Hmmm, I just looked at the schedule again and it's not quite as bad as I remember it. Just not a lot of gimme wins, if there is such a thing in the NFL. Packers, Broncos, Patriots x 2, and Chiefs are going to be tough, but I think Denver is overrated. They lose a lot to teams that aren't bottom of the barrel and ESPN over hypes them a lot for beating up on nobodies. Packers are probably going to kill us. Patriots D looks serious this year, so those games could go bad. Lions looks really nasty sometimes, and really good, and then sometimes they just don't. Bears, Chargers and Vikings probably fall into that tier of competition. They'll be tough games but definitely winnable. I think we beat the Steelers, and Oakland and the Titans better be W's for us. Sweeping the Bills and Phins would be huge. Those games are going to be really important.
I'm mostly optimistic, but my biggest concern is that we're Sky and Sewer depending on the week. Rex's teams have always had a tendency to play to the competition, which could actually serve us well with this schedule, but could once again lead to some head-scratching, foot-shooting losses (Really? We can't beat the Titans? Again?). Even the biggest sun-shiners here expect us to be 1-1 after the first two, but almost nobody's expecting it to be because we beat Green Bay but lost to Oakland! Crazy? Maybe, but who ever thought we'd manhandle New Orleans and then get railroaded by Buffalo? Or beat New England in OT but not be able to handle the juggernaut that is Andy Dalton a week later? I'm still expecting closer to 10-6 than 6-10, but looking back come January, I have a feeling the 6 losses aren't gonna be the same ones they look like they should be now. The New York Jets: Come fly with us! Air sickness bags provided...
IF WE should win 3 or 4 games which I truly don't see happening ( Jets Fan Here Says HOPE SO ) then PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD let two of those wins come against the PATS. I believe after the first regular season game is when the challenge begins and we will see what type of team we have. after game 6 or 7 we should all have the answer that was posted in this thread ( SKY / SEWER )
This can be the best Jets team in decades?Why?because we look good on paper?We still don't have a franchise qb
I'm expecting the Packers game to be close. No idea if they'll beat us or not but their defense is not what it once was. Rex's teams have a way of staying close to the great QB's in games and beating them now and then. It's a characteristic of his defenses to make the great QB's uncomfortable. They get blown out now and then but they also beat people like Brady, Brees, Ryan and Luck. They've done this in the last two seasons, with no Revis in the mix and a bad team overall.
Honestly, the two biggest things that will determine sky vs sewer: How we play on the road. Last year, we went 2-6 on the road and on all but 3 occasions, we scored less than 20 points. Road meltdowns won't cut it this year. We play in three tough venues in Lambeau, Foxboro, and Arrowhead. If the Jets can look competent and go 4-4 on the road and 6-2 at home, we'll be good How we deal with mid tier teams. We play a lot of them in Bears, Lions, Chargers, Chiefs, and Steelers. We need to be able to hold our own and win at least 3 of those games. We need to stop having blow out losses to mediocre to bad teams. The loss to the mediocre Dolphins last year kept us out of the playoffs last year. Do those two things, sky is the limit for playoffs.
To be honest... the bar has not been set very high. We don't need a franchise QB to be successful, we only need someone who doesn't hurt our efforts with turn overs. Mark was an average QB, with enough talent around him he did well. Smith could have the same couple of good years, or really improve and become "our guy"... of course he could suck too.
I think theres a chance to make a playoff run this year if Geno can limit his mistakes and Millner and Patterson can stay healthy .We still don't have a lot of depth at important positions like WR and CB .The Key is gonna be Geno and the health of Millner and Patterson and Decker producing
I've been burned by expectations before.....so my approach is to wait and see. I'm confident in the D-line ad LBs - that's about it. Geno and Milliner both need to made big, big jumps. The O-line has not been the same since Faneca retired....they're good, but not dominant. I think the RBs will help the O-line out though. Amaro is unproven - but Sudfeld a Cumberland can be effective. Al in all Ithink there's a pretty even split between groups we should be confident in and the ones we should worry about.
I see the Jets being a team on the rise. Geno will be a huge factor, depending on his development. The defense looks to be solid. Pray that the injury bug doesn't hit, and I can see 11 wins this year.
I agree with Milo.....the success of our team always seems to be more about how we do against lower tier teams. Rex always seems to have his team ready for games against the best teams, but then lays an egg against a bottom dweller the next week. So don't worry too much about the early games against the elite clubs, worry more about the automatic W's, which never seem to come easy.
I don't think it can be the best Jets team in decades. The '98 team was 16 seasons ago and there's no way this team, even at their best, will be better than that team was. I don't think this team can be any worse than the teams we fielded the last two seasons. I think this team has the potential to be a good team (9-7 or 10-6) and I also think this team has the potential to be a mediocre team (6-10). So no, I don't think this year's version can be the worst or the best in decades.
