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Florham Park – It’s time for another dose of Dan’s Website Whispers from One Jets Drive. Just the good stuff. Enjoy . . .
Everyone talks about the Patriots like they are unbeatable, but did you know that they finished 30th in pass defense this year?
That is pretty bad.
If Mark Sanchez with weapons like Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller, can’t throw on this team, to be honest with you, the Jets quarterback is very average.
Hey, Green Bay QB Matt Flynn, in his first career start, in New England, on December 19, was 24-37 for 251 yards and threw three touchdown passes. The Patriots won 31-27, but a quarterback in his first EVER start went up and down the field on this pass defense.
I’m telling you, if Sanchez doesn’t get a lot done against this pass defense, he’s a pedestrian quarterback.
This game is a litmus test for him.
If Flynn can rip them apart, Sanchez should do the same. No excuses.
By the way, Cleveland rookie QB Colt McCoy had a 101.6 QB rating against this secondary on November 7 . . .
Speaking of the Cleveland game, the Jets need to mimic, as much as possible, on both sides of the ball, what the Browns did in their 34-14 blowout of New England.
And the staff that just orchestrated that impressive win was just fired. They were forced to clear their desks out to make room for the incomparable Pat Shurmur, who has the same agent as Mike Holmgren.
Cleveland defensive coordinator Rob Ryan had a pretty good game plan that day, and has been a big help to his brother this week.
But actually, the biggest help to Ryan’s defense was running back Peyton Hillis. He ran for 184 yards and two touchdowns against the Patriots’ defense. Cleveland won the time of possession battle by almost 17 minutes, keeping the ball for 38:08.
This is what the Jets did to the Colts last week, and is always a great strategy against a great quarterback like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.
So the Jets need to try to do what Cleveland did to Brady, and what Gang Green did to Manning last week – pound the football successfully, and keep them off the field . . .
James Ihedigbo, one of the Jets best special teamers and blitzers, felt hindered a great deal last week, wearing a knee brace on his injured knee. He felt it cramped his style. “Dig” says he’s going to be able to play without it this week.
If you saw the back page of the New York Post, “Dig” is crushing Brady on a sack . . .
Practice squad linebacker Shaun Crable, who spent a couple of years in New England, has been a big help to his team’s preparation this week – he knows a lot about what goes on in there . . .
I’m still shocked that Jets played a rap song at practice today, a Jets-themed song, that had a line making fun of all the babies Antonio Cromartie has. Why would you humiliate your own player in practice like that? A lot of Jets laughed at that lyric (the song was on during stretching). “Cro” didn’t seem to find it funny.
You don’t do that to one of your own. This place has really turned into a three ring circus . . .
