Yes, When "great" teams get handled like the Titans of Tennessee, (from now on that distinction MUST be made), they make adjustments at half and then win. Although they did that against Jville, and to some extent they did make adjustments concerning Collins in half 2, ( I could not see the game, only heard commentary), they did not do that on defense. That is a nick on the rep of fisher & staff. They could end up being the Cowboys of '07 in '08. I think #1 seed is NOT in the bag - or atleast an early PO exit. They were not who we thought they were and we did not let them off of the hook
YAC is important- Yes. But Favre has made a very good living (as well as his previous receivers) with possession type of catches in the area where the cover 2 defense (I think that the "titans" of Tennessee play a "cover 2") is vulnerable- splitting the seam and just a few to 10 yards beyond the LBs. Often Saftey help arrives in time to tackle but not disrupt the pass or the receiver, and the OLBs are over matched by "game" speed. YAC happens on slants (or importantly screens). I have seen promising YAC from Washington and Cotchery or even Brad Smith. If you remember the Raider game- Cotchery caught a slant and, if he had a yard more separation, would have scored (No OT). Brad Smith caught a slant pass in the final 2 minutes and if he breaks a desperate tackle, scores (again no OT). Coles and Keller are the weapons in that aforementioned area and great possession guys (just as important with Favre) to move the chains. If you mix screens, slants and split the cover 2 seam with very good Play Action , you keep the LBs honest and delay the cover 2 FS/SS reactions- they don't feel comfortable jumping the slant route (often resultng in an int). Over the course of a game you see the possession catches work well, and then alternately you will see the slants with YAC become successful. This back and forth is very difficult to stop when it gets momentum. The jets did this well for the last 4 weeks and on Sunday from the highlights that I saw. Screen passes worked well too against that defensive line. What would be great is if Favre could get a little more time from pass protection (not a slight on Oline, just an observation), thus allowing Keller to go deep in the seam, beating the safety help. Then Favre is older and not as good as he once was in stepping up into the pocket, he seems to be throwing off of his back foot alot in the pocket. Not good. In GB he had an excellent relationship with his Oline and receivers. He was a great friend and roommate to Frank Winters the Packer Center for years and gave his induction speech at the Packer HOF). He has developed a great relationship with the Jets receivers but maybe, good (we're talking game relationship, like anoffensive line on a hockey team-relationship), with the Oline. If he gets comfortable with pocket protection in the next few weeks - watch out. Does Favre have the deep threats with speed to separate like he did last year (Jenning, or Jones) - No. There are NO TOs (BTW does anyone notice how much TO pushes off and gets away with it?) or Mosses on the Jets. That is OK because you have a veteran QB and decent OC who is adapting to what they have. Too bad it took better than a quarter of this season. Sorry for the long winded response- There is YAC potential but no deep threat. Don't worry you got the right QB with the brains to know the difference (ergo high completion rate; took one shot downfield it did not work- so he let it go). But- On Sunday Run blocking was the key.
