Tag Archives: Pittsburgh

Thoughts and observations on the Jets Week 15 victory:

-If you had to pick a team that absolutely needed a victory and some semblance of offense you had to put the Jets at the top of the list in the NFL.  So of course Brad Smith returning the opening kick off was HUGE for the Jets.  Brad Smith has the most deceptive speed in the NFL.  Long strides and he just seems like he’s going in slow motion.  In comparison I would say that he reminds me of Usain Bolt.  Not as fast but really really fast guys don’t look like they are going fast because its just easy long strides they take and they don’t exert much effort when they are running fast.  Amazing.

Just look at the Jet sideline when they scored on that opening kick off.  A HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF.  It seemed all the pressure of scoring a touchdown had gone off their shoulders and they could focus on the game plan.

– the Steelers on the Jets first drive were very apparent in what they wanted to do.  First down- blitz.  Second down- blitz.  Third down- blitz.  Never played coverage.   Even on 3rd and 8.  They applied the pressure and made Mark Sanchez beat them.  Do you blame them?

– The Jets were very apparent in what they wanted to do:  Quick passes.  Very easy throws.  Short throws.  Get his confidence up.  Probably not the best team to do it against when you need to get your confidence up against the Steelers but the Jets had this going for them: Troy Polamalu was out, so the safety net for their secondary was out.  Smart game planning by a guy who was absolutely roasted for having two awful game plans the last two weeks, Mr. Brian Schottenheimer.

–  At some point the Jets will HAVE to do something else with the Brad Smith running the wildcat offense….right? I mean at some point the Jets will utilize the first QB to pass for 8,000 yards and run for 4,000 yards in his collegiate career.  That would help, right?

–  Much has been made about Rex Ryan and clock management and it was on full display right before the end of the half.  The Jets take over with :29 left in the first half. They are on their own 37 yard line after it was line drived and Robert Turner picked it up and ran with it for about three seconds.  First of all they took off two extra seconds on the clock.  He went down at :31 but that’s merely semantics.  They have two timeouts.  The score is tied at 10.  The Steelers will take the ball in the second half so its imperative that the Jets do what they can to get into field goal range.

:29 seconds left-  Pass to Braylon Edwards over the middle for five yards.  Phil Simms is dead on with his analysis: YOU HAVE TO CALL A TIMEOUT HERE if you are trying to score, which the Jets clearly are because if they weren’t, then why not just take a knee and go to the locker room.  Right?

He was downed at :25.  So from here on out they are just wasting precious time on the clock.  They have two timeouts, NOT one.  They snap the ball for the 2nd and 5 play with :09 seconds left.  Which means they wasted :16 seconds of clock time JUST trying to get the playoff.

The next play goes to LaDanian Tomlinson, AGAIN over the middle of the field.  LDT is downed at :05 and they call a timeout with :03 left. Its a first down at the 49 yard line.

So in my estimation if they called a timeout at :25 they get to the 49 yard line with :17 seconds left and then they can spike the ball to stop the clock and now they have a timeout in their pocket and perhaps :13 seconds left.  That’s enough time for one or two shots down the field.  Instead they have :03 seconds left and Sanchize throws a ball out of bounds and lets the time run out.

This isn’t the first time that time management has been an issue for this team.  They have consistently made these types of mental mistakes that show the lack of knowledge of situational football which is dangerous ESPECIALLY when playing a team that is as cerebral as the Patriots or any other well coached team.  In a game where every point is crucial, why wouldn’t you play for the field goal to end the half?  Either the Jets never planned on it- which I dont believe for a second- or they just completely screwed the pooch on that.  That has to scare Jet fans for sure.  That falls squarely on coaching- its clear that situational football is not being stressed during practice.

– Real wiseguys those CBS stat geeks are.  In a graphic about how inept the Jet offense has been, they mentioned that since the last Jet offensive TD, the Patriots scored 9 TD’s.  I’m sure Jet fans appreciated that CBS.

– Braylon Edwards had one of those games that made you realize that this guy is one talented guy.  his catch in the third quarter where he was up in the air and took a vicious hit from safety Ryan Clark.  How he kept the football is beyond me.  Also in the first quarter Sanchez lofted a beautiful pass that fell right into his lap and he made a beautiful over the head grab which was equal parts good catch as it was great pass.

