Recipe for deception always in the mix Tom Rock December 6, 2006 Eric Mangini preaches consistency. It's one of the core values he has established for the franchise. Every day the Jets show up for work, whether it is to collect film on opponents, practice through a rain storm or play a game where the wind chill is close to zero degrees, he wants them to have the same approach. But one of the characteristics that has made the Jets successful this season is their inconsistency on offense and defense. No, not in the quality of play - in the philosophy they bring to each game. The Jets present so many different looks and shifts on either side of the ball, they defy defining traits that opponents use to lock in on keys. Every week the game plan is knocked down and built up again with the upcoming opponent in mind. Are the Jets a running team or a passing team? They can be either, as the last two weeks have shown. Are they a blitzing team? They have the ability to do that, but held back and used only the threat of the blitz to rattle the Texans two weeks ago. On the opening drive against the Packers last Sunday, the Jets went 11 plays without repeating a formation. The first play of the game had Brad Smith lined up as a wide receiver, go in motion to become a fullback, then catch a swing pass like a tailback. At one point receiver Laveranues Coles and tight end Sean Ryan both lined up in the backfield with Leon Washington. Later, Chad Pennington threw a quick pass to running back Cedric Houston, who had lined up as a wideout near the sideline. The player next to him in the slot who was ready to throw a block? Fullback B.J. Askew. Same old Jets? They're not even the same from down to down anymore. To create that aura of inconsistency, Mangini allows the coaching staff to break another of his rules, the one-game-at-a-time mandate. "Some coaches will start as early as Friday," he said of when the staff begins brainstorming on the following opponent. "They may start looking at some tape. We'll get an advance report from the pro personnel department, core formations, core personnel groups, injuries, starters. I'll usually look those over on Friday." Perhaps one of the biggest reasons Mangini doesn't allow teams to create a book on the Jets is because he has used the book on other teams and coaches over the years. Somewhere deep in the Jets complex is a room filled with J. Edgar Hoover-like files on nearly every head coach and coordinator in the NFL. Before assembling a game plan, Mangini and his men first figure out whom they are playing against and which tendencies he brings. Know thy enemy. He said he was amazed how coaches could pull a file and study an opponent during his first stint with the Jets in the late 1990s, drawing information from 1985, when Mangini was just starting high school. "You've got to get to know the coordinator, you've got to understand what his personality is, what his fingerprint is," Mangini said. "Is he a game-plan coordinator? Which means that he's going to pull things out of his scheme for you. Is he a copycat coordinator? Which means he's going to pull things that hurt you that other teams did. Each guy has their philosophy, their approach, and understanding that is a big first step." Cloaking your own identity in unpredictability is another. http://www.newsday.com/sports/footb...c06,0,4692218.column?coll=ny-sports-headlines
