http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1191385503235120.xml&coll=1 Guessing Wrong Proves Costly On First Bills TD Wednesday, October 03, 2007 BY DAVE HUTCHINSON Star-Ledger Staff INSIDE THE PLAYBOOK THE SITUATION With the Jets and Bills scoreless midway through the third quarter, Buffalo faced second-and-goal from the 10 yard line. Bills rookie QB Trent Edwards had the defense on its heels, and first-year RB Marshawn Lynch had been contained but not stopped cold to that point. WHAT HAPPENED The Jets guessed pass and put in their nickel package with five defensive backs, four linebackers and two defensive linemen. They were wrong. Lynch got the ball and went behind RB Brad Butler. But he saw Bills LG Derrick Dockery (6-6, 330 pounds) and LT Jason Peters (6-4, 340 pounds) had annihilated Jets undersized NT Dewayne Robertson (6-1, 310 pounds) on a double-team block. Lynch cut back to the left and found a gaping hole as Peters peeled off Robertson and blocked ILB David Harris. Jonathan Vilma dived at Lynch but didn't make the play, and Lynch finally bowled over safeties Kerry Rhodes and Eric Coleman at the 2-yard line on his way into the end zone. "We were playing more of a man defense to protect against the pass and they ended up running it," Vilma said. "I went with (Lynch) and tried to fall back (to make the tackle after his cut-back) and just missed him by a little bit. I tried to get him by the leg and ended up missing him." WHY IT HAPPENED Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton continues to have a rough start to the season. He guessed pass and was fooled by the Bills. Unfortunately, that has been a recurring theme this season. The Jets defense failed to confuse or rattle Edwards all game even though he was making his first NFL start. The Jets rank 28th in the NFL in total defense, yielding 365.5 yards per game. NEXT OPPONENT The Giants (2-2) have won two straight and are coming off an impressive 16-3 victory over the Eagles in which they racked up an NFL-record tying 12 sacks, six by DE Osi Umenyiora. After allowing 80 points in their first two games, the Giants have given up just 20 points in their past two. QB Eli Manning (79 of 132 for 890 yards, seven TDs and five INTs.) is beginning to show signs of living up to the hype. WR Plaxico Burress (19 catches, 286 yards, 6 TDs) is a game-breaker. At 6-5, he has a decided height advantage over all the Jets' CBs. RB Derrick Ward (73 carries for 353 yards) was signed by the Giants off the Jets' practice squad. The Jets wanted to keep him and perhaps sign him to their active roster, but he signed with the Giants before giving the Jets an opportunity to keep him. KEY MATCHUP DE Osi Umenyiora vs. LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson Ferguson, who shut out Jason Taylor (Dolphins) and Aaron Schobel (Bills) on consecutive weeks, has stepped up his play. He has allowed two sacks but was clearly beaten on just one. Umenyiora is one of the NFL's best. Ferguson can't catch a break. UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has to find a way to stretch the field. Opponents are on to QB Chad Pennington's dink-and-dunk passing game (it takes the Jets 10- and 11-play drives to score) and Schottenheimer's pre-snap movement and different personnel packages. It's still hard to understand why the Jets didn't just pound the Bills with RB Thomas Jones last week. QUICK HIT LB Cody Spencer was placed on the reserve/non-football list with an undisclosed illness, meaning he's lost for the season. Spencer, a fourth-year pro, was a key special teams contributor. INJURIES Jets -- No serious injuries reported.
I'll have you know our patented Dink-and-Dunk is consistent, and that needs to be consistently repeated over and over again so everyone in the locker room is on the same page and consistent with it. Consistency is the answer here. Consistent Dink-and-Dunk will bring consistent results.
