Tag Archives: Patriots

September 10, 2017 · 3:56 pm

NFL 2017 Inc.

No matter where you fall on the side of excitement over football this year two things are for certain:

It has waned for everyone thanks to the issues of long term effects and all the information being fed to parents about it.
Football still remains far and away the most popular sport in America.

The fact that its still a ratings bonanza for every network means it still gets to swing its dick in every room its in. So when Roger Goodell gets to play cop and supersede the investigation done by law enforcement and hand a six game punishment to Ezekiel Elliiot, which got reversed by a federal judge on Friday, a mere 24 hours before the Cowboys and Giants were set to open the season against each other.

Of course in a weird twist, he was eligible to play in Sunday’s game but that’s neither here nor there.

The NFL has gifted its Commissioner with a brand new contract extension but i wonder if Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft, two of the most powerful owners are waking up this morning exactly thrilled with the Commissioner’s powers. He suspended Tom Brady four games for his dubious role in DeflateGate, which while it thrilled me as a Giants fan, always seemed like payback for the Patriots constantly getting themselves into these investigations after the Commissioner slapped them on the wrist for Spygate and told them “don’t do that again”.

But the NFL isn’t suffering because Roger Gooddell sucks as a Commissioner. Or because of a looming (in 2021 no less) labor strike that’s almost guaranteed to happen. Oh and once the new TV contracts come in the owners may be working off numbers that the players may not necessarily like.

The NFL is suffering because its retired players are and its current personnel are taking notice. Consider that the average NFL player’s career lasts four years. Most will never take home the millions that playing in a major professional sports league promise, but all will take home scar tissue created by sometimes almost a decade spent sustaining car crash like hits to the head and body.

Consider players like 23-year-old Su’a Cravens from the Washington Redskins who will spend the next month contemplating retirement. Or the slew of 20-somethings who have already decided to retire early before the damage becomes permanent and affects their post-football life.

The NFL’s contract structure guarantees its players very little and gives ownership outs once the player is no longer fit to compete. It seems unfair to ask players to continue risking its body for an opportunity that isn’t guaranteed but that’s how the NFL has always been and it doesn’t seem like it will change despite what Odell Beckham will try. It remains to be seen what change the NFLPA can affect in the next labor negotiations but many things will be on its mind, namely the safety of its constituent base. If not for a bigger share of the profits to then be put into a retirement fund, but at the very least to reduce the Commissioner’s power as its only legislative body dispensing his justice.

The best theory I heard about Gooddell’s recent run of challenging his sport’s best players is to do the bidding of the owners (his bosses) to undermine the players. If you reduce them to interchangeable parts and tell everyone that nobody is special then you can negotiate from that position. That’s where the biggest challenge will be. It will be interesting nonetheless.

But it may blind them from the bigger issue which is to reduce the number of games (i’m looking at you preseason) that puts its best stars in dangerous spots in meaningless situations.

Moving on, I’m going to preview the season by doing my first power rankings in four tiers: Tier IV- No shot, Tier III- long shot, Tier II- raised eyebrow, Tier I- contender.

I have my picks for week 1 in the next column- enjoy

TIER IV- NO SHOT

32. New York Jets-
Odds to win Super Bowl: 1000-to-1

Outlook: Call this season what you will but the Jets are like that Delta jet that decided to race Hurricane Irma. Sounds dumb but you have a duty to your customers. The Jets should consider forfeiting the season but have a duty to their customers to show up physically for 16 games but every move they made this offseason from trading Sheldon Richardson to releasing Brandon Marshall was done with the future in mind. Much of the Jet fanbase will be watching college football more intently than they do any of their games but consider this. The defense is decent, but with a paper thin offense it will be tough to watch. The Jets will need another season or two, after this to fully rebuild itself from this doldrum. Not like the owner will be around to enforce any of this anyway.

31. Buffalo Bills-
Odds to win Super Bowl: 200-to-1

Outlook: The Sean McDermott led Bills made a conscious decision to remove a bunch of its former young stars via trades or letting them walk out of the complex (mostly to New England) to greener pastures. What it did is set them up for a bountiful future. What the Bills will do this year is play decent up front on both sides and figure out if Tyrod Taylor has any trade value. They long ago wrote him off as a starting NFL QB and will hope to recoup some value by the trade deadline (my guess) to get more picks in the event that a team that fancies itself a playoff contender will need a competent QB. At the very least they have a ton of picks to fall back on while the season plays itself out in Western New York.

30. Cleveland Browns-
Odds to win Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Outlook: The only reason i have them ahead of the Bills is because their rebuild is in the second phase. The Harvard bred, forward thinking front office of the Browns has built the team in a very old school way. They handed out a ton of money to help build one of the better offensive lines and are using the draft to build its defense. Myles Garrett looks like a generational talent at the defensive end position and the position-less Jabrill Peppers will likely line up in the backend and use his athleticism to affect the deep pass accuracy of his opponents. But the Browns are betting they have hit on QB already by naming third round draft pick DeShone Kizer as their starting QB. Is it truly hard to think that a team with a stout offensive line and a rookie QB can make some noise this season? Where have i seen that before?

29. Chicago Bears
Odds to win Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Outlook: This seems like a good time to mention that the John Fox tenure at Chicago is about to come to an end. That’s the deciding factor in why I put them behind the San Francisco 49ers. The Bears have a bad front office but have the pieces that should make them attractive to any coach-GM candidate. The key to this season will be when Mitchell Trubisky becomes the starting QB and the city of Chicago will be on edge. The future of GM Ryan Pace will be on the line. If he shows any kind of promise it may be enough to keep him on the job but if this season ends as disastrously he may be on a one way ticket out.

28. San Francisco 49ers
Odds to win Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Outlook: We can all agree that Jed York is a bad owner and his decision to pick Trent Baalke over Jim Harbaugh likely set his franchise back. But now he’s armed a GM with no experience and a head coach with zero prior experience. While every decision will be viewed from that perspective, I liked their draft, and their steadfast nature to select the best player available. That’s how every rebuilding team should approach the draft. Kyle Shanahan has decent pieces on offense to make them a threat to any team that thinks they can sleep walk to a win. It makes them intriguing for the season and should help the Niners start moving forward.

27. Jacksonville Jaguars
Odds to win Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Outlook: Even with dictator Coughlin manning the front office rather than the sideline expect the team to be fashioned in his image. An imposing defense and hopes that the run game keeps the offense on the field long enough to give the defense rest and makes the defense play closer to the line so Blake Bortles can throw it deep to Allen Robinson. While I think that seems unlikely, they will make betting against them tough. MY prediction is that Leonard Fournette is the least likeliest to succeed in the NFL.

