Photo credit: Tim Farrell/The Star-Ledger

The Jets obviously want me to die young. Today was proof. When they were shout out AT HOME by the 49ers a few weeks ago, I wasn’t even sad. I felt nothing. This one? This one hurts.

The Jets showed a lot of fight in their 29-26 overtime loss to the Patriots, but ultimately, they came up short. The Patriots now lead the AFC East at 4-3, and the Jets let a golden opportunity to take a lead over their bitter rivals from the north slip through their fingers.

While Twitter finger points and argues Team Sanchez or Team Tebow, allow me to offer some quick thoughts on the Jets loss:

• Moral victory? No. Because the way to the playoffs is through New England. You can’t go to the playoffs if you don’t win these games. I saw some encouraging stuff, but I won’t call it a moral victory.
• Jeremy Kerley, who set career bests in both receptions (7) and yards (120) and has his first 100-yard game, is the clear offensive MVP for the Jets seven games into the season. He has taken a huge step up from his play in the preseason and at a time when injuries have left the Jets thin at the position.
• Lex Hilliard is obviously a huge upgrade over John Conner at fullback.  I kill Tannenbaum for a lot of things, but I’ll give him credit for this one. (I also can’t help but think Sparano had more to do with it than anything else).
• Who is the guy in the #23 jersey and what has he done with Shonn Greene? No, but seriously, Greene is looking vastly improved in the past two games, and the Pats run defense is NOT the Colts run defense. Greene took a NASTY hit to the hit and miraculously was cleared to return (I call BS, but whatever), and we have to thank the football gods he wasn’t seriously hurt. The Jets need Greene to continue to run like this if they want to have success. » Continue reading “Quick Hits: Jets Lose 29-26 to Patriots in Overtime”

LaRon Landry will face one of his biggest tasks yet, matching up Patriots tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

4 things to look for in the Jets Vs. Patriots game.

1. The move to start Austin Howard at RT has paid off as the pass protection for the Jets this season has been much better.  Mark has been pressured at times but overall the protection has been sound, but it will be interesting to see how the O-line responds against the Patriots pass rush.  Their first round pick, Chandler Jones, has played well and is a favorite for the defensive rookie of the year.  He has already compiled 5 sacks and 27 tackles in the first 6 games and it will be interesting to see how the o-line fares against him.
2. The Jets secondary has a huge task ahead of them in Sunday’s game.  They will be facing one of the most potent offenses in NFL and how they respond will dictate the outcome of the game.  The Jets safeties will have to play aggressive and make sure that both the Patriots tight ends don’t have another huge game. I feel that should not be an issue because both Landry and Bell are physical players and should be able impose themselves.  What really concerns me is Kyle Wilson and how he will respond to covering either Welker or Loyd.  Both of these players are huge play makers and Welker has been Brady’s go to guy for a long time.  I expect the Jets will struggle to contain Welker but it remains to be seen how much the Jets can limit his big plays.
3. The Jets defensive line will have their hands full against the Patriots running game.  Their up-tempo offense allows them to run a ton of plays and the Jets will need to make sure they don’t give up huge chunks of yards to the running backs.  The tackling and run blocking will have to be as superb as it was last week to limit the Patriots control of the game clock.
4. The Jets’ offense is down to only 2 healthy running backs and they will need a good performance from Greene to make sure they can stay in this game.  I expect the Jets’ to run the ball at least 20 times to help open up the passing attack.  There will be some big explosive plays in this game and it remains to be seen whether the Jets avail those chances.

Shahmeer is a regular contributor to The Green Room. You can follow him on Twitter at @shehzada_ .

Kerley will be the longest-tenured WR suiting up tonight (Photo: The Star-Ledger).

In lieu of a traditional game preview, The Green Room staff has compiled our thoughts on tonight’s game and highlighted a few things we’ve got our eye on.

Let us know what you’ll be watching for in tonight’s game by weighing in via the comments section below.

