by Stop Mike Lupica on October 22 at 10:25AM
I had three pages of notes from yesterday's game. I'm not going to bore you with the details... here are the big points:
The Bengals are a sloppy team. Very sloppy. Early on they had two false start penalties that turned short third downs into 3rd & long. They had a critical roughing the passer penalty later in the game.
The Jets scored two touchdowns on sloppiness by Cincy (three if you count the last one): Coles got open on a 57-yard touchdown on the Jets' third play of the game - that was straight up bad defense, though the Jets deserve credit for running their best designed pass of the year.
The second Jets touchdown was even worse for Cincy. Jets are up 13-10 with 2:08 to go in the first half. They start their drive at their own 20, with only one timeout left:
-Chad Pennington hits on a slant to Brad Smith. 12 yards. 2:00 warning/Jets 32 yard line.
-Leon Washington gets 8 yards on a rush, manages to get out of bounds, too. 1:53/40 yard line (2nd & 2).
-Jerricho Cotchery gets three yards on a quick out pattern, stops the clocl. 1:47/43 yard line (1st & 10).
-Incomplete pass to Washington (out of the backfield), thanks to Cincy's pass rush pressure. 1:43/43 (2nd & 10).
-Washington 15-yards on a catch and run. Exact same play that just failed! Clock running/Cincy 42 (1st & 10).
-Snapped at 1:19; Incomplete pass to the fullback, who gets dinged in the helmet with the pass. Damn kid, turn around quicker! 1:15/42 yardline (2nd & 10).
-Handoff to Washington, who loses a yard. Killing clock? Clock ticking, 3rd & 10.
Flag on the play. Delay of game on the Cincy defense. One of the linemen would not let Leon Washington get up after the play, pushing his shoulders down, while another lineman held his legs. Wow this team is sloppy. Marvin Lewis is like the anti-Herm Edwards (While coaching the Jets, Herm's teams were always the least penaltized team in the league).
-That flag stopped the clock. So now its 3rd & 5.
-And now the touchdown pass to Coles: two Cincy defenders collide trying to tackle Coles, who gets away and is out for the touchdown. A 12-yard pass turns into a 37-yard touchdown. That's why I've said all along Cincinnati is sloppy. They are making the Jets look much better than they are.
Oh, and the half ends with Cincy driving to get a field goal, but getting called for penalties for holding and intentional grounding with 8 second left, which cause the clock to run off. Just a terrible sloppy team. No discipline.
The second half feature Cincy wearing the Jets undersized front line down with run after run. Running back Kenny Watson crushed the Jets in the second half.
The Jets Are Bad #1: The Jets weakness against the run. Mangini uses a 3-4 defense, which is rare in the NFL. He insists on using it even though the NT is Dewayne Robertson, who is only 315 lbs, kinda small for a NT in a 3-4 system. The end result: every game he gets worn down by the 3rd quarter, and the opposing team's running game gets better as the game goes along. This has been one of the problems on the defense all season long.
In the end, the Jets third touchdown signifies a lot about their season: it was meaningless, and the result of the opposing teams apathy/sloppiness (allowing a Hail Mary touchdown to Cotchery with no time left).
The Jets main problems this season:
1. Defense. The aforementioned "NT is undersized" therefore we can't stop the run late in the game problem. Cincy had 177 yards rushing yesterday; Philly had 151 last week; the Giants had 188 the week before that. Get the picture?
Oh, and they are also very poor defending against the screen this season.
2. The Offensive Line. Thomas Jones has had only one big game - the 130 yard rushing game against the Eagles last week. The reality is that the line has struggled all season long. They've allowed blitzes and pressure on the QB in key situations. More importantly they have failed to open up holes in the line for Jones to run through. This is an inexperience bunch, and it has shown all season long. Pete Kendall may not have been the cure to all the ails the line, but having him would have been better than not having him. A small difference, perhaps, but the smallest difference might be enough to make two or three interceptions go away, or make the extra run or two necessary for the Jets to win one of those games they gave away in the fourth (Buffalo and Cincy both loom large, since they were against equally poor teams, though the Eagles is another example).
