That was a long long time ago.. Last year has nothing to do with this year.. There is no carry over whatsoever.. Let the games begin..:up:
Yeah, those Superbowls the Pats won don't carry over either. They were even longer ago. I can barely remember them. I don't even think they happened, come to think of it.
I couldn't agree more, those were a long time ago.. Apparently you do remember since you brought it up.. :beer: I don't remember mentioning anything about Superbowls..
Their are several things that need to take place on Sunday in order for us to beat the NE pats. -Turnover battle- If we can force Tom Brady into some bad throws and create turnovers and keep our turnovers to a minimum this will help tremendously. - Running game- The Jets haven't had a good running game since 2004. If the Jets expect to win games against good teams...they MUST get back to running the football to setup Chad Pennington for success. - Special Teams- Some might be surprised to see this, but the Jets can't allow Welker to get loose for big returns. Giving Tom Brady a short field is not something you want to do. Justin Miller will need to provide some good field position in this one and Ben Graham will need to help out as well. Mike Nugent can't have his normal week one performance either. I will be at the game on Sunday and hopefully the crowd plays a part in this game as they should. Jets fans need to be amped for this game because the petriots are beatable especially early on in the season.
Great thread. Here are some of my thoughts on this game. Ball control will be key, I think Mangini is planning for a lot of running and short passing (helpful with the team's questionable OL). The fact that the team is currently carrying 5 TEs would seem to indicate this is part of their plan. I think you'll see a lot of instances where the TE is going to stay in to block. That said, the Jets also have to challenge New England deep and to the middle of the field. I'm not saying the Pats have a bad pass defense, but with Harrison/Seymour out, Samuel missing all of TC and it being Merriweather's first career game, they are unlikely to be this vulnerable again vs the pass. Can the O-Line give Chad enough time to do deep? With the Jets' vulnerable line, I wouldn't be surprised if the Pats decided to blitz a lot. I'd like to see the Jets pair Washington and Jones together. The receiving skills of both could be very valuable, especially if there's a lot of pressure on Chad. On defense, the need to force pressure on Brady is a given. I also think you need to play press coverage against their WRs. Stallworth and Moss are big, but neither are known for physical players. You have to frustrate those two. With their size and speed, I think a conventional man coverage without any bump and run, might be asking too much for this secondary.
If I was Mangini I would keep the game tight, put it in the hands of the running backs and turn the defense loose against Brady. The O-line will struggle to protect Pennington, so keep the ball on the ground early. This also plays into Bender's strength, which is supposedly run blocking. When Chad passes they should be flare-outs or screens to the backs or dinks and dunks to keep the chains moving and keep the clock ticking. If the Jets have success running the ball and the Pats are forced to adjust, then Chad can try a few intermediate passes to get some chunks of yardage, but otherwise, I say keep it tight. And remember both Coles and Cotchery showed after-the-catch skills last season. The Jets special teams is a wild card here. I am really impressed by them and they could keep the field position battle in hand - and there's always the chance of a big runback for a TD. On defense the Jets have to hit Brady and ruffle his feathers and I'm looking for the secondary to pick off a pass or two. This would be a nailbiting game - I would imagine it staying close until one team found a way to win. The alternative many people are suggesting - having Chad throw deep early, would be a recipe for early sacks and shaken confidence. The O-line just isn't proven enough to put that sort of pressure on them. Don't go looking for the big plays, let them come through the athletic ability of Washington, Coles and Cotchery.
I think this is a bit chicken and egg, though. The jets beat the Pats not BY sacking Brady, but partly because they sacked Brady. It's not like you can just say, "Hey, let's try getting in Brady's face," as though you lost in January because you didn't "try" that. It has a lot more to do with execution.
With the jets' vulnerable line, I wouldn't be surprised if the Pats don't NEED to blitz a lot. Not to say they WON'T blitz, Belichick always likes to mix things up, but I think with our DL and LBs, the Pats can get to Pennington - ESPECIALLY given that shaky OL - without risking anything with elaborate blitz schemes.
One problem, your d-line is now "shaky" without Seymour. Also, I think the Pats secondary is going to be a weak with the prescense of Rodney HGHarrison. I know you guys still have Samuel, but who else? A midget starting at the other corner spot with Ellis Hobbs, Torry James best years are behind him, Eugen Wilson who has always relied on Harrison to make the secondary calls, and James Sanders...what the hell is James Sanders going to do? I'll take a "shaky" o-line over a shaky secondary and key player-less d-line.
