Tag: New York Jets (Page 11 of 59)

I’m just saying…the Browns selected Braylon Edwards the same year Aaron Rodgers was drafted.

January 17, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

I haven’t done this column in a couple of weeks but after this weekend’s games, I thought it was an appropriate time to bring it back.

So here’s the latest installment of “I’m just saying…,” NFL Divisional Round-style.

– Colts fans after Nick Folk missed that chip shot field goal in the first quarter of the Jets-Patriots game on Sunday: “Oh come on!”

– After the Packers-Falcons game, I took a quick look at the stats sheet and saw that Aaron Rodgers was 31-of-36 passing for 366 yards and accounted for four touchdowns. My first reaction was: He had five incompletions?!

– Hey, when your team is up 25 points late in the third quarter and all you need to do is run some clock, why wouldn’t you call a halfback pass with Matt Forte and risk turning the ball over? You keep doing your thing, Mike Martz.

– Rex Ryan just beat Peyton Manning and Tom Brady (two of the best quarterbacks in NFL history) in back-to-back weeks using two different game plans. Say what you want about his mouth, but the guy knows defense.

– If I’m a team that needs a defensive coordinator, I’m on the phone right now with Rob Ryan. I want that gene pool designing my defenses.

– Most defenders would sacrifice one of their limbs to have a free shot at Jay Cutler when he’s running with the ball towards the end zone. But instead of delivering a punishing blow, Seattle safety Earl Thomas tried to bring the quarterback down by osmosis on Cutler’s touchdown run in the second quarter on Sunday. Somewhere, Ndamukong Suh is weeping.

– Matt Ryan after the game on why he threw the sideline pass that Tramon Williams intercepted and returned for a touchdown instead of throwing the ball away: “Well, I thought if Williams was anything like our corners, he would be playing 10 yards off the ball and I’d be able to pick up an easy seven yards.”

– I know where I’ve seen Bears’ O-lineman Frank Omiyale before: he doubles as a turnstile at Halas Hall during the weekdays.

External Sports, NFL

2011 NFL Divisional Round Playoffs 2011 NFL Playoffs Aaron Rodgers Anquan Boldin Anthony Stalter Bill Belichick Brian Van Gorder Darrelle Revis Earl Thomas Frank Omiyale Lawyer Milloy Matt Forte Matt Ryan Mike Martz Mike Williams New York Jets Rex Ryan Rob Ryan T.J. Houshmandzadeh drop Tom Brady Tramon Williams

Beligenius outsmarts himself with fake punt

January 17, 2011 / John Paulsen

Bill Belichick is widely regarded as the best head coach in the league, and with good reason. Some even go so far as to say he’s the best head coach in the history of the league. That’s going a little too far (in my opinion) because Belichick has a tendency to outsmart himself. Here’s an example:

Down 7-3 with 1:14 to play in the second quarter, the Pats faced a 4th-and-4 on their own 38-yard line, and Belichick dialed up a fake punt that failed miserably. The Jets took over, and four plays later, Braylon Edwards was carrying two Patriots into the endzone to give the Jets a 14-3 lead going into halftime.

I understand what Belichick was going for — he was trying to steal momentum and continue the Pats’ final drive. But his team was only down four heading into halftime and was going to get the ball first in the second half. Why risk giving the Jets even more momentum by potentially giving them the ball in your own territory? It looked from the replay that had Patrick Chung caught the ball cleanly, he may have gained the first down, extending the drive. But there’s always a chance that a risky play is going to fail, and that one did.

The Jets are like a sorta-hot girl who thinks she’s really hot, but isn’t entirely sure, so she constantly needs to spur conversation about how hot she is. She’s not sure she’s as hot as her (really hot) best friend, so she needs that affirmation. When she gets it (via an 11-point lead at halftime), she gains confidence and becomes a real pill to deal with. At that point, even Tom Brady won’t be able to score with her.

