Week 9: Bye Week

There is no excuse for the Jets to be worse than 5-3 by their bye week. Granted, they are the Jets and can’t make life easy on themselves, so 6-2 most likely is unrealistic. A 5-3 record at the bye should be more than enough to get position on a wildcard spot in January.

Week 10: At Seattle Seahawks

After 2008, when Brett Favre & the Jets imploded up in Seattle on a snowy night, I wished the Jets would never return to Seattle again. Well, never is finally here. Pete Carroll fields a talented roster with big question marks. Is Matt Flynn the QB in Seattle? What happens now with Marshawn Lynch after his recent run-in with the law? Was Bruce Irvin a reach at the 15th pick in the 2012 Draft? Irvin was picked right before the Jets selected DE Quinton Coples.

The Jets haven’t fared well the game after their bye under Rex Ryan, going 1-2 in the last three seasons. Seattle is a beatable team, considering the Jets are posturing to have a top 5 defense in the NFL this season. Last year, the Jets ended up 5th in total yards allowed per game with 312.1. This year, the defense will field a better pass rush, the linebacker corps should be much improved & the safety play should improve with Bell & Landry starting. Eric Smith is expected to provide stability as the rotational safety, and will be healthy after playing with a torn meniscus last season. Expect the Jets to outclass Seattle or lose due to Sanchez throwing an exorbitant amount of passes leading to interceptions, a la Favre.

Jets should leave Seattle with a decisive win and without a Shaun Ellis lawsuit after tossing a block of snow at Seattle fans.

Week 11: At St. Louis Rams

The Rams have been a thorn in the Jets side long before the Marshall Faulk days. The Jets are 3-9 all time vs. the Rams, with the lone bright spot since 1983 being the ’08 Favre-led Jets trouncing the Rams 47-3. Now that Jeff Fisher is the Rams head coach, this team will play much better annually. The Rams are a franchise that has done a ton of work to improve its talent, bolstering the D-line with former Miami Dolphin Kendall Langford & drafting LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers with the 14th pick in the 1st round in this years draft. They also signed star corner back Cortland Finnegan from the Tennessee Titans, reuniting Finnegan with head coach Jeff Fisher.

The offense isn’t much improved from 2011, but injuries were the key to ruining all hope in St. Louis last year. The Rams will have a rough stretch before meeting the Jets, playing Green Bay, New England, then having a bye week. After, they play San Francisco, then the Jets. The season could easily be lost by the November 18th matchup with the Jets. Expect the Jets to go down to St. Louis and have a big day defensively. If kicker Josh Brown does in fact beat out incumbent Nick Folk, this will be his 1st game against the team that once made him the highest paid kicker in the NFL. The Jets better not get complacent, otherwise this will be another one of those games they let slip out of their hands.

Week 12: Vs. New England Patriots on Thursday Night

Game 2 Vs. The Patriots will be a vital game to the Jets season. If the Jets split the series, it will be considered a successful campaign against Bill Belichick & Co. I have learned over the years to never doubt Tom Brady, he can destroy any defense in the NFL & he will put up big numbers this season as well. If the Jets get swept by the Patriots again, it will be another ugly season, with more trash talk by the Sith lord himself.

Week 13: Vs. Arizona Cardinals

After week 12, the Jets will not face one top tier team the rest of the way to January. Arizona will impress at times in 2012, but by no means will be making the playoffs, barring unforeseen events and more zombie attacks across the United States.

So who can throw the ball in Arizona? Their current situation under center isn’t looking great. Kevin Kolb should win the job but will he earn it? After this pre-season opener, there are more questions at QB than answers. Larry Fitzgerald will go through another rough season on a terrible offense.

The Cardinals defense was ranked 18th in total yards in 2011, and should be improved in 2012, fielding corner back Patrick Peterson, safety Adrian Wilson, a stellar 3-4 d-line featuring Darnell Dockett & newly paid Calais Campbell. If the Jets beat the Patriots, this will be a trap game. If they lose to the patriots, this is where anger in the name of Rex Ryan is unleashed following 10 days off from a Thursday night disaster. » Continue reading “Some Reasons for Hope in Jets Land: A Look At The Last 8 Games Of The Season”

By: Eric Gonzalez

The 2012 NFL strength of schedule has the New York Jets looking good, on paper that is. Although the strength of schedule can have some merit, it really means a whole lot of nothing, because the strength of schedules percentage is based on the previous years records. By merit, it gives credit to successful teams from the previous year, and that’s about it.

Looking at the 2012 strength of schedule (based on 2011 NFL records), the Jets are tied for 10th place, with a .492 opponents winning percentage. The other teams with the same percentage are the Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears & Detroit Lions. The New England Patriots have the league best percentage of .453, while the Buffalo Bills are ranked 3rd with .473 & the Miami Dolphins are 14th with .496.

The answer to why all AFC East teams have such favorable schedules is simple. The two divisions the AFC East plays are the AFC South & the NFC West. Both divisions, minus the Houston Texans & San Francisco 49ers, were miserable and don’t appear to have improved much. The Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans & Indianapolis Colts are all in the midst of transitions. Though, the Jaguars seem to be in more of a depression than transition in recent years.  The NFC West fields the 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks & St.Louis Rams. The division, outside of San Fran, have major problems of their own. It appears all six teams will fare poorly, with inexperienced or aging quarterback situations.

