Let The Scoring Begin !

Herman has run out of excuses. Two years ago, the season was blamed on Ted Cottrell and his defensive. So, he got the boot and was replaced by Donnie Henderson. The defensive was much improved. (There was also a bunch of player changes as well).

Now for the 2nd year in a row (well, really 4 years), we had a pathetic offensive. So, the next coordinator to go was Paul Hackett. Yes…there is a lord. It's time to put up some points.
In comes Mike Heimerdinger from the Titans. Now, it is time to open up this offensive. Here are the steps to get the offensive moving.

Step #1: Sign Lamont Jordan and promise him that he will be a big part of the offensive.

Step #2: USE Lamont Jordan. He does us no good being on the sideline. He should be getting at least 12 to 15 touches per game because he can break the big one. This also gives Curtis more rest on his legs that are now one year older.

Step #3: Implement a Shot Gun play into the offensive scheme. We were the ONLY team in the league NOT to run a shot gun all year. If we did maybe ONE, I definitely missed it. This will give Chad an extra second or two to find the open receiver.

Step #4: Use your tight ends. Anthony Becht may not be around but whoever is here, you MUST get this person involved. We can not have a tight end that is solely a blocker. We need one that can make the tough catch and then maybe run for a few yards instead of falling right down. Free Agent Bubba Franks would be a great addition.

Step #5: Be more aggressive and less conservative. From what I am reading about Heimerdinger, this is a given. There should be no more plays on 3rd & 8 where you pass the ball for 2 yards to the side line.

Step #6: Open up the field. You MUST take a few shots per game at the BIG PLAY. Look what happened in the San Diego game. Chad goes back to pass and hits Moss for a beautiful pass for a TD. That was pretty.

Step #6: Get McCariens his 100 yard game already. He still has not had one of these days in his NFL Career. Use him across the middle for the tough catch.

Step #7: Hit Santana Moss on crossing patterns in stride. It would be nice to have him catch the ball at FULL SPEED and see what he can do.

Step #8: It looks like Chrebet will not be back. We will need either a new 3rd Down Receiver OR we must sign / draft a big STUD wide receiver already.

Step #9: Stop being so predictable. Our new Offensive Coordinator needs to mix it up. When we can sit in the seats and know the play (yupppp…Curtis with the draw for 2 yards or the 2 yard out to Moss), something is wrong. Worse, is when John Madden, who sees 1 or 2 Jets games a year knows what play we are going to run.

Step #10: Use the fullback a bit more like we did in the Richie Anderson days. Sowell is a great FB when they use him.

I've been waiting for Hackett to be gone for 4 years already. This is a great change and I just can't wait until August to see how it works. Let the SCORING begin !

The Great Stadium Debate

The great stadium debate has begun. Politicians are arguing their pro's and con's for building a West Side Stadium for the Olympics (cough, cough Jets.) Their passionate debates are over the financial and economic impact of the project. Not many politicians can just get a ticket to Giants Stadium on a Sunday anyway so let's leave them to their bickering.

In reading articles about this subject, most Jets "fans" are for the West Side Stadium and for the Jets to finally have a place to call their home. However, these are just "fans" of the team; the true fans are the ones that shell out $60 a ticket for ten Sundays a year. Yes, I'm talking about the New York Jets Season Ticket Holder. It's time for a season ticket holder to be heard, as we are the ones that sacrifice our 1/2 of our Fall Sundays to root for the Jets at Giants Stadium. I cringe every time I have to mention "Giants Stadium" which is why we do need our own home, our own identity, but not on the West Side of Manhattan. A stadium in this location would only leave the true Jets fans out in the cold.

There are THREE reasons that this stadium should NOT be built:

1. ECONOMICS:
We all hear that the Jets are going to pay $800 million of the $1.4 Billion cost of the stadium. However, in the end, the fans are the ones that are really going to be paying for it with personal seat licenses (PSLs), increased ticket prices, and more expensive concessions. For the basic Jets fan, a new stadium in Manhattan sound great. They can continue to watch it on television as they have done in the past; this will have no financial impact on them. My family has been season ticket holders since the Mid 60's and one of my biggest fears may come true. I am concerned that that that PSLs and a dramatic increase in ticket prices will no longer be affordable for the current Jets fan. A new Jets Stadium will no longer be full of true Jets Fans; it will be dominated by corporations and the wealthy. Going to a Jets game will be no different than going to a Knicks or Rangers game. It would be all corporate seating.

