Is this different from what you expected? Maybe the Patriots are one of the top 3 teams in Football? I would think so. Their D-Line is amazing, even without Seymour. They have the best front 7 in the NFL. Yes, the Jets' O-line didn't look good - are you surprised? I agree the situation with Kendall was handled wrong and it will hurt early, but the end result will be improvement. I do expect the O-line to improve game by game, even if you don't see it next week against a tough defense. Pennington is not the answer at QB - but we knew this. Yes, he was heroic as usual, but the lack of a deep threat always hurts the Jets. The Patriots could line up and defend close up and handle the Jets - that's nothing new in the Pennington era. Until the Jets switch to Clemens, they will not have the weapons to beat really good teams. Pennington is great, he just can't make the throws you need to be a good team week in and week out. The D-line is an issue - but again - they played the best QB in the NFL with all kinds of weapons. This is a pretty new group - with some holdovers - and to jell so soon against a Super Bowl team - well, what did you really expect. Despite the fact that the "Sky is Falling" today - I still expect the Jets - even if they are 0-2, to finish with 9-10 wins and maybe a wildcard. This is not the year - next year is. We will still have growing pains, but the plan is there, even if the full compliment of players is not in place yet. Jet Fans - Don't Panic - we lost to IMO the best team in the NFL yesterday. No, we didn't play well, and that is a concern, but the sky is not falling. Let's see what Man-genius can do with the week headed to Baltimore and another strong team - and if the team can show improvement - before we toss in the towel on this Jets' season.
What's the point of finishing with 9 or 10 wins and getting your rear end handed to you in the playoffs by a legit contender like the Patriots. The JETS have a long way to go before they're anywhere near raising a SUPER BOWL trophy.
GG, it's pretty much exactly what I expected. The Jets upgraded only one position this offseason, where the Patriots shored up their weaknesses with serious talent. And this is going to sound real strange coming from me to you, but I think you're too optimistic about the season. I see this team as a 7 win team. I'm working up a post to discuss the weaknesses on this team that I believe will be haunting us all season, so all my rationale for that opinion will be there. Fact is the team overachieved for it's talent level last year because of excellent preperation and coaching. I'm not sure that will be enough this year.
Tony, you are not far off - they can win 8-10 IMO with coaching and toughness et al. However, as you can read in my Pennington thread - the team is not there - not Super Bowl level by any means. This is a growing year, regardless of the record this or last year. The aim is for 2008...and the team needs to give the time to guys who can contribute next year - and start to integrate some of the younger talent (including Kellen Clemens) into the lineup.
Tony, I think playing a weak schedule last season also helped us win 10 games. With this season's schedule, I would also be suprised if we win more than 7 games.
This is the rebuilding year that last year was supposed to be. We got lucky last year with the soft schedule. It's going to take time to get some more pieces in place before we really can contend. I think Clemens will be starting sooner rather than later, which is good for the future of this team. Get Harris and Revis some experience and then next year stock up on the O-Line and D-Line. Instead of trying to strike gold on retreads and other teams' garbage, sign a marquee player or two and things will be looking up.
I agree, strength of schedule was in our favor last year for sure. But if we continue to play defense the way we did yesterday (no pressure on the QB) we will finish with 5 or less wins. I don't care who the QB is or what team we're playing, you give him all day with no pressure it's going to be a long day and a large hole for our offense to overcome.
Is this really all that different from the first NE game last year? The playoff game? Last year we got a couple of TDs after the game was won and they didn't get a special teams score. I'd far rather see Randy Moss make grabs for 150 yards than Jabar Gaffney.
ding ding ding. someone being a reallist and not a homer. agree completely with the above. this team over achieved last year and people can't seem to be objective and look at the real talent on this team. they have a way's to go before we can compete with the top teams. hopefully, the FO uses free agency and the draft to shore up the holes on this team. i don't think the jets are that far off talent wise, if they get some quality free agents. the draft will not fill all the holes alone in of itself. this is a .500 team this year with a real schedule this time!!!
i think people took the one victory we had against them last year and made the leap we had the same talent level to compete with them when it counts. fact is, the pats were flat in that game we won last year and mangini caught them with their pants down coaching a great scheme for that one particular game. aside from that win, the other two games showed where we really are, talent wise!!!
I can not beilieve how many people are so obsessed with Chad P and the lack of a deep threat. Throwing the ball long does not equate to W's. Good offensive and defensive line play does. And, ours was severely lacking yesterday - that is why we lost yesterday and why we will continue to lose if those two items do not improve over the coming weeks.
I agree with one thing: the Pats are hands down the best team in the NFL, and clearly the favorites to win the super bowl.
The Pats are very, very good, but I wouldn't go raising the Lombardi trophy, yet. Much can happen over the course of 16 regular season games.
