Its been talked about briefly but after the Wilfork penalty, the decision to just boot the ball out the back of the end zone was really stupid IMO. Even Collinsworth made the comment that we were helping the recieving team out by doing that and it was obvious. Its been lost in the bonehead Sanchez timeout and the subsquent pathetic defensive series that followed but that was really bad decision-making. Westhoff is certainly a very creative special teams coach and he's gift wrapped a kickoff from mid-field and its not even used to our advantage? Even if they recovered and took it down for an easy TD (which they did anyway) I would not have faulted Rex's decision making if they even tried an onsides kick there. Were talking getting the ball down to the 35/40 yard line on an onsides kick. What if we recovered? To get an onsides kick and be that close AFTER scoring a TD would have been huge. Even if we didnt its a 15 yard difference... the benefits severely outweighed the cost of that decision IMO. Perhaps they didn't want to risk giving Brady a short field, thats fine but pooching or dropping a kick inside the field of play with the kickoff team with a shorter field to cover they are easily stopping them inside the 20... A kick out the back, which Folk does anyway with the new rules was a complete waste of the penalty: a TERRIBLE decision. I love Rex but maybe that fan that set him off was right, because there is no way Belichick allows the kick to go out the back of the end zone if the situation was flipped.
I mentioned this @ the game, after the game and all day but almost no one gives a shit about it. While I agree, it was an absolute bonehead decision, tfotm is that it was just a part of idiotic decisions that led up to it becoming an issue..... But yes, totally bad decision making there.
you are right. the whole final two minutes of the first half there was some terrible decision making even with our TD and this is a major part of that. To think the Patriots score more than anyone in the final two minutes of the 1st half.. gee you think the Jets would be prepared..
would not have done an onsides kick because if it fails then they get the ball with a short field. They should have done a pooch kick and required a runback from the 1
Yeah this play left me questioning the call... I mean it is Tom Brady in a two minute drill= bad news for us (as evident by the TD) I would have liked to see either some sort of squib kick hoping it might be a botched handle or even an onside kick- if it is decently executed, the pats either get the ball at the 35 or we get it Didnt make much sense at the time and still doesnt now
Short field? We are talking about kicking it from the midfield. If Jets fail to recover, Pats probably have it their 35. Short field by 15 yards, yes. But the upside was huge. I was thinking maybe this is a surprise onside kickoff, but to my surprise, it wasn't. Totally agree with OP. Should have definitely been an onside kick.
While we can debate what type of kik, Pooch, Squib, on-sides ( ftr, I'd vote Squib), What we'll all agree on was kiking it out of the EZ was last on the fukin list!
If they had started the game in no huddle and had picked us apart all half, then it makes total sense to take a chance there. Our 2 minute D sucked, but we didn't know that when we lined up for the KO. Up to that point, our D had been pretty solid even though they CAN"T CATCH THE FUCKING BALL. I also think Rex was so pissed about the TO, which left about 20 extra seconds on the clock, that he didn't even think about "being cute" with the kickoff. Besides, if we go with an onsides kick and don't recover, or if we pooch kick and it gets returned to the 40, are we here bitching about the stupidity of that call? The fact is that we couldn't stop their hurry up.
I don't agree. I think it was the appropriate thing to do, but of course it didn't work out. An onside kick has less than a 50% chance, and giving Brady that start is flat out reckless. withjout the 15 yard penalty you would never consider an onside kick in that situation so why do it at your own 40 yard? Not a big difference.
Because Sanchez gave Brady 16 extra seconds by pulling the trigger too early on the time out he was killed on this board. But it is a good idea to let them start the drive from their own 35 instead of forcing a return? Onside kicks work at best 23% of the time.
I brought this up at the game also. And listen, this is so far down the list of things the Jets screwed up doing, that's the reason it's been bypassed. But why not squib the ball down the field? Maybe it hits someone and takes a funny bounce.
People keep saying this, but actually that's not completely true. The onsides kick is very tough to recover in situations where the other team is expecting it (at the end of the game when you have no choice). I believe, surprise onsides kicks actually have a success rate of over 50% for the kicking team. Can anyone back me on this?
I was nervous they were going to attempt an onside kick, and with our special teams as bad as its been this year, you would probably have recovered it too. As far as the 15 yard difference if the onside kick failed, you gave that up with penalties on the ensuing drive anyway, so the point is moot.
the success rate is probably even higher when you do it on the opening kick. Lets call this stat a super surprise onside kick. Didn't Mangini try this once - I forget how it went. If it worked he must be a great coach.
Exactly. 15 yards is not huge when Tom Brady gets three cracks at it. Even if its 3rd and 20 for Tom Brady, Im nervous. He somehow finds a way to get out of such situations much more than most other QBs.
