Except for the few games Big Blocker just mentioned, we've not been blown out much since Rex has been here. Even Pittsburgh in the playoffs and the Eagles this week we managed to get back in the games, Sunday not for as long. Bad games happen, look at Sunday, a lot of good teams played bad games.
I would like to look on the bright side but this team has really been a disappointment this year. We could easily be 6-8 if not for a Romo special, and a Stevie Jackson dropped pass. I really don't care if we were only down 7 in the 4th to the Patriots. We lost by 21. Considering the Bills beat them and the Redskins almost beat them, being down by 7 in the 4th is no consolation. The team this year has only beaten bad teams. Dallas, Jacksonville, Miami, San Diego, Buffalo x 2, Kansas City, and Washington. We couldn't even beat teams like Oakland, Denver, and Philadelphia. I know we had an embarrassing loss to the Patriots last year, and close games against some bad teams, but we also beat the Patriots, Steelers, and only lost by 1 point to Baltimore. This team is clearly not the same team it was 1 and 2 years ago.
Here's my point--you can take all the teams you just mentioned, except probably Jacksonville, throw them in a pot and any of them can beat anybody else. You mentioned the close wins, the losses to Oakland and Denver were close too, that's what happens. Last year we barely beat Cleveland, Detroit and Houston all in a row, none of them good teams at the time.
Actually, the Giants have had good games against good teams. They are in trouble because of their struggles with bottom teams. Giants lost twice to Washington, lost to Seattle, and lost to Arizona (except Jerome Bogar blew a huge call to give the Giants a chance to come back, so it shows up as a win even though it wasn't). So they have four awful losses, but they also have: Win against New England narrow loss to Green Bay win @Dallas win @Philadelphia if they make the playoffs, they aren't necessarily one and done.
Our right tackle sucks, the safeties are not athletic enough to run the coverages they need to run for the defense to work, Cromartie is unreliable and gets penalized too much. Mark Sanchez is as good as he is going to be. Bart Scott has forgotten that tackling involves getting a player to the ground, not just running into him like a guy with no arms. All these things are true. The Jets have earned their 8-6 record but a better team (and the team they've all been telling us they were going to be this year) would have not blown the Denver game, would have beaten Oakland, should not have been blown out twice by the Patriots, and would have showed up to play against Philly and Baltimore. Remember "Play like a Jet"? To me that meant be a mean asshole for 60 minutes every week, do your job, know your role, and stick your neck out for the team. Where is that mentality? I sure as hell haven't seen it... Sanchez flies the WRs to Cali for off season workouts, we draft 2 big guys on the D-line, and all we hear from last year's AFC Championship to this year's week 1 is how much the team has improved and how the Jets are going to take over the AFC East....then they get on the field and we see a mediocre product that's as good as it was last year and at times is worse. So why criticize people for calling a spade a spade?...."the tape don't lie".
Funny how a thread about how silly it is to say this inconsistent team sucks immediately devolves into a debate about how much this inconsistent team sucks. This is a team with Darrelle Revis and Eric Smith in the secondary, Mangold and Hunter on the OL. Seems to me the Jets can do what they do well very well (CB coverage, run stopping, run blocking, defensive coaching), and can do what they do badly very badly (LB/safety coverage, getting to the QB quickly, pass-blocking). So there are no foregone conclusions: it all depends on which team can put their strengths on the opposing team's weaknesses more efficiently. Amazingly enough, good teams have managed to expose our weaknesses better than bad teams, but I haven't seen that many blowouts except for last night. A team with a mobile QB, a good TE, a fast HB and an excellent pass-rush like the Eagles matches up very badly for the Jets. Moreover, when highly-paid team captains who are supposed to part of the solution become part of the problem, we're not going to win, especially since being down early took away our best match-up (our RB vs their LBs). But that's not next Sunday's truth. Basically the Jets are not a team you want to bet on, or against.
Don't give up 14 or 21 easy points and we win most games. Simple as that. Look at our losses, gift TDs for the other teams. Cut that shit out and we can play with anyone, from scrimmage we're pretty good.
Hehe, that was after the Texas state HS football championship, the guy that rolls off the cart is the head coach of Spring Dekaney, the school that won. They beat Steele HS (Malcolm Brown's HS) from here in San Antonio, so I would gamble that's a case of sour grapes. Stay classy, SA.
Good post....but the Pats and Revens blew us out too. One of the frustrating things to me is that every team has weaknesses on both sides of the ball, but it seems like when the Jets have their weaknesses attacked, they do very little to accoutn for it compared to other teams.
So I should be happy that we have only beaten bad teams since those bad teams could beat anyone on any given day? The truth is, those teams are bad and a lot of other mediocre teams can beat them. We lost to Oakland by 10, and played awful against Denver. My point is, this hasn't been a down game here and there. We have had major problems all year. Even in some of the blowout wins, we looked awful. This is the 3rd year that our team has talked about being the Champs, and it seems like we are heading in the wrong direction this year. 2 years in a row we downgraded the roster, and it is finally catching up with us this year.