Kristine

• The struggling Jets run defense will face another difficult opponent this week with Arian Foster – one of, if not the best running back’s in the league – coming to town. The Jets are currently allowing 2.6 yards per rush after initial contact (31st in the league!) , and that’s simply unacceptable for a Rex Ryan defense. This defensive line was highly touted coming into the season and to say they have been a disappointment would be an understatement. They need to close the gaps against the Houston zone run attack, get some pressure on the QB and vastly improve their tackling. Just..show me something.
• How will Sanchez respond to another poor performance and a week filled with questions about his job security? It sure does seem like a set-up-to-fail game considering second-year (and 5’9″!) Jeremy Kerley will likely be the longest-tenured wide receiver suiting up tonight, but Sanchez has to step up his game, too. (Sanchez is currently last in the league in completion percentage, 29th in the league in yards per attempt, and more than half  of his incompletions are due to an off target throws). While the situation with his skill position players is deplorable, Sanchez could also himself with fewer turnovers, better decision making, and I’ll say it  – a little less of the sad panda routine.

Sydney

• Looking to see if the coaching staff smartens up about how NOT good Shonn Greene is.
• I want to see how Sanchez handles the pressure he’ll be under.

Shahmeer

Drew

• I want to see if Antonio Cromartie can respond to his statement, being the best CB in the league now that Darrelle Revis is out… Man-to-man with Andre Johnson.
• Also want to see David Harris make a big play. He is due, and needs to continue to play like he did in his stellar season last year. He was tied with Revis for team lead 4 INTs. Besides pass defense, he is notorious for cleaning up plays. Bart Scott is know for taking on the blocks, Harris cleans it up. Period. Get it done #52.

After the Jets opened the season with a decisive win, they fell flat on their face against the Pittsburgh Steelers, losing 27 – 10.

The Jets opening drive was fantastic, with quarterback Mark Sanchez going 4 – 5 for 80 yards with a touchdown pass. Receiver Santonio Holmes made the touchdown grab on a slant route for 14 yards on Steelers star corner Ike Taylor. Receiver Jeremy Kerley also caught a beautiful pass on the drive, running a seam route for 45 yards, which appeared to ignite Sanchez & co.

After scoring 10 points off the first 2 offensive drives, the Jets offense flat lined the rest of the way. There is no coincidence that the Jets stopped scoring after Sanchez was blasted with a helmet-to-helmet shot from linebacker Lawrence Timmons. Timmons hit Sanchez with the crown of his helmet, which lead to a 15 yard personal foul call. Expect a fine on Timmons, who did his best James Harrison impersonation on the hit.

Sanchez finished the day 10 – 27 for 138 yards and a touchdown with a passer rating of 66.6 and a QB rating of 46.5. Although these numbers look miserable, Sanchez is not entirely to blame. Receivers Holmes, and Stephen Hill underperformed for most of the day. Hill was victimized at the line of scrimmage by press coverage, and went without a catch on two targets. Holmes benefitted from 4 defensive penalties, but still only came away with 3 receptions and a couple drops on 11 targets. Holmes lost the battle against Taylor, 32, who looked like his former self with 2 pass deflections and blanket coverage on Holmes. Sanchez will be very appreciative when tight end Dustin Keller returns from a hamstring injury. Keller’s backup, Jeff Cumberland is not close to producing at the same level as Sanchez’s most consistent target.

The running game was non-existent for either team, with Jets running back Bilal Powell leading all rushers in the game with 33 yards on 9 carries. The Jets had a total of 90 yards on the ground, while the Steelers had 66 yards. The Jets offensive line had a sub-par day, and will have to play with a meaner streak to be competitive against upper tier teams.

Backup quarterback Tim Tebow played only 3 offensive snaps, all consecutive in the 3^rd quarter. Tebow gained 22 yards on one run, and the only time the Jets had back-to-back first downs came when Tebow was in at QB. Granted, both 1^st downs were running plays.

The Jets defense, minus cornerback Darrelle Revis, did their best to contain the Steelers, but couldn’t manage. The Jets pass rush made the Steelers offensive line look like a set of pro bowlers, coming away with 2 sacks. Backup linebacker Garrett McIntyre, who was thrust into the starting lineup due to injuries, came away with both sacks on Ben Roethlisberger. Outside those two sacks, Roethlisberger looked near perfect, evading pressure consistently by sliding up in the pocket and passing 24 – 31 for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns. Big Ben had a great day, finding open targets consistently, and even throwing a touch down pass to receiver Mike Wallace for 37 yards on 3^rd and 16. Cornerback Antonio Cromartie did not play the ball and got lost in the end zone when Wallace came down with the ball.