– On that third quarter drive, the Jets had a beautiful response to yet ANOTHER long drive by the Steelers.  So lets set it up.  Its 4th and 1.  The Jets get a measurement which we all know is just a diversion to give the coaches extra time to set up the perfect play.  The Steelers have just put yet another 7 minute drive on the Jet defense.  The defense is clearly reeling and the Jet offense is matching Steeler touchdowns with field goals and as we all know, that kind of math won’t lead to any kind of W’s.

So THIS is the Jet season.  4th and 1 and you are deep into Steeler territory and you NEED to convert on this play or else you kick another field goal.  Go down 17-13 and send the frustrated, and more importantly exhausted defense out there to stop the Steelers who consistently have driven against the Jet defense on long methodical drives.  That’s torture.  If they don’t convert here, you can forget this game and now its absolute panic mode.

So Brian Schottenheimer calls a bootleg.  The Jets line up in the I-Formation and fake the handoff to Shonn Greene.  Knowing the linebackers would get sucked in, Mark Sanchez who I have to admit has the absolute BEST fake in the game today completely fools the Steeler front line and runs to the left side for 7 yards and the touchdown.

Now, they have answered the Steeler touchdown with a long drive of their own.  They have ended their string of quarters of no offensive TD’s.  They have tied the game and suddenly the momentum is shifting.  The Jets are starting to gain some confidence.   8 plays- 66 yards and they do it in 3:49.  The Steelers had scored on drives of 16 plays and 96 yards in 8:12 which included a 4/4 on third down conversions on that drive.  Then there’s a 74 yard drive in 6:57.  That’s huge.  Suddenly the rift between offense and defense is not so bad and you add some rejuvenation to the Jet sideline.

Huge TD.

– The next offensive drive for Pittsburgh what happens?  Our old friend Flozell Adams who I maintain is the dirtiest player in the game helps the Jets cause by hitting Darrelle Revis in the face and negating a first down by backing them up 15 yards after an unnecessary roughness call.

– Key play of the next Jet offensive drive:  3rd and 9 and the Steelers showing blitz.  Sanchize slips away from one would be sacker and fires a strike and hits a stretching Braylon Edwards who then gets walloped by James Harrison and somehow holds on to the ball.  I’m telling you, watching this game you would think Braylon Edwards was one of the elite receivers in the NFL or something.  The guy had velcro on his hands in snowy Pittsburgh.  It was an impressive game for him.  He got up and showed off the swagger that the Jets had throughout the first 11 games of the season.  Don’t sleep on the throw which was the definition of threading the needle in there.

That drive might have only netted them 3 points to make it 20-17, but it chewed up 6:47 and took 13 plays to get them 50 yards.  The kind of drives that the Steelers were killing the Jets with.  The momentum had shifted.  Answered the Steelers second half opening drive TD with one of their own, then got them to punt and drove the football for almost 7 minutes and got points at the end.

– The biggest knock has been the Jets inability to get pressure from their front three.  The next Steeler offensive drive, Drew Coleman is able to knock the ball out of Roethlisberger’s hand and make it a 2nd and 19.  On third down, the Jets bring pressure and almost give up a first down which would’ve been devastating, but the Jets hold them and force a punt.  That’s two consecutive drives that they’ve made the Steelers stall.

– Want another huge call by Brian Schottenheimer?  How about the 3rd and 6 with 3:50 left.  They direct snap to Tomlinson who gets a first down which is huge because that’s NOT an easy conversion.  Now its 1st down.  And its a good thing too as we get to the final Steeler drive later in the game which we will get to.

– Huge game for the Jet offensive line.  One sack allowed against a very aggressive Steeler D that brought a lot of pressure.

-Here is a critical decision: the Jets bypass the 50 yard field goal by Nick Folk which might have been a disaster if he had missed and let’s be honest there are very few believers in the coaching staff that he can make that kick.  So the Jets chose to kick the ball off and the special teams for the second time in the game pinned them within the five yard line.