If New England had simply punted the ball away, the conservative Jets would probably have been content with their four-point lead, but the doubts would still linger. If Brady and Co. drove down the field on the first possession of the second half and took the lead back, all of those old insecurities would return to the surface.

Instead, the Pats went for it on 4th-and-4 and essentially gave the Jets a field goal with a shot at a touchdown. When Edwards carried those two defenders into the endzone, the Jets’ self-esteem went through the roof.

From New England’s point of view, it seemed to be a frustration call, and those rarely work out. They couldn’t believe how they were struggling offensively in the first two quarters and felt like they should be able to put points up on the board on that final drive. But they didn’t consider the downside of a botched fake punt, and it might have cost them a win.

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2011 NFL Playoffs Bill Belichick New England Patriots New York Jets Rex Ryan

Bart Scott: Patriots defense “can’t stop a nosebleed”

January 17, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Even though the final seconds had ticked off the clock and the Jets had already wrapped up a victory against the Patriots, linebacker Bart Scott was still ready to tackle somebody in this on-field interview with ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio. (Hat tip to Tirico Suave for the video.)

If that’s not poop coming from Paolantonio’s drawers, then I don’t know what is.

External Sports, Video

2011 NFL Playoffs Bart Scott Bart Scott interview Bart Scott Sal Paolantonio interview New York Jets

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.

External Sports, NFL

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

Reggie Jackson wants the Jets to “shut up, play football”

January 14, 2011 / Anthony Stalter

Former Yankee great Reggie Jackson doesn’t want to hear any more squawking from Jets players this week. He just wants them to shut up and play some damn football already.

From NESN.com:

“Shut up, play football,” Jackson said on The Michael Kay Show on ESPN Radio. “What are you talking about Bill Belichick and these people for? Spend your time looking at film, spend your time knocking down a pass. What are you doing? You’re not affecting [Tom] Brady. You’re wasting time.”
Jackson, who said he’s hoping the Jets win, said he also wasn’t a fan of Rex Ryan’s jab at Brady, specifically the coach’s joke that Brady should have been watching football rather than a Broadway show last Saturday.
“This guy is an automatic Hall of Famer,” Jackson said of Brady. “Making fun of him is like making fun of Mariano Rivera. What are you doing? What are you doing?”
Jackson’s parting words for Cromartie were rather emotional.
“Go look at the hardware, dude,” Jackson said. “Walk through the lobby [in New England] and look at the stuff that’s there. You don’t have that — you don’t have anything close to that. You might want to shut up, you might learn something. Read, you might figure something out. Watch film, you might get educated. If not, you have a chance to get embarrassed on Sunday.”

I don’t disagree with anything Mr. October had to say, but I also think all of this is being a tad overblown.

Look, this is what the Jets do under Ryan. They psyche themselves up before a big game by talking trash and making it an “us vs. the world” thing. Ryan does this because his players usually respond by playing hard for him on Sundays, so it’s worth it to him to stir the pot from time to time.

Let’s not forget that Tom Brady was the first person this year to say that he hates the Jets. Granted, he didn’t follow that up by calling Antonio Cromartie an a-hole, but Brady is on record as saying that he hates them, too. Big whoop.

As far as Cromartie is concerned, he has a track record for losing focus during games so if talking trash gets him angry and propels him to play at the top of his game, then that’s good for New York. Besides, what’s the worse that could happen for the Jets? They lose 46-3 this time? Who cares.

That said, as Reggie Jackson alluded to in his comments: Let’s play some damn football already.

External Sports, NFL

2011 NFL Divisional Round Playoffs 2011 NFL Playoffs New York Jets Reggie Jackson

Tag: New York Jets (Page 11 of 59)

I’m just saying…the Browns selected Braylon Edwards the same year Aaron Rodgers was drafted.

Beligenius outsmarts himself with fake punt

Bart Scott: Patriots defense “can’t stop a nosebleed”

Jets back up their talk, shock Patriots in Foxboro

Reggie Jackson wants the Jets to “shut up, play football”

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