The Jets also lost the time of possession battle by being on offense for 23 minutes while the Steelers were in control for over 36 minutes. The most important drive of the day came with just under 14 minutes remaining in the 4^th quarter, when the Steelers took 10 plus minutes off the clock on 14 plays for 75 yards and a touchdown. The defense had a hard time getting off the field all day, only forcing 3 three and outs, and allowing 4 drives of over 9 plays. Those 4 drives resulted in 20 points for the Steelers.

Jets safety LaRon Landry made matters worse, with 2 personal fouls that extended drives and killed the defense. Landry is a ferocious hitter who tries to make plays, but both penalties were ill advised. Landry also whiffed on a potential red-zone sack that lead to more points for Pittsburgh.

Both special teams units were relatively quiet, except for Jeremy Kerley’s muffed punt that evaporated any hope left for the Jets to muster a comeback. The play took the Jets from starting at midfield to going back on defense at midfield.

After being out played in Pittsburgh, the Jets will look to rebound against the 1 – 1 Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins are coming off a big win against the Oakland Raiders, 35 – 13.

Tonight’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals did not match the expectations or hype, with Tony Sparano’s offense managing only 2 field goals in a 17 – 6 loss to start the pre-season.

Mark Sanchez went 4 – 6 for 21 yards and was sacked twice. Without starting receiver Santonio Holmes and right tackle Wayne Hunter in the lineup, Sanchez didn’t have many opportunities to make any decent passes, and the offensive line didn’t provide the running game with much either. Shonn Greene ran 5 times for a meager 11 yards.

The Jets opened the game with a dump off pass, a short run and a sack. A drive that fell far short of the expectations of the Jets fan base.

On the defenses first series, the Jets forced the Bengals a three and out with a pass broken-up by free agent safety, Yeremiah Bell. Bell, the former Miami Dolphin, put a big hit on TE Jermaine Gresham to break up the potential first down pass.

The Jets second offensive drive started with a solid 6 yard run by Shonn Greene, then another Greene run for just a yard, and finished with a incomplete short out to rookie Jordan White. A penalty on special teams put the Jets back on the field.

On first down, Sanchez hit wide receiver Patrick Turner with a pass for 5 yards.

Three of the Bengals starters sustained injuries during the game. First, left guard Travelle Wharton went down, then linebacker Rey Maualuga with a knee injury. Defensive End Carlos Dunlap sustained an injury shortly after and was also forced from the game.

On Sanchez’s last drive with the offense, Sanchez dove for the first down, and converted on the third and five. The dive was reminiscent of the same first down dive against Buffalo in November 2010 that forced him to miss the next game with a knee injury. The rest of the drive didn’t bode so well. Sanchez was sacked once and disrupted on the next passing attempt resulting in a punt. The offensive line was out of sync from the get go and the tight ends could not block anything coming their way.

Tim Tebow played exactly the same way he did in Denver; he ran more than he passed. His final numbers were 4 – 8 for 27 yards and 4 runs for 32 yards. After one pre-season game, one thing is certain; it takes more than one defender to get Tebow down.

The battle for the primary backup running back was a clear decision tonight: Joe McKnight ran much swifter than Bilal Powell. McKnight finished with 7 rushes for 32 yards and caught 3 passes for 34 yards. » Continue reading “Jets Lose 6 – 17 To Bengals In Ugly Preseason Opener”

This week’s mailbag talks about the Jets running game, with a focus on running back Shonn Greene. Greene  finds himself the subject of a fair amount of Twitter debate this morning, making this mailbag question especially interesting. I also talk about a trend in the NFL that seems to be here to stay.

Thanks for all the great feedback and mailbag questions, as always. I will continue with the off-season mailbags every other week until the start of training camp.