Scary and true. Beli will probably wait until 3rd downs (which I expect to see a lot of) then force Penny to beat the Pats D through the air. The Jets will need a lot of YAC from guys like Washington and Jones to make the Pats back off. Thats the typical Jets offense though, so it could play well into there hands if the Pats decide to bring the house more often then they should.
I don't know, maybe he'll do what he did LAST year when we beat the jets - without Rodney OR Eugene Wilson (or nickel back Randall Gay) - by 21 points. Sanders had some ups and downs early last year (the Denver game was terribly ugly), but by the end he and Hobbs (a young CB) were playing great. Now he has all that experience behind him, Belichick was saying a week or so ago what a huge jump Sanders has made (he's clearly a favorite of the staff) and we also added Brandon Meriweather as a #1 pick and got back Wilson and Gay. I think the secondary will be okay - 'though I certainly concede that Rodney makes them significantly better. As for the DL being "shaky" without Seymour, I'm not sure jet fans realize how often we've played with Seymour out and Jarvis Green in over the last 5 years. A LOT. As in...during Super Bowl runs. Jarvis is no Seymour - few are - but he has been extremely capable. Also, in no world would anyone consider the Pats DL "shaky," when it also comprises Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren. I promise to be honest about things I AM concerned about, but Pats fans with even a modicum of information will tell you that DL depth isn't a worry. LB athleticism, while helped by the new presence of Adalius Thomas, is a concern. Consistent pass-blocking is a concern. Place-kicking is a concern. Our DL won't be - or, I should say, hasn't been a concern in the past when we didn't have Seymour in there.
LOL, sorry I was born on this bandwagon and this is, quite frankly, the LAST time I'd hop off (which I'd never do in the first place). This Patriots team on paper - which means nothing, I know - is more talented than any Pats squad I've seen in 30+ years of following them. We'll see if they can translate that into as successful a season as we've seen during the 2000s.
These are my "keys to victory" Offense: Ball control, ball control, ball control. The newly renovated Pats offense needs to be kept off the field if we want to win this game. My goal on offense would be to sustain long, time consuming drives and be aggressive on 4th and shorts. It will be important to score TD's instead of FG's. Basically I'm playing the Pats like I would play the Colts. They're going to score so let's keep that offense off the field as long as possible and tire out the defense in the process. We need to be able to run the ball effectively early in order to accomplish this. If Mangold cannot neutralize Wilfork alone, get a Barnes, Bender, or Moore to help. This will be the most important individual battle for us this game on the offensive side of the ball. Get Leon Washington the ball in space early and often. We can't run every down so getting the ball to our biggest playmaker with screens and dump passes will be important to keep the defense honest. Defense: Relentless, creative aggression will be required. I'm already conceding that these guys are going to be able to score fairly easily with the weapons they have. We cannot sit back in coverage and expect to stop the pass. We'll need to send extra people from different places on a consistent basis to prevent Brady from having time to pick us apart. I'm telling the d-backs to be overly aggressive in going for interceptions, not worrying about getting beat if they miss going for an INT. If they score quickly, I'm not overly concerned if we can accomplish the offensive game plan. If we get the INT's from being super aggressive, that gives us a great chance to pull off the upset. Be physical with Brady - if you have a chance to hit him legally, make him remember your number. Those hits add up. Special Teams Just be consistent and don't make mistakes. Deep Nugent kickoffs will certainly help this season. A special teams TD could be a huge difference for us.
Honestly, I don't think the Patriots are as good as everyone thinks they are. Yes, they have Brady. But I'm sorry, I'll take Coles, Cotch, and McCareins over Moss, Stallworth, and Welker. Baker vs Watson is a push, unless Watson finally puts it together this year. Maroney hasn't carried a full load. The defense without Seymour and Harrison is also weaker than usual. Absolutely no reason we can't compete with the Patriots in our home stadium.
Given the confidence from some of you on this board, would anybody like to wager a little something on this game? You know, since you're at home and your WR corps is superior to that of the Pats, and since the Pats D is weakened now. Any takers? P.S. We beat you by 21 points last year without: Rodney, Moss, Stallworth, Seau, Adalius Thomas, Randall Gay, Eugene Wilson, and with a banged up Maroney.
The Patriots have won eight of their last nine games against the Jets (including one playoff game) and have won 10 of the last 12 games between the teams, including series sweeps in three straight years from 2003-05.