2. TAILGATING:
Football is not just a 3 hour game…it is a full day's event. Fans gather early with their grills and coolers in all weather scenarios to feast and have some cocktails to get ready for game time. Having a burger at a restaurant on 33rd and 10th is not tailgating. A new stadium would eliminate tailgating. But, with all current season ticket holders unable to afford their seats, corporate clowns can go for a meal with their American Express Corporate Gold Card and expense the meal for their co-workers. Tailgating gets the fans rowdy; we don't want corporate tight asses sitting in their seats at game time. After tailgating, the true fan is so pumped up for the game that you can hear the place vibrate when the letters J-E-T-S are chanted. That is the way it is supposed to be.

3. TRAFFIC:
Who wants to take a bus or train to a game? Not a football fan. Who wants to drive to the city on a Sunday? Not a Jets fan. A West Side stadium will be a traffic nightmare. Can you picture 75,000 fans either going to their car or cramming into trains and busses? It's bad enough at the Meadowlands getting out and that is easy access to many highways. I can't even imagine the disaster it would be to get out of this place for 8 regular Sundays a year. Can you even imagine a home Monday Night game? You'll have 75,000 fans trying to get in with millions of commuters trying to get out. This is not a tiny arena sport that hold 18,000 people per night for 40+ home games per year where mass transit makes sense. This is 4 times the amount of people who enjoy hopping in their car when they wish to leave the stadium.

So while some people may think a City stadium is a great idea, the season ticket holders will be the ones that pay the price. Protect the REAL fans out there…we are the ones that will get a stadium rocking.

Herm Playing The Percentages?

From 1/18/05:

I've been having trouble sleeping, replaying the last 56 seconds of the Jets / Steelers game in my head. There was just so many things that make no sense and it all falls to Coach Edwards…aka Herm.

After listening to his press conference yesterday, I'm even MORE confused as to his decisions than I was after the game.

Herman told the media why he didn't try to move the ball closer before Brien's 43-yard attempt which could have ended the game and launched the Jets to the Championship Game. He said that Brien had made 86% of his attempts (12 for 14) in the 40 to 49 yard range this season and had never missed two consecutive field goals in two seasons with the Jets. He then added, "I don't go to Vegas, and I don't bet, but if you tell me (86%), I'm probably going to take that bet," Edwards said, adding that, "I trusted the player." And maybe that is true that there is only a 14% chance that he misses the kick but you can't just look at percentages. You have to take into account the circumstances. It is NOT September. It was bitter cold outside. There was some slight wind. He is kicking on frozen grass after rain all day prior to the game. He is on the road. There are 64,000 yelling Steeler fans twirling yellow towels. This is a huge playoff game; not a regular season game. The pressure was on. He had just missed a 47 yard kick less than 2 minutes earlier. He's a journeyman kicker playing on his 5th team.

Herman's analysis of percentages make sense if you take out the circumstances. However, he failed to take into account more meaningful percentages. In the history of Heinz Field, visiting kickers have only a 44% success rate in the 40+ range due to poor field conditions mixed with the winds off of the Ohio River. So, Herman is claiming that there is an 86% chance of making the kick when reality says there is less than a 50% chance he makes the kick. This percentage is enough evidence that Brien can't take the full blame.

Based on these numbers, with 56 seconds left, you can still be conservative but you MUST try and get the ball closer to make the kick easier. Fifty-six seconds is an eternity with time-outs. Barrett had just intercepted the ball and we regained all the momentum that was just drained out of us after giving the ball back to Pittsburgh. The offence did NOT need to get a touchdown in these circumstances; we just needed to TRY and move the ball 10 yards.