Do you see any of our backs getting 1000 yards this year? Or each guy getting around 800? (Greene and McKnight) @AnthoNYJetsFan

We all know that the Jets will be running the ball much more this season, and with an increased number of carries and (hopefully) an improved performance from the offensive line, the total yardage among all of the running backs will increase.

But what can we expect, statistically speaking, from these backs on an individual basis?

First and foremost, I am of the opinion that the Jets run game this year will be largely be a three-headed monster (even four-headed, if you count Tebow), and that while it will benefit the team, it will ultimately keep one player from posting the kind of numbers that Fantasy Football championships are made of.

I also happen to believe that Shonn Greene is not a real #1, bell-cow type of running back.  I’ve said as much for well over a year now, and while Greene has been servicable, and at times shown flashes of brilliance, he just isn’t elite. Evan Silva from Rotoworld went on an interesting rant on his TL this morning about Greene’s running ability, and I feel he outlines a lot of the issues I also have with Greene: lack of power, runs like he is stuck in the mud, takes too long to get going, doesn’t overpower or wear down opponents. » Continue reading “Monday Mailbag: Projecting The Running Backs And The Future of Defense In The NFL”

I received a ton of great questions for this week’s mailbag, including two on the Yeremiah Bell signing. I’ve combined them below, and the safety position is the focus of this week’s mailbag.

You can submit your questions for next week’s mailbag to me on Twitter, @kristinereese.

Yeremiah Bellwith

Do you like the Bell signing? He’s another SS, so its a little confusing to me. Now we have 3 safety’s that play on the line! @JoePosa

Who are our most likely starting safeties, considering health & fit to the D? @DougASmith

My initial thoughts on the Bell signing were mixed (much like Joe’s). I, like so many other Jets fans, felt that given the abysmal play at the position last year (a healthy Jim Leonhard being the exception), the team obviously needed to address the safety position. They have essentially done just that. The problem is, I don’t know that they have done it exactly how I’d hoped.

On Friday, I wrote that I felt because Bell is a strong safety, and a declining player that is poor in coverage, he was brought on as depth and essentially as insurance for the injury prone LaRon Landry. However, it seems that may not be the case. ESPN’s Rich Cimini wrote yesterday morning that the “Jets envision Bell as a starter” and that we can expect to see a “Bell-Landry safety tandem.”

Bell did lead the Dolphins in tackles last year and he is definitely a solid run defender, but starting Bell at SS leaves Landry at FS, with Eric Smith off the bench (playing sub packages and special teams, where he is best). Given Landry’s health and skill set, I’m cautious of this combination, but I suppose this does makes sense considering Bell is better than Eric Smith. That said, how do you convince your fanbase you’ve come up with a solution for the terror that is the Patriots tight ends while you roll out one of the slowest safety tandems in the NFL (hyperbole is the Jets way, people).

Patt Kirwin of CBS Sports wrote an excellent piece about this very issue, explaining the Jets will run a “Big Nickel”  defensive concept to deal with with the New England offense.  In the “Big Nickel,” all three safeties would be on the field at the same time, with one “hybrid” safety playing Big Nickel Safety to match up against the Patriots offensive sets. I would imagine they will run the same kind of defensive concept against other teams with two receiving tight ends like the Colts, Broncos, Chargers and the Vikings, should they ever meet.

There are currently 7 safeties on the roster – Eric Smith, LaRon Landry, Yeremiah Bell, DeAngelo Smith, Tracy Wilson and the two rookies, Antonio Allen and Josh Bush. It’s difficult to argue that anything but starting Landry and Bell gives the Jets the best chance to win, but Landry’s health concern is a serious one. If Landry is unable to play, then what? Eric Smith moves into his role (and I will refrain from getting started on that) and one of the other guys would be asked to step up.  Lots of question marks that need to be worked out.

I can get behind the plans that the team has for the position on paper, but I would still be more comfortable with more of a pure free safety type, and preferably someone with the cerebral skills necessary to call the plays, as Jim Leonhard did. I believe that the Jets hope to bring up Josh Bush into this role, but the question is can he be ready to take on this role at the start of the 2012 season? We are talking about the Jets defense here, and so the answer is likely no. Does this mean Leonhard is brought back to help Bush and others along? It doesn’t look good at the moment but I wouldn’t count it out.

