Tag: Mark Sanchez (Page 8 of 28)

NFL Conference Championship Game Predictions

January 21, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Thus far, I’m 6-2 in the playoffs so you know my motto: There’s no better time to fade me than right now. I batted .500 in the regular season so the other shoe might be ready to drop.

NFC Championship: Packers (-3.5) @ Bears, 3:00PM ET
While everyone focuses on Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler, I think the defenses will decide this game. Statistically, this is a game the Packers should probably win and win rather easily. But this is their third straight road trip and they’ve been playing playoff-type games for over a month now. (At least when you consider they needed to win their final two home games just to qualify for the postseason.) Factor in the weather, the Bears’ home field advantage and the potentially sloppy field conditions and you might as well throw stats out the window. There are, however, two stats that I’d like to focus on when it comes to these two teams and that’s opponent red zone scoring percentage. The Bears are allowing their opponents to score just 50% of the time in the red zone, while the Packers are even more impressive when it comes to that stat, allowing teams to score just 48.65% of the time. This game has low scoring written all over it.
THE PICK: UNDER 43.5

AFC Championship: Jets @ Steelers (-3.5), 6:30PM ET
I’ll fully admit that I wouldn’t mind seeing another Jets upset. I like Rex Ryan and I would love to hear the trash that comes out of his mouth for two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. But the Jets have to be worn out after playing two emotionally draining games on the road. Their defense can hang with anyone but the Steelers don’t lose in Pittsburgh at this time of year. After the Patriots failed to lay a hand on him last week, Pittsburgh will bring the noise against Mark Sanchez this week and force him to make some poor decisions. I think the Jets ran out of steam at this time last year and they sure acted like their Super Bowl was won last Sunday. I’m picking the Steelers, but they have a habit of bending bettors when it comes to the spread so I wouldn’t be surprised if they only won by a field goal.
THE PICK: STEELERS –3.5

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Jets/Patriots reaction

January 17, 2011 / John Paulsen

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports: The more lines Ryan spits out the more his players line up, shoulder to shoulder, ready to back him. He was coming into the belly of the beast this time, a playoff game in the same building against the same crew that had humiliated him 45-3 in early December. Ryan and his guys don’t retreat though, they reload. Not once did they think that game would impact this game. Not for a second did they anticipate a repeat result. Ryan didn’t change the game plan, his players said. He just demanded the guys actually follow it. This time the physical Jets defense manhandled the Patriots’ small skill players, making it difficult to run routes and get free and move up and down at will. Nothing was going to be easy this time, they promised; no more 5-foot-7 dudes skipping down the center of the field.

Jackie MacMullan, ESPNBoston.com: Ryan declared earlier in the week this game was all about him and the “almost” HC of the NYJ. The Patriots brethren snickered in unison at the bombastic New York coach. It was laughable to consider he was on the same level as their resident genius, Bill Belichick. Wasn’t it? Who’s laughing now? Ryan and his oft-maligned quarterback, Mark Sanchez, advance to the AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, while the shell-shocked Patriots are left to ponder how a superlative regular season was so swiftly reduced to rubble on their home field. Go ahead and predict a Steelers romp next week if you like, but keep in mind that Gang Green has now dispatched of Peyton Manning and the Colts, and Brady and the Patriots in consecutive weeks — winning both games on the road.

Ian O’Connor, ESPNNewYork.com: Sanchez had thrown seven interceptions over his two previous trips to Foxborough, the last trip ending in complete disgrace, and yet there he was making himself at home in Brady’s living room Sunday, so comfortable he might as well have raided the cover boy’s fridge. When the Patriots decided to make a game of it on an 80-yard touchdown drive at the end of the third quarter, Sanchez made a personal stand that belied his age (24) and experience (not much). He knew he needed to answer Brady’s drive, and so on the very first play of the fourth quarter he found Jerricho Cotchery for a 58-yard gain to the New England 13. On third-and-4, with the Patriots needing to hold the Jets to a field goal, Sanchez delivered what Edwards would call “maybe his best throw of the season.” The throw went to Santonio Holmes in the corner of the end zone, and Holmes made the kind of catch he made to win Super Bowl XLIII for the team he’ll face next week.

Kevin Blackistone, Fanhouse: It wasn’t until Tom Brady failed to convert a fourth-and-long Sunday at the Jets’ 34-yard line with about five minutes left and down by 10 points that I thought about the priest. I saw him swaddled in a heavy camouflage jacket in the raucous throng outside the Patriots’ Gillette Stadium an hour before kickoff. He must have come to administer last rites to the Bill Belichick & Brady bunch. For when those final minutes expired and the scoreboard showed the Jets won, 28-21, it marked the second consecutive one-and-done in the playoffs for Belichick & Brady, their third playoff loss in a row and their fourth playoff loss in their last six postseason games since beating San Diego in an AFC Divisional playoff matchup in 2007. The dynasty is dead. The Jets were the vultures picking at the carrion. We now know for certain that the Patriots dynasty ended in 2008 Super Bowl when the Giants canceled the Patriots’ bid for an undefeated season. The Patriots haven’t been the same since.

