This is clearly a better team and honestly a better organization top down. I like Bowles silent, methodical approach to aggressive smack talk from Rex and think we are clearly on the right path. But there are some things that are real risks even to us being a playoff team and am curious as to your thoughts. 1) a change of pace back. Ivory can't handle 20-25 per game given his style and he is the key cog to this offense. Powell and Stacy just aren't cutting it. when he's healthy, he's violent and by far our best offensive player. We need a shifty receiving back to keep him fresh through the season. 2) Pass rushing OLB - been a huge need for years. Guys are going to take the pats blueprint and test us through the air. We need youth back there and Pace isn't cutting it. 3) a punter - when you think it can't get any worse. 4) a useful TE. Watching Cumberland out there is absurd. I know people say Gailey doesn't use tight ends but cumberland impacts us in both pass and running game adversely. His blocking is still bad and if he were a threat it would prevent guys from doubling Marshall. 5) Marcus Williams - I think he is one of our best players and don't see why he only got 12 snaps last week. He should be starting over Cromartie in my opinion.
We essentially played a 4-2-5. With the big guys up front there is no need for a pass rushing outside linebacker per say. The pass rush can't go go stagnant half by half every game. I don't think it was necessarily their fault, as I think A) New England is the NFL's official sponsor in offensive holding B) Brady gets rid of the ball so fast and C) Brady has the best pocket presence ever/slides in the pocket better than anyone. They didn't play elite but they played good enough to win. It had nothing to do with edge speed.
well me thinks its pretty clear we need to improve the overall offensive talent next offseason. heavy offense in the draft. I mean heavy. and that's coming from someone who would take a LB with every freakin pick if given a chance. and u are right - a serious OLB would do this defense wonders. been bitching about this for years. now they don't grow on trees but it absolutely has to be the cornerstone of any 3-4 hybrid scheme u put on the field. one shutdown corner, a pro-bowl type NT, solid SS, and the stud OLB. that's the ticket.
Terrible post. They are not a clearly better team or organization. They barely won by a touchdown and could have easily lost if it weren't for 1-2 mistakes. The Jets and Pats are as evenly matched as they have been in a really long time.
The only thing that really bothered me was the fact that he kept Snacks in there when they knew the Pats were going to pass. I wonder what Bowles and this CS sees in Snacks and why they keep him in as much as they do ... he's a great run stopper, but he's awful on passing downs.
Our rematch with Cheatriots is in 2 months. Alot can happen in this league between now and then. Just dont want us to lose serve here and we win against the beatables. They looked worried. The writing is on the wall for the Evil Empire
My takeaways from the game: 1) I agree Williams needs more snaps. I thought when pryor went down Willaims should have taken over his coverage duties instead of Bailey. 2) I think Kerley proved again that he deserves more snaps and is clearly our third best receiver. I don't get why the coaching staff continues to sit this guy on the bench. I understood Enunwa because of his blocking but the guy couldn't catch the ball. We need that third passing option and this offense would take a big step forward. Smith clearly needs a lot of time to develop because missing training camp really hurt his progress. 3) We need to put Cromartie in for a couple returns each game. Our return game has never looked worse then this season. 4) The D line really disappointed me this game. They have proved to be elite run stuffing lineman with decent pass rushing skills. 4 first round picks and they couldn't get much pressure on Brady and I felt like there were a lot of plays Brady held on to the ball. One thing that I was shocked to see was Lorenzo Mauldin not getting one defensive snap and Douzable only getting 6. If guys were getting tired there should have been a rotation going on to keep them fresh. Isn't that the point of having depth at the position? 5) Fitz/Gailey getting away from what has proved to work this season and this particular game. Cumberland had more targets this game then he has all season. In the red zone Decker had single coverage multiple times and on the first drive on third down but we went to cumberland(imo it was pass interference as the defender hit cumbys arm/hand before the ball was even close) but that drive decker got us down the field with huge third down plays, why not go back to him when he's got single coverage in the red zone? One of the 3 and out series in the fourth we ran on 1st and got 3 yards. 2 and 7 Fitz goes to Cumberland who ran a absolutely horrible route. The biggest thing I teach my receivers is to attack the defender. He ran a lazy comeback route. Ball should have never been going to him on this play and we were lucky it wasn't a pick 6. Next play Fitz throws a deep ball to smith, hasn't worked once all year and he was well covered while again Decker had been killing it all day on third down. He ran an pit route behind Smiths streak and was open for the first down. That was a huge turning point that gave the pats the ball right back coming off there td drive and let them seal the game with another td drive. 6) The obvious: the third and 17, richardsons forced fumble that we didn't recover (still scored next drive but that would have carried over some huge momentum), and the Marshall TD drop. Can't wait to see this game played at MetLife, should be another awesome battle. Hopefully New England loses a couple games (I doubt it) so this game can be for the division lead once again. On to Daaaa Raiders! Another good, tough legit playoff contender. Always tough going on the road to the west coast and this is a very different raiders team. I have a lot of respect for how they have started building their team in the draft the past couple years.