First play, Jason Taylor comes unblocked and hits Mewelde Moore in the endzone and the Jets get a safety.  HUGE play.

Not only does it now make it a 5 point Jet advantage thereby forcing the Steelers to have to score a touchdown to win the game and eliminating the field goal drive to tie which, the Steelers showed they can drive on the Jets, but the spot of the tackle COULD have been reviewed by the Steelers though subsequent reviews show it was a safety and wouldn’t have been overturned.  Reviews are handled by the officials under two minutes but since the play was prior to the two minute warning the Steelers couldn’t risk losing a time out and so no challenge.  The rule is that the entire football has to come out of the end zone and it did but not all of it.  Taylor throwing Moore back into the end zone wouldn’t have counted as a safety had the entire football been ruled as leaving the end zone.  So that play was closer than most figured.

– Now the Steelers punt it and the Jets go 3 and out but another great Weatherford punt puts the Steelers back inside their own 10.  But they have 2:08 which means the two minute warning and one timeout left.

2:08- 1st and 10- 7 guys on the line for the Jets as they show blitz.  Rushes Big Ben’s throw.  Incomplete.

What this does of course is give them an extra play before the two minute warning which helps the Steelers in a way.

2:04 – 2nd and 10- Jets show 5 rushers this time overloading on the left side where Ben has Moore protecting.  I’ve noticed that the Steelers don’t really trust Mendenhall to block and thus they lose that big play potential he has for Moore who is a decent second option but not the kind of back who will have defenses respecting the run.  Ben escapes pressure and rushes for 19 yards and a first down.  Huge first down because the Jets had wore down that offensive line for the Steelers by then.

1:56- 1st and 10 at Steeler 29- Standard four man rush.  The Jets are playing coverage at this point.  Completed pass to Emmanuel Sanders for 10 yards and a first down but he’s in the field of play and thus the clock continues to move.

1:30- 1st and 10 at Steeler 40- They rush to the line to get the play off.  The Jets are rushing 3 and Revis knocks down a pass intended for Emmanuel Sanders.  Excellent play.

1:23- 2nd and 10 at Steeler 40- Jets show 4, but Drew Coleman is coming in from Roethlisberger’s right side which is clearly intended to get his attention.  Coleman comes unblocked, Roethlisberger tries to get an inside step but Coleman gets his hand in there and he knocks the ball loose.  Ben tries to recover and make a play but its too late, by the time he picks up the ball after fumbling it twice, Ben is back by the 25 and now its 3rd and 24.  It also forces the Steelers to use their final timeout.

Remember, thanks to the safety, they have to score a touchdown.  They can’t settle for a field goal here.  Which is crucial.

1:12- 3rd and 24 at the Steeler 25- Roethlisberger makes a HUGE conversion when Sanders catches the football, slips by a Revis tackle (when I say Revis NEVER misses a tackle, he NEVER misses a tackle.  He’s as sure a tackler as there is at the cornerback position), and Brodney Pool tackle and gets 5 extra yards picking up 29 in the process.  It should’ve been a 4th and 4 had Revis tackled him where he caught the football or even a 4th and 2 had Pool tackled him.  Instead its a first down and Ben and Co. rush to the line and spike the football to stop the clock and bring up 2nd down and 10.

:52- 2nd and 10 at the Jet 47. Steelers commit an illegal formation but the play goes off and so the Jets wisely decline setting up 3rd and 10.  Costly mistakes like that lengthened the drive and also took off :05 of precious clock time.

:47- 3rd and 10 at the Jet 47- The Jets still playing vanilla coverage send 3 while having one deep safety and 3 guys playing intermediate.  That’s a zone and Ben drops it right into the empty area of the zone to Mike Wallace who slips while trying to make a cut (credit the slippery field for that). That’s a gain of 18 yards.  They have to rush to the line and spike it to stop the clock.

:29- 2nd and 10 at the Jet 26- Jets show 5 for the first time in a long time during this drive. Big Ben throws to Emmanuel Sanders who ends up getting held by Dwight Lowery.  That was a no-call but definitely a game saver because Sanders is going right by Lowery and in for the touchdown.

