Watching this game I just have an overwhelming sense that it was a failure on all parts of the team, players and coaches, to capitalize on the opportunity that a sputtering Bear's offense presented. I have a few specific questions that I wish we could get concrete answers to, because it would help me sleep better tonight. 1. Why exactly did the Jets give Barlow the ball in the first quarter? He did great on a sloppy field that cut down defender's maneuverability last week in New England. This was not a sloppy field. The Bear's defenders are among the quickest in the league. It just made no sense to give him the ball instead of quick Leon Washington in the first quarter. 2. How did the Jets avoid creating at least one turnover? This Chicago offense is among the most turnover prone in the league. It's certainly the most turnover prone offense on a good team. How exactly did the Jets manage to avoid getting the ball at least once (and don't bring up the lousy review that's a separate question?) 3. What the heck do the officials have against the Jets this year? One bad call, two bad calls, three bad calls... The number of bad result-changing calls against the Jets this year is now starting to become a real issue in the standings. I'm sure Mike Pereira will be very forthcoming on this in his weekly screwups interview (sarcasm mode on.) 4. When do the Jets start to hold Chad accountable for his bad performances against pressure defenses? This is something that has been an issue for Chad's entire career. Bring pressure and he invariably folds. I love the guy when he has time back there but we keep losing to good teams because he stinks when he doesn't have the time. 5. What the heck was that stupid little checkoff throw to the middle of the field to Jerrico Cotchery with 1:31 and the clock running and the Jets down by 2 scores and no timeouts? I mean Cotchery dropped the pass thereby limiting the damage, but what the heck was Chad thinking? That was just a LOSER pass all the way around. 6. Why did Mangini authorize an onsides kick at the start of the second half? There was NO good argument for giving the Bears potentially great field position in a 0-0 game when they had proven already that they could not move the ball on the Jet's D. Stupid move. 7. Where is Chad's accuracy? He has looked like a sidearm slinger for most of the last 5 games. He routinely overthrows wide open receivers and seems to have largely lost his touch. I recognize that we're lucky to be 5-5 this year. I have enjoyed watching the Jets play. I think the future is bright. I'm just pissed as hell that the Jets aren't taking better advantage of the numerous opportunuities laid in their path. And yes, I think we'll lose a couple of games down the stretch and finish 9-7.
Excellent points all around. About them not taking advantage, that's a sign of a team learning and growing. As they gorw, they'll take better advantage. At least, I would think they will.
I can take a shot at a few. 1) I think its a good idea to use the bigger back instead of the faster one against a fast defense. when the jets did have nice runs, it was right up the middle. You cant run outside against the bears. Leon is better suited for outside running. 3) I think we're making waayyyyy to big a deal about the officiating today. That reversal of the fumble was CLEARLY the right call. 4) They should hold him accountable right now. No doubt. A lot of fans do. except for the chad lovers who still think the calendar reads 2002. As far as the Jets are concerned, what can they do? Start clemens in week 11 when we can make a playoff push? 6) Mind boggling. 7) I think his arm is clearly hurt and or fatigued. Hes been a completely different QB since cleveland. Chad is not the future. I hope this helps you sleep better bro, because it aint gonna help me
4. When do the Jets start to hold Chad accountable for his bad performances against pressure defenses? This is something that has been an issue for Chad's entire career. Bring pressure and he invariably folds. I love the guy when he has time back there but we keep losing to good teams because he stinks when he doesn't have the time. he had time, but his arm is not nfl quality. a 21.1 rating in cleveland and a 42.8 rating today mean two losses can be placed directly at his feet.
Jacksonville, Cleveland and today. That's 3 out of 10 games where Chad has looked terrible. I think being terrible in 30% of your games really puts your team in a hole.
True, he doesn't thrive against pressure, but then again what QBs do? (Tom Brady and Philip Rivers are probably the best two in the league in this department.) Carson Palmer is horrid against the blitz. I'll give him a pass this year because I'm sure the injury is on his mind. But, right now Palmer is a soft quarterback. We've seen Peyton Manning struggle mightily in playoff games when he didn't have time in the pocket. The line just has to block better for Pennington.
Yes, that is correct. He wasn't under immense pressure today, but fear of the speed of the Bears linemen was probably in his head.
