Bingo. Ryan's gameplan going into the game on defense didn't work and then during the game the Fins would "zig" when Ryan thought they were going to "zag". I guess you could say that Ryan thought his boys would "man-up" more, but the coach's job is to know his talent and put them in the best position to succeed. That didn't happen last night. Sanchez had his stinker last week in NO and Ryan threw-up a stinker this one. Too bad it was on national television against the Fins. Let's just hope we can put together a complete game next week.
Smith is okay, and is still a part of the offense. However, his value is on ST. Clowney can make an impact on the offense, but will never be a big ST guy. No doubt Smith and Wright both deserve some time in the slot, but I'd rather see Clowney get some more time on the field. His speed, coupled with Edwards' and Cotchery's all around abilities can be deadly. Now if we could just get Keller to man up...
But why isn't he being targeted? This guy was supposed to be a major weapon, maybe even THE major target for our rookie QB. He's been invisible for like three games. This is the biggest mystery of the season. Many of us suspected that TJ would have a drop-off, but Keller?? With a year under his belt, he should be killing it! Why isn't he getting touches??
The phins did a great job taking out our blitz packages by max protecting, hitting quick routes (they used motion a lot to get the WR away from Revis) and setting up screens to the running backs. I fear they showed the league the blueprint to beat our blitzheavy D, so lets hope Ryan comes up with something new to keep offenses off balance
I have no problem with The Clown getting PT. I've always liked the guy. With that said I like your idea of putting Cotch in the slot when Clowney is on the field, especially until Keller gets on the same page as Sanchez. Imagine if they put a nickle, safety, or LOL, a linebacker on Cotch?
One has to wonder if he (Keller) is somehow failing to earn the trust of Schott/Sanchez. Totally unexpected, if so. He should be running some shorter curl routes just to pick up easy completions and establish some confidence.
That's exactly what I'm saying. Who the hell can cover Cotchery when the corners are trying to race Clowney and Edwards down field? It would be sick! I just don't like the idea of Cotchery getting hit by a linebacker. I'd have to see the film and pay attention to him, but given how Sanchez was looking around last night and throwing to open guys, including dumps to the RBs, I have to assume Keller's not getting any separation.
I agree. I don't think they were intentionally NOT targeting Keller, but he's been getting draped by defenders cause they know the potential threat he is. So with heavy coverage, little or no separation, and Sanchez has to take the open target in his progressive reads.
I don't know if it's that he's heavily covered or that he's just unable to separate. And that's what bothers me. Yeah, I mentioned this too. It's ridiculous. This guy has shown more in his limited action than Jones has all year. Hell, I'm not even saying trade TJ. All I want is for him to get less carries. Give the ball to Leon on the majority of snaps, next Greene, then TJ. This is my single problem with Schottenheimer. He sticks with TJ far too often, and for far too long.
Alio... stop making sense. I wish folks would quit referring to the wildcat as a "gimmick" offense. It works well for teams that have less-than-stellar offensive talent. The Phins run it well, and in all honesty, our D should've taken it in stride. If they are going to be elite, you have to shut every opponent down, including the ones that run Pop Warner offenses. I appreciate Ryan manning up in the press conference. I hope it doesn't have to become a pattern.
Great, great post Alio! One of the best I have seen on here in a long time. Really this whole thread has been very refreshing in a sea of nonsense on here. Whoever brought up the point about the Sanchez to Keller connection seeming off is spot on as well. I'm not sure you can come to the conclusion that he is afraid of getting hit but you are 100% right about something not seeming right between the two. I'm not sure what it is but they need to figure it out because Keller is too much of a threat to not be a factor in any game, especially a game where Cotch is hurting and really should not have played, nor should he next week. I have never been a huge fan of Thomas Jones but I am just about done with him now. He really has nothing this year, I don't know if it is his contract or the fact he knows this is his last year or he just has lost a few steps but the guy is really holding this O back right now. He also dropped a pass where it looked like he had a lot of room to run if he just you know caught it. I think the heat was a factor on our D last night, I'm not using that as an excuse but it was a factor. We need to take that game as a wakeup call, the schedule gods did us a huge favor because we have two incredibly easy games coming up which should help us right the ship and get ready for the rematch at home. This division is going to be a fight the rest of the way, Miami was completely desperate last night and they needed that game in the worst way.
