Tag: Thomas Jones (Page 2 of 6)

      Chiefs sign Jones, Tomlinson visiting Vikings

      March 10, 2010 /

      Adam Schefter reports that the Chiefs have signed running back Thomas Jones to a two-year, $5 million contract. Schefter also confirms that LaDainian Tomlinson is scheduled to visit with the Vikings on Thursday.

      Jones is coming off a solid season in which he rushed for 1,402 yards on 331 carries in 16 games. He also scored 14 touchdowns and averaged 4.2 yards per carry. The only issue is that his 31-year-old legs wore down at the end of the year and he was eventually replaced by rookie Shonn Greene as the Jets’ primary back for the playoffs.

      Kansas City will use Jones in a platoon with Jamaal Charles. Jones will likely get 12-15 touches per game and also provides the Chiefs with a short-yardage back. The club needed to upgrade their running back position and while Jones isn’t the long-term answer, he’ll be a nice complement to Charles.

      As for Tomlinson, it’s apparent he has come to grips that he’s not a starting back anymore because obviously Adrian Peterson is the primary back in Minnesota. Tomlinson could be a good fit for the Vikings as a third-down specialist and should stay healthy throughout the year if Brad Childress keeps his legs fresh.

      With Chester Taylor now in Chicago, the Vikings need a backup for Peterson, so it wouldn’t surprise me if a deal with Tomlinson gets done soon.

      Jamaal Charles owners should be a little worried, as Thomas Jones is not your average backup running back. He has rushed for 2700 yards and 27 TD over the last two seasons and doesn’t have the mileage of a normal 31-year-old starting RB because he didn’t carry the ball more than 138 times in any of his first four seasons. He did average 297 carries over his last six seasons, and didn’t look very spry in the postseason (averaging < 3.0 ypc in three games). Charles was very effective after taking over as the starter, but this signing probably bumps him down from a late first round pick to somewhere in the middle of the second round.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Thomas Jones set to become a free agent?

      February 27, 2010 /

      According to a report by NFL.com, it’s unlikely that the Jets will pick up Thomas Jones’ $3.3 million roster bonus and if so, the 32-year-old back will become an unrestricted free agent on March 9.

      The Jets were hoping that Jones would take a pay cut by restructuring his deal, but the running back declined. With Shonn Greene and Leon Washington already on the roster, New York has the luxury of letting Jones go, even though he’s coming off a career year after rushing for 1,402 yards and 14 touchdowns.

      Jones started to show his age in December, but he would still bring value to teams in search of running back help this offseason. The Texans and Chargers are obvious choices, but don’t rule out a team like the Eagles adding a veteran back like Jones to complement youngster “Shady” McCoy now that Brian Westbrook is out of the picture.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      An upset is in reach if the Jets can stick to their strengths this weekend

      January 12, 2010 /

      To alter a phrase from Denny Green: The Jets are who we think they are. They have the best defense in the NFL and can run the ball with Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene behind a solid offensive line.

      That’s it. They play good defense and rely on their great running game to win. And as they get ready to take on the red-hot Chargers in San Diego this weekend, the Jets should remind themselves what their strengths are because their strengths match up very well with their Divisional Round opponent.

      The Chargers can flat out throw the ball. They rank fifth in the NFL with 271.1 passing yards per game and have averaged 28.4 points per contest. Philip Rivers has played at a MVP-type level all season and he has a bevy of weapons at his disposal in Antonio Gates, Vincent Jackson and Darren Sproles.

      However, the Jets have the top pass defense in the league and have limited opponents to just 153.7 passing yards per game. Cornerback Darrelle Revis has emerged as a lockdown corner and will no doubt keep Jackson at bay in one-on-one coverage. Rex Ryan’s defense excels at being aggressive and taking away opponents’ best weapons so if there were any team that could limit what the Bolts’ passing attack can do, it would be Jets.

      Another thing to consider is that behind Jones and Greene, the Jets have the best running game in the league. Meanwhile, the Chargers have allowed over 110 rushing yards per game this season and could struggle containing New York’s ground attack.

      The Jets won despite of rookie Mark Sanchez – not because of him. So if they can control this game from the ground and limit how effective Rivers is in the passing game, then the Jets’ solid season will continue past this weekend.

