Ok, so I reserved an entire blog post to help Jet fans savor the moment but I wanted to be slightly different. Let’s forget that I predicted a close Jet victory. Sure I never gave you exact scores but come on, who’s perfect? Not I. But let’s be real here. Most people are swallowing a bit harder today knowing that the Jets are in the AFC Championship game after two teams who had nothing to play for let them moonwalk into the playoffs. I agree that you can’t back into the playoffs by winning but you sure can have the backdoor opened for you if you know some people.
Regardless of how they got here, they are making everyone regret ever letting them crash their party. The Jets beat the San Diego Chargers for several reasons of which I will get into. But with the Colts, Vikings, and Saints winning their first games after a multi-week layoff and the Jets defeating San Diego after facing two teams that rested their players in hopes of getting healthy before the playoffs, this whole debate about resting and not resting will be an interesting and never ending debate.
Why the Jets won: Rex Ryan’s single greatest characteristic that endears him to his players is his ability to keep it real. He doesn’t hide anything. He has no filter. He says what he says and doesn’t look back. He’s passionate about his players and his team and has a reserve of confidence in them so big that he just can’t wait to tell everyone about it. I’m convinced he would think he’s the best team in the league week in and week out, even if he were in the midst of a losing season. That’s his confidence. He’s also very realistic about his team and recognizes its weaknesses but never plays up any of them. If his team has any, he won’t be the one to admit to them. I like that and the players do to. They like knowing their coach is just as wacky as they are and more often than not, these players will run through a wall for him and that’s what you have to love.
But more so than that, the consistency with which he rules applies also to the gameplan. Never once Sunday, did you ever get the feeling that the Jets were panicking because they kept having 3 & outs after 3 & outs. Not once did you think that they were not going to run the football on a majority of their snaps. No, the Jets played their game. You knew coming into the game they were going to run it down their throats. The Chargers had to be aware of that and yet, still, was there any doubt that that Shonn Greene run wasn’t going to happen? That run was eventually going to happen, no doubt about it. The Jets were going to get that first down at 4th and 1. The Jets won because they put Mark Sanchez into manageable situations and never got away from running the ball once they went down 7-0.
2. Their defense played rock solid. When Phillip Rivers threw that touchdown pass in the second quarter, i’m sure every analyst figured the floodgates were about to open. It never happened. Know why? Smart idea for Rex to use Darrell Revis the RDPOY (real defensive player of the year) in different spots on the field. Remember that screen game that people were fearing with Darren Sproles? Two separate plays, one by Revis to tackle Sproles for a loss and another in which Eric Smith read it and followed Sproles which forced Rivers to throw it away had San Diego scrambling to rip that page out of their playbook which in my mind was a huge mistake. The Jets entering half time with a 7-0 deficit was more a victory for the Jets than a lead for the Chargers. Everytime Rivers held the ball and desperately wanted to throw it deep, no one was open and that goes to the solid game that the secondary had. We knew that the Chargers wouldn’t really challenge Revis and when they did (according to Peter King of SI.com- 4 passes were thrown Revis’ way and “one was complete, toLaDainian Tomlinson, for a loss of four yards. One, toLegadu Naanee, was batted down by a diving Revis on a cross route. One, toVincent Jackson, a deep pass up the left seam, was overthrown, with Revis and Jackson running stride for stride. And the fourth, to Jackson, was up for grabs between the two, with Revis coming down with a juggled ball for an interception in a spectacular play.”) Revis had none of it. There was really nothing for the Chargers to be had.
3. 4th and 1- This will be detailed from the Chargers perspective but I’ll go from the Jets side first. We all know the situation. The Chargers had no timeouts. Under two minutes to play. The ball was on the Charger 34. Now usually when the camera cuts to the head coach, you can see him consulting someone about what the percentages are with the different options. Not Rex. Rex went for it. No hesitation. Complete belief that he could get it. Not only that. The more interesting point was that he brought out Thomas Jones. Not Shonn Greene who had earlier run for the longest TD run in Jet playoff history. He brought out his freshest legs. The guy who had just polished off a 1400 yard season. A captain on his team. I know people are going to say how this was definitely a go for it kind of situation. But many coaches shy away from it and opt rather to punt the football. I don’t even doubt teams would go for the field goal although that would’ve been too much of a risk. But it was the right play and Rex was prepared for it. No hesitation. None. That’s why the Jets are playing and the Chargers aren’t.
Why the Chargers lost:
1. Sloppy play. Let’s be clear about one thing, the Chargers lost this game just as much as the Jets won and it starts with the mental mistakes that kill teams this time of year. In the beginning there were the delay of games and the fumbled snap.