No games are a gimme. Our team blew it in Oakland last year, and should not have - even with an injured Jenks & Favre. I am not a darksider, but I am taking nothing for granted anymore. The Jills can wake up just as the fish did last night. And with games against Jags, Colts, Bengals, and NE coming up - we have a tough road ahead.
That's my take. I dislike the use of the Wildcat by a pro team. It's silly and bush league. Those are the kinds of plays I used to make up by drawing on my hand in the huddle while playing with my friends as a kid. But they're running it. Period. We need to be able to defend against it. No excuses. Thanks man. I'm thinking I'll be doing this weekly. I come here to talk about the Jets, but so many of these threads are just silly. Keller definitely has to get more involved. A tight end who can't block but is a great pass-catching threat who doesn't catch passes is a liability. I expect Cotch to definitely not play this Sunday, and yeah, I agree Keller has to step up in his absense. I expect Clowney to take the opportunity more though. As for Jones, I keep forgetting to mention it, but there was one play early in the game last night where Jones went through the middle, past the DLine, then someone reached out and touched his knee, and Jones just threw his body down. I was in complete shock. It was Bradyesque in its execution. There was no reason at all for him to have gone down, yet he looked like he had legitimately been tripped. Like I said, he doesn't play "tough." It's time for Leon and Shonn to show him the way. The heat was definitely a factor. You could see how winded the D was, even early on. Like you said though, it's no excuse. Miami played in the same weather. This definitely has to be a wakeup call. And this team better answer it.
Schotty/Rex have stated that the plan at this point is to get each guy some carries and if one of them gets hot, keep giving him the ball until he cools off or the opposition stops him. Greene had a hot streak two games ago then hurt his ankle and got pulled. If he hadn't gotten hurt he'd have had more carries that game.
I agree with most of what Alio said. Overall, the defense was disappointing. Poor tackling, unable to get off blocks, and no pressure on Henne. I saw two encouraging things: One, Sanchez showed he was able to make corrections to fix his mistakes from the previous week and that he's able mentally to get back up after a horrible performance. Two, despite our strongest unit playing absolutely abominably, Special Teams and the Offense were able to keep us in the game. Think about it, if our D made one stop in the fourth quarter, we'd have won the game. That's very encouraging.
Good post Alio. I hate it when the Jets lose to the Fins. That said, it was Monday Night Football and the Jets and the Fins always do the unexpected (like beat the over/under in the 4th quarter alone) on MNF. Captain Obvious says that a week after Mark Sanchez had his rookie game Rex Ryan followed up with HIS rookie game. The Fins were trying to do one thing all Monday - take away the blitz. They used the Wildcat and a short passing game with a few well-timed strikes down the field alongside the trap screens. The Jets fell into the trap by continuing to blitz heavily and by keeping their basic personnel package on defense in the game too often when they really needed to man up and get bigger. Bringing Eric Smith in for a linebacker against the Wildcat with no receivers on the field is a huge mismatch. I saw the Jets in that alignment at least twice on Monday night. My takeaways from the game are pretty simple: the Jets are a very talented team and they'll do very well moving forward. Ryan is a good coach and he'll figure out what went wrong in time for the next matchup with the Fins. Mark Sanchez has his big receiver in Braylon Edwards, that'll be fun to watch. Jerrico Cotchery will recover from the hamstring and work his way back into the scheme as he can open it up again. One negative: Thomas Jones really is past it, take away the opening game and he has 54 carries for 164 yards or basically 3.0 a pop. The Jets are going to need to find somebody to carry that load between Leon and Shonn Greene. Hopefully one of them is up to it.
Agreed on all counts. The only thing I'll elaborate on is the RB situation. Obviously we haven't seen a lot of Greene yet. From what I've seen though, this guy can hit a hole pretty hard, and when given some space can move well. I think he can be an excellent running back. Leon is fantastic. Every time he plays he convinces me a little more that he can be a feature back, and I didn't feel like that at all coming into this year. I've always believed him to be electric and a fantastic tandem back, but I think he might actually have the ability to be the guy getting the majority of touches. Between the two of these guys, it makes TJ irrelevant. Schotty needs to accept that and move forward.
