NY Newsday Jets

Sunny Monday

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:54 GMT

Some brief thoughts, stats, quotes, etc. relating to yesterday’s 26-14 victory over the Bengals:

* I understand the steady criticism that has accompanied this victory, but I don't get all of it [if that makes sense]. No, it wasn’t perfect, but it rarely is in this league and you need to look no further than yesterday afternoon to see exhibit A on why you take the wins when you can. The Rams over the Redskins? Who had that one?

And the Jets win over the Cardinals suddenly looks better and the loss to the Chargers not as bad. That’s just the way it is. Week to week, strange things happen. When your team is favored and those strange things DON’T happen to you – like losing to a winless team – take it and move on to the next one.

It’s cliché but when Brett Favre said, “I don’t believe in ugly wins; I believe a win is a win,” he’s right.

* That said, of course there were things to be concerned about. When Bryan Thomas got dinged up and Vernon Gholston replaced him, the first-round pick made no impact. The running game was merely okay and once again the pass blocking was superior to the run blocking. And Drew Coleman…eh.

* NFL team leaders in rush defense:
1. Ravens (66.4)
2. Steelers (66.8)
3. Jets (69.0)

To this point the Jets haven’t faced, statistically, a great rushing team but that changes Sunday as the Raiders - dysfunctional as they may be - rank fourth in the league running the ball (141.0).

* NFL team leaders in sacks
1. Eagles (21)
2. Cardinals (18)
2. Steelers (18)
2. Jets (18)

For those interested the Jets through five games last season had four sacks. They finished the season with 29.

Bryan Thomas’ half sack – achieved with David Harris – in the fourth quarter gave Thomas a team-best 4 ½ sacks this season. Shaun Ellis is next with four and Calvin Pace is at 3.5. Speaking of Harris, nice game for him as he had been quiet to this point.

* We poke fun at Eric Mangini at times for non-answers, but he comes up with some good ones that he’s not always given credit for. Take yesterday when asked about Favre’s two interceptions.

“There were some throws that were in tight coverage but you can’t be happy about that one week and then mad about it the other week,” Mangini said. “He makes a ton of those throws. You never want it to go for a pick. It’s the cost of doing business when you’re going to throw it into tight spaces.”

* I liked this quote from Kris Jenkins, who left the game because “my eyes were watering,” the result of getting gouged (JohnZ, what would I do without you) in the eye:

“I don’t know what the final stats were, but at one point it was a 1.8 [rushing yard] average,” Jenkins said. “If we can keep them [the opposition] down like that then we are doing out job. We know the past couple of weeks we have had a little bit of trouble in the second half. We take ownership as a D-line to help out everybody on the defense. If somebody else needs a little help we are going to try to give them some. We have a great pass rush and it helped alleviate some pressure for the defensive backs. The really stepped up this week and played a whole lot better. I am proud of them. They have been under a lot of pressure and they are starting to step up and answer the call.”

* Just a guess, but I’m thinking Mangini won’t automatically put Eric Smith back in the starting lineup ahead of Abram Elam.

* Leon Washington is the obvious special teams player of the week, but Wallace Wright made two outstanding open field tackles in coverage. He seems to have at least one each week.

* A couple of quick things: Mangini will conduct his Monday press conference at 2:35 this afternoon and we’ll have a few players on a conference call after that. I’ll alert if there’s news.

Also, Live Chat VIII, from the World’s Most Famous Futon (trademark), is tomorrow (Tuesday) morning at 11 a.m. A few readers have asked if there might be a way to do one of these live chats in the evening so I'll look into that. Prime Time Chat, or something like that, has a nice ring.

JETS OVERTIME

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:00 GMT

THE SUMMARY

Elam delivers strong effort in place of Smith

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:00 GMT

Did the Jets miss starting safety Eric Smith?

When Jones' number was called, he put up numbers

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:00 GMT

Thomas Jones was diplomatic last week when he was asked if he thought he should be featured a bit more in yesterday's game.

Jets' 5-8 Washington comes up big against Bengals

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:00 GMT

Little-known factoid about Jets running back/returner Leon Washington: The first time he played organized football as a kid in Jacksonville, he quit.

Defense shuts down Bengals as Jets improve to 3-2

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:00 GMT

As Calvin Pace walked across the locker room toward the interview area, Jets defensive coordinator Bob Sutton reached out his right hand.

Jets survive Favre's three turnovers

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:00 GMT

The riverboat gambler mentality has been one of his trademarks, a part of the fabric that makes Brett Favre who he is.

Jets starting to remove all doubt

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:00 GMT

The last time the Jets had taken the field, it still was baseball season in New York, the Dow was over 11,000 and anything seemed possible for Gang Green after a 56-point razing of Arizona.

GRADING THE JETS

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 22:00 GMT

OFFENSE

Gameday Live 5: Bengals at Jets

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:49 GMT

Hi-diddly-oh! Stephen Haynes here, bizz-ack in the hizzy off the bizz-ye wizz-eek, to provide pre-game persiflage, in-game updates and conversation with ya’ll and stizz-uff.

Disclaimer: I wrote that sentence fully aware that Snoop Dogg pig latin got old (and silly) about a month after it became popular, which was six or seven years ago.

Anywho…

Don’t get it twisted and definitely don’t get it tangled. Don’t be fooled. They’re not that good. They’re overrated. I’m typing about the Bengals.