There are some pretty high expectations for this team, 63 "sky" votes vs 7 "sewer" votes. I think this team will do well but I'm surprised so many people feel that way. I have to be honest, I don't really think "sky" is an accurate word for my expectations. I absolutely love what the organization did this offseason in the draft and free-agency, but you have to remember there that there are some key factors we can't overlook. I feel that the sky-high expectations are what I have for next season, and here's why. -Geno is still only a second year QB, and it's not like he's Andrew Luck going into year two. We can't expect him to be a top 15 QB this season, and yes the offensive weapons we added will help a lot, but I'm afraid a lot of people are overestimating their effect. -A run heavy offense is the way to take pressure off a young QB, that's true, but it also leaves less room for error. Run heavy offenses generally score less, which means our defense has to be spot on. We have loads of talent on defense but we are a very very young defensive team and a few mistakes here or there can mean the difference between winning and losing. If we had a dynamic offense that could score frequently, a mistake by a youthful defense would be less important. -This is the most important point in my opinion: Continuity. I believe that all of the moves we made are good moves, but it takes time to build the feeling of continuity, a feeling where the units can really gel together. Depending on Colon's recovery, we have 2 new o-linemen, a new RB, and a new #1 WR. Sure they practice together, but they need to learn what it feels like to play together at game speed, for instance The linemen have to get a feel for how CJ hits gaps for real, Geno needs to feel how can Giacomini pass protect when he gets matched up vs a top edge rusher. These are just a few of the reasons that I believe next year is the beginning of the Jets time as a very good team. On offense, the only projected starter who becomes a FA this coming offseason (that I can think of) is Willie Colon. We will have tons of continuity, plus a year of growth from Amaro, Evans, Saunders, and Enunwa if he's around that long. Powell and Kerley are role players and scheduled FA's, but we have the depth now to overcome that come 2015.
When looking at the defense, we have to remember that youth is a big factor here. All 3 of our D-Linemen are on their rookie deals still. 2 of our LB's are on their rookie contracts. 2 of our DB's are on their rookie deals. If McDougle ends up with significant playing time and/or Antonio Allen sees time at safety over Landry, that makes 3-4 DB's. 7-9 of 11 defensive starters are in their first 4 years in the league. That's why we are saving cap space by the way, some of these guys are going to be really good, hopefully a lot of them. Who honestly wants over paid guys from other teams now just so we can watch our real studs walk away to teams who can afford them in a couple years? All of these early defensive pics are investments, and I'm not really sure 2014 is the year we get a full return on all of those investments. I feel that it is coming though.
Jets will definitely be a playoff team this year. Last year, the team went 8-8 with awful play from the QB,WR,CB positions. Obviously the success of the team depends on Geno, but I can't see him getting any worse. Like you said the youthful secondary is hungry, and I expect good things from this WR group, hopefully a big step from Stephen Hill. Coples is due for a solid year, and our defensive front single handily will win the team a couple of games. If Geno starts looking to run a little more, especially when defensives need to account for CJ in the backfield, this offense can be exciting.
I don't understand why everyone is writing the Packers game off as a loss. They have one of the worst 3 defenses in the entire NFL, and completely rely on Aaron Rodgers to carry them through the season. When they face teams with bad to mediocre defenses like the Lions, Browns, Redskins, and Vikings, they put up an easy 35+ points and their lack of a good defense doesn't matter at all, but the second they have to face teams like the 49er's and Bengals, it becomes a massive struggle and they usually lose. Their O-Line also gives up an average of 3 sacks per game. I'm not saying the Jets will win for sure or anything, but that game is a total toss up. If the Jets D-Line picks up 5+ sacks against the Packers weak O-Line, and the offense takes advantage of a weak D then the Jets will win. If the Packers can protect Rodgers and give him consistent time in the pocket then the Packers will win. I give the Pack an edge too being at home, but otherwise this game is dead even.
I agree with most of what you posted, but here's my deal. If the Jets are knowingly trotting out a young QB that can't excel while being touted highly by the coaching staff and FO this off-season, then this is a system of failure that's repeating itself. It's been reported by the team a number of times that Geno has made great strides in this offense. He's now receiving 75-100% of first team reps. He's got a mentor that accepts the backup role even though many think he could less the team to the playoffs. Yeah, he's not Andrew Luck. But if we're expecting the young starter to be lower than 15th in terms of overall QB play in his second year in a league that really doesn't have a lot of elite quarterbacks, or even above average ones, I think we're expecting a mediocre team. I fully expect Geno Smith to be better than half the quarterbacks in this league. If he isn't, he needs to be replaced.
1. Peyton Manning 2. Tom Brady 3. Aaron Rogers 4. Drew Brees 5. Phillip Rivers 6. Andrew Luck 7. Ben Roethlisberger 8. Tony Romo 9. Matt Ryan 10. Russel Wilson 11. Cam Newton 12. Colin Kaepernick 13. Joe Flacco 14. Alex Smith 15. Jay Cutler 16. Matthew Stafford 17. Carson Palmer 18. Eli Manning 19. Nick Foles Geno Smith EJ Manuel Chad Henne Ryan Fitzpatrick RG III Ryan Tannehill Jake Locker Matt Schaub Andy Dalton Teddy Bridgewater Johnny Manziel Josh McCown Sam Bradford Even if you don't agree with the exact order of the list who above 15 or even 18 or 19 do you honestly expect Geno to be better than? I will be satisfied if his improvements this offseason have him ending up ranked roughly 20th. Of course I hope for better, but I think it's just unrealistic to expect Geno to jump from worst in the league (which he really was, or at least roughly tied for) last year to better than those guys I listed.
Why am I supposed to pick from a list? What exactly do you expect him to be in his career? Trent Dilfer? Is he a future franchise quarterback or a scrub? If in his first two years he is in the bottom 16 of starting QBs, that is the makings of a scrub in this day and age.