» Continue reading “Monday Mailbag: The Safeties, Shonn Greene and Hayden Smith”

WR SAntonio Holmes will remain a Jet

The Jets are officially moving forward with their financial commitment to wide receiver Santonio Holmes.

Holmes 2012 salary, which will come in at $7.5 million, became fully guaranteed Tuesday when he remained on the roster at the 4 pm deadline (the  second day of the waiver period).

He is now guaranteed a total $15.25 mill from the organization with his combined 2012 and 2013 salaries.

I have been extremely apprehensive about Holmes remaining on the roster, the great majority of it stemming from the  receivers behavior and attitude (which, in my opinion, goes far beyond his actions at the end of this season). Holmes piss-poor, me-first attitude has been well documented throughout his career and from where I sit, he has shown little effort to improve.

While this does appear to be a financial decision, Woody Johnson has stated that the retention of Holmes had nothing to do with the guaranteed money and after carefully examining the financials, I do believe Johnson, to a degree.

The options under Holmes’ contract are such that a player can be released prior to the beginning of the waiver period in February without paying him the full guarantee, which in Holmes’ case is $7+ million. If he was to land with another team, the Jets would have been out out $12.75 mill in cap before any credits from Holmes’ new team. As  Jason Fitzgerald of NYJetsCap.com points out, if the Jets wanted to move Holmes, the best option would have been to find a team willing to pay Holmes his guaranteed money, lessening the blow for the Jets against the cap. If that team could assume that guaranteed money, the Jets would’ve only be out a few million.

» Continue reading “Jets 2012 Season Begins, Holmes Will Remain”

Running Back Shonn Greene had 3 touchdowns last week in Washington.

You know the story : The Jets, in a four-way tie for the AFC Wild Card spot, need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. This week they host the 5-7 Kansas City Chiefs and back-up quarterback Tyler Palko at MetLife Stadium.

I would like to see the Jets play 4 quarters of quality football, but at the end of the day, there isn’t an asterisk next to your win-loss record. That said, a convincing win against an inferior opponent would effectively shush the talking heads for a week or so.

The line for this game opened at Jets -9 but I saw several sites reporting that the line has moved to -10.5 .

Just a reminder that the Jets are 5-1 at home this season.

Jets Offense vs. Chiefs Defense

Offensive consultant Tom Moore has now had a full week of practice with the Jets after agreeing to stay in New Jersey for the remainder of the season. What does Moore have in store for Sunday?

Well, I can tell you that Rex Ryan made sure to promise we would be seeing more of the Wildcat. I tried to get excited but I just can’t. Please, someone, give me fair warning before it happens so I can avert my eyes.

How will the critics write the Sanchez story this week? 4 touchdown performances don’t seem to be enough, neither do 4th quarter comebacks. How about a solid, mistake-free game? Good plan.

(In case you were wondering, Mark’s 4th quarter comebacks are sort of Tebow-esque : He has a 97 QB rating in the 4th quarter this season and has staged 4th quarter comebacks in 33% of his games as the starting QB in New York).

Here’s a really cool Sanchez stat from ESPN Next Level : Sanchez’ QBR is 20 points higher when facing a 3-4 defense. The Chiefs run the 3-4 more snaps than any other team in the AFC.

Running back Shonn Greene is coming off a 3-touchdown performance in a game where the Jets ran the ball very well across the board. If the Jets can get it going again it will help the offensive rhythm and the quarterback.

» Continue reading “Game Preview : Kansas City Chiefs @ New York Jets”

It’s been well documented that the Jets don’t do their best work following the bye under Rex Ryan, leading many to believe that the break came at an inopportune time for a team who was just beginning to play as expected. In spite of that, Ryan opted to give his team 6 days off, 2 more than the required 4, to get them healthy and rested.

Aaron Maybin will face his former team for the first time since becoming a Jet.

(It should be noted that Eagles coach Andy Reid adopted a similar policy with his team following the bye and it was very successful. They looked like a different team).

