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Time for “The Good Stuff.” Today we have a bunch of notes on the Jets’ upcoming game in New England which is a challenge of biblical proportions for Gang Green . . .
Aaron Maybin had his best game of the season against Indianapolis. This was his kind of game. The Jets had a big lead, and the other team was in come-back mode for a long stretch of time, passing on almost every down.
He actually had QB pressures on back-to-back plays at the start of the fourth quarter. He had another pressure in the middle of the fourth quarter.
While he deserves credit for his effort in the Jets win on Sunday, the Jets need to see this more often, like in New England on Sunday. It can’t just be when the other team is in catch-up mode – it needs to be on third down in close games . . .
As we mentioned the other day, the Jets better improve their tight end coverage from the Colts’ game (and other early season games), when they head up to New England.
Rex was asked about the challenge for dealing with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, two guys who have given the Jets fits in the past.
“We obviously needed to add some safeties and things,” Rex said about the past off-season. “We’re fortunate that we were able to get both Yeremiah (Bell) and LaRon (Landry) to go with Eric Smith. (We) drafted a couple young guys (Antonio Allen and Josh Bush) that we think are going to be good players as well. That’s definitely an area that we thought we needed to grab some guys, and that’s what we did.”
Allen is the tallest of that group at around 6-2, so he should be able to help with tight ends. Remember, he covered Dwayne Allen on some plays (was called for interference on one), against the Colts.
But this answer kind of caught my attention.
Rex brought up Bell, Landry, Allen and Bush as guys brought in to help the Jets improve their tight end coverage.
What about DeMario Davis? Wasn’t he at the top of the list of guys brought in to cover tight ends?
“The Jets already have capable cornerbacks,” wrote Ben Schpigel of the New York Times after the second day of the 2012 draft. “So they need quick defenders to clog passing lanes down the middle of the field, where dynamic tight ends like Rob Gronkowski, Vernon Davis and Jimmy Graham often roam. In Demario Davis, the Jets believe they have a candidate to perform immediately on obvious passing downs — situations in which Bart Scott was often replaced last season.”
Davis was picked with New England in mind, and now Rex doesn’t even bring up his name when talking about covering “Gronk” and Hernandez.
Strange.
Maybe they are keeping these plans on the QT, but at 6-2. 235 pounds with 4.49 speed, Davis can probably deal with the physicality of these guys better than safeties . . .
New England is usually very good at avoiding distractions, but you have to wonder if their trip to London next week will be on their minds. They play the Rams on October 28 at Wembley Stadium . . .
Anybody taking New England lightly is making a huge mistake. People need to focus more on the second half against Buffalo, and the victory over Denver, more-so than what happened in Seattle.
The Seahawks have the NFL’s #1 defense, and we all know that stadium is the most difficult road venue in the league. When you combine league’s top defense, with that noise, that is as tough as it gets for an offense.
Expect that New England offense to be back running on all cylinders on Sunday.
The Patriots are 10 point favorites in Las Vegas, and that sounds just about right.
It’s going to be very, very tough for the Jets to win this game.
October 16, 2012
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