PatsFan (Northboro, MA): Given the relative turmoil at Pats Camp (Seymour out, Harrison Out, Moss, Dave Thomas limited at camp), it seems the Jets have a great shot at home. How does week 1 play out NE/NYJ? SportsNation Matt Williamson: (1:09 PM ET ) I hear ya and agree that the juggernaut Pats are a little vulnerable right now. Mangini will coach his butt off and have some wrinkles for his old club, but I just don't think the Jets are a very good football team. They have some gaping holes and are in for a rude awaking this year against a much tougher schedule. Give me the Pats.
I fail to see how agreeing that we have holes which will make this season difficult equates to giving up. believing everything is dandy in Jet land doesn't make anyone a better fan. and refusing to form an opinion so it isn't a negative one doesn't make anyone a better fan either, it makes them cowardly.
I can't be mad at Matt W's opinion. On the surface, we have some real issues on the line and our front 7 on Defense, while the Patriots were super close to winning the AFC championship which is practically the superbowl the way the NFL is now. Not saying we can't win though. Lets just say I don't feel we got a really good feel for our team in the pre-season, so we will just have to see how we work on Sunday. I'll keep my finger's crossed, but I wouldn't bet on us right now either....and I'm a fan, but I just won't resort to blind optimism.
Matt Williamson has been down on the Jets all summer. He outright predicted an injurym to Chad twice. Look at the guy's biography. He was a talent coordinator for the University of Akron and a scout for the Browns for a couple of seasons. The Browns suck and he was a part of building a sucky team. In other words, he's just a guy who couldn't make a living in the NFL and ESPN.com has given him a computer to hold chats. To me, his opinion holds no more credibility than the people posting on this board.
At the same time, an argument can be made when we were undefeated in the pre-season and then looked like absolute shit for the remainder of the year. When I, for some reason, cared about the pre-season, aside from Fantasy Football sleepers and injuries, I had high hopes for what became a dismal season. That's not to say, however, that we need work from what we've seen thus far. I can't take credit for the point, but I agree with what Boomer Esiason was saying this morning on 660; the JETS run defense is what will be the determining factor in how well we perform overall. It holds water. We can't give up an average of 130 yards per game and expect to outscore Cincy or Pitt or any of the other solid RB's we'll be facing. We're going to need those big 3rd down stops we usually never get. DISCLAIMER: Last year was the first time in a while that we stopped teams trying to convert on 3rd down.
Yeah, it is sort of weird that we were praised for perhaps the best offseason acquisition in Thomas Jones, went against the grain to draft 1st year impact players who have shown well so far, and we are getting more comfortable (hopefully) in the 2nd year of a complicated coaching staff and now we just flat out suck in the minds of many experts. One would think that Kendall is Jesus in cleats. I think this is the worst offseason I have ever experienced in terms of peoples opinions of the Jets.
We have ONE hole, at RT. Other than that we have top 5 talent at WR and DB, a ton of bodies in the D front 7 (should not have cut Wadsworth), and Jones and Leon running the ball. Revis will have a shot at DROY is he starts. NE is being handed to us on a silver platter. 2 of their 3 best players on defense are not playing. Miami is a total mess, and Buffalo is a .500 team at best. Win on Sunday and the sky is the limit. Even a loss doesn't sink the ship.
I'm losing patience trying to explain how you can put almost anybody at guard if your center and tackles are above average. Bender will be a fine LG regardless, as he has lil' Brick and Mangold flanking him. The right side will be a mess all year as it stands.
THE PRESEASON MEANS.....................NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE ARE GOING TO WIN, I GUARENTEE IT!!!!
Agreed JetBlue, but I think its important to note that everyone's making knee jerk dire prediction based upon percieved holes on paper. If you remember back to last year at this time, the on paper holes looked a lot bigger, and everyone was predicting 4-12, until we delivered 10-6. Who can accurately predict we won't be just as competitive as we were last year, if not more?