26. Miami Dolphins
Odds to win Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Outlook: Jay Cutler. Every Bears fan, and every Denver Broncos fan know what this means. Cutler is a nightmare to predict and the fact that many predict him to have his most productive year now that he’s reunited with former OC Adam Gase is beyond foolish. What makes people think that Jay Cutler will be better than he was in his other stops in the NFL? What makes people think Jay Ajayi is a top 10 back in the NFL? His overall stats were solid but consider that outside of 3 games (1 against Pittsburgh, and 2 against Buffalo) where he had nearly half his year’s output, he had only one other 100 yard game. I just don’t think this team will be the main deterrent to New England that some think.

25. Washington Redskins
Odds to win Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Outlook: the offseason was mired in a standoff with QB Kirk Cousins who may already have one foot in San Francisco. If that happens, the Redskins will be left to head into next season without a QB of the future and outside of a drafting slot to get one of the top QB’s expected to enter next year’s draft. But there will be enticing options and Jay Gruden has shown that he can turn a late round draft pick into a good QB. Kirk Cousins is in the Alex Smith memorial hall of fame of guys who seem to lead their teams to respectability at the least while not scaring any defense or opposing fan base. That Week 17 game where the Redskins had everything to play for and the Giants had nothing to play for shows you exactly who Kirk Cousins is: he can get you to the door, he doesn’t have the ability to walk through.

TIER III: Long Shot

24. Los Angeles Rams
Odds to win Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Outlook: I like them even without Uncle Wade having his best toy to play with heading into Week 1 at the least in Aaron Donald. But regardless, the Rams should be improved with Wade’s aggressive scheme. Hiring a QB-guru-centric coach is the right way to go but getting a home crowd advantage may prove difficult in a town that has rarely shown an interest in football before. Consider the improvement in the defense and a safer approach to Jared Goff’s development and the addition of Sammy Watkins as steps in the right direction.

23. Detroit Lions
Odds to win Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Outlook: The Lions paid Matthew Stafford on a season where he improved his efficiency and helped his team to an above average record in close games. The Lions were 8-4 in one possession games. Make them even .500 and the division race isn’t even close. The Lions will hope that games don’t end up that close by upgrading the offensive line but their defense remains suspect and that’s going to be too much to overcome.

22. Indianapolis Colts
Odds to win Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Outlook: Scott Tolzien is starting week 1. Which means all of the proclamations of Andrew Luck’s health improving were all fluff. You have to worry about the organization’s franchise guy if the reports of him missing a significant portion of the season are true. Not when Tennessee has a chance to be legit contenders this year. Let’s see.

21. Cincinnati Bengals
Odds to win Super Bowl: 100-to-1

Outlook: The Ringer’s Robert Mays put it best: the Bengals don’t do anything particularly well. They are just solid on both fronts. Losing their first round pick for a few games will hurt Andy Dalton but then Andy Dalton wasn’t likely to lead the Bengals to anywhere but 8-8. Dalton and the Bengals need to break up for both their own good.

20. Denver Broncos
Odds to win Super Bowl: 40-to-1

Outlook: The Broncos ultimately won the Brock Ostweiler deal even if they don’t have much to show for it. Their defense will remain elite, but their offense won’t be unless Jamaal Charles returns to Chiefs form. The Broncos play the style of one cut line play that fits what Charles can do but without his elite burst it may be a lot of 2nd and 8’s in the Broncos future.

19. Baltimore Ravens
Odds to win Super Bowl: 50-to-1

Outlook: This is one of two teams I’m leaving out of the contender talk but I can see a scenario in which they challenge for the division crown. I love their defense and John Harbaugh coaches the team well. Joe Flacco will have a decent set of weapons (none inspiring enough to make me consider them legit contenders) but ultimately won’t prove enough to overthrow the Steelers from taking the division.

18. Houston Texans
Odds to win Super Bowl: 40-to-1

Outlook: Ton of positive momentum stemming from JJ Watt’s incredible work as humanitarian/fundraiser stemming from Hurricane Harvey’s relief efforts. But while this defense will remain elite, consider the offense’s ceiling to depend on when they feel comfortable enough to run Deshaun Watson out there. He will take some lumps this season but this is about the future and the quicker Bill O’Brien realizes it, taking a step back, to potentially take a few steps forward, the better off the Texans will be for the future.

17. New Orleans Saints
Odds to win Super Bowl: 25-to-1

Outlook: These are ridiculous odds based solely out of some gumbo-eating handicapper. There is nothing the Saints did this offseason that make them 25-to-1 odds on favorites to win the Super Bowl. Nothing. Drew Brees will do his thing on offense but losing Brandin Cooks was bad but necessary. Not getting Malcolm Butler was a curious decision in that trade but a first rounder on the OL was another curious decision. This is a big year for the Mickey Loomis/Sean Payton team. If this season turns bad, expect major changes in the Bayou.

TIER II: RAISED EYEBROWS

16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Odds to win Super Bowl: 40-to-1

Outlook: I’m taking points off for being on Hard Knocks. Jameis has all the weapons on offense to realize his true potential. This is the year we find out if he can overcome his mental mistakes. There’s just too many moments where we heard Dirk Koetter scold him for making a poor decision. He takes way too many chances. This team is good enough to be 12-4 this year but it will all depend on how many times Dirk Koetter has to scold Winston.

15. Los Angeles Chargers
Odds to win Super Bowl: 60-to-1

Outlook: Here’s a dark horse candidate to legitemately surprise people. There’s been too many times this team has been snakebitten for one year not to go their way. Rivers has a very good complement of weapons to put up his usual stats and the defense has an absolute stud in Joey Bosa who will terrorize opposing QB’s alongside Melvin Ingram. Expect this team to be the talk of LA and the one difficult ticket in their 30,000 seat stadium.

14. Arizona Cardinals
Odds to win Super Bowl: 40-to-1

Outlook: If everything about Bruce Arians wanting to chuck it deep more is true, expect Carson Palmer to have a really good year. David Johnson is enough to scare defenses that they CAN be aggressive deep because of the many ways that he threatens a defense. Expect the Cards to be terrific and Hasaan Reddick to have the best year from any defensive player from this draft.