At halftime average field position for the New England was starting at their own 40....for the Jets it was starting at our own 17. 23yd difference in field position is a pretty nice advantage. I'm pretty sure those stats trended the same in the 2nd half; and against other teams we faced this season.
Agree we need to target our hot receivers not Cumby and Smith Throw it to Kerley, I thought earlier he was just one of the Stooges but the kid scored us aTD Sunday Mac needs to find us a TE or use Bohannon
It's too early to tell if I'm happy with Bowles/Mac. I need a few seasons. Been burned too many times by, Joe Walton, Carrol, Kotite, Groh, Herm, Mangenius, and Rex.
Dude, either your reading comprehension is severely lacking or you couldn't be more wrong. If you're thinking he said the Jets are a better team and organization than the Pats, that's not what he said, but it seems to be what you think. If that's NOT what you think and you seriously think that the Jets and Pats have been evenly matched recently, then I don't know what to say. For you to claim that they have been even shows how off base your perspective is. How many SBs have the Jets won? If you can't see how the Jets are a better team and organization than they have been in the past, and how they're closing the gap on the Pats, then you need to get your eyes checked, because you're blind.
Turbo, Good post. I definitely agree on #s 1-4. I'm disappointed in Powell's play this season. He was supposed to be quicker and more powerful, but we've seen no evidence of that. I know he is banged up a little, but he has done nothing with the opportunities he's had. I never thought Stacy would be that helpful, but thought he would be better than he has been. I never understood his running back kicks, however. He's just too slow for that. I think the Jets definitely need to add not only a speedy RB to be Ivory's backup, but they also need to add a 3rd down back who can return kicks or punts. They definitely need to add a legitimate pass-rushing OLB threat. I've been clamoring for that for 10 years or more as it's THE most important position in a 3-4 D alignment and the Jets have always just given it lip service with the exception of drafting Gholston, and we all know what a disaster that turned out to be. Adding a speedy pass rushing terror would turn this into a dominant D and one of the best ever. It is an absolute must. Aside from QB, I think it is the #1 need. We definitely need an upgrade at punter. As several others have pointed out in other threads, for a team whose persona is pounding the rock and having a stout D, field position is everything. The Jets MUST find an excellent punter during the offseason. I don't care if they overpay a FA, clone Ray Guy, or use their 4th or 5th round draft pick on one, they have to find one. Davis is a decent backup at TE, but Cumberland is a diasaster and must go. I haven't totally given up on Amaro, and he may turn out to be a decent or even good pass receiving threat, but he's not tough and physical enough and not a good enough blocker. Ideally, I'd love for the Jets to find a good, young TE in the draft who excels at both blocking and receiving. He doesn't have to be a Gronk clone, just someone who is tough and rock solid. Amaro could be the backup, and Davis depth. I like Marcus Williams a lot, but I have to defer to Bowles on this one. He knows DBs and he sees what Williams does in practice. He knows his limitations. This may be Cro's last year. If so, I would expect Williams or possibly Milliner to take his place. To get to the next level, I think the Jets need to upgrade the following players/positions. One more offseason may not be enough, but they MUST address at least some of these. The numbers are not draft rounds, but just in the order or priority/need imo at this point in time. 1 - pass rushing OLBs to replace Pace and Coples. At least one of them must be able to cover TEs and RBs 2 - a stud RB prospect who can score from anywhere on the field, is a good receiver, and who will push Ivory for playing time 3 - a true starting-quality TE who can both block and receive 4 - an OT who can upgrade Giacomini and then slide over to LT when Brick retires 5 - RG 6 - a speedy ILB who excels at covering receivers either to eventually replace Harris or to replace Davis 7 - Punter 8 - A RB or WR who can return punts and KOs
I'd make a deal with the devil and bring Greg Hardy in next season. Nobody we can draft in the 20 range or FA we could sign has the ability to pass rush like he does. One more blowup in Dallas and he's coming dirt cheap. Wouldn't be popular but he could make this team much better without giving up an arm and a leg.
Cromartie played well Sunday. (although he did have an assist from LeFell on a couple occasions) Williams did not. Brady was picking on him and Bailey in the 4th quarter. Williams was beat on the Amendola TD that gave NE the lead
I was referring to us ( the jets being better). It's clear just watching a) player discipline b) improved talent and a clear vision on both sides of the ball and C) outside of the Geno fight seems like we are in the media for more of the right reasons. I really like Bowles and McCags and what they've done for the franchise and the fans.
Maybe it's just me but watching Harrison pass rushing against the Pats seems like it was fruitless. He's much better equipped to the run and he was effectively neutralized ( maybe I missed a pressure on film) but doesn't look like he's more than a 2 down player so having an edge rusher replace him on passing downs could be huge for this D.
This team is good enough to beat the Pats today w/o any further additions. If we have to start talking about what we need to add to this roster in order to get over the hump against the Pats, then we might as well pull an Idzik going forward and save cap space to spend when Beli and/or Brady finally decide to call it quits.
