Week 1: Jets vs. Cowboys - Matchup When the Cowboys Pass The Cowboys have some great weapons on the offensive side. Miles Austin does not need any recognition. Dez Bryant seems like the real deal, but they lack a 3rd WR. Witten has had 90+ catches 3 out of the last 4 years. Felix Jones is also very good sneaking out of the backfield for a few catches a game. All of these four players have the ability to turn short passes in to long gains. The Jets Pass D isn't exactly peanuts either. They feature a top 3 corner back tandem in the league in Revis and Cromartie. Expect Cromartie to be targeted much more (duh). Jets linebackers will have their hands full with covering the speedy Jones and the tall tight end in Jason Witten. The key would be to limit any big plays while playing man coverage most of the time. With the return of Jim Leonhard, Jets can focus on using Eric Smith to cover the TE while Wilson tries to man-handle the unknown third WR. Expect a lot of blitzes by the Jets early on to rattle Romo, who only played a hand full of games last year. Besides the 32 year old RG in Kyle Kosier, Cowboys have 24 starts by the remaining four OL (23 starts by LT Doug Free). It features two rookies, and one 2nd year player. The Cowboys had a lot of trouble last year with the OL and it only gets worse this year. The extremely inexperienced Cowboys OL will get confused all day long and will let several plays end up behind the LoS. Romo can buy an extra second with his feet, so expect a lot of secondary blitzes. Cowboys would need to make some quick throws combined with some screens to throw Rex off his game plan and force him to make adjustments. Edge: Jets When the Cowboys Run Felix Jones has had a few injuries in the past and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up with less than 16 games this yr. However, he seems to be healthy for week one matchup against the Jets. He's shown he can carry the ball much more than he has in the past. In his last 8 games in 2010, he carried the ball for 112 times for 498 yards, while starting 7 games. He can also catch out of the backfield. On the other side of the ball, Jets run D has been outstanding. The only major departure was an aging Shaun Ellis. The top 3 run D from last year will feature a first round rookie RE in Mo' Wilkerson, who seems to have had a good preseason. This is an ideal situation for him to get some real NFL experience against an inexperienced OL. Its hard to imagine the Cowboys' OL generating any decent amount of push in the run game against this stout Run D. In order to get some offense going, Cowboys will have no choice but to try to run the ball early on. This can be a little tricky, but unless Felix breaks out a big gain, expect Cowboys to be held under 70 yards on the ground. Edge: Jets When The Jets Pass Can Mark Sanchez continue his visible improvement shown in the post season? He has a lot of weapons to pick from. Santonio and Mark got a good connection going towards the end of last year. Burress will be rusty but this is an ideal way to start off the season (see reasoning below). His height advantage will help him bring in a few red zone TDs this year. Mason brings sure hands to the offense that lead the league in drops last year. Dustin Keller can be deceiving with his stats. He has the ability to be a 1000+ yards catcher if used properly. LT can also catch a few from the back field and has Sanchez' trust. Cowboys secondary was average at best, but now with the injuries to their two starting corners, it seems to be miserable. Alan Ball, Orlando Scandrick, Gerald Sensabaugh and Abram Elam will be the starting secondary and it doesn't pose any threat to any team in the league. Their nickel corner is an undrafted 2nd yr corner Bryan McCann. The DL is average at best. DeMarcus Ware is only player that can create a few plays on that D. Expect the Jets to come out the tunnel throwing passes after passes until the Cowboys do something about it. Rusty Burress will get plenty of opportunities to get in sync with Sanchez. Santonio can potentially have a huge game himself. Cowboys secondary just isn't good enough to stop the Jets from having a field day. Edge: Jets When The Jets Run Rex Ryan has expressed his interest in throwing the ball more often this year. However, that doesn't change the fact the Jets were 4th in rushing yards last year. Shonn Greene will be getting the bulk of the load while LT would get some goal line carries. Jets OL has depth issues, but they seem to be content with their starters. Cowboys DL features Spears, Ratliff and Coleman. Not the most talented DL, but they did manage to end up 12th in rush D last year, even after falling behind early on in several games. They can clog up the running lanes and let their LBs make the plays for them, but besides Ware, they don't have many reliable options. Keith Brookings has been on a decline the last few years and at age 35, don't expect him to chase down Shonn Greene. This can be a good matchup, but it remains to be seen if the Jets will run enough plays on the ground. Ideally, you want your running game to setup the pass game. On September 11th, it could be the other way around with the Jets exploiting the Cowboys weak secondary, forcing coverage shift to the WRs. Jets may not run as much, but they should be able to pick up 3-5 yards on a consistent basis. Edge: Jets Special Teams Dez Bryant was the PR last year for Cowboys. He can be lethal returning punts as he took two punts to the house last year on just 15 attempts. Bryan McCann is also a good kick returner. Jets do not have Brad Smith this year. Jeremy Kerley seems to be the KR and the PR, although they have Cromartie who can be great returning kicks. Mat McBriar is an excellent punter, far superior than TJ Conley. He will give the Jets a challenge to drive longer for scores. Both teams have their fair share of kicker worries, but Nick Folk gets the nod over Buehler. Edge: Cowboys Coaching Staff Jason Garrett did well as an interim head coach last year taking over a disappointing locker room and getting a few victories while getting the respect of his players. Cowboys expect Rob Ryan to bring in the same intensity his brother brought to the Jets. Rex Ryan is a defensive master mind and can construct game plans that can throw the likes of Manning and Brady off their rhythm. Facing a young OL, Rex would not even have to show his entire hand for future opponents. Edge: Jets Prediction: There really is no matchup here. The Jets own the Cowboys in every major category. Whats left to be seen is if the Jets can cover the 5 point spread. Sanchez will have a huge game while Romo gets sacked five times and throws two picks. Jets win 27-10
I'd call the coaching matchup even because I'd consider Rex and Garrett to be of equal quality as in-game coaches. Their preparation will be reflected in the other aspects of the game that you analyzed.