13. Carolina Panthers
Odds to win Super Bowl: 30-to-1

Outlook: The great white hope Chrisian McCaffrey will be a test in where the RB position is headed. Teams are now looking for the next David Johnson and the Panthers may feel like they have their guy in McCaffrey who will line up in multiple ways. Keeping him on a pitch count will help keep Jonathan Stewart AND Cam Newton healthy. I would not be shocked by a F U year from Cam and the Panthers to put them back in the discussion as among the league’s best.

12. Tennessee Titans
Odds to win Super Bowl: 20-to-1

Outlook: The trendy AFC contender pick. Mariota still seems like a gimmick QB to me and for me he’s the one guy that can drive this ship to be champions or not. They will win the South but I have my reservations in putting my faith in a gimmick QB and a coach named Mularkey.

11. Minnesota Vikings
Odds to win Super Bowl: 40-to-1

Outlook: Ton of Super Bowl talk with a defense ready to contend but I still don’t see them being better than the Packers. Do you? Regardless, Sam Bradford is on injury alert for me. His stats were misleading last year as he led the league in accuracy but his yards per attempt were the lowest out of all QB’s who started atlas 15 games. The Vikings need Bradford to take a step forward. It might be too much as he’s now in journeyman phase of his career.

10. Philadelphia Eagles
Odds to win Super Bowl: 40-to-1

Outlook: Here’s the other team that could potentially upset the natural order of things in the division. There’s a clear path forward for this team. They improved a receiving corps that hindered QB Carson Wentz’ development. Even a slight improvement by Alshon Jeffrey and co will make the Eagles a looming threat to both the Giants and Cowboys. I can see them being no less than 3rd in this division and can easily see them playing important games in late December for playoff positioning.

9. Kansas City Chiefs
Odds to win Super Bowl: 25-to-1

Outlook: Double check those odds after a decisive Week 1 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots where it looked like they cloned dynamic offensive talent Tyreek Hill in Kareem Hunt, their rookie RB who had the best debut fantasy performance by a rookie running back in history. I still don’t trust Alex Smith to lead an NFL franchise to the promised land. With Eric Berry landing on IR with a ruptured achilles the back end of KC’s defense takes a huge blow given how many athletic tight ends there are in the league. Berry was an equalizer far too few teams in the NFL have.

TIER I: The Contenders

8. Dallas Cowboys
Odds to win Super Bowl: 12-to-1

Outlook: Someone will have to explain the Cowboys rosy outlook given the turnover they had on defense. I get what they are doing on defense, but have they really improved? Wasn’t last year the high watermark for Dak’s efficiency? Isn’t losing two of their offensive line starters going to cost them? They can’t possibly better thant hey were last year when they went 13-3 right? Am i clouded by my Giants fan bias?

7. New York Giants
Odds to win Super Bowl: 12-to-1

Outlook: The offensive line still makes me uneasy. But the defense only gets better with continuity and adding a big hulking receiver in Brandon Marshall makes them better in the red zone. A lot of guys played beyond expectation last year and expecting that kind of projection to continue would be unrealistic. But I think this offense plays better and my spidey-senses are tingling about this season.

6. Oakland Raiders
Odds to win Super Bowl: 8-to-1

Outlook: I don’t get this line. If there’s one team that can have all the goodwill undone from the previous year, its this team. I don’t buy the Marshawn Lynch addition as a reason to push them over the top but a good QB like Derek Carr can offset a lot. Ask the Giants from last year. I think Carr is a top 8 QB in the NFL. But I don’t buy this team as a legit Super Bowl threat. I’m just not willing to bet that they take a huge fall from last year but the first four games will be telling.

5. Atlanta Falcons
Odds to win Super Bowl: 16-to-1

Outlook: There’s got to be a Super Bowl hangover. You don’t lose that game, THAT WAY and come back like nothing ever happened. Matt Ryan is in a contract year and seeing what QB’s are making must have him salivating. Steve Sarkisian, new OC for the Falcons won’t shy away from taking chances and that’s exactly the mindset you need after losing the Super Bowl for, taking chances. Kudos to coach Dan Quinn for wanting to maintain that identity despite what the naysayers will say. Expect a YUUUUGE year from Julio Jones.

4. Pittsburgh Steelers
Odds to win Super Bowl: 10-to-1

Outlook: If there’s a team that can dethrone the Patriots its this team. If the Chiefs showed that you can play man-defense and the Pats are really going to be that thin on defense, the Steelers may have the offense to beat the Pats even in Foxboro. But for the Steelers to have any chance in January, they better be hosting the Patriots. Even then it may not matter given their recent history.

3. Green Bay Packers
Odds to win Super Bowl: 8-to-1

Outlook: Sunday’s season opener between the Seahawks and Packers will legitimately have a chance to decide who hosts who in the NFC championship game so writing off Week one won’t be easy for the loser of this game. The Packers have Aaron Rodgers and a bevy of weapons on offense against that spectacular defense. I still think the Seahawks are a better team overall and John Schneider made sure of that with the slew of trades he made to fortify this team’s depth. Sunday afternoon should be eye opening.

2. Seattle Seahawks
Odds to win Super Bowl: 8-to-1

Outlook: The Seahawks doubled down on their strengths and moved the needle slightly on offense which may have given Russell Wilson another half second to play with which may be enough. The responsibility of keeping Wilson upright falls on a very shaky O-line which had two more starters go down with season ending injuries but expect Wilson to play almost MVP-like to lead the team to the Superbowl in a rematch against…

1, New England Patriots
Odds to Win Super Bowl: 11-to-4

Outlook: We’ve been down the road before where early in the season Tom Brady doesn’t look like himself and his demise is prematurely being discussed because…ratings. But make no mistake, this team beefed up on offense and I trust Bill Belichieck to get his team ready on defense every week. Against the Chiefs the Pats seemed to play against their natural instinct to be aggressive and made some uncharacteristic mistakes which swung the game in KC’s favor. Don’t expect those mistakes to continue. Brady is mad. And when Brady is mad, that usually means good things for the Patriots and bad things for the rest of the league

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Tagged as Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newtown, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Jerry Jones, Jets, Lions, NFL, Niners, Packers, Patriots, Redskins, Saints, Tom Brady

December 19, 2011 · 2:58 pm

Daily Rounds 12/19/2011

After being away for two days, I come back to you to bring you Tebow down to earth, the Jets and Giants limping into their showdown on Christmas Eve. The Baron Davis experiment. And some fun links to get you through yet another Monday. ENJOY!