Sure, I understand. If I never again see Hunter patty-caking a DE as he rushes by, or a 260 pound TE running wide-open across the middle like Usain Bolt in a tuberculosis ward, it'll be too soon. The unpleasant truth is that we just don't have the personnel or the cap space to "solve" these problems this year - as if any team in a capped league can ever solve all its problems. But that's just one side of the ledger. If we really were less able to hide, overcome or compensate for our weaknesses than other teams we wouldn't be in the 6th spot, which I think is very much within what you could expect from this roster. And in a one-game-and-you're-out playoff system, the Jets can be a very dangerous team.
So do you want to rate teams according to strength of schedule? A win is a win against anyone by any amount of points. The best team of the day always wins.
What you're calling "bad" teams are most teams in the league, because anybody can beat anybody else. It comes down to a play here and there, as I mentioned, when we don't give away TDs we do pretty well. We beat San Diego when they were 4-1, Buffalo when they were 5-2 at their place with them all pumped up, Dallas on opening night. Those are good wins, how those teams fared after that is another story. Yes, we lost to the Pats and the Ravens, it happens, we've also beaten a bunch of division champions on the road in the playoffs with this same basic team.
That is true but when we have shown that we can only beat those type of teams it doesn't give much hope for the playoffs if we make it. We are not even close to what the Patriots, Steelers, and Ravens are, and will get our buts kicked if we face them in the playoffs. I know those teams have had some bad games as well, but they are few compared to what we have had all season. I hope I am wrong.
Remember 2004? we stumbled into the playofs and no one gave us a shot, we were a missed makeable FG from the title game. Let's just get in, then we'll worry about whether we can compete w/ top teams. No team in today's NFL is unbeatable. There isn't an 85 Bears or '89 Niners in the group of teams.
I think the questioning of the overall talent on this team is ridiculous. There aren't alot of teams in this league that boast names like Revis,Mangold,Holmes,Ferguson,Harris,Cromartie and Greene. Now they do have weaknesses much like every other team does. I believe the real problem is the Jets weaknesses are much more clearly defined and acute than some other teams. If you can attack the short edges/flats and deep middle with speed...you can easily take advantage of the jets lack of athleticism at LB and safety. Offensively, the team lacks a deep threat and consistency at right tackle. These are items easily exploited by above average teams with above average coaching. Are those major issues? Short term on game day yes. But long term heading into an off season with ample cap room and a full plethora of draft picks..that's not a very tall order. When you factor in something I've been preaching all year; the notion that turnover/replacements specifically with young players, there is going to be an adjustment period in which your consistency suffers. Players like Wilson,Wilkerson,Conner, & Westerman have showed signs of being good players. But they've all struggled with consistency and the overall team has struggled with adjusting to them from the incumbents they replaced. Their simply is no way around this. This is a transition year. The final 8 rules, the expiring veteran contracts & some difficult cap decisions have put us in this spot. Obviously, that's a tough sell to the fan base,especially after 2 straight runs deep into the playoffs...but it is what it is. Playoffs for this group is an accomplishment. But we've got the core of this team locked up long term, we have ample cap space, our needs are clear cut and doable, we have young players who will continue to get better and most importantly we have Rex. Step off the ledge..the future is bright.
This ^^. I've been saying it to my friends for weeks. Anything can happen and anyone can beat anyone. The Steelers and Packers both won the SB as wildcard teams. The Seahawks dominated the Saints last year in the first round. Let's just make the tournament and go from there.
This is pretty spot on. We are in a great position for the future. This upcoming draft is overflowing with WR talent, we should be able to snag a deep threat in the 2nd or even 3rd round to complement Burress and Santrollio Holmes. That leaves the first round open to grab a tackle or if the right guy is there, a pass-rusher. On defense we are actually pretty well off with the exception of our Linebackers. An FA acquisition and a pick or two and that should be addressed pretty quickly. Wilkerson, Pouha, Ellis, Devito, and Pitoatua(sp?) is a very solid DL rotation with youth. Pouha is probably one of the most underrated nose tackles in football. Corner we are set with Revis, Cro, Wilson, and Strickland. Safety we need a bit of help, but people act as if there are Troy Polamalus, Brian Dawkins, and Ed Reeds available everywhere. That is not the case. As mentioned in another thread its hard to tell if Smith is the source of the coverage issues or is just the scapegoat because he is the one making the tackle. I'm going to guess its a bit of both, but if we improve our linebackers our Safeties won't be as big of an issue. I count three big holes we have to fill this offseason. LB, RT, and WR. That is completely doable.
