I've noticed quite a few posts recently predicting the 2006 jets anywhere from a playoff team to getting #1 pick. I really disagree with doom and gloom forecasters. First of all, I think they will really battle in the AFC East. Buffalo lost their coach and had a terible draft. Miami is hugely overrated--C'mon, late last year the jets almost beat the Dolphins IN MIAMI while playing Bollinger, Jolley and Houston. New England? Strong, but not the usual powerhouse of old. The jets are hugely improved, and I think their chances rest of how long they go with the old guys/underachievers. Their biggest problem the last few years was Herm's GUARENTEED playing time for the Mo Lewis's/Marvin Jones's/Curtis Martin's/ Chad Pennington's/Dewayne Robertson's because of their history and their contracts. My belief is that the new coaching staff will play the best players. Under Herm, Martin and Co. were GUARENTEED to play every snap, and then watch Terry Bradway rationalize each loss by talking about how much they've done in the past. I like the jets' chances to go 9-7 with a few breaks, again, if THEY PLAY THEIR BEST PLAYERS. If they fall into the Herman Edwards mode of playing the past greats or the big contracts/old vets for the whole year just because of who they are/where they were drafted, we're screwed (again). I don't think Martin has much if anything left, and I hope they don't wait the whole year watching him chase some personal record before they pull the plug.
10-6 and challenge the Pats for the division. The doom and gloomers be damned! Even as an underachieving team under Herm people thought we would do well. Injuries derailed us completely. Everyone is healthy, we've added more talent than we lost. We have a revamped OL to protect Penny/Ramsey/Clemmens and allow our RB's to get past the LOS.
I go back and forth on what the realistic possibilities for the Jets are next season. They've clearly added some quality depth on the offensive line and their secondary has a chance to be better than any quartet since 2001. By the time the season starts Chad may well be healthier than he's been at anytime since the preseason of 2003. Curtis Martin may or may not have another great season in him but he certainly has more motivation than he's had recently. The spectre of retirement has to be hanging in front of him after his lackluster 2005 that was cut short by injuries. So I see a lot of potentially very positive things going on for the Jets headed into 2006. Then again, the o-line is unlikely to be as good as the 2004 version that had Mawae still on top of his game and Fabini still productive. It's going to take a season for Mangold and Ferguson to approach those levels. The Jet's rushing attack is clearly not likely to be as strong as the Martin/Jordan combo in Martin's greatest season. And Chad for all of his positive attitude is not the QB he was headed into the 2004 season. So I see some rough sailing ahead for the Jets. If you catch me on a good day I can squint and see 9 or 10 wins with a little luck. The next day it's raining (like now) and I think the Jets might have trouble getting to 7 wins. Anybody out there got an Ark for sale? It's been raining here (southern Connecticut) for 48 hours straight and they're saying it's not stopping until Wednesday or Thursday. By then I may be predicting 2-14...
The main problem for the Jets is the first six games of the season. The Jets will need time to jell as units and in the early going they face Tennessee and Buffalo, who they could beat, and New England, Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Miami, who they probably will not beat. That scenario leaves the Jets at 2-4 after 6 games. To get to 10-6 the Jets would have to be 8-2 the rest of the way and that seems like a tall order for a rebuilding team. With the weak schedule all of the AFC East teams will be facing, I can see the Jets realistically finishing somewhere around 6-10 or 7-9 which would not be bad for a rookie head coach and offensive coordinator trying to mold a lot of guys who hardly recognize each other yet into a cohesive team. To me, the biggest problem will be scoring points which doesn't bode well against Miami, NE, Indy and Chicago in particular. With having to concentrate on rebuilding the line, the offense really lacks much in the way of playmakers at the skill positions and it'll probably take next year's draft to fix that.
i said it before as well, we will be .500 at best and in 3rd ahead of buffalo. The draft was a start but it will take at least 1-2 years for us to truly compete for not only the playoffs but dare i say it a superbowl.
Pancake schedule, good D, great o-line, great running game, good recieving, great special teams, and anywhere from average to great QB. 13-3 in 06, 11-5 at the worst, playoffs.
I agree Tomdeb - Jets will be better than expected. I say 8-8 the worst, not bad for a first year rebuilding program.... And I'm glad somebody out there agrees with me that Miami is definately overrated - the Jets almost and should of beat them last year in their yard with a 3rd string QB abd RB and NE thought so highly of the season finale that they started their 3rd string QB and allowed Doug Flutie to drop kick an extra point, Miami's 9-7 was an abberation...the Jets may finish second this year ahead of both Miami and Buffalo.....
id love more than anything to see the jets compete for the division this year. its easy to get caught up in the hype, and im an optimist, but realistically, we're probably looking at a sub .500 season
Actually, I would be happy with a 6-7 win season. If we get to 8-8 then great, but I'm trying to be more realistic. Maybe as I see training camp and preseason maybe I'll gain more confidence.
To go 8-8 this season would be like making the SB. Yes Mangini will only play the best players but it takes quite some time to determine who the best players are. Then once the CS has settled on their starters and tweaked their schemes it takes time for the units to gel. Look forward to us becoming a shadow of our potential around week 6-8. After that we should have a gauge of how talented our team is and what direction we need to go in for the future. As great as this draft was we still will have holes to fill. 6-10 sounds about right to me. 8-8 if alot of things break our way.