On a day where neither team could ill afford a let down game, BOTH New York area football teams gave their respective fan bases the kind of game that can come back to haunt

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them in their quest to make the playoffs. The Giants lost at home to the Redskins 23-10 while the Jets got blown out in Philly 45-19. Gary Meyers said yesterday’s performance was indicative of so many Tom Coughlin teams. They face the indignity of elimination at the hands of the Jets if they win and the Cowboys beat the Eaglehan city-wide pride. If that’s not enough for you, in yesterday’s post game press conference Antrell Rolle called out his teammates who didn’t partake in practice during the week and Tuck answered by saying “its easy when you do it with another man’s body”.

Here it is for Giant fans. Win the next two games and there’s no discussion. The Giants will win the division. Lose next week and then beat the Cowboys and hope the Eagles lose one of two and they win the division. EITHER WAY, that week 17 matchup comes up to be huge. I dont know what to say about yesterday’s effort by either team but I will say this. I’ve never been a fan of Antrell Rolle and the microphone together, but yesterday he said something that needed to be said.

I get that Justin Tuck is hurt and if he is. If he’s really hurt, then he needs to sit out some games. Tuck has shown me NOTHING through the last six games that he’s played that would lead me to believe he has much of anything in the tank and that’s probably due to his neck stinger. He’s been called out all year by former teammates and now by current ones. That has to be troubling to the defensive captain and frankly, I dont care. Tuck has been sensitive and sissy like when it comes to addressing concerns regarding his health. Look, I’m not a medical expert but if he’s really hurt then he needs to be handled that way. He needs to sit out and not take up space. He’s a valuable member of the defense but NOT at 60% which it looks like he’s playing. Offensive linemen are handling him on one on one situations and yesterday’s game he was being tossed aside like a rag doll and the Giants were not getting any kind of pressure. No Osi, and virtually no Tuck which leaves ONLY JPP as the real threat for the defense and he again was the only guy who seemed to play like he cared.

Rolle’s astute observation aside, this coverage unit is a liability at this point. They were horrendous in tackling as well. Prince Amukamara fell for virtually every single move that any receiver he was facing was throwing at him. The kid will get better, but he was being burned at every available turn and deserved the half time benching knowing that this was basically a game they HAD to have.

IF the Giants and Jets won yesterday, Saturday’s game may not have meant as much. The Giants have had plenty of games like that where they could’ve won. They were on their way to victories over Seattle, the Niners and the Eagles. Three wins that IF they had back, they could’ve clinched the division by last Sunday. But the Giants have not played a full game where all three facets of the team have come together.

Speaking of three facets of the team not coming together, the Jets got beat up and down by the Eagles who by the way aren’t done in the NFC East race either. SHOULD they win out and all three teams wind up with an 8-8 record, yes it will be the Eagles winning the division by virtue of a better divisional record and making all the experts look like geniuses. Thankfully there is a very remote chance of that happening but yes, that CAN happen. So don’t rule it out completely. In fact, I think that’s probably the most likely scenario given how the Eagles absolutely HANDLED the Cowboys in their first meeting and how the Eagles have looked in the past two weeks: you know like the dominant team everyone expected them to be. Either way the biggest take away from this game for the Jets: they had better fix the secondary immediately. I mean the third level where the safeties are. Brodney Poole is a liability in coverage and they have NOBODY there to match up with the tight end. David Harris doesn’t have the speed and Bart Scott has quietly had one of the worst seasons of his career. The Jets will have to figure that out quickly. They are now in a tie for the Wild Card. The Jets control their fate. Win out and they are in.

All in for Saturday. It will be interesting to see how this goes.

In the other major game yesterday, the Tim Tebow led Denver Broncos were brought down to earth by competition that they were not better than yesterday. The Patriots, coupled with the Jets loss, also clinched the AFC East crown for the 9th time in 11 years. What happened? Greg Bedard says that the defense, which sunk to depths they didn’t know existed, changed the course of the game. Dan Shaughnessy said that it was just routine for these AFC assassins. Tebow time didn’t get a chance to start up thanks to a few costly turnovers says Don Banks of SI.com. Judy Batista of the New York Times said that yesterday restored order to conventional wisdom that says that Tim Tebow and the Broncos can’t be successful. Woody Paigesaid that despite the luck that seemed to hover over the Broncos for the last two months wasn’t there at Mile High, the Broncos still received help thanks to a poor showing by the Raiders who lost a lead and the game against the Lions. Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post hit the nail right in the head when he said

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“while Tebow has earned the right to operate this team in 2012, the offense must evolve to the point where Denver can play more than one way.” Finally, Mike Silver of Yahoo Sports said it best: Tim Tebow learned a valuable lesson at the hands of the master.

Look, nobody’s a bigger fan of this guy than me. As a football fan I’ve never seen anything like Tim Tebow. I think that goes for everybody else. But I saw this coming a mile away. But those who want to point to Tim Tebow as the reason they lost may want to think again. Yes, this showed that Tim Tebow can NOT keep up with a high flying offense. This showed that unless they work out his throwing motion and develop him more as a pure pocket passer, the Broncos won’t be able to sustain good performances against good teams. But let’s forget all that for a minute.

In a span of 9 offensive plays, the Broncos fumbled three times. Twice they were recovered by the Patriots and they scored 10 points off those turnovers. One of the fumbles also resulted in a three and out which wound up being a field goal. That’s thirteen points that the Broncos GAVE the Patriots. Take those points away, and its 16-14 heading into the half. Then you put that seven on the board from the third, the Patriots are up 21-16 heading into the fourth quarter. Imagine that game going into the fourth quarter with Tebow just a touchdown away from winning it. You have to entertain the possibility because when the team is close, they believe. They have unending faith. That’s what I’ve seen from the Broncos in those fourth quarters. They have undying faith that they will win the game and so that quarter could’ve gone either way. If the Patriots had gained the momentum and not put that 20 spot in the second quarter, the Broncos and Patriots go into that fourth and it turns into a different game. Who knows, the Patriots may have won but yesterday was not a shoot out. No. Yesterday was not about Tom Brady and the Patriots scoring more points than the Broncos by just sheer machine like efficiency. No, it was the Broncos giving them opportunities deep in their own territory and now giving the offense a chance by keeping it close.

Most teams in the NFL won’t do that and can’t recover from that. And that in the end is the point folks. Let’s start looking at this team from a reasonable point of view. Let’s not differentiate them and put them in a different class. That they are not. The premise behind that is wrong and is what gives talk show heads so much to talk about. Yes, everybody is different in their own special way. But Tebow should not get more credit for running this unconventional (by pro-standards) offense anymore than Tom Brady gets overvalued in my estimation for the Patriots Super Bowl victories. Yes, he won them but let’s be real, he never led touchdown drives to win games, he led drives that ended up in field goals and Adam Viniatieri kicked the Patriots into history.

