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Watching a lot of NFL action today, it’s pretty clear, there is a lot of mediocrity in this league, and it’s foolish to pretend the Jets have no chance to be viable this year.
You shouldn’t have a myopic view of the league.
Seeing some of the teams on the Jets schedule in action today – Buffalo, Miami, Tennessee, Carolina – these are games the Jets should take to the end, and win a few. These are beatable teams.
I watched the entire Buffalo game, and while they won, there is no excuse for the Jets to lose to them with 10 days to rest and prepare, and playing at home.
True, E.J. Manuel led the Bills on a last second TD drive to win, but shockingly, on the game-winning TD, Stevie Johnson was left wide open. It was ridiculous. It was flat-out bizarre.
Manuel is a major work-in-progress who loves dumping to his running backs. He’s not great at reading defenses yet. I think Rex will have him for lunch.
Granted, the Jets have their own rookie quarterback who is a work-in-progress.
But I think the advantage here is that the Jets have extra time to prepare and rest. And also, the Jets have a better secondary than the Bills, who are without safety Jairus Byrd and cornerback Stephon Gilmore, arguably their two best defensive backs.
I think Marty Mornhinweg with 10 days to draw up a game plan for Geno, will be able to exploit the Bills deep patrol, and Rex will make Manuel’s life miserable . . .
Watching a lot of games today, it became pretty clear to me what the Jets “biggest” issue is at wide receiver. And the operative word is “biggest.”
Watching receivers like Dez Bryant and Dwayne Bowe, big, powerful players how go up and get the ball, and win jump balls with defensive backs, this is what the Jets are lacking.
While I do think Smith’s inconsistency goes beyond the weapons (like holding the ball too long and accuracy), I do think the Jets really need at least one, big, physical wide out who is going to go up and snatch the ball.
Stephen Hill is tall (6-4), but he’s not powerful – he’s very lanky.
Receivers like Hill, Clyde Gates, Santonio Holmes and Jeremy Kerley (who should return for this game), just aren’t going to win many jump balls.
This is why I think the Jets need to bring back Braylon Edwards. He’s that kind of guy – big, physical receiver who will go up and snatch the ball away from defensive backs . . .
The issue with Clyde Gates is simple – he will make the uncontested catch. He’s pretty good at that. But high degree of difficulty grabs, he rarely comes down with those.
The two high-profile “drops” Gates had in New England, the low throw in the end zone, and the pass down the deep middle, neither play was easy. I think the level of difficulty of each grab is being downplayed too much by the media.
But the Jets desperately need at least one wide out, who you can “throw open” with a DB on them, and they can physically overpower the DB, and grab the ball, like the receivers I mentioned before . . .
September 15, 2012
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