Herminators no match for Jets October 25, 2008 It was good to hear an upbeat, candid voice on the media conference call the other day. It belonged to Chiefs coach Herm Edwards, who is whistling in a graveyard these days. Herm is coaching quite possibly the worst team in the league - definitely the youngest - but he hasn?t allowed it to bring him down. Knowing that several writers who covered him in New York were on the call, he made a crack about sitting around the campfire and making s?mores. Yep, old Herm hasn?t changed. Herm would give his eye teeth to beat the Jets tomorrow at the Meadowlands. Imagine that: He?s got a third-string quarterback, Tyler Thigpen, and the 32nd-ranked run defense - a defense, by the way, that has registered only three sacks. To return to his old haunt as a two-touchdown underdog to a 3-3 team and actually win ? wow, it certainly would be one of the lowest points in recent Jets history. But I don?t see that happening. The Jets, coming off a big running day against the Raiders, should be able to pound the ball with Thomas Jones and Leon Washington. No doubt, the Chiefs will commit eight man to the box, which should create opportunities in the passing game. Earth to Schottenheimer: Remember the play-action pass! Defensively, the Jets will have to be aware of two talented skill-position players, TE Tony (Get Me Out of KC) Gonzalez and WR Dwayne Bowe. Bad boy RB Larry Johnson will be deactivated again. The Jets? strategy is simple: Bring pressure on Thigpen, lots of pressure. They need to play with the tenacity of Dan (The Pit Bull) Leberfeld. The only way the Jets can lose this game is if they get stupid with the ball. Given their recent track record, that?s entirely possible. Their turnover margin is -3, which, if you can believe it, is worse than the Chiefs (+1). The Herminators have a knack for forcing turnovers. Problem is, they don?t know what to do once they get the ball back. They?ve scored only 10 points on their 10 takeaways. WR Laveranues Coles (concussion) is expected to play. How, I?m not sure. Presumably, this was a minor concussion, although Eric Mangini refused to give a characterization. Can there be a minor concussion if a player has a history of them? I know for a fact that, on Wednesday, Coles didn?t pass his neurological test and therefore wasn?t cleared for practice. On Friday, he passed the test. So much for erring on the side of caution. Time for a prediction: After playing not to lose in the first half, the Jets will wear down the Chiefs, make a few big plays on defense and pull away, 31-9. By Rich Cimini on October 25, 2008 1:33 PM | Comments (4) __________________
If LC didn't think he could play you think he would allow someone to tell him he had to play..He's a full grown man and an outspoken one with a mind of his own.