3. Chad Pennington/the offensive play calling. Chad Pennington's late interceptions have led to points the other way. Whether or not they really would have made a difference in the Giants or Bengals games is debatable. The play calling by the offensive coach has been vanilla. Near the goal line? Fade to Coles.
Whether its Chad's fault or the coaching staff, the tight end has never been a factor in the passing game during Chad's 5 years. Considering how many of Chad's passes are short, that makes no sense.
Also, beyond Cotchery (who is a bit underutilized this season) and Coles, there is no third receiver firmly established. Brad Smith has sort of taken over the role from Justin McCarreins, but the third receiver is only used about two to four times a game, tops. The Jets really need to get the third receiver involved, as well as the TE.
These are no longer Chad's problems... they are now Kellen Clemens problems to fix.
4. The Jets defense doesn't force any turnovers, and doesn't get much pressure on the quarterback.
The switch from Chad Pennington to Kellen Clemens:
I'm not opposed to it. With the Jets now 1-6 there is no excuse to not give the young backup quarterback a look. However, if the season was still salvageable, say 3-4, I would say stick with Chad. Yes, he has no arm strength. He never had any, though. He's still managed to be a winning quarterback whenever he's been healthy. The problem with the Jets goes beyond the QB position, to the running game, the offensive line, the offensive play calling and the defensive personnel and how they are utilized.
However none of those things are going to get fixed over night. The only thing the Jets can do is try to spark something with a new QB. The line is still going to be a mess until the Jets either sign or trade for a veteran guard next season, or hope they young line (which is very talented - Nick Mangold and Ferguson are both going to be anchors for many years, the Jets hope) grows up quickly.
The coaching gets a free pass from the press, which is still sucking up to Mangini. It won't last long, however, if the Jets don't turn it around next season.
Kellen Clemens has some things going in his favor. A start against the 2-4 Bills means the Jets will be pitted against an equally bad team. The opportunity for a win is significantly higher than when he last started, which was against the Baltimore Ravens. I can see Clemens doing well, and more importantly improving as the game goes along, which would definitely be a change from the past four weeks for this Jets team.
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The Bengals are a sloppy team. Very sloppy. Early on they had two false start penalties that turned short third downs into 3rd & long. They had a critical roughing the passer penalty later in the game.
The Jets scored two touchdowns on sloppiness by Cincy (three if you count the last one): Coles got open on a 57-yard touchdown on the Jets' third play of the game - that was straight up bad defense, though the Jets deserve credit for running their best designed pass of the year.
The second Jets touchdown was even worse for Cincy. Jets are up 13-10 with 2:08 to go in the first half. They start their drive at their own 20, with only one timeout left:
-Chad Pennington hits on a slant to Brad Smith. 12 yards. 2:00 warning/Jets 32 yard line.
-Leon Washington gets 8 yards on a rush, manages to get out of bounds, too. 1:53/40 yard line (2nd & 2).
-Jerricho Cotchery gets three yards on a quick out pattern, stops the clocl. 1:47/43 yard line (1st & 10).
-Incomplete pass to Washington (out of the backfield), thanks to Cincy's pass rush pressure. 1:43/43 (2nd & 10).
-Washington 15-yards on a catch and run. Exact same play that just failed! Clock running/Cincy 42 (1st & 10).
-Snapped at 1:19; Incomplete pass to the fullback, who gets dinged in the helmet with the pass. Damn kid, turn around quicker! 1:15/42 yardline (2nd & 10).
-Handoff to Washington, who loses a yard. Killing clock? Clock ticking, 3rd & 10.
Flag on the play. Delay of game on the Cincy defense. One of the linemen would not let Leon Washington get up after the play, pushing his shoulders down, while another lineman held his legs. Wow this team is sloppy. Marvin Lewis is like the anti-Herm Edwards (While coaching the Jets, Herm's teams were always the least penaltized team in the league).
-That flag stopped the clock. So now its 3rd & 5.
-And now the touchdown pass to Coles: two Cincy defenders collide trying to tackle Coles, who gets away and is out for the touchdown. A 12-yard pass turns into a 37-yard touchdown. That's why I've said all along Cincinnati is sloppy. They are making the Jets look much better than they are.