I'm just back from the game and I think most of the above points have merit. I was disappointed with us turning the ball over in the end zone (happened right in front of me). We should have come away from that drive with at least 3 points or a TD. We'd been running the ball effectively against them and there was no need for Penny to force the ball into the end zone with a pass. We came up with zip and it gave the Bears some momentum. But the deflationary play was definitely the failed on-sides kick to start the second half. We had been toe-to-toe with the Bears all 1st half. There was no need for a desperation play. In effect, you are telling the Bears, "The only way we'll probably win this game is by trickery, so here goes." It failed, and gave them the confidence they needed to methodically stay in the game and win it. But what pisses me off is the unnecessity of the play, which everyone has to admit is either a make or break situation. You either wind up with the ball at the 50 or they do (and they did). That led to their first score (albeit our DEF held them to 3 points), but it gave them huge confidence and momentum. Looking at the big picture, I said this at the beginning of the year and we need to review it again... this is still a team in rebuild. Nothing miraculous was going to happen between August and now that somehow transformed this team into playoff material. There are still many holes to be filled and positions to be tweaked and we'll do that, but it'll take another 9 months (at least) to get this team in that position. If you're willing to acknowledge that fact, and most of us were as recently as January of this year, then today's game and today's record of 5-5 isn't all that bad. In fact, what's encouraging is the fact that we DID play toe-to-toe with Chicago and we actually did have a very good chance of pulling out a win, all things considered. I know this is New York and we all know instant gratification is the name of the game here, but looking at this game within the confines of our decline of last year and our needs to recover from all that, we're not doing badly and this game was not all that terrible a loss. Seriously, did anyone come into this season thinking we'd do better than split these past two games? The Chicago Bears and New England (away)? We played a pretty decent game today. Our DEF has done wonders in plugging up the run (and I am not kidding). It's like night and day from what we were watching a while back. And we hounded their receivers fairly well, I thought. And our Offense showed promise here and there, although I would liked to have seen a deeper ball at some point in time! There were glimpses of that, but way too far and in between. In general, and from sitting where I sat at the game, I genuinely thought we had a good shot at the Bears today. I believe we unnerved them in the 1st quarter... there was an overall feeling that we were able to play head-to-head with them without intimidation and that it was anybody's game. That feeling pervaded until they scored after recovering the ridiculously unnecessary onsides kick. From that point on, in the stands and from where I sat, you could actually hear the air leaving the balloon as it deflated.
two things, 1. Chad sucked, no doubt about it. 2. WTF GIVE NUGE A CHANCE TO GET US IN THE GAME. going for it, then the false start screwed up our chances to get on the board
great posts here. and 227. i agree with you 100%. i'm optomistic on the franchise's future for the first time in a long while. but today was frustrating! ha
This, might be the dumbest sentence ever recorded on Tgg.....what kind of gay, retarded excuse is this.....all that line says, with no question, is that Chad should never start again
he missed open receivers all day, and he was not under a fierce rush. no explanation. happy feet? i do not hate chad but they will never actually go anywhere with him. we are back to flares and short sidelines again. a recipe for failure.
Exactly. That's what pisses me off about the Chad apologists. You can say "well, the Bears have a pretty good D." So what?? He had protection and the receivers got open. What more do you need?
Yes, he is the goat of the game again. That's been the case against good teams and bad teams this year.
Chad gets the job done. He's adequate. He's an above-average QB who will suffice in the time it takes to get us to the next level. Everybody needs to take a breather and realize where we are with this guy and what he's contributing to the team here in the year 2006. All you have to do is take a look at our draft this year to know where we're going. We're rebuilding from the lines out. That means passing up on the likes of a Matt Leinart or the several tantalizing RBs who could have made an immediate impact on most teams, IF we happened to be one of those teams with an O-line, which we did not have. So, the point in us drafting someone like any of them is moot. Are we clear on this yet? The New York Jets taking them was pointless. We rebuild. By the time we get the body of talent on-board and ready to go (perhaps as early as August of 2007, although I seriously doubt we can complete the necessary rebuild by this kind of early time-frame), Chad will either be heading over the hill, be reinjured or become second fiddle to either Kellen Clemens or somebody better who we can acquire in the interim. My point is, Chad Pennington fills the void for now and keeps the level of play where it needs to be in order to bring along any new blood. Our linemen continue to mature and develop, our running game can improve (especially with the addition of the right "franchise" guy, our TE's can always improve and our WR's will definitely need tweaking, especially because Coles and Dwight will NOT be around and healthy forever. If Clemens is our man we'll need to find that out soon, so that we don't invest too much time in him. Otherwise we'll need to shop again for the "franchise guy." And all of this will take "several seasons," depending on your definition of "several." To New York fans, several seasons means we need to go to the Superbowl this January or all is lost. To the rest of the sane world, it can mean perhaps August of 2008. In order for us to be the bad guy in the AFC East... and all of the AFC... and I am talking about the Indianapolis of the AFC... we need to DOMINATE teams we play. We fear no schedule. We fear going against no team, home or away. To get where we're going means we'll need good, strong, flawless lines on both sides of the ball who continually push people around, a talented defensive secondary that keeps QBs' awake at night AND an Offensive running game complete with a DEEP threat passing attack. We certainly don't currently have that in Penny (the deep attack), so Chad Pennington will do until we can set that up, or something close to that. So, for those of you ragging on about Pennington, think of us as basically going nowhere htis season and of Chad Pennington as the interim measure we need to get us to the next level. You'll all then be able to calm down and enjoy the rest of the games this season.
He WAS all these things, and for a few brief moments in 2002 he was more. This is 2006 and after watching him play especially the last 3 weeks not only would I say that he DOESN'T get the job done and is NOT adequate, but calling him an above-average QB at this point is absurd.
What I wonder is why the officials starting running the clock after the Bears first play after the Jets punt with 5:57 left in the 4th quarter. Thomas Jones ran a stretch outside, and skipped out of bounce, then the officials starting the clock after the ball was reset. It made no sense. I also would like to know why they didn't go with much playaction or vertical passing. The playaction pass is Chad's forte, because it gives him a seven step drop with plenty of time. I've noticed that Chad is no very good in a 4-5 step drop, especially because he doesn't like to slide in the pocket. That's what a 5 step drop is for. Bring back the playaction pass.