You're going to say the guy who has taken a team to the AFC Championship game is equal to a guy who has never coached a full season as a head coach?
JennyVrentas Jenny Vrentas Pettine said Jets haven't decided yet if 5 or 6 DL active. K. Ellis would be sixth, used prob in just goal-line + short yardage. #nyj Surprised he may not be active. He's not on the injury report.
From what I've seen of both, as in-game coaches only, I think they're equal. Garrett has the smaller sample size, but I think that's a fair statement. As far as preparation, Ryan has proven to be the better coach.
Eric Smith is a hard hitter but I think our biggest worry in this matchup is trying to cover Witten. We had a lot of trouble with TEs in the last couple years and Witten is one of the best.
Maybe true. But then u have to give an edge to someone and I'd give to Rex just because he has much more experience as a DC and a HC than Garrett.
This is actually my only concern, covering RB and TE. Witten can be deadly and the only way to stop this would be to force Romo to throw in a hurry, thus forcing some mistakes.
IRVING, Texas -- Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins has returned to practice and right tackle Tyron Smith was partially suited up the day after each left practice with knee injuries.
i cant give the jets an advantage for "when the cowboys pass". banged up o-line or not that team is prolific through the air with romo under center. Plus they have the abilty to exploit our 2 biggest weaknesses defensively: - allowing the qb to extend plays - finding the TE down field if romo extends plays, they are going to move the ball in the air, often.
i'm sorry but, wait, actually no i'm happy, the jets are going to disrupt the cowboys from all angles, count on some turnovers, and some amped up jets kicking ass.
Remember that Houston game last year? They had the 32nd ranked Pass D and we came out running? I hope that doesn't happen again.
the jets routinely suck for the majority of the first half of games, adjust, and play very well in the second half i dont agree with this sentiment
What I'm worried about in this game is Jason Witten and whoever Cromartie is matched up against. If our blitzes don't get to Romo the Cowboys can take advantage in a big way. This is a game we should win against a banged up Cowboys team but I'm not taking them lightly at all. They have too many game breakers on both sides of the ball. Sanchez better have a big game against that secondary. No excuses...unless Greene runs for 150 and their is no reason to throw
Hopefully our line and backers will provide some kind of push. Their OL is riddled with injury or inexperience.
I do understand that this is a big criticism of BS, but you have to at least entertain the possibility that he has done this a lot in the past for extenuating reasons. The Jets franchise main priority has been to let the run clear the way for the pass, taking the pressure off Sanchez and giving him the best opportunity to develop while simultaneously carrying the burden on the strongest links in the team. This approach has had a ton of merit and we've consistently seen them open it up well in the playoffs when everything has been on the line. Sometimes there are bigger factors at play than looking at the playcalling of a regular season game in a vacuum. The question will be whether BS can perform to expectations as Sanchez matures and is ready to bear a bigger burden to truly maximize our winning chances each game. There is a lot of pressure on the shoulders of the qb and oc. I like Sanchez's chances over the next few years to step up and fill his role, and I don't discount BS's ability to do the same.
With Schotty calling the plays? Remember the Oakland game a few years ago? They absolutely sucked at rushing defense, but they had Nnamdi (and capable secondaries - as a matter of fact, top 3 in pass defense) So what does Schotty do? Go all out in the air. Thomas Jones ran for 159 yards that day and lost. Oh. Maybe that's Mangini doing all that, and Schotty is not to blame for that one. But then last year, it was Rex doing all that, right?
