You make a fair point that the Titans were a better team when they played the Jets than their 3 game losing streak indicates. Of course the Jets lost that game, so I am not sure where you were going with that point, other than to say it was technically not correct to say AT THAT POINT the only team they played with a winning record was NE. They still lost to Tenn.
I'm watching the 3rd quarter against the Pats right now on NFL Replay. I feel pretty good about our team. We actually have some playmakers on both sides of the ball. Ivory is a banger and Nelson looks like he wants to stick around.
I guess you missed the point of my post. My opinion of the Jets chances in this game have zero to do with who we played and who the Bengals played. I was just pointing out that the idea that numbers don't lie is absurd. Numbers don't lie or tell the truth, they are just numbers and at this point in the season meaningless.
You probably don't understand the roll that Becht played on the Jets. Curtis Martin is in the HOF in part because Becht was one of the best TE in the NFL at sealing the edge. The Jets were able to run against a stacked box all the time in large part because of Becht. He couldn't catch a cold but he was a devastating blocker in the run game.
If Becht had half the dropped passes he actually had in his career, he probably would have been a hall-of-famer. I have never, EVER seen a Jets TE block like Becht could, and that includes Mickey Shuler.
we had 2 great blocking TEs w/ Brady then Becht. Since then we have had better receiving options as starters.
We dumped Becht for spare change at the end of 04 to install a downfield passing attack in 05 under Dinger. Neither Baker or Dressen could block worth a shit. Both QB's were killed as was Martin. We didn't even negotiate with Becht who signed for peanuts with Tampa Bay.
What scares me most about this game is the letdown that always seems to happen after we beat the Patriots. Seems like we always lose focus on the next team up and it shows on the field.
Under rex we beat NE 3 times before this week: 2009 week 2 next week: beat Tennessee 2010 week 2 next week: beat Miami 2010 div rd next week: lost to Pitt we are 2-1 in weeks after beating NE, sure I'd trade those 2 wins for the loss but we are still 2-1.
Thanks for those stats Junc. I hope it holds true but this week just has a different vibe to it. Can't quite put my finger on it. Road Game maybe? dunno.
I feel better about this week b/c of the way we won. Rex is a master motivator when his team is "disrespected". All the talk is how we were lucky and rex is going to use that to have his team ready. last week it was the perception that our D didn't stop Brady in the first game but it was b/c NE dropped some passes and we saw what our D did this week. I am confident going into this game, I won't guarantee a W like I basically did last week but we have a great shot.
The DLine can cut down Dalton. The way to stop AJ Green is to stop the source, Dalton and that's by pressure and disguising formations on defense to confuse him. If we get zero pressure, we will get hammered. Its really that simple on defense. Bernard could play similar to what Bell did for the Steelers and the duo of Eifert/Gresham should not be slept on so Antonio Allen will need another A+ game. Our offense will rely on Geno. Ivory or Powell won't factor in much IMO, Bengals DLine is really good. But with Hall now gone, their secondary can be attacked. Guys like Pac Man Jones will take risks for INTs ala A. Samuel and I am not a big fan of their safety play. Rey M. is so hit and miss at MLB when he plays that if we can get Cumberland matched up against him, we need to exploit that. Slow as hell on coverage. Its an honest toss up game, Bengals should be favored since it is a home game. Might come down to field position.
The Bengals have more to fear from the Jets than the other way around. The Jets and the Browns both have top rated defenses and the Bengals managed a total of 6 points against the Browns in week 4 (not 6 TDs, 6 points the entire game). And their last 2 games against the Bills and Detroit were won by just a FG. The Bengals are NOT a power house. I can't see them scoring more than 10-14 points against a Rex Ryan led Jets defense. The question is, can Geno and the Jets score a point or two more. I think we can.
This is a good point. Rex is really good at rallying the troops, but he used a bunch of his trick I bet heading into last wee against NE. I'm sure he has a ton more to get this team ready, but I'm not sure if that's enough because the Bengals at home are a solid team. I'm just afraid if we do blitz, that Green can beat Cro off the ball or Sanu the other CB and Dalton will have an easy hot read. If the corners can step up, obviously helps big time. Yeah the tight ends scare me for this team. I still think ivory and Powell should play a big role. Even if the run game gets you nowhere, you need to at least pretend you will use it to keep the Bengals off balance. If we can run well enough to make the Bengals start committing to the run, it can help the WRs a ton in getting open. Right now Yahoo has the Bengals as 6.5 favorites so a bit more than a toss up. Also can Geno and the Special Teams not give the Bengals a short field? I don't think the Bengals are a power house, but they are still a good team. We need to jump on them early and force Dalton to pass because while Dalton has been playing well I don't think he could throw on this defense if we are expecting it.