:24- 3rd and 10 at the Jet 26- Nice throw by Big Ben to Antonio Brown who’s hit immediately at the 10 yard line.  They have to run to the line and stop the clock.

:09 left and that means 3 plays to the endzone from that distance.  10 yards out.  Three quick plays.  But two plays with some bit of shuffling by Roethlisberger so lets say he has two plays left.

Here’s what kills me.  The Jets call a timeout.  They normally attribute that to letting the offense cool down and give them something to think about because theoretically they’ve been on a roll and you need to give them time to overanalyze and over think themselves whereas up until this point, they have been executing the play drawn up.  But I think it does just as much good to the offense.  The defense is clearly gassed and showing it.  Its on its heels.  They’ve been playing vanilla defense and now the timeout reeks of panic by the defense that knows that they have let the offense get too far down the field.  All the momentum is on the side of the offense.  Now its all about giving yourself more time to assess the situation and talk things through and ensure you have the right play called.  Timeout gives the OFFENSE time to get themselves together, regroup and catch their own breath because they’ve been running down the field up until that point during the drive.

Here’s Phil Simms advice: “Whatever you do, you can not let the quarterback move.”  I saw this play and said to myself if this were Michael Vick, its game over.  He’s definitely doing a QB draw and running it in.  But in some respect that’s what you want for Big Ben.  You want him to run and shuffle his feet and try to make it on his own.  Ben’s not as fast as Vick, but he’s almost as elusive as Vick in one sense: he’s huge and he’s tough to tackle.  But you’d rather have a big guy that you can hit below the knees to get him down than a fast guy you can’t catch.

:09 left 2nd and Goal- empty backfield for the Steelers, two receivers on either side.  Ben looks left, looks right, looks left and tries to hit Spaeth in the back of the endzone and just misses him.  But his shuffling left him with :02 left.

:02 left 3rd and goal-  Here’s the thing.  Ben can try to run it in but this is a play being run with absolutely no time left on the clock so he can do what he wants here.  What he wants to do is throw the ball to an open receiver, not try and run it in for the score.

Another time out by Rex.  This is a move to get the Steelers to over think it.

Ben moves around the pocket evades a sack, has David Harris headed for him on a beeline but he pumps his brake to avoid a roughing the passer penalty which would’ve killed them.  Ben throws it into the corner of the endzone, and its incomplete.
Game over.

Don’t tell me the Steelers didn’t need this win.  Baltimore had just beaten a hot Saints team and gained a ton of confidence.  A loss meant that the Steelers would tie with them record wise, though the Steelers held the advantage on head to head match ups. The Steelers would’ve locked up a playoff berth.  So the Steelers were playing for something in this game.

The Jets pulled it off but its that 3rd quarter touchdown drive that was the key.  That fourth down conversion which netted them their first offensive touchdown in 11 quarters.

The Jets head to Chicago in a little less of a predicament than they entered and suddenly the Bears are division champs which means they’ve locked up their playoff berth.  They won’t have much riding on the line Sunday so technically the Jets will have a  repeat of last year’s match up with teams sleep walking into the playoffs.  It could be huge for this squad to enter the playoffs with a few wins and their offense coming around.

The Jets will have to tighten somethings up.  They still aren’t getting much from a 3 man rush.  Their situational football is bad.   Their running game has been disappearing as the weather has gotten worse which is the exact opposite of what everyone expected.

The game plan for the Jets was excellent though.  It was a simpler game plan for Mark Sanchez to manage the game.  Quick slants and smart reads and not turning the ball over was key to this victory.  This is the Mark Sanchez that the Jets need moving forward.  There’s not much thinking there.  The Jets have a great offensive line- they need to take advantage of it.   They have playmakers on offense.

Defensively, they’ve struggled.  This is not the same defense as last year.  Maybe its the league figuring Rex out.  Who knows.  Teams have put together long drives on the Jets D and their third down stoppage rate hasn’t been good.  They need to make adjustments.  Are they turning into a bend but don’t break defense?  Who knows.  What we do know is that the defense will need to take a step up- they have the talent to do so.

Huge victory for the Jets.  Nothing else to say.  Funny, a Jet victory that leaves you speechless.  Doesn’t happen much with Rex’s group does it?