is 3-4 wins and that happens if injuries to key players strike, Geno is a mess, just a complete disaster. I dont see the complete disaster happening. Mostly cause its hard to say this guy will get injured or that guy will get injured so I'll be skeptical and we'll surprise people.
You make a good point. What qualifies the sky? Is it playoffs? Is it a great regular season record? Why would 12 wins be the sky? Can't a 9-7 team that nobody gives a chance to reach the conference championship? Wouldn't that be the sky for a lot of people?
I've been watching this team for 30 plus years and every time we expect something from this team it usually ends terrible. now all the players think they belong in the HOF and I expect to have a terrible year with these guys. I can see us starting off 1-7 or so.....
We won nothing in 2009, or 10... I see us as being average 9-7, 10-6 again, maybe making the play-offs. I think much of the AFC has improved as well and if you don't win your division the chance of a wildcard spot is slim. The sky is winning the division, I don't see that happening. The sewer is 5-11, 6-10, I don't see that happening either, but there's a better chance of that, than winning the division. IMO.
Winning the division is an accomplishment? That's pathetic in the long run. The Seahawks not long ago won their division with a 7-9 record. The Pats have won the division almost every year since 2004 and have nothing to show for it.
Beats the shit out of missing the play-offs 3 years running. You asked above what "sky" means and gave suggestions, I gave mine. Winning the division would be a whole lot better than watching Brady waltz his way to another.
I think winning the division is a big deal and should be the top goal primarily going into a season. It gets you a home playoff game which is very important. I read somewhere that being at home in the playoffs is a big advantage. Home teams win ~~68% of the time in the playoffs vs. ~~58% of the time in the regular season (my specific numbers might be off, but it's close to that. and the percentage gets higher as you go further by round I believe) For our team, considering we've had only 2 home playoff games since 1986 (both wins) Yes, I think winning the division would be a huge accomplishment. Also, playing on the road in the playoffs is difficult and draining. Perhaps if this team had a home playoff game in 2009 or 2010 somewhere in the playoffs that might've been just enough to keep them fresh and get over the top in those AFC Champ games.
That's a good argument, I can't disagree at all. I guess I'm just obsessed with winning the Lombardi.
This team can't be the worst Jets team in recent memory. It would take an injury run for the ages to make that occur. The 2012 team was really bad, especially after Revis and Holmes went down. It had one dimensional players playing all over the defense and offense at that point. Guys who could defend the run but couldn't rush the passer for their life. Guys who could defend the run but couldn't cover a guy coming out of the backfield. The backs and receivers were average or worse. Dustin Keller was the best playmaker after Holmes went down and then he got hurt also. The QB's were a dispirited mess after Sanchez got his bell rung by the Steelers in week two. The only areas of the team that were NFL average were the offensive line and the secondary. The 2014 Jets have a superb defensive front at this point. The offensive line will be no worse than the 2012 crew and may well be better. The backs and receivers are much better than the 2012 bunch. There are two QB's who might be pluses for the team. The team is very young instead of going over the hill. It's just not reasonable to project the Jets as a bad team this year. Almost all of the indicators say otherwise. Any team can have a terrible run of injuries and under-achieve or even collapse. That's the realistic chance that the Jets suck this year. On paper they're going to be average or better. Just as a postscript on this: Rex Ryan took a 3 or 4 win team to 6 wins in 2012. He took a 5 win team to 8 last year. At this point it's characteristic of his teams to avoid the big under-achieving seasons and certainly the collapses. The 2011 team was over-hyped in a big way given what we know now about Sanchez, Hunter, Holmes, Burress, Greene and a few other key players. We all thought they had a good chance but they had too many critical holes. They could easily have gone 4 or 5 wins as well.
You're convincing me. The Jets had a stellar defensive line last season, but that was their coming out party. I'm not putting a lot of confidence into the many positive comments about the Guard Fight that has been reported, mainly because beat writers don't know football, but there may be something there. What do you think the ceiling is at the QB position? All contingencies? We have a slew of talent competing at WR and TE. But where does the consistency come from outside of Decker and Kerley? Nelson is a stopgap whose abilities are Decker .5
I'm getting a positive vibe from the offense so far. If that holds true it would be surprising to me if we don't make the playoffs. I'm very much anticipating seeing what the offense looks like in the preseason, vanilla or not. I am expecting a much smoother operation than we've seen from the offense in years past.
I think we are in the process of building the best jets team of my lifetime. are we there yet? It depends mostly on Geno's growth and the secondary. I think we will be a playoff team this year but we'll see. I don't see a big slop unless we have a million injuries.
That's something I am feeling positive about too. In recent years we'd get the offseason "fluff" pieces on the offense and how different it would be but it was obvious fluff. When it came to training camp usually the first week / two weeks / sometimes all of training camp, the offense would really struggle and be way behind the defense... We aren't hearing that as much this year. The offense seems much more like they have their shit together overall. Whether that translates to production or wins, who knows, but I like your term "smoother operation" on offense that we are seeing.
Unheralded guards developing into mainstays is a normal thing in the NFL. This is because most teams do not invest a lot of value at the guard position but you still find guys who excel there. The Jets have a lot of guys competing to be their guards this year. They don't have castoffs in the competition. They have a bunch of guys they drafted fighting for the jobs. The odds are good they find two guys who can play the position. I don't care about the ceiling at QB at all. I care about the chances that we have a decent QB out there to complement the strengths on the team. I think the odds are very good we have a decent QB for the year. If we have more than that? Well then I'm thinking we have an excellent shot at making some noise. Golden Tate (13 games started), Sidney Rice (6 games started), Zach Miller (12 games started), Luke Wilson (7 games started), Jermaine Kearse (5 games started). Meet the 2013 Seattle Seahawks regular season WR's and TE's. Marshawn Lynch was a beast of course but I'd take the combo of CJ and Ivory over him because they have 4 knees to his 2.