Upon returning from their break, Ryan decided to change his usual post-bye week philosophy and greet the second half of the season with a tougher practice and more purpose. Ryan informed the team that the next four weeks are the be-all-end-all, and with a win in Buffalo they are closer to controlling their own destiny.

The 5-2 Bills now amazingly lead the AFC East after defeating the New England Patriots in a stunning upset earlier this season. For years, the AFC East has been the Patriots to win, with the Jets playing second fiddle and battling for a wild card spot. But now the Bills have emerged as a legitimate playoff team and while we celebrated their defeat over Brady and Belichick, their reign must end tomorrow.

The Jets have defeated the Bills in their last 4 meetings under Rex Ryan and have won 5 of the last 6 total meetings (Basically, the Jets have completely owned the Bills in recent years). But that don’t mean a thing this year because this is a whole different Buffalo Bills team.

I’ve decided to change it up with this week’s preview. Now that we’re several weeks into the season, rather than introduce you to every single player on every single team, I’m going to specifically focus on the key match-ups each week.

Here is how the Jets and the Bills match-up:

Jets Offense vs. Bills Defense

1. The Jets offense has to come out strong from the beginning.  If they fall behind, they will have no choice but to get away from their best game plan : Set up the run, use the play-action, own the line of scrimmage.

2. The Bills have been playing good but not great defense in 2011. They have been mostly helped by their plus-9 turnover differential, the best in the AFC and third in the NFL, and their league-high 18 takeaways.

All of these turnovers are in spite of the fact that the Bills secondary is giving up  265.9 yards per game through the air. No doubt Mark Sanchez will have to take shots down the field in order to move down the field but the name of the game here is controlling the ball and eliminating turnovers.

In total, this Bills defense that ranked 26th in the league in total yards allowed (giving up an average of 385.9 yards per game). Avoid mistakes and opportunity awaits.

3. The Jets have averaged 279 yards rushing yards per game (6.1 yards per carry) vs. Bills under Rex Ryan.  (More specifically, their rushing totals in the last 4 games are 273, 276, 249, and 318).

The 2011 Bills are currently ranked 20th against the run (120 yards per game), 27th in yards per attempt (4.9) and have allowedM 8 rushing touchdowns to opposing running backs. All of these things make for the perfect opportunity to get Shonn Greene going once again. With Greene’s success comes the offense’s success.

4. While the Bills secondary has been very aggressive, they have a very obvious weakness against opposing tight ends. The Bills have allowed 70-plus yards to tight ends in the past 5 games.  It’s unfortunate that the newly acquired (and former Bill) Shawn Nelson will not suit up for this game but it does leave the door wide open for a big receiving game from Dustin Keller.

In addition to Keller, I would expect a lot of passes over the middle and in the slot. That means both Keller, Kerley and Santonio Holmes.

5. The Bills recorded 9 sacks in last week’s game against the Redskins, which is pretty scary. However, the Jets offensive line is healthy and starting to gel (and regain their swagger).

Secret Weapon: Rex Ryan hinted that we are going to be seeing more of RB Joe McKnight this week, including some time as a wide receiver.

Match-up to watch : Rookie Marcell Dareus vs. Center Nick Mangold.

Jets Defense vs. Bills Offense

1. The biggest obstacle for the Jets defense will be stopping Bills running back Fred Jackson. Jackson is averaging 103 yards per a game (tied for 2nd in the NFL after Matt Forte) and has 6 rushing TDs for the year.

The Jets have had some troubles defending the run this season, especially on the outside, and it has made them vulnerable to the big play. While there has been some improvement in the run defense in the past few weeks, stopping Jackson will not be easy, especially if Mike DeVito (the team’s best run stuffer) sits out again. Rookie Kenrick Ellis, his primary back-up, is also questionable which will leave Jamaal Westerman and Josh Mauga with the task.

Not only is Jackson a very effective runner, but he is also heavily integrated into the passing game. I have watched several Bills games this year and Fitzpatrick loves to check it down to FJax and C.J. Spiller. The Jets safeties will have to be mindful of this part of the Bills offensive plan.