Those 0-5 Bengals that are -44 in point differential. They’re awful, but the fact that they played close games against the Giants and Cowboys has garnered them a modicum of respect. More respect than they – as a team, I mean, not as human beings. They’ve managed to stay off the police blotter for a while, so give ‘em props – deserve.

Because on paper (and on the field, I think), the Bengals, along with Kansas City, have the weakest roster. Sure, they’ve got a good quarterback and two elite receivers, but that’s almost negated by the fact that their offensive line is dreadful and they’ve got no running game. Know how OldSchoolFootballAnalystGuy – no need to name a name, they’re pretty homogeneous – always yaps on about how teams need to run the ball and “everything starts at the line of scrimmage”? Cincinnati is a great example of that.

The Bengals have statistically the worst offensive line in the league. They’re on pace to give up 45 sacks and their backs are averaging just 2.8 yards per carry. The league average, if you’re wondering, is 4.20. Just 7% of their runs have gone for 10 or more yards while 30% have been stuffed for a loss or no gain. Another way to put it: Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who has played in just one game, is their second leading rusher.

That offense, even with its weapons at wideout, is weak. It’s a 60-inch HDTV with a blown picture tube. One of those, “Yeah, but if…” situations where the “if” is kind of a big deal.

Chad Ocho Cinco (that sobriquet, by the way, stopped being funny last season) has caught just 48% of the passes thrown to him. The synergy between he and Carson Palmer hasn’t been there and that probably has more to do with the offensive line than Johnson’s attitude and hurt shoulder. While T.J. Houshmandzadeh is the short man, Palmer usually looks to Johnson in the deep and intermediate ranges, but the Bengals line hasn’t provided much time to get off those longer throws.

Cinci’s defense is bad, too. But it’s always been, so that gets lost in the shuffle. They’re not awful against the pass this year (opponents are averaging a good-but-not-great 86.0 QB rating), but part of the reason is because they haven’t been tested all the much in the air. They’ve been run on more than any team (38x per game) and are giving up 171 yards.

That teams have run it on them so many times and played conservatively is part of the reason why the Bengals have played some closer games than the score than their record and numbers and talent would indicate they should. The Cowboys, coming off that loss to the Redskins in which Marion Barber had just eight carries, made it an emphasis to run on Cincinatti. That resulted in 38 rushes and Tony Romo throwing just 23 times. And two of their other close games were against teams – the Ravens and Browns – that don’t exactly light it up.

Levi Brown, their best offensive lineman, is questionable (back) and kicker Shayne Graham (groin) is out. Oh, and Palmer is out. Fitzpatrick will get the start. Fitzpatrick threw three picks in his first start, the Bengals’ Week 4 loss to the Browns. He’s got a career 55.3 QB rating (five touchdowns, 11 interceptions) in seven games.

As EBola wrote, there’s no excuse.

Keys to the Game
Offense
- Come out gunslingin’. If you believe in momentum and carryover, then Brett Favre, coming off his six-6’s performance, might still be blowing the smoke off his fingers. More importantly, the Bengals secondary isn’t better – if even as good – as the Cardinals’. There probably won’t be six touchdowns, but the Jets should have success throwing. Cincinnati’s pass rush is… well, they’ve got three sacks on the year. And, except for Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph, their secondary lacks speed. And, except for Leon Hall, their secondary lacks playmakers. If the Jets are able to score early and quickly, it might demoralize the Bengals, who aren’t exactly a milk n’ cookies bunch. If the Jets get lulled into being super-conservative and wind up in a close, low-scoring game with them, that opens the door for an upset. Because having receivers like Who’sYourMama and Ocho Cinco is like a slugger with a .220 batting average. Lots of strikeouts and unproductive at-bats, but you know that at any moment, one bad pitch into his wheelhouse can change the game. One blown coverage. The Jets shouldn’t allow the Bengals to be within the equivalent of Grand-Slam range in the fourth quarter. Take chances early and let the talent disparity be the safety net. No feeling them out with jabs; come out with the uppercut.
- Take advantage of the right side of the Bengals defensive line. Teams are averaging 5.94 yards per carry going at defensive end Antwan Odom (30th in the league at the position). D’Brickashaw Ferguson should be able to win that matchup.

Defense
- Mix up coverages and confuse Fitzpatrick. The former Harvard quarterback did wonderfully on the Wonderlic (off memory, he had a 47, which tied Brian Griese for highest score, and finished the test in record time), but he’s not so good at reading defenses and making decisions in the pocket. He’ll throw some balls into areas he shouldn’t. The Jets have to take advantage.
- Focus the coverage on Houshmandzadeh. He’s been thrown to 48 times (third most in the NFL, behind Larry Fitzgerald and Brandon Marshall) and is catching 65% of those. Johnson has been thrown to 19 fewer times and has less than half as many catches. While Johnson has had difficulty getting open and/or getting passes deep, Houshmandzadeh runs a lot of underneath routes and dominates the 10- to 15-yard range. He’s often the third-down target, too. The Jets defense will have to limit him to keep the Bengals from dinking & dunking and controlling the clock.

1st Quarter
- Touchdown Bengals. Chinedum Ndukwe recovered the Antwan Odom strip of Brett Favre and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown. 7-0, Bengals.
- Touchdown Jets. Thomas Jones scored on a two-yard pass from Favre. The drive was setup by Leon Washington's 46-yard kickoff return and the touchdown was made possible by an illegal contact call on the Bengals on third down. 7-7.