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Jets back up their talk, shock Patriots in Foxboro

January 16, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Here are five quick-hit thoughts about the Jets’ shocking 28-21 victory over the Patriots in the Divisional Round on Sunday.

1. Jets back up their talk.
If a head coach and his players are going to talk as much as Rex Ryan and the Jets do, they better back it up. Towards the end of this week, even Reggie Jackson was telling the Jets to shut up and just play football. Everyone was tired of them, but as I wrote throughout the week, all that bravado is what riles this team up. That’s who they are and if they continue to back it up, then they might as well keep talking (even at the risk of becoming public enemies No. 1 in the eyes of fans outside of New York). The Jets brought the fight right to the Patriots’ doorstep and then followed through with a knockout punch. For the second straight year, the Jets won two road games to advance to the AFC Championship Game. This may be a strange comment, but I think had the Jets played at home the past two postseasons, they wouldn’t have reached both title games. This team absorbs that “us versus the world” mentality and would follow Ryan off a cliff if he asked them, too. What an upset.

2. Pressure is the great equalizer.
The 2007 New York Giants showed everyone that if a team can pressure a quarterback, it can disrupt the flow of even the most potent offenses. Defensive end Shaun Ellis had a great game as both a pass-rusher and as a run-stuffer. His two sacks of Tom Brady on the Patriots’ second possession set the tone for the rest of the game. From that point on, you got the sense that the Jets would continue to bring the heat until the Patriots stopped them. What’s interesting is that the Jets didn’t blitz Peyton Manning last week. That speaks to Ryan’s ability as a game planner that he can beat two of the best quarterbacks in NFL history in back-to-back weeks with two different schemes. In total, Ryan’s defense sacked Brady five times and finished with seven QB hits. It wasn’t until about the five-minute mark in the third quarter that New England’s offense finally got its passing game going and by that time, the Pats were already trailing, 14-3.

3. That said, it was a complete effort by the entire Jets’ team.
The Jets’ ability to pressure Brady played a huge role but New York was just better in all phases of the game. There were times when the Jets only rushed three down linemen and Brady still had nowhere to throw because New York’s back eight blanketed his receivers. Even when New England receivers broke off their routes and tried to shake free in the Jets’ secondary, they couldn’t. Offensively, Mark Sanchez was brilliant. (Or as brilliant as Sanchez can be at this stage in his career.) He only threw for 194 yards but he completed 16 of his 25 pass attempts for three touchdowns and finished with a QB rating of 127.3. His touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes early in the fourth quarter was thrown to a spot where only his receiver could catch it and Holmes made an incredible play to secure the catch and get two feet inbounds. Most importantly, Sanchez also didn’t turn the ball over. In fact, the Jets didn’t turn the ball over once and were only penalized three times. That’s huge when you’re playing on the road against a team as good as the Patriots. From the coaching staff (what a job Brian Schottenheimer did calling plays) down to the players, the Jets were about perfect execution on Sunday evening and that’s why they have a shot to play in the Super Bowl.

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2011 NFL Divisional Round 2011 NFL Playoffs Anthony Stalter Bill Belichick Brian Schottenheimer Mark Sanchez New England Patriots New York Jets Rex Ryan Tom Brady

Five Questions: Jets vs. Patriots

January 14, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Matchup: Jets (11-5) @ Patriots (14-2)
Kickoff: 4:30PM ET, Sunday

1. Can the combination of Sanchez and Schottenheimer top Belichick?
Earlier this week, Jets’ coach Rex Ryan essentially told the media that this game will come down to whether or not he can raise his level of coaching to match that of Bill Belichick. I understand what he was saying, but I disagree with him. This game won’t come down to Ryan – it’ll come down to whether or not Brian Schottenheimer can raise his game. While Ryan certainly has his hands full trying to figure out a way to slow the Patriots’ offense, Schottenheimer must design a game plan that will top Belichick’s defense. Outside of a couple of throws, Mark Sanchez did not play well last weekend in Indianapolis. It was the Jets’ running game and defense that propelled them to victory. So first off, can Sanchez play better? If he can, will his offensive coordinator put together an intelligent game plan so that he can exploit the very few weaknesses that the Patriots have?

2. Will the Pats overlook the Jets?
There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that the Patriots are the better football team in this matchup. They have a tremendous coaching staff, they’re always prepared and they have the best quarterback in the league in Tom Brady. But in Week 9, the Pats were beaten by the Browns because they started reading their own press clippings. They did it again in Week 15 after rattling off five in a row and were set to face an Aaron Rodgers-less Packers team at home. Matt Flynn nearly beat them that night, as New England’s defense looked flummoxed in a narrow 31-27 victory. With all the trash talk the Jets have been doing this week, it’s highly unlikely that the Patriots will overlook their most hated rivals. But they also beat this team 45-3 just over a month ago and it’s human nature to think that things will play out the same way. Belichick needs to remind his team that the Jets have already beaten them once this season and they’re not going to be caught unprepared like in the last meeting.