Hackett's play calling was horrific all day calling 3 yard outs when needing 10 yards for first downs. That is a pretty safe pass. However, I would have taken this approach. If we had called TWO three yard passes, a 43 yard field goal now becomes a 37 yard field goal. The kick becomes that much easier. But no, we call a run up the middle for Curtis for NO gain. The team had no sense of urgency and then called a 2 yard Lamont run. This was not the play to call. The Steelers KNEW we were going to run up the middle. The Jets were being Shottenheimered by our own coach. Didn't Herman and staff learn a lesson from the prior week? Now it is Third down and the clock is ticking. There seems to be such confusion on the field that Santana Moss of all people calls time out with 6 seconds left. We wasted a TON of time and we had a few time-outs. First of all, Chad Pennington should be the one to be calling time outs on the field in that situation. Why was Moss. Moss was probably the only one using his brain. It's a shame he didn't call the time out 30 seconds earlier. However, Edwards and company were NOT happy about the timeout which was supposedly 2 seconds premature. So, these geniuses call a Pennington kneel. Problem #1: Instead of trying to better center the ball in the field, the kneel was in the same part of the field. Problem #2: The kneel cost the Jets two yards on the field goad thus negating the pathetic 2 yard run from Lamont Jordan.

Yeah, it would have been nice if Brien made the kick. But poor coaching didn't put us in position to make an easier kick. They played the percentages and the percentages they played were WRONG. Herm can't be that good at Math. He doesn't know his percentages and doesn't understand clock management. Instead he had to hire a 90 year old man to help him with this and they still mess things up.

It's Time For A Change

From 1/17/2005:

The Brady Bunch said it best. "When it's time to change, you got to rearrange, who you are and what you're gonna be." Well, it is time to make a change with this Jets coaching staff. We have had games to win over the last 4 years and COACHING as lost us many of them with their conservative approach, lack of time management skills, and awful play calling.

Yes, Doug Brien MUST make one of those two Field Goals. The first one hits the front cross bar and it was a 47 yarder on the road in the freezing cold. The second one was a horrible kick. BUT, I can't fully blame the kicker. We had 56 seconds left in the game and we did NOT really try and move the ball closer. It is NOT a sure thing for a kicker to make a 40+ yard field goal. Coaching lost this game. Instead of trying to get closer, we had two pathetic runs and then a kneel down only because Santana Moss called time-out prematurely. Didn't Marty Shottenheimer blow the game last week with the same conservative approach in OT?

And the entire game, the play calling was pathetic. Lamont Jordan, a HUGE threat to take a long run when he touches the ball only touched the ball twice. And, worse was in overtime, it's 3rd & 7 and we call a 2 yard out to Chrebet? Does Hackett understand the rules of the game. In order to get a first down, you MUST throw the ball the amount of yards needed to get to the orange flag. Two yards means PUNT. Seven yards means the drive continues.

Enough is enough already. I'm done with Hackett's pathetic conservative play calling. The offense doesn't work. We need a change. We have a $64 million dollar quarterback and some decent receivers but we don't get them the ball. We have a horizontal offense and we need to have a vertical offense.

And then we have Herman Edwards. I'm sick of his cheerleading. You want to be a cheerleader, put on a skirt and grab some pom-poms. He's famous line was "we play to win the game." That is the biggest BS line in the world. Sometimes he plays to TIE the game at best. I have yet to see him play to WIN the game. He's the head coach. He is responsible. We had a chance to beat a 15-1 team on the road. It was all there…I was smelling 60 minutes to the Super Bowl. Brien should have made the kick but this loss rests on the coaching staff.

Not The Same Ole Jets ?

From 10/1/2005:

It's fourth down. There are a handful of seconds in the game. The Chargers are a few feet from tying the Wild Card Game. We get a great pass rush. Brees realizes he is going to get sacked. With Eric Barton in his face, Brees throws up a prayer in the endzone. The ball gets batted down. The Jets Win. The Jets Win. Wait. There was a flag on the play? Huh? Everything looked okay watching the live feed. It's can't be. You can't be serious. Eric Barton roughed the Quarterback? What was he thinking? The game was over. I already celebrated. After a tantrum on my part of epic proportion, the gift was officially delivered with the Chargers tying up the game.

