It so totally fooled the Steelers in the earlier game that you KNEW they would be on guard for it. I thought the Jets on the rushed-2nd down play should have either had Sanchez run a bootleg option or FAKE the bootleg and then run up the middle (they ended up throwing to Keller). The Steelers were talking about that Sanchez bootleg all week after the Jets won the earlier game...you knew it was in their and LeBeau's minds....can't believe we didn't try it again or FAKE trying it again. Damn.
I agree I was wondering why he didn't hand the ball off and "act" like it was a bootleg. Who would have thought that the goal line stand by Pitt would benefit us with two extra points.
It didn't -- we still needed 2 scores. What it did was give us the ball back quickly but we wasted 7minutes before that without a score.
instead of scored a TD with 7 minutes left - which would have been fine - you hear people complaining the drive took too long but they would have kicked off with like 7:30 on the clock and 3 time outs...they were fine. The safety and ensuing drive brought the clock down to 3 minutes and made it a stop or done scenario. Hell with 7 minutes left they could have given up a FG and still had time to drive down for a tie.
Yep, people keep saying, ooh but they got a safety and the ball and scored after. Yeah and they took 10+ minutes to just get 9 points. Instead you get the TD with 7 minutes, you can stop them with plenty of time to tie the game up. HUGE difference.
Bottom Line: they needed a score on that long drive. Even if it took 2 minutes, they needed 7 points. They got nothing AND they wasted time. Shades of the Patriots drive last week.
Apparently Sanchez called his own play there. I thought Keller could have made a play on it but it was a complete clusterfuck as soon as those headsets stopped working. Sanchez is a leader, a warrior and a solid human being but he doesn't appear to be a guy who is ready to call his own plays against the best D in the league in that situation. I was waiting for a playaction down there which we are very good at but apparently our OC doesn't know they exist.
That is exactly what I thought after that crushing drive. Also it took us so much time to score a TD after the safety. NO HUDDLE OFFENSE.
The 2nd down play could have been a completion. I would have preferred a run and was yelling for them to run, but it wasn't too horrible of a call. The 3rd down play was untenable. Even if you're going to throw, the play that was called completely sucked. I was also annoyed at how they took their sweet ass time on the drive after the safety. With random runs, letting the clock drain while you're down 2 TDs. WTF
The 2nd down play call was fine. Tough play to make but one that was makeable. The 3rd down call was inexcusable. Even if it worked I would be sitting here saying we dodged a bullet.
The naked bootleg they ran against the Steelers in Week 15 was NOT going to work yesterday. I recorded the game and rewatched the Jets' 4th and short plays and EACH time the Steelers kept a guy outside to play contain. It was clear they were not going to let the Jets beat them with that play a second time.
the love affair with LT cost us at numerous points this season, including that goal line stand ... shonn greene should have been in there for three straight runs were supposed to be a ground and pound team but we cant score from second and goal from the one? absolutely inexcusable
On that 4th down play, when Mangold snapped the ball, I immediately said please don't bootleg this. Cuz they had the edge covered and it could have been a nice 5 yard loss. Steelers were ready for it. You'd think they learned a lesson last time around. They did.
Then fake the bootleg...or run it...but you gotta use the fact that it so burned them last time that it was on their minds, esp. down at the goal line.
I thought out of that 3rd down formation the defense was spread out enough to sneak a qb draw, or handoff up the middle.