The fact is, this is JUST another NFL quarterback. He’s JUST another second year QB. And that’s how he should be evaluated. Free from the emotion of what he represents. He’s a great story but every story has an end. Was yesterday the end? I dont know. Tebow has proven that he can answer the critics and the critics have no answers for the way he seemingly pulls games out. No one can dispute ths 7-1 record but most want to dispute the fact that he is a viable NFL Quarterback. But they are looking at him from the narrow minded view point of traditional drop back passers like Tom Brady. And that’s how they should be. There is no comparative player in this generation. Even the Fran Tarkentons weren’t built like Tebow. No way could Fran ever have pulled off that 9 yard TD run that Tebow pulled off in the first quarter. But if the Broncos ever needed a wake up call from this hallucinogen that the Tebow saga has had them on, this was it.

Brady was simple. Brady was precise. Brady was everything we expected. He was probably the anti-Christ in this game but he was the anti-dote for the Broncos. They need to wake up from this dream that everyone has been swept up in. Yes he’s a great player but there’s work to be done and now most are beginning to see it. There’s a game against Buffalo next week IN Buffalo that will surely have people ranting and raving about him again. The Bills have packed up and gone home and then they finish off the season against the Chiefs. Those perfect season ruining Chiefs. They are in the drivers seat thanks to the Lions beating the Raiders in comeback fashion. The Broncos need only win out and then its the playoffs and if Tebow has proven ANYTHING is possible.

But yesterday was their first taste of something real. Every week seemed to have something set up so that they would be victorious. The Bears minus Cutler and Forte. The Vikings minus Adrian Peterson. The Jets minus an offense and oxygen to the head on that final play. The Broncos had victories seemingly served up and give them credit, they accepted the hand outs and rode the wave. But anyone who didn’t see yesterday’s game coming was drinking heavily from the communion wine. Tom Brady was not going to let Tebow have the crown and all the fun. Brady reminded us all that it takes more than just one man to win games. He passed, he scored and the entire Patriot team came together for that win and now they stand at 11-3. Masters of their own fate and able to win out and get that first round bye. Of course they will need Pittsburgh to lose tonight. But yesterday was a dose of reality for a Bronco team that needed it desperately.

If the Broncos want to win, it will be imperative that they improve Tim Tebow. He has all the intangibles and he’s got all the stuff that people like you or I can’t see or explain. Now its time to see tangible results. Things that can help the argument: Tim Tebow is a good NFL Quarterback. Lord knows that most Tebow-supporters have prayed for that day to come.

Baron Davis will join the New York Knicks and make it official by today. Marc Berman says that the initial diagnosis of 8-10 weeks was meant to scare off teams that may have bid for the Baron’s services. Knicks medical staffers took a look into his medical reports and decided that he would be able to play in about a month. Davis only wanted to play for three teams: his hometown Los Angeles Lakers, the Knicks and the Heat. All three of those teams would NOT have been able to bid during the amnesty auction due to their cap situation. Also contained within this report is that the Knicks still have the veteran’s minimum of $1.4 mil to dangle and perhaps Al Thornton will be a good fit as they have spoken to his representatives. In this report, Berman (who’s been the biggest news scooper this side of Alan Hahn for Knick fans) also says that Spike Lee began to plant the seed early on for Tyson Chandler’s free agent welcome to New York. Mitch Lawrence is a little less than enthused by the Baron Davis signing, saying that it speaks more to what the Knicks don’t have than their trust in what Baron Davis DOES have.

I’m in the latter category. The Knicks have a solid core. Yes, I don’t like Mike Bibby because he’s a liability on defense. Then there’s Toney Douglass who’s a liability on offense. Then there’s Imam Shumpert who outside of one impressive preseason game has nothing to show for himself. And so the Baron Davis experiment begins albeit only by around MLK day as the Knicks are telling it. The Knicks are a promising team. They have a front court that makes others drool but their second team is a huge question mark and in a shortened season where they will need to rest their guys especially Amar’e for long stretches on those tough back to back night games which will be early and often, the hope here is that something pans out from that second group. They will be counted on. Which is why teams that are 8-10 deep are probably assured of the most success while teams that are top heavy will find the road the hardest.

The Knicks are top heavy. Unless they get some scoring from Bill Walker and Bibby turns back the clock some, and the rookie shows more than just flashes in a preseason game, the Knicks will be woefully thin and they will be forced to play games where they will need huge performances from their superstars to maintain. The Knicks don’t have that much size but if what we saw from Jorts Harrleson is true, then the Knicks may have some depth on the other end. D’Antoni after the Nets game made a very interesting point: Carmelo Anthony may be their best passer. Which tells you what you need to know. The Knicks will lean more on Anthony to lead the team. Amar’e is the heart and soul of this team and we give him that. He’s the guy who came to NY when no one else would. He led the renaissance last year. But Carmelo is by far the best player on the team and he needs to take that next step in his evolution. Running the offense through him will be better and give the Knicks more opportunities. The best pick and roll I saw from the Knicks was the one he and Amar’e ran and that’s the kind of easy offense the Knicks can have when those two superstars are working in tandem.

I will get more into that in my season preview on Friday.

But this move was made, in my opinion, more as an indictment of what we don’t have than what we do have in the back court. Baron Davis comes with huge question marks, bad back not included. There are questions of chemistry. Of work ethic. Of motivation. His defensive ability. Of his overall ability declining. But talent like his comes along rarely. When motivated, Davis is a beast. A threat to throw down 20 points dish out thirteen assists including four or five wow alley oops to willing partcipants: Amar’e and Melo (though you may want to add Shump to that list because he looks like an athletic freak too). BUT the big question is which Baron will show up and how often will good Baron be the one that puts on the uniform and how long this love fest will last.

I’m not holding my breath. My hope is that Toney Douglas improves as the season progresses and Shump has a monster season and proves the Knick draftniks right when they drafted him so that Davis’ presence will only be peripheral and not in the main view of the Knicks vision which currently is on a championship.

Howard Beck of the New York Times says that a New York rivalry can be revived at the drop of a Dwight, i mean Dime should the Nets make a huge acquisition themselves. The Clippers deal for CP3 shows how quickly a city can come alive for that.

Mark Heisler wrote one of the funniest mock letters to Donald Sterling pleading with him NOT to mess this up.

