Bullet Points, Vol. 18

Posted by Michael Sciannamea

January 4, 2008 |

In the last few weeks there have been a number of football pundits who are saying that the Jets should keep Chad Pennington after all because Kellen Clemens was not very impressive and it would be risky to go into a new season with a quarterback who may not be the answer. I submit that although Clemens didn’t exactly distinguish himself when he played, he did show some flashes, and the Jets have to improve the offensive line and get a speedy wide receiver to help him out. Plus, Pennington’s lack of arm strength and the dink-and-dunk passing game simply will not allow you to win championships. The game has changed whereas now if you don’t have the ability to get the ball down the field in a hurry and score, defenses will adjust to you and the ball control strategy that once worked in the past will not work now.
Fuggetaboutit! That’s what Coach Mangini told his players the day after the season ended. He told them that the organization needs to put 2007 behind them and concentrate on improving for 2008. Easier said than done, obviously, but things change so rapidly in the NFL from season to season, so it’s not totally out of the question to say that the Jets can be a playoff contender next year IF they make the right moves in the draft and free agency.
Speaking of the coach, it seems that his “Mangenius” moniker took a bit of a beating this season when his Cinderalla story 2006 team crashed and burned into a 4-12 squad. Obviously, it’s not all his fault–the offensive line seriously underperformed, the defensive line could not stop the run or rush the passer with any consistency, and Chad Pennington threw too many bad interceptions early on in the season that led to the team’s downfall. Of course, as I’ve said here many times before, the coach has to stop with the Bill Belichick impression with his coyness and penchant for secrecy. He doesn’t have to become Jerry Glanville, but he needs to start being his own man and the team should respond in kind.