Collinization

Same Old Jets?

So the Jets took one from the bungles this week, with a deceptive 28-7 victory. They played decent, but the game was much closer than the score displayed.

The Jets opened up on defense, and made a solid stand against an awful bengals offense. After the punt, the Jets put a few plays together, but the offense did its normal "one first down and punt" that was so common on the first drives of last year. Curtis Martin was in for about two plays, so I guess you could say they didn't have their running back; but with LaMont Jordan as the backup, that excuse doesn't really hold water. The guy could start for a whole lot of other teams, but he's playing behind Curtis Martin, who is quietly becoming one of the greatest running backs the NFL has ever seen(16th player to record 10,000 yards rushing).

So they punt, and they get a break. The Bungles, living up to their name, fumbled the snap around the 40 yard line, as the rain was starting to come down pretty hard in the Meadowlands. The Jets cashed in on the short field and put 7 on the board, with LaMont Jordan powering his way into the end zone. Pennington looked decent, careful as always. From there, it turned into the kind of ugly football game you expect when Gangreen and The Bungles get on the field.

The Bengals punted away after sputtering on O, and the Jets get the ball back. They get a 4th and one near mid field, and they go for it. LaMont Jordan powers through the bengals line for the first, a big moral victory for the Jets O Line. I expect to see them try to do this all year. Why? Because 2 possessions later they were in the same situation, and ran the exact same god damn play, except to Sowell instead of Jordan. Same formation, same play, different back. Everyone on the field knew exactly where the ball was going. I think my mom knew where it was going, and she wasn't watching the game. I know it's pre-season Herm, but what's the deal? At least give the guy a chance to get the yards, he was running smack into the center of 9 bengal defenders. You can't expect the defense to not notice that you're running the same play over and over again, even if it is Cincinnati. A fake hand off up the middle would've had the entire defense biting, and a draw off tackle would've gotten the first down and maybe more. I hope you remember this when it actually counts.

After that, it was pretty uneventful football. Santana Moss had a nice catch that led to a second Jet touchdown. Vinnie Testaverde came in for 1 play and threw an interception; no one was surprised, including Vinnie. Bollinger, the Jets 3rd string QB, can't handle a snap, and waves the football around like a loaf of bread when he's scrambling; he lost the handle a bunch of times. The Bengals did the same. Carson Palmer got his first taste of the bungle curse, when on his opening drive he threw a pass that bounced off his receivers hand, then off his foot, into the hands of jets defensive back McGraw, who returned it for a touchdown, making it 21-7. The next drive gave Palmer similar luck, after a ball passed completely through his receivers hands, right into the hand of some 3rd string Jet secondary player who's name I can't remember right now, who returned that for a touchdown as well. I will say that neither pick was actually Palmer's fault, although im sure he's beating himself up for it anyway. Jets take the game 28-7, but it was much closer than the score indicates.

Same old jets? I'm not sure. Their offense stalled pretty often around mid-field, as usual. But most of that was because Bollinger couldn't handle the snap from center, he was fumbling like Tiki Barber in a playoff game. Pennington looks good, Conway looks good although I wouldn't count on him being there all season, seeing as he has never played more than 12 games in any one year without getting injured. LaMont Jordan looks great, he's gonna be eating into Martin's carries this year. Hopefully he can step into Richie Anderson's pass receiving roll. The Jet Defense continues to allow teams to walk down the field on them, and then tighten up around field goal range. It's almost like they do it on purpose. But the run defense was tight; Corey Dillon couldn't get anything going out there. DeWayne Robertson's presence is already being felt on the field; and you won't be hearing his name called because of it. Every time John Abraham gets into the back field for a big play, you can look over to DeWayne and give him half the credit, because he is constantly drawing a double team inside, which is freeing up both defensive ends. The run defense looks tight.

The secondary is better than last year, but that isn't saying much, since cutting Damien Robinson alone is a drastic improvement to any defense. The linebackers are getting old; Mo Lewis has lost a few steps over the years, but expect to see a big year from Sam Cowart. Special teams looked okay, the new kickers look good. The loss of Coles is not yet evident, although we'll see how that changes when they face a better team than the bungles. One last thing; it appears that someone bought Herman Edwards a watch over the offseason, so we should see better game management in the two minute warning this year. A solid showing overall.