Sending out a Praise God for the news of Celtic Jeff Green who had an aortic aneurysm treated thanks to a last minute check up. The condition will sideline Green for the season, an unfortunate set back but wonderful news considering what could’ve been had they not discovered it.

Ben Bolch looks at the fascinating life that IS Metta World Peace. Thug. Humanitarian. Bench player for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Just click this link Lebron Haters and enjoy. Thanks Dallas Fort Worth Telegram.

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Tagged as Baron Davis to Knicks, Giants loss, Giants playoff hopes, Jeff Green, Jets loss, Jets playoff hopes, Kobe, Lakers, Patriots, Tim Tebow, Tim Tebow vs Tom Brady, Tom Brady

November 9, 2011 · 10:26 pm

Giants Postgame Reax!

I know what you’re going to tell me. Don’t buy into just one victory. Its still early. Only half the season has been played. I get all that. And yet. I want to yell and scream at everyone and everything. I want to just yell out profanities and mumbo jumbo that has no clear meaning. That’s the feeling you get when you see your team pull out a victory like that.

Its that kind of victory that shifts the attention from a negative to a positive.

Unfortunately THIS is the kind of victory that can help a team lose its perspective as they enter into the league’s most unforgiving second half schedule.

The Giants still haven’t played the Cowboys. They go up to San Fran this week against the 7-1 49ers. Then its back home for the Eagles against a team who embarassed them at home last year and may come in very angry and worse, VERY dangerous. Then comes the Saints who play like the Dow Jones. One week scoring 62 then the next not being able to score against a winless Rams team. Then the week after they face the Packers. Yep, the for now 8-0 Packers who will be coming off a very emotional Thanksgiving Day game and given a few extra days to rest to prepare for the Giants at the new Meadowlands.

Exactly WHO did the Giants piss off in the league office that they were given this schedule? Either way, this is the kind of game that can bring the team up and help propel them to something special and help them realize the potential in themselves OR its the kind of game that can have them head into Candlestick overconfident and have their asses handed to them. THEN start a spiral downwards that could cost them the division.

Either of those scenarios are still in play BUT for now, let’s just revel in this instant classic game that once again gave us the kind of goosebump highlights that made Giant and Patriot fans reminisce over Super Bowl 42. So let’s delve into the big plays and the small things that may come back to haunt us:

– Eli IS elite. Let’s put that argument to rest. He’s a Super Bowl winner. Clutch as they come. And judging by Philip Rivers’ last few games we can end the talk that he’s better than Eli despite the fact that the argument, when one really breaks it down, is ludicrous considering what Eli has accomplished when compared to Rivers. But that’s it for now. Let’s remember that his number one receiver, running back and starting center were ALL out due to injuries. The Giants have always been conservative when it comes to injuries and preventing further damage so there Eli was playing with Mario Manningham, Victor Cruz, Ramses Barden and Jake Ballard. So if you take out Mario Manningham, a fifth round draft pick, we’re talking about two undrafted free agents and a guy who hadn’t played in over a year thanks to an injury. That was Eli’s Sunday afternoon. By Monday morning each had made atleast one play to put the Giants in position to score OR scored a touchdown. Amazing. That’s what great quarterbacks do. That’s what elite quarterbacks do. Plain and simple.

– Welcome back to Brandon Jacobs who played like the guy we all saw in 2006 and 2007. The fear inducing runner who loves contact with smaller DB’s. I think Tom Coughlin said it best, he wasn’t going east and west, he was going north and south and when Brandon Jacobs does that he’s a great runner because not many want to deal with his physicality. His stats won’t say it, but if this is the Brandon Jacobs we’re going to get moving forward, teams had better worry; there aren’t two more angrier runners in the game than him and Ahmad Bradshaw.

– Once again, the coverage units did their job. This time, it was Deon Grant who seemed to be everywhere that Tom Brady did NOT expect. Forget the fact that Grant had one INT and two almost INT’s off Brady who never seemed to account for him, it was his coverage of the TE’s that helped win this game. If the Giants allowed Hernandez and Gronkowski to get open, it would’ve been a long afternoon but the Giants knew that in order to beat Brady you had to occupy the TE’s long enough for the pass rush to be effective.

But the better coverage job was done by Mathias Kiawanuka who had the dubious honor of covering the slot guy in Wes Welker OR his kid brother Danny Woodhead. No two slot receivers give defenses more fits than those two and Kiwi, the fruit Ninja, had to mix in coverage along with blitzing responsibilities and played a phenomenal game. The kind of game that makes you realize why the Giants took from a position of strength (DE) to apply into a position of weakness (LB). Kiwi had one INT of Brady thanks to a tip by Michael Boley (who we’ll laud too) which landed in his arms.

– Speaking of which, Michael Boley has been a God-send for the Giants since he signed with them in 2009. The Giants were thin at the position and needed some youth badly. Thanks to Boley’s emergence and his ability to call the signals on defense, they got more than they bargained for and have been rewarded since trusting him with the signal calling. He’s been the defacto Mike despite playing mostly strong side LB on most downs.

– Back to Eli. Bad Eli showed up on that one INT play in which he threw off his back foot and basically gave the Patriots all the momentum back but it eventually didn’t come back to haunt them, but those backfoot throws are the kind of things that drive you crazy as an Eli fan and give the haters plenty of ammunition against him.

– So after waiting for a year, we saw Ramses Barden make the kind of catch where you realized having a 6’6 and 240 pound receiver can be crucial. On a 2nd and 10 on the final drive, he snatched a surefire INT and muscled his way into a first down which kept the drive going. Amazing stuff and the physicality we had hoped to see. Reminded me of Plaxico. No lie.

– For the last few weeks, I told you how much I was impressed by Jake Ballard and well, what can you say about his Sunday afternoon? Made the most clutch catch on a play that I’ve seen Eli throw plenty of times before. Its his patented throw tight into double coverage and hope his receiver makes a play on the ball. He did that throw twice, the second being the one that drew the pass interference call which set the Giants up at the Patriots one with less than a minute to go to win the game. Ballard has been such a great find for the Giants that you’re now seeing what all the talent evaluators saw when they let Kevin Boss leave for the Raiders. Look, I’m not going to say that that decision wasn’t with its inherent question marks but that’s why you trust the system and trust the development crew. Want to know another Giants tight end who has been enjoying success? Scott Chandler. Chandler was on the Giants practice squad and today stars as the Bills TE. You trust the system and you allow the development to happen.