2. Game plan- This could go with sloppy play because the Chargers somehow unthinkably gave up on the screen game with Darren Sproles which, had they ran it a few more times, i’m pretty sure they would’ve hit on at least one of them. But that wasn’t the problem. Darren Sproles last carry in that game was to close the first half. Think about that. Darren Sproles, their weapon out of the backfield whom the Jets didn’t match up well against, was never used inexplicably so that they could give LDT carries during the game. LaDanian Tomlinson who hasn’t been LDT since 2007. Given the decisions they will have to make during the offseason, LDT will most certainly not be a Charger next season (do you blame them?), so perhaps they were giving him as many carries as they could as a good bye present? Was it so that he could give them some kind of indication that he could still play? I’m still trying to figure out why the bulk of the carries went to a back who’s very much out of his prime. But somehow, I don’t think the Jets are complaining. By halftime, when Darren Sproles had a few carries and they eventually missed a 57 yarder for San Diego (you really can’t put that on him, kickers statistically miss half the time on those), you figured the Bolts had figured out that maybe, just maybe this Sproles kid is good enough to run their offense through. Nope. Never happened.
3. Onside kick. Technically this is part of sloppy play but let’s be real here, this deserves its own number and separate headline. This move baffled me from the get go. Why would you attempt to onside kick it to the Jets when the possibility of you kicking it off to them and holding them to a 3 and out exists? You know the Jets are going to run the football, they won’t attempt a pass since they are keeping Sanchez in manageable situations so they can’t risk an interception. You know that if you stop them, then you can force a punt and Weatherford, the Jets punter was not having a great day punting with an average of 38 yards which would’ve set you up at the very least on the 40. With over a minute to go and no timeouts, you had about 40 yards to go and sure you don’t trust your kicker but at the very least you have to go for a touchdown as well. This is the league’s most explosive offense and it forgot what got them to the dance. I remember being in Giants stadium when they drove on the Giants D (although to be fair, the Giants D is nothing compared to the Jets), and scored a game winning touchdown. Its been done before and the Chargers could’ve done it again but it lost confidence in themselves. My idiot coach theory lives on. Despite the Jets getting the first down, I truly believe it would’ve gone down different had the Jets been pinned in an endzone which was one of the loudest places in the stadium to be and had to get a first down from there instead of the 40 yard line of the Chargers. The field position game is important and the Chargers just didn’t have a great understanding of the flow of the game.
4. Nate Kaeding….AND Philip Rivers. We can sit here and try and pretend that Nate Kaeding was the reason the Chargers lost but aside from his 2 missed field goals (like i said before, that 57 yarder is not a unforgivable miss), Phillip Rivers didn’t show up playing at his highest. I like Phillip Rivers. I like his moxie, and his make up. He’s a tough nosed kid that all his teammates can rally around. He’s got guts and heart. But Sunday’s game showed you that you still need a good brain on top of your shoulders to be an effective QB. His two interceptions in the second half were back breakers, especially the one that set up the Jets first touchdown where he threw to Antonio Gates while Gates was still running his route and his back turned to the ball. The only person who had his eyes on the ball was Jim Leonhard who saw it coming, and turned around in time to pick it off. We can sit here and blame Kaeding and i’m sure he got roasted for it, but we can now safely say that no placekicker wants anything to do with the Jets come postseason time right? I mean they have some magical power over kickers which have forced 5 field goals to be missed and four in a row. Its unbelievable.
SMALL NITPICKING OF THE JETS: I know its time for celebration but there were a few small things that i saw of the Jets that i didn’t like. Ok so maybe one major problem. The Jets insistence on not kicking it to Darren Sproles. Basically they announced the game plan early that they were not going to allow the pint sized rocket to beat them. Its a good thing that the Chargers weren’t paying attention to any of that. Every squib kick, or short kick gave San Diego better and better field position. Even late with a 10 point lead, the Jets still were funny kicking it to Sproles which again gave them great field position to start nearly every drive. Its a good thing that the Chargers weren’t paying any attention to that though.
Kerry Rhodes has been kind of a mystery this season. He started off this year as probably one of the more interesting figures that Rex Ryan saw while studying tape of the Jets and a guy he thought could fill in as his Ed Reed in New York. But their relationship was rocky to say the best. He was benched for a few games and then came back and has played strongly. However, Sunday when he came off the end and had that strip sack of Rivers, his first reaction was to jump up and celebrate, meanwhile there was a scrum for the ball and the Chargers recovered. Compare that to Jim Leonhard (former Raven with Rex Ryan) who layed a hit on Malcolm Floyd (on a catch by the way, that incomplete pass ruling was horrendous), and jarred the ball loose while his helmet flew off his head, went head first, no helmet into the pile to recover the football. Which he did. It goes to show you how frustrating a guy like Kerry Rhodes must be to a coaching staff that sees the ability but does not see the heads up play enough to warrant giving him any praise. You give a guy like Kerry Rhodes praise and suddenly his head becomes larger than the Goodyear Blimp. I have a feeling that if the Jets go to the Super Bowl or even win, he’s going to be first in line for a pay raise.
To sum up, the Jets won because the Chargers lost the game for them and the Jets, having accepted “gifts” from Indy and Cincy (two weeks in a row), came and took this one from the Chargers. But let’s be real here. Teams win all the time because other teams don’t play at their best and the Jets should not be looked at in any other way than the better team each week. No doubt about it. Whether the team comes to play or not, its not the Jets problem. The Jets needed to win each game and they have. No Jet needs to apologize. They just need to keep winning and allow the haters to roll off.
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