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Now on to today’s wildcard games (I’ll make my picks for Sunday’s games tomorrow morning). I like the Seahawks over the Redskins in the early game. The ‘Skins have been riding high on emotion since the death of Sean Taylor, but I think the Seahawks have too dominating a pass rush and their home crowd is the loudest in the NFL. I just don’t see ‘Skins quarterback Todd Collins overcoming all of these obstacles. Plus, the Seahawks have been good at home in the postseason, so I don’t see them falling short this week. Seahawks 24, Redskins 16. In the late game, it’s the Jacksonville Jaguars visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Jags are everybody’s sleeper team, and the Steelers have been inconsistent all season. In addition, the Steelers won’t have Willie Parker to run the ball, and that could put extra pressure on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to make plays. The Jags are a big, physical team, and their running back tandem of Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew will be hard to stop. Also, quarterback David Garrard has played mistake-free football for pretty much the entire season. Jaguars 23, Steelers 20.
First, the organization will have to decide whether to draft for need or the best player available. If they had lost to the Chiefs on Sunday and ended up with the third pick, the Jets probably would have selected Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, even though the team has a good corps of running backs. McFadden is probably the best player coming out of college, but I really believe the Jets would be better served to pick based on need–pass-rushing defensive lineman, speedy wide receiver, offensive lineman. Adding McFadden would only force the Jets to have to manage an offense that already has Thomas Jones and Leon Washington–with McFadden coming in, the team would either have to deal one of those players OR somehow tailor the offense where all three would touch the ball, and that would be very hard to do. At this point, the Jets need to draft/sign/acquire players who can fill those aforementioned needs. It would be silly to draft a quarterback–there aren’t any QBs coming out that would warrant being picked number 6 (in my opinion), and either trading for or signing someone like Donovan McNabb or Derek Anderson is going to cost you a lot in terms of money and picks. It’s better to build a solid nucleus around Kellen Clemens and go from there. I’m not going to belabor the point, but the Chad Pennington train should be leaving the station soon–the Jets cannot win with him anymore, and it’s better to move forward. There are lots of mock drafts available to view over the web and, of course, every one of them has theories on who is going where. I thought this one made a lot of sense, particularly with the Jets picking Virginia’s Chris Long at number 6. It would be great if he would be available at that slot–from what I’ve read and seen, he can be a very dominant run-stopper and an rush the passer effectively. Of course, there are no guarantees, but it seems that Long would be the most logical pick if he is available. If the Jets can move Pennington and Jonathan Vilma and acquire more picks in the second and third rounds, you can both fill your needs and draft the best players, regardless of position, since you will have an abundant quantity of picks. Easier said than done, I know, but that’s the mindset I’d like to see the Jets work from. Anyway, as I said, the offseason has just started and the draft is a long ways away, but the speculation has already begun.
The Raiders were no great shakes on defense this year, but the Jets pass rush was woeful this season and it is an important area that needs to be upgraded immediately. Maybe Ryan can come up with some new schemes that will help the defense put more pressure on the quarterback next season. With the sixth pick in the upcoming draft, one ot the major priorities is to pick a pass-rushing lineman–Virginia’s Chris Long (Howie’s son) is definitely a consideration.
First of all, yesterday’s win over the Chiefs turned out to be a “loss” in terms of draft order. If the Jets had lost, they would have picked third in the 2008 Draft. Now, they will be picking sixth. Really, that’s not such a big deal–they should be able to draft a very good player at that position. Plus, they will not have to feel the pressure of drafting Darren McFadden–they don’t need him since Thomas Jones and Leon Washington did a fine job running the ball this year and should do even better next year with a (hopefully) improved offensive line. Special teams coach Mike Westhoff has stepped down from the staff. He’s been suffering from health problems ever since he was diagnosed with bone cancer some years ago, and he’s going to need an operation to have a prosthetic rod in his left leg that will stretch from the hip to the knee. Westhoff has been a great coach–the Jet special teams have always been good since he’s been there, and here’s hoping his operation will go well and he will be able to enjoy a long and healthy life afterwards. The opponents for next season have been announced and here is who the Jets will play at home and on the road in 2008.
Four away games on the West Coast! You can imagine Coach Mangini is already thinking of ways to get the players ready to handle the long trips. There were no beer sales at Giants Stadium yesterday and Gate D was blocked off so the drunken idiots who have embarrassed themselves and the Jet organization had nothing to do. Hopefully, this will send a message that the terrible behavior in the past will not be tolerated in the future. We shall see… Before I forget, I would like to wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year! Thanks for your support, and I look forward to more blogging about our beloved New York Jets in 2008.