– Which naturally leads me to the guy in charge of all that and that’s Jerry Reese. During his first year as GM he engineered a draft that saw all 7 picks see the field and play prominent roles on a championship team. Now, five years later with Reese’ job pretty much on the line, Reese did nothing but stand pat. He let Boss leave for the Raiders. He worked out a compromise on the Osi Umeniyora situation and he did an amazing job retooling the roster with some good draft picks. Basically he got back to what made him a good GM and didn’t go out and spend money frivolously like he had done the last two seasons. I’m not saying that he’s the GM of the year, but he’s in the running and we’re going to see more of that put to the test. Prince Amukamara still hasnt played a down so that position of dearth may become one of strength if the Prince comes and plays to the talent the Giants expect. Not bad for a guy who was going to enter a lame duck year eh?

– How poetic that the music being played on the loudspeakers as Eli and co were coming in was Victory by Biggie?

– The Giants played excellently on both sides of the ball and managed to be effective in both areas especially on limiting yards after catch which is a very tough thing to do with these Patriots and also an essential thing to do. Everytime the Pats would catch a pass, they took a hit and were immediately dropped. Only until the second half when Brady finally got a chance to hit receivers in stride (make that one, only Wes Welker did any damage) did the Pats have any YAC. The Giants finally played an almost completely good game from top to bottom. 106 rushing yards on 24 carries which is still a 4.5 ypc average but after the first run for 18 yards by Ben Jarvis Green Ellis, the Patriots never had a high of more than 13 which was on an end around. The fact is, the Giants played tough, motivated and within the game plan that was given to them. Give them credit for keeping the Pats scoreless through 2.5 quarters and forcing Brady into uncharacteristic mistakes. Brady never really had a clear lane of vision and never looked comfortable.

The Pats were considered by most a Top 5 team in the league prior to Sunday’s game and the Giants certainly will play the cream of the crop but they were up against the 32n’d rank pass defense. The 31st? That would be the league’s best team, the Green Bay Packers. Much of that is due to the Packers usually being ahead comfortably and teams racking up yardage after they have put the game out of reach but Aaron Rodgers had to play a near perfect game in San Diego to escape with a W. He also had to put up monster performances to escape a 2-6 team in Minnesota to also come away with a victory. The Saints looked lifeless and completely lost against the Rams and never really looked dominant against the Bucs. The Eagles are a complete mess and basically 2 losses away from their season being over. What i’m trying to say is this: NO TEAM does NOT come away looking like an unbeatable team. For the first time in years, there is an actual question mark each week. I can see the Giants winning the next 4 or losing the next four. Its either the ceiling or the basement. Its unreal how open it is. Betting this season has been fun and i’ve been moderately successful but its a complete crapshoot.

I’m saying this to Giants fans: Don’t worry about the schedule. Let the schedule worry about itself. Let’s play this one game at a time and I think we may end up having a few more of these postgame moments in our future:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-locker-room-mvps/09000d5d823a982e/Locker-room-lingo?continuous=true

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Tagged as Brandon Jacobs, Eli Manning, Giants, Justin Tuck, Patriots, Super Bowl 42, Tom Brady, XLII

October 11, 2011 · 12:57 pm

Jets/Patriots post game reax

Why I’m not waving the white flag on the season or deep in worry and the encouraging signs I saw from the Jets 3rd straight loss and their first divisional game against their hated rivals Patriots.

But first, a word from the hater:

– Much has been made of the finger pointing coming from the receivers. We all know that Santonio Holmes, Plaxico Burress are not the quiet types. Let’s be honest, you can’t blame them if they told you that they were following the lead of their coach, Rex Ryan. But Santonio Holmes did a huge no no. Or was it Mark Sanchez? Sanchez responding to Holmes’ critique about his play said this was an in house matter and something he and Holmes had discussed. Well, that was news to Santonio because when he was asked a few moments later about the talk he and Sanchez had, he knew nothing about such a meeting. They later denied and said that things were lost in translation but I think we all speak the language of discord and that’s exactly what is rearing its ugly head. Sanchez is the leader of this group, as young as he is, and he has to know that if he tells the media something, they will do their due diligence to check with Santonio on his side. The damage is done now with Santonio denying the meeting ever took place which speaks to the lack of communication going on. Or it means that Santonio is an idiot and doesn’t know how to play along OR that he refused to play along.

I’ve never been a fan of Brian Schottenheimer. I think he holds this team back. I think in their playoff losses he’s played a direct role in them. I said this during the Giants post game reaction piece and I’ll say it again. All the offenses have a certain rhythm they play to. The defense’s job is to disrupt that rhythm. The really good offenses continue to play the game at the pace they want. The Jets have a built in rhythm with their run game. That’s their strength and I will get to the idea that they are changing the dynamic of their franchise with the way they’ve been throwing the football. They need to rely on their strength which is the run game and play off of that. But even with the notion that your strength is in your run game and that you have an above average offensive line, he refuses to use it with authority. I’m of the belief that you play the game to your strength to your pace. You allow the other team to dictate pace and game speed you will lose. As in life, if you’re not true to yourself you will eventually lose. The Recievers dropped 4 passes including one sure fire touchdown. If you want to blame your Quarterback for not making the proper reads, that’s fine Santonio, just make sure you’re doing your job first.

– Ben Jarvis Green Ellis had a huge game. And when I say huge game I don’t mean just for the Patriots. I mean for the sake of this rivalry and also for the sake of his job he had a breakout game. Why? Steven Ridley is an emerging running back who rushed for over 100 yards in 10 carries last week and many within the organization see him as the eventual replacement. Aside from Welker, the Patriots have never had a physically gifted superior athlete since Randy Moss. The kind that can change the way defenses play you and many within the organization see Ridley, a 3rd round pick, as that guy necessitating his high draft selection. Now, a guy like Ben Jarvis Green Ellis is a workhorse, powerback but also an undrafted running back. Guys like that respond to the challenge of a person trying to get their job because nothing has been promised to them. They live and die each week with their performance. Add in the spice of the Patriots/Jets rivalry its easy to see why the guy was determined to have a monster game. The Jets need be worried about another running back gashing them which has been a terrible trend. Its becoming clear that teams are finding running lanes within this Jets D and finally finding ways to take advantage of their blitzing packages to find lanes. To be fair, the Patriots packages make teams run out 6 and 7 defensive backs on every play so its not fair to say that the Jet D was completely outclassed but the Patriots run the ball in the past as more of a oh by the way. This year they are more determined to run the ball with the changes on the offensive line and the Jets could NOT stop the running game when it mattered and for Jets it has to be a sad sight to behold. The Patriots looked the part of the more physical team at the point of the attack. That should be something to watch as the season progresses.