The rest of the Jets schedule is comprised of the divisional games & the Pittsburgh Steelers & San Diego Chargers.

Looking at the 16 games the Jets play in the 2012 season, my opinion is that anything less than 10 wins is a disappointment.

Week 1: Vs. Buffalo Bills

Buffalo fields a very talented but thin roster. The team failed to protect QB Ryan Fitzpatrick last season, and with the current O-Line nothing will change. He will take a beating and will start hot and fade by late October. Their Defensive line is absolutely ridiculous. Kyle Williams (not “that guy” in San Francisco) is a 4-3 nose tackle that resembles the monster that is Aaron Smith (also in San Francisco). Then there is defensive tackle Marcell Dareus. If he improves upon year 1, this will easily be the best inside duo of any 4-3 line in the NFL. On the ends are newly signed DE’s Mario Williams (new $100 Million man who is a sack machine, 53 sacks in 6 years) & Mark Anderson, who had 10 sacks in New England last year. All four men deserve double teams at all times. If healthy this team will have a very impressive Defense if Fred Jackson and Fitzpatrick don’t hold up. Jets don’t bring their A-game this will be an ugly loss to start to the season.

Week 2: At Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers haven’t replaced the mediocre running back Rashard Mendenhall, and have a young O-line to go with it. Big Ben is in for a long year and Mike Wallace hasn’t received a new deal. Instead, receiver Antonio Brown received the big money on the cash strapped Steelers. Wallace will most likely stage a hold out and miss time deep into training camp, if not longer. Wallace also didn’t attend any of the Steelers offseason program. The Defense is finally going to feel its age; Casey Hampton, 35, tore his ACL January and probably won’t be ready for week 2. Outside Linebacker James Harrison is now 34, lets see what he still has after a 9 sack 2011 campaign. OLB Lamarr Woodley, Inside Linebacker Lawrence Timmons & Safety Troy Polamalu are the three guys that defense will lean heavily on this year. I expect Rex & the Jets to go into Pittsburgh and bully them with the ground & pound. » Continue reading “Some Reasons for Hope in Jets Land: A Look at the First 8 Games of the Season”

Mercifully, things have been pretty quiet in Jets land. Here are some of the top headlines:

I know everyone loves James Walker as much as I do, so let’s check out what Walker gave the Jets in his AFC East offseason report card. I can’t wait to hear what you all have to say about it.

Tim Tebow to attend Jets West Camp >> I’m not even commenting on this. Or the fact that it is “news.” I’ll let the guys on First Take care of that for you.

Boomer Esiason Thinks Jets Need Divine Intervention and Tebow Is It >> Okay, not really. But kinda. Check out Boomer’s thoughts on the Tebow trade, from CBSSports.com.

The Jets Open Two MiniCamps to the Public on June 13 and 14th  >> The Jets will open two mini camps to the public on June 13th and 14th at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, N.J. The gates open at 10 am -2:30 pm.  Practice begins at 11 am. Admission and parking are free.

That’s My Boy Premiere  >> Rex Ryan makes a cameo in the new Adam Sandler movie “That’s My Boy,” playing both a lawyer and a Patriots fan. That’s acting, folks. The movie premiered in Los Angeles Monday evening. Per Peter King, Sandler added two more scenes with Ryan to the final edit of the film.

The Revis Two Year Argument >> The guys at NY Jets cap take a look at the Revis deal and clarify a lot of what is being reported about his ’10 deal in the national media. As always, they do a stellar job.

Santonio Holmes Returns to OTAs >> According to sources, Holmes was back with the team at Florham Park yesterday after spending two weeks abroad visiting the troops.

If you’re a betting man (or woman!), this is the post for you.

On Wednesday, Cantor Gaming was the first Vegas bookmaker to release the win totals odds for the 2012 NFL season. Cantor has the Jets at 8.5 (Over: -115, Under: -115),  and according to these odds, they would finish second place in the AFC East.

MGM resorts released their odds in time for the holiday weekend. Only 9 of the 32 teams are the same as the Cantor odds, but 29 of 32 are within a half game of one another. The Jets again come in at 8.5.

For some perspective, Cantor runs 7 books in Vegas (Venetian, Palazzo, Hard Rock, Cosmopolitan, Palms, Tropicana and The M Resort), while MGM runs 12 (including the New York-New York, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, Mirage and the brand new ARIA casino).

Two weeks ago Cantor released the spread on weeks 2-16 and the sports book has the Jets favored in 8 games with two pick’ems (at Houston and Tennessee). The lines for week 1 were released about a month ago, and Vegas has the Jets by 6 over the Bills. The lines for week 17 has not been released yet.

*Insert generic advice about gambling responsibly here.*

But seriously – and don’t take this the wrong way – my best advice is to not place bets on the New York Jets. At least, not yet. It is May after all, and I’m really not comfortable making any predictions about the team’s record until I actually see what the 2012 New York Jets are going to look like. So you’ll have to stay tuned if you are generally interested in my ugh, financial advice.

My final suggestion on this matter is to be sure to get an M Life card if you are in Vegas. The sheer number or resorts owned by MGM almost guarantees you will get a return on your…investment (?).