This was a bad game, no question about it. Both teams demonstrated their ineptness on offense–Kellen Clemens couldn’t seem to get a rhythym going, and Brodie Croyle is just bad. (If the Jet GM Mike Tannenbaum doesn’t get a call from the Chiefs GM Carl Petersen about Chad Pennington tomorrow, I will be shocked.) The Jets did run the ball effectively–Thomas Jones had 98 yards and looked great in overtime, and Leon Washington added 67 yards on some nifty moves. As I said earlier, Clemens didn’t distinguish himself, but he didn’t make and big mistakes and he did make a nice shovel pass to Washington. Jerrico Cotchery caught 8 passes, and he has stamped himself as the team’s number one receiver going into 2008. The defense played fairly well, but that also can be attributed to the Chiefs’ lousy offensive output. David Harris again looked outstanding both rushing the passer as well as dropping back into coverage. However, as the Jets are wont to do, they folded late in the fourth quarter and allowed a Croyle to Jeff Webb pass for a touchdown to send the game into overtime. Maybe the defensive line was tired of rushing Croyle–he did throw 43 passes. At the very least, the Jets got the ball and moved it right down the field in overtime to win the game, despite the holding call after Mike Nugent kicked a 33-yard field goal. So, they moved it 10 yards back and Nugent nailed it anyway. So, this puts the capper on a very disappointing season for the New York Jets. A 4-12 record was not what we expected going into the season, and it’s been a struggle trying to keep interested in this team. In any event, it’s over now, and there is a lot of work to do to get this team back into the playoffs in 2008. They’re going to have a high draft pick next spring, and they also have about $27 million in salary cap room to make some free-agent moves. The work begins tomorrow, and I, along with my fellow Jet fans, will be following what happens. It’s been a lot of fun blogging about the Jets over the course of the regular season, and I will continue to keep you all up-to-date on what takes place during the offseason as well as write about anything Jet-related that may be of interest. 2008 Training Camp, here we come!
Believe it or not, the season ends today for the Jets. It’s been a dismal one, and this marks the end of a (hopefully) bad stretch and the beginning of a new era for the franchise. There’s not much to say about this game. The Chiefs are 4-11, so this matchup doesn’t exactly get us juiced up to watch. However, this could be an exciting game since both teams have nothing to lose and they might as well have some fun out there. Look for a few trick plays here and there and passes thrown down the field. Kellen Clemens should be getting the start at quarterback, so his play will be worth watching since the spotlight will now be squarely on him with Chad Pennington just about ready to check out of the franchise. Who knows, maybe Herm Edwards will look to recruit Chad to come to Kansas City during the postgame handshake! Anyway, this season has been a desultory one, but let’s hope today the seed will be planted for a new (and better) era in Jet football.
Of course, the offensive line, the defensive line, and the quarterback play are the prime suspects in this awful season. But here are (in no particular order) the good things/players that give me and other Jet fans hope that the 2007 season was an anomaly and that 2008 will bring on better tidings.
Anyway, this Sunday’s game against the Chiefs will be a notable one. Obviously, a game pitting a 4-11 team versus a 3-12 team is not going to get you excited very much, if only for Herm Edwards’ return to the Meadowlands. However, this Sunday could spell the end of Jet careers for a number of players, particularly Chad Pennington, Jonathan Vilma, and Laveranues Coles. We are pretty much convinced that Chad’s future as a starting quarterback is elsewhere, and hopefully his play over the last couple of weeks will have put a positive spin on at least one other organization to make a deal to get him. As for Vilma, it seems that he and Coach Mangini have not been on the same page, and it looks like he’ll be plying his wares somewhere else in 2008. But the player that we may have to really think about in terms of whether to let him go or stay is Laveranues Coles. The Jet organization has to consider whether to keep him at a $5 million base salary in 2008 and $6 million in 2009, re-negotiate the deal, or cut him loose. It’s going to be a tough decision. Coles has been an exemplary player both on and off the field, and he and Chad Pennington have been an effective combo for a number of years. However, Coles has had injury problems this season (concussion, high ankle sprain), and he turns 30 years of age this month, so youth is not on his side either. A 3- or 4-win team can’t afford to be too loyal to any of its players who “contributed” to their poor record. On the other hand, I could definitely see him becoming a Wes Welker-type of slot receiver next season IF the Jets can either draft or acquire a speedy wideout to go with Jerricho Cotchery. Kellen Clemens could certainly benefit from that type of wide receiving corps if the offensive line can hold up and protect him in 2008. In any event, this Sunday’s game could be the end of an era and the beginning of a new one after the final whistle. |
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When your team is 3-12 entering the last game of the season, it’s hard to find many positives in a dismal year. However, there are signs that the Jets will be in a position to improve next year with a solid foundation of young and veteran players.
First of all, I hope all of you out there had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. Although it hasn’t been a great time for the Jets and their fans, hopefully our own lives and those of our friends and families have been enriched by our time together.