– I have to say that as much as people hate on the running game I give the running game some credit. Shonn Greene has been awful, both from a fantasy and reality perspective but Sunday’s output for him was his best showing. Why? Because he was running down hill. That’s his strength and the Jets need to drill it in Shonn Greene’s head that he is at his most useful when he does that. The funny thing is, LaDanian Tomlinson has been the much better back through the season’s first five games but the Jets continue to run the pass heavy offense. It will be interesting how they go carry wise and how they share in the running game but LDT seems like the fresher back. But I loved the improvement by Shonn Greene. He just seemed to run with more purpose instead of always hitting a brick wall like he looked for the first four games. Hopefully this game will start a string of better starts for him.

– Speaking of which, the Jets reliance on the pass is not the end all of this team. I believe the Jets, were screwed the most by the lack of an offseason. They have been trying to be better at the pass for quite some time with the signing of Plaxico Burress thinking this would speed up the maturation of Mark Sanchez. This is all about Mark Sanchez by the way folks. They believe in their heart of hearts that if you surround a young QB with enough weapons his progression will multiply and it will take shorter for him to look the part. In some ways its true. Sanchez has looked the part of a good NFL QB in certain times. He’s definitely looked the part in his four road wins which are the most for a player at this juncture of his career or any career for that matter. But Sanchez still has many moments when he’s lost and he’s making the wrong read and being a third year player we’re not going to fault him. But this was the year that QB’s take the leap. If they are going to be good, or great, they show it in year three and so the Jets went out and shopped for some groceries. They were confident in the run game they had so they left that alone thinking they didn’t need lineman or anyone else. Of course when Damien Woody retired it took them by surprise. It was another piece of the line disappearing from the Jets. But the Jets still had D’Brickshaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold there. Then there were the receiver additions. I hated the move to cut Jerricho Cotchery for Derrick Mason but the Jets did that as a poke move against the Ravens. But the Jets thought Plaxico Burress was going to revert back to his old self and immediately propel the Jets forward. Now, this is five games in and things can change but there’s something Jet fans need to know about Plax before you continue.

Eli Manning got vilified by Plax for not being there for him when he was going through his prison sentence. It would be understandable for a stand up guy to be upset had he himself been there at every turn for Eli, but that’s never been the case. How the media turned it around on him and every black journalist ran to Plax’s defense was absurd and beyond me. This was a man who selfishly shot himself in the foot and ultimately ruined the Giants season. He was the most fined player in Giants history for simply not showing up to meetings on time. And when he did, he was usually asleep. In the 80’s Bill Parcells had a similar player in his locker room. A player he excused and treated differently because he was made so that way. His name was Lawrence Taylor. Who’s going to tell me that Plaxico Burress is on the same level as LT? Yeah, I didn’t think so. This was a man that the Giants, a team I believe is the most professional in all of football and one of the last family owned from the beginning teams in the NFL, treated like family and he went and lost his shot at that. And now he’s the man we should feel sorry for? He’s the man Eli should come visit in prison? The same man who would constantly criticize Eli? The man who’s one great postseason (and Giant fans know how great he was, and honestly I’ve never seen a receiver dominate a game of that magnitude like he did in that NFC Championship game in Green Bay) and seemingly reaching his potential as a football player was the guy we were supposed to defend and drop Eli Manning on the drop of a dime?

Now, Eli is an easy target. He looks aloof and half the times he looks confused and we can argue whether that’s just the Southern Miss in him, but let’s rest that case because it isn’t about the Giants anymore with Plax. His main duty is to help nurture Mark Sanchez. Help to give him his confidence. If I were a Jet fan, I’d be concerned. Having Cotchery was a life saver and he was the longest tenured Jet among receivers. He was the guy that should’ve had the job of helping Mark Sanchez out. Instead, you have malcontent Derrick Mason. You have a rookie receiver in Kerney. You have Santonio Holmes with his brand new rich contract so you know he doesn’t care anymore, and you have Plaxico Burress. I dont know if Plax has changed and frankly no one does. But for the sake of Mark Sanchez I hope he has.

– I think the Jets passing so much in these first four games is by design. Thanks to a limited offseason, they weren’t able to get all the kinks worked out and it will take time. But if they got the running game moving in the right direction, I think the Jets become scarier. As time goes on and barring injuries, the offensive line will get better thanks to the work of Bill Calahan who is one of the best offensive line coaches in the game. So there isn’t worry setting in for me if i were a Jet fan. Its more of hope. How the Jets do in their next four games will be important. I dont think now is the time to worry. If you look at the Patriots and Bills, there are far more legitemate concerns on different sides of the ball. The Bills have forced turnovers at a completely unreliable rate. You can’t expect it to continue. The Patriots meanwhile have an offensive line that has been playing sneakingly bad. Look how often the Jets got into the Patriots face? The Jets have a good pass rush because of their scheme but they were in the face of Tom Brady for much of the night. Their defense is statistically one of the worst and Belichiek won’t be able to hide that deficiency for too long. Albert Haynesworth has been a bust and Devin McCourty has regressed as a corner and they can’t guard anyone which puts the onus on the offense to put up points in bunches. The Jets have a run game somewhere hidden. I think they have been trying out their passing game to work out the kinks they weren’t able to do without a full preseason. Look for the Jets to emerge in the next few weeks and put together some good games and for all the fretting and worrying to stop.

– Don’t pay attention to the final score and pregame hype. Divisional games always carry a bigger sense of doom and added hype that teams feed into. Its clear that both teams played harder because of who they were facing. I still think the Patriots are on a downward trend unless Devin McCourty begins to improve and Albert Haynesworth does the same. Losing Jerrod Mayo is going to suck huge for the Patriots. He’s led them in tackles the last two years. The Pats have no real pass rusher on the roster. Eventually the Patriots will need production from Chad OchoCinco to offset all the attention that Wes Welker is going to receive. The Jets meanwhile will need to begin fixing that run/pass ratio and start leaning heavier on the run as the weather gets tougher. Give some more carries to LDT and allow Shonn Greene to run downhill and not do all the shimmying that he’s been prone to do for some reason. Also, getting your receivers in line and relying heavier on Dustin Keller will be more appreciated. By the way, that can only happen if Keller doesn’t drop catches.

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Giants Postgame Reax!

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