Oh, and the half ends with Cincy driving to get a field goal, but getting called for penalties for holding and intentional grounding with 8 second left, which cause the clock to run off. Just a terrible sloppy team. No discipline.
The second half feature Cincy wearing the Jets undersized front line down with run after run. Running back Kenny Watson crushed the Jets in the second half.
The Jets Are Bad #1: The Jets weakness against the run. Mangini uses a 3-4 defense, which is rare in the NFL. He insists on using it even though the NT is Dewayne Robertson, who is only 315 lbs, kinda small for a NT in a 3-4 system. The end result: every game he gets worn down by the 3rd quarter, and the opposing team's running game gets better as the game goes along. This has been one of the problems on the defense all season long.
In the end, the Jets third touchdown signifies a lot about their season: it was meaningless, and the result of the opposing teams apathy/sloppiness (allowing a Hail Mary touchdown to Cotchery with no time left).
The Jets main problems this season:
1. Defense. The aforementioned "NT is undersized" therefore we can't stop the run late in the game problem. Cincy had 177 yards rushing yesterday; Philly had 151 last week; the Giants had 188 the week before that. Get the picture?
Oh, and they are also very poor defending against the screen this season.
2. The Offensive Line. Thomas Jones has had only one big game - the 130 yard rushing game against the Eagles last week. The reality is that the line has struggled all season long. They've allowed blitzes and pressure on the QB in key situations. More importantly they have failed to open up holes in the line for Jones to run through. This is an inexperience bunch, and it has shown all season long. Pete Kendall may not have been the cure to all the ails the line, but having him would have been better than not having him. A small difference, perhaps, but the smallest difference might be enough to make two or three interceptions go away, or make the extra run or two necessary for the Jets to win one of those games they gave away in the fourth (Buffalo and Cincy both loom large, since they were against equally poor teams, though the Eagles is another example).
3. Chad Pennington/the offensive play calling. Chad Pennington's late interceptions have led to points the other way. Whether or not they really would have made a difference in the Giants or Bengals games is debatable. The play calling by the offensive coach has been vanilla. Near the goal line? Fade to Coles.
Whether its Chad's fault or the coaching staff, the tight end has never been a factor in the passing game during Chad's 5 years. Considering how many of Chad's passes are short, that makes no sense.
Also, beyond Cotchery (who is a bit underutilized this season) and Coles, there is no third receiver firmly established. Brad Smith has sort of taken over the role from Justin McCarreins, but the third receiver is only used about two to four times a game, tops. The Jets really need to get the third receiver involved, as well as the TE.
These are no longer Chad's problems... they are now Kellen Clemens problems to fix.
4. The Jets defense doesn't force any turnovers, and doesn't get much pressure on the quarterback.
The switch from Chad Pennington to Kellen Clemens:
I'm not opposed to it. With the Jets now 1-6 there is no excuse to not give the young backup quarterback a look. However, if the season was still salvageable, say 3-4, I would say stick with Chad. Yes, he has no arm strength. He never had any, though. He's still managed to be a winning quarterback whenever he's been healthy. The problem with the Jets goes beyond the QB position, to the running game, the offensive line, the offensive play calling and the defensive personnel and how they are utilized.
However none of those things are going to get fixed over night. The only thing the Jets can do is try to spark something with a new QB. The line is still going to be a mess until the Jets either sign or trade for a veteran guard next season, or hope they young line (which is very talented - Nick Mangold and Ferguson are both going to be anchors for many years, the Jets hope) grows up quickly.
The coaching gets a free pass from the press, which is still sucking up to Mangini. It won't last long, however, if the Jets don't turn it around next season.
Kellen Clemens has some things going in his favor. A start against the 2-4 Bills means the Jets will be pitted against an equally bad team. The opportunity for a win is significantly higher than when he last started, which was against the Baltimore Ravens. I can see Clemens doing well, and more importantly improving as the game goes along, which would definitely be a change from the past four weeks for this Jets team.
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