In full agreement. Having said that, I think Ryan will start thinking the Jets can run on NE the way they did against Indy. He's a stubborn SOB, and he will attempt to dictate with the running game, which will NOT work. It's time for Sanchez to step up and play like an NFL QB that can win a game without a dominant rush attack. NE will shut down the run. They are vulnerable to the pass... so attack the weakness, not the strength.
Imagine if the Jets just opened up with a downfield passing game, and this last week was a complete misdirection. With Schilens, Hill, Kerley, and Keller, the Jets should have weapons who can make plays down the field. Hill and Schilens are big and fast enough to get open deep if Sanchez has time. I still think the Patriots are the Patriots under Brady/Belly. This will be a difficult game, but if the Jets can make enough big plays, score TOUCHDOWNS instead of field goals, and not turn the ball over, the Jets can win. Like I said earlier, that recipe works for most games, but especially here.
So give us your "startlingly accurate" score prediction then! If you're even close I'll be here next Monday to congratulate you, win or lose. I'm also kind of wondering about that. But, given Rex's defensive pedigree, he should realize that running the ball would only play to NE's strengths. One of the things I've heard Brady say is that Belichick's knowledge of defense makes him a better player on offense because he gets all kind of insight from his coach during film study. I gotta believe Rex does the same for the Jets. I guess it all depends on the flow of the game. If it's close, anything goes. If not, obviously one team will get more predictable.
If any secondary can make Sanchez look like a bonified NFL QB, it's the Patriots secondary. If he really looks like crap against them, start rebuilding at the QB position asap.
Yup, LOL... the Patriots' secondary is like the litmus test of minimum skill required to be an NFL quarterback! Hell, I would throw it deep on them all day long. Odds are good you're going to connect on a few and/or draw some PI calls. Because that's what the Patriots' DBs do... you either miss your assignment or run with your guy, establish great body position, but fail to play the ball. Yay.
I'm not super confident on our running abilities, especially if McNight and Powell are hurt or out. I think Bellichek goes the other way, and tries to stop the short routes in the passing game by clogging up the middle of the field. I'm thinking that if they throw over the top more often, the LBs will now start blitzing instead of just hanging back, opening up more passing lanes in the intermediate routes. Bill knows that our RBs aren't exactly studs, so he'd want us to take shots at running the ball, while trying to cut off the passing game to start the game. To me, this game is going to be won/lost by Sanchez and the defense. Seattle is an excellent defense, and the Pats should've scored 40 if they could execute in the redzone better. So I think we're going to give up a good amount of points, so it's all about matching it.
The only chance Sanchez WOULD have if a few of those PI were called. He's awful, he looked ok yesterday cause the Jets running game exposed an even weaker defenseive line.
Jets have no running game, they just beat up on a bad D line. I see them giving up a lot of points, but they may be able to keep it close if they are 3's not 6's.
Baaahahahaha! Going into this game their run D was ranked 17th, not somewhere in the late 20s. Our run D is ranked BAD lol.
The Patriots rushing D was ranked 6th in yards per game, 4th in rushing TDs. http://www.nfl.com/stats/categoryst..._YARDS_PER_GAME_AVG&d-447263-o=1&d-447263-n=1 I would love for the Jets to try and pound the ball.
I think the guy you quoted was talking about the Indy rushing defense because the guy he quotoed said the Jets run game beat up on a bad rushing defense. The Jets are going to get frustrated if they try to run on the Pats. If they find a way to do it, they will win the game. This game is going to come down to the 2-3 throws a game Sanchez has been missing. The throw behind a WR where leading them would be a big gain. That deep throw down the sideline. And the deep throw over the middle. The Pats defense is going to give the Jets a fair amount of chances to burn them, they need to do it. Also, me personally, I would find whoever McCourty is covering and throw at that receiver. McCourty seems to be having bad luck with the refs and hesistant when defending. I also don't like McCourty for some unknown reason
No disagreement there. He gets picked on a lot and has actually done better than last year but because he does get targeted so often, he does get taken advantage of. They all have problems with PI calls because they seem to know how to play the ball well. The real weakness right are the safeties. That's the matchup to exploit in my opinions. They were beaten down the middle a lot by Buffalo, Denver and Seatlle. (The final Sidney Rice score was an depressing example) Chung is a very good tackler but he's small not the fastest. Better in the box then in coverage. The others are inexperienced and nothing special.
Is it also the year you started watching football? Or just the year you conveniently hopped on the Pats bandwagon?
Unfortunately for us, I think the key to beating NE is through the air game. Which is disastrous for us as our motto is Ground and pound, and we're not even good at that. Mark is going to have to step up, or Greene is REALLY going to need to step up to elite level for us to beat the Pats in my opinion. Their obvious weakness is in their secondary, it's been that way for last year and now this year. Last year we weren't able to take advantage of that and I don't see us doing that next week. I'd be willing to bet a lot we don't come out of Foxborough with a W. Will I be supporting and rooting for them? Of course but I just don't see us winning this. I think we had a better chance at beating the texans than we do the Pats at this point. Here's to hoping Mark and the air game steps up.