      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      NFL Playoff Preview: Saturday games

      January 9, 2010 /

      New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals
      4:30 pm ET
      TV—NBC

      Last Sunday night, the Jets closed out the actual regular season history of “old” Giants Stadium the way the Giants wanted to the week before, turning a win-and-in situation into a rout against the Bengals, 37-0. The Jets and their # 1 pass defense held the Bengals to zero passing yards for the game. That’s right, ZERO passing yards. That’s not likely to happen again today, when the Jets visit the Bengals for a rematch that will determine who goes home and who moves on to the divisional round of the playoffs. Bengals’ head coach Marvin Lewis held RB Cedric Benson out of the Week 17 game, and only let QB Carson Palmer play a few series before letting some bearded guy named J.T. O’Sullivan take over. Lewis didn’t want to show too much, but what he may have shown in the process was that his team is fading fast and may have won games early in the season with smoke and mirrors. The Bengals’ defense is also solid, ranked #7 against the rush and #6 against the pass, but if they allow Thomas Jones and the Jets’ running game to control the clock again, this could very well be another dominant performance by the Jets. And don’t forget the way Jets’ all-world CB Darrelle Revis shut down WR Chad Ochocinco on the field and then on Twitter. The hotter Jets should prevail again, but either way, this is a game featuring two of the NFL’s best defenses, so it’s likely to be ultimately determined by who makes the least mistakes.
      THE PICK: JETS 17, BENGALS 13

      Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys
      8:00 pm ET
      TV—NBC

      For as surprising as the Jets’ thrashing of the Bengals was last weekend, the fact that the Cowboys shut out the Eagles may have been the biggest surprise of Week 17. Sure, the Cowboys have been on a roll since handing the Saints their first loss of the season a few weeks back, and haven’t given up a point since then. But the Eagles had won six in a row and were (insert cheesy line here like “flying high” or “soaring”). Despite having Brian Westbrook back, the Eagles have fallen to 22nd in the NFL in rushing offense and have been living by the big pass play most of the season, with second year WR DeSean Jackson changing games by himself on offense and special teams. The Cowboys, however, have beaten the Eagles twice this season, and their only losses came to the Giants twice (in games that could have gone either way), Denver, Green Bay and San Diego. They can run the ball (7th overall), pass with Tony Romo, Miles Austin and Jason Witten (6th overall) and they can stop the run (4th overall). The only blemish for the Cowboys is they are prone to big pass plays, but they seem to have remedied that recently, and with DeMarcus Ware coming off the edge, Donovan McNabb has to have eyes on the side and back of his head at all times. This game will certainly be close, and maybe come down to a field goal. And in that case, would you rather have David Akers or (gulp) Shaun Suisham as your kicker? That’s what I thought.
      THE PICK: EAGLES 27, COWBOYS 24

      NFL

      Did the Bengals lay down just so they could face Jets again?

      January 4, 2010 /

      Former Patriots’ safety Rodney Harrison brought up an interesting point last night on “Football Night in America” when he said that the Bengals would lay down against the Jets so that they didn’t have to face the Texans next week in the first round.

      At the time, I thought Harrison was reaching. No professional football team with professional players would just allow an opponent to walk all over them. Players and coaches have egos the size of California and would never concede anything before the game started. At the very least, I figured the Bengals would play most of their starters until the second quarter or even half time and then pull them for the second half.

      But then the game started and watching the Bengals was like watching monkeys slap each other for three hours. Cincinnati was absolutely horrendous in every phase of the game, including things as simple as lining up to get the snap off. They had no interest in stopping Thomas Jones defensively and even less interest in trying to score offensively.

      I still doubt that Marvin Lewis got his players together and said, “Go out there and trip over yourselves for 60 minutes.” But one has to wonder if the Bengals didn’t have ulterior motives last night. Think about it, had they beaten the Jets, they would have had to play a Houston team that had already smacked them in Cincinnati during the regular season. If they lost, they got to face that same Jets team with a rookie quarterback making his first postseason appearance on the road. Why would the Bengals go all out for a semi-meaningless game?

      I feel bad for the Texans, because they clearly were hosed by the Bengals’ effort last night. I couldn’t imagine being a Houston player that didn’t turn the game on until the second half, hoping that when they tuned in that they would at least see a close game. Instead, they saw J.T. O’Sullivan run around the field like Brucie from the remake of “The Longest Yard.”

      NFL

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