3. Can the Jets get their running game going again?
The Jets beat the Colts last week because they were able to run the football in the second half and leave Peyton Manning on the sidelines. They have to do that again if they’re going to pull off another upset. It’s a pipedream to think Sanchez will out-duel Brady, so the Jets need their defense and running game to be as good, if not better than they were against the Colts. A couple of costly turnovers by Sanchez hurt the Jets in their 45-3 loss to the Patriots in December. He must protect the football so the Jets don’t fall behind early and are forced to throw in order to get back into the game. New England has given up 108.0 yards per game this year and an average of 104.0 YPG over the past three weeks. LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene won’t be able to run all over the Pats this weekend, but they might be able to control the tempo again like last Saturday.

4. How will Woody’s injury affect the Jets?
Damien Woody was arguably the Jets’ best run-blocker, so losing him for the season could be catastrophic. New York needs to be able to run the ball on Sunday if it’s going to pull off an upset and without Woody that could be difficult. Plus, you have to figure that Belichick will figure out a way to exploit the injury and cause some havoc for Sanchez. There’s no other way to put it: Wayne Hunter (Woody’s replacement) must step up this weekend.

5. Can the Pats stop Keller again?
I the Jets’ 28-14 victory over the Patriots in Week 2, Dustin Keller caught seven passes for 115 yards and two touchdowns. In the teams’ second meeting, he caught just three passes for 27 yards and was only targeted four times. You can probably bet that Sanchez will look his tight end’s way more this weekend in effort to spread the ball around and keep New England’s defense guessing. Keller has long been a hidden weapon in the Jets’ passing game and he’s killed teams over the middle this season. New England can’t fall asleep on this guy because he can hurt defenses.

External Sports, NFL

2011 NFL Divisional Round Playoffs 2011 NFL Playoffs Anthony Stalter Bill Belichick Brian Schottenheimer LaDainian Tomlinson Mark Sanchez New England Patriots New York Jets Shonn Greene Tom Brady

Caldwell’s curious time out decision allows Jets to upset Colts

January 9, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

“Thanks for calling that time out, Mr. Caldwell. You really saved us. I owe you one, big cat.”

Here are six quick-hit thoughts on the Jets’ 17-16 upset of the Colts on Saturday night.

1. Caldwell blew it by calling that time out.
There’s no doubt that Jim Caldwell should not have called a time out with 29 seconds remaining in the game. The Jets were down to their final time out and were on the 32-yard line. Had Caldwell let the clock continue to run, the Jets would have likely only ran one more play before using their final time out and kicking a longish field goal. Instead, Caldwell used the Colts’ last TO (presumably to leave time for Peyton Manning) and Mark Sanchez completed an 18-yard pass to Braylon Edwards (who made a heck of grab) on the next play. After burning their final TO, the Jets won the game on a 32-yard Nick Folk field goal as time expired. Caldwell’s blunder was three-fold: 1) It stopped the clock, 2) it allowed Sanchez and his coaching staff to calmly gather their thoughts and choose their final offensive play and 3) it ultimately made Folk’s field goal attempt 18 yards shorter. I guarantee you Sanchez doesn’t even look Edwards way if his coaches didn’t tell him that play was open during the time out. And I can almost guarantee you that Folk doesn’t make a game-winning field goal on the road from 40-50 yards out instead of 32. One play or coaching decision never decides the outcome of a game. But this is one Caldwell we think about all offseason.

2) That said…
If Manning completes that 3rd-and-6 pass to Blair White on the prior possession, then the Colts would have ran the clock down and kicked the game-winner themselves. But because the pass fell incomplete, the Colts left time on the clock. And because there was time on the clock, Antonio Cromartie’s ability to bring the ensuing kickoff back to the 46-yard-line was huge. Does anyone believe that Sanchez would have marched his team into field goal range if he had to go 80 yards to do it? I was waiting for a pick-six myself. Caldwell’s decision to call a time out was bad. But the game would have never reached that point if one of the aforementioned situations doesn’t happen.

3) Sanchez finally makes a play when he has to.
Sanchez’s performance on the Jets’ final drive before halftime was brutal. He had zero touch on the pass that went over Dustin Keller in the end zone and the pass that Justin Tryon intercepted reeked of desperation. But give Sanchez credit: the throw he made to Edwards to set up Folk’s game-winner was right where it needed to be. Edwards made the play by going up and catching the ball at its highest point, then making sure he got both feet down and inbounds (where was that effort in Cleveland all those years?). But the throw was there. After he spent most of the game failing to make plays, Sanchez finally delivered when it mattered most.

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2011 NFL Playoffs Anthony Stalter Braylon Edwards Indianapolis Colts Mark Sanchez New York Jets Peyton Manning Rex Ryan

Tag: Mark Sanchez (Page 8 of 28)

NFL Conference Championship Game Predictions

Jets/Patriots reaction

Jets back up their talk, shock Patriots in Foxboro

Five Questions: Jets vs. Patriots

Caldwell’s curious time out decision allows Jets to upset Colts

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