Could this be a jinx? The Red Sox had the Curse of the Bambino for 86 years. Maybe we have our own curse...the curse of Joe Namath. Watching this team for 34 years, I didn't think it was possible to blow this game until they came up with a new way with Barton's late hit. The Ghosts of Mark Gastineau's late hit of 18 years ago came to mind.

We were now in Overtime. The home crowed was pumped. The Jets defense was exhausted. I had NO confidence that the Jets were going to pull out this game. Barton's hit was gong to lead to one of the top 3 sports blunders of all time up there with Bill Buckner and Leon Lett. Based on Jets' history, this was another game we were going to let get away.

All I could do was sit there in disbelief and recall all of the horrible things that have happend to this team over the years. It had to be a jinx. Things like this don't happen to other teams. The horrible mememories just kept on popping in my head: Lou Holtz quits on the team; John Riggins gets a mohawk; we lose both games in 1987 with the replacement players; we make horrible Free Agent signings of Ronnie Lott; Leonard Marshall; Art Monk; Dexter Carter; and Jeff Graham; Dick Steinberg dies of Cancer; Parcells cuts Hugh Douglas; we trade down from 1st overall pick to the 11th pick and and only pick up the Ram's 3rd, 4th, and 7th picks and the player chosen 11th of James Farrior was let go 4 years later, we moved to Giants Stadium; they played on Astro Turf leading to the early retirement of Al Toon to concussions; they inserted REAL grass in Giants Stadium which was like a sand box; we had the 2 trick plays (Ray Lucas & Leon Johnson) in Detroit that failed with a Playoff Spot on the line and lose in the season finale; we had a 524 yard offensive performance in Baltimore for the season finale with a Playoff Spot on the line and lose; the Bubby Brister Flea Flicker right to the other team; the Eric Allen interception; Quarterbacks of Brister, Glenn Foley, Boomer Esiason, Ray Lucas, Rick Mirer, Browing Nagle, Neil O'Donnell, Frank Reich, Tony Eason, and Jack Trudeau; Keyshawn writes a book; John Abraham barfing on the sideline of a Raiders playoff game; the drafting of Johnny "Lam" Jones, Roger Vick, and Blair Thomas, Jets blowing a 10 point lead in the AFC Championship vs. Denver; Vinny Testervede blowing out his achillies in the following Season Opener, a Generation Jets cartoon, Damien Robinson brining guns to the stadium parking lot; offensive linemen beating up lino drivers in Santa outfits, Shrek and the Green Lantern becoming unofficial mascots; the Rick Mirer / Ray Lucas QB Controversary; the Mud Bowl; the Heidi Game, the Fake Spike Game; Rich Kotite's 2 seasons; Pete Carroll's end of season losing streak; losing 5 straight after a 10-1 start; the paralysis of Dennis Byrd; Bill Belechick's 1 day reign and then quitting as the H.C. of the N.Y. Jets; the ghosts of Leon Hess saying "Just Win Now"; and yes, the Gastineau late hit. In between all of this mayhem, was numerous other painful and frustrating seasons and loses and signings and draft picks and coaching changes. Being a fan of the Jets is like watching a crazy soap opera. Only, this is reality. You coudn't have scripted a more crazy history. And Eric Barton's hit was sure to be icing on the cake.

Overtime started and we each had the ball but the Chargers started driving on their 2nd possession. All I could think was "Here we go again." However, something happened. The opposition was coaching a game WORSE than us. Instead of continuing to get the ball closer for a Field Goal, they just kept running into a pile and playing way too conservative. A rookie was about to kick the field goal to win the game for them. WIDE RIGHT. There was still hope. In the past, the kick would have been good and another Jets frustrating off season would have begun. Maybe the Ghost of Leon Hess helped us out or maybe our luck is changing. I'll never forget what Eric Barton but by winning the game, you can't put him at the top of the list of horrible loses. By winning this miracle game that we would have never won in prior years, maybe out luck is indeed changing. Maybe these aren't the Same Ole Jets.