A New Year Victory ?

Time to start the new year with a BIG win to make the playoffs !

50 Seasons

The perfect way to end 50 seasons would be to beat the Bengals to make the playoffs while closing down Giants Stadium!

One More !

A win and we're in.
A loss is not acceptable.
We are home.
We have momentum.
We have everything to play for.
The Bengals will probably rest players.
It's the final game of Giants Stadium.
Win a BIG game there before it gets knocked down !

Our Christmas Gift !

A Christmas gift or not a Christmas gift? That is the question. Frankly Peyton, I don't give a damn. I'll take the win no matter how we earned it or how it was gift wrapped. A win is a win and Herman Edwards said it best, "Ya play to win the game." It's not the Jets fault that the Colts rested players. We had an opponent to play against in a must win game. And who know what would have happened if Peyton stayed in? Would he have gotten hurt? Would we have still won? Let me remind you that with Peyton in the game, the Jets were ONLY down 5 points so it's not like we were being murdered and they decided to let us come back and win.

We deserved to win a game like this after BLOWING five games this year - two against the Dolphins, and one against the Bills, Jaguars, and Falcons. This five losses were mind-boggling how we lost those games. Most teams would have NEVER let those games slip away in the final minutes but most teams are NOT the Jets. If we were an experienced, winning organization, we would have WON all five of those games and would have been 12-2 entering last night's game against the 14-0 Colts. Think about it. If we had won those games that no other team in the league loses, we'd be looking at the 2nd seed and a bye. And we've don't it without our best offensive player in Leon Washington and our best defensive player in Kerry Jenkins. But, we are the Jets and nothing ever comes easy. Well, except when Peyton Manning is pulled from the game.

Things were looking bleak after last week's devastating loss to the Falcons. We needed a zillion things to happen but miracles do happen: Titans Lost. Ravens Lost. Dolphins Lost. Broncos Lost. Jets Won ! Yes, you heard me. Jets beat the undefeated Colts by a score of 29 - 15. And again, I really don't care that players were rested. We needed to win the game and can't control what other teams do. And another bonus was the Bengals winning who we play now on Sunday night and the game means NOTHING to them so maybe they'll rest players too. I could care less.

What I do care about is that in this bizarre up and down season, we head into the final game of the season, the last game at GIANTS Stadium, with a chance to make the playoffs in the year we have a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback that is still learning the NFL Game. This can only help Sanchez's career and confidence if he plays another flawless game on Sunday night.

The whole scenario seemed more bleak than back in 2002 when we needed major help. The wild card scenarios didn't go our way so we needed the Patriots beat the Dolphins to make our game meaningful vs. the Packers. However, the Dolphins were winning the entire game and up in the 4th when the Pats staged an incredible comeback. That was the opening we needed for the Jets to play a meaningful game to capture the AFC East. This year the scenarios were more improbably but it all fell our way. Now, let's win the game to erase all the bad memories of Giants Stadium and start a new Era next year. But, let's reminisce on the big win vs. the Colts.

I'm not sure where to even begin. The first half, things were not looking good after the Colts walked down the field to score a touchdown. However, we blocked the extra point on a great reach by Bryan Thomas. That gave the Colts a 6-0 lead and we were not able to muster any offense. Not much later, after some good defense, we were able to hold the Colts to a field goal giving them a 9-0 lead. Finally, we were able to put together a drive but it stalled as usual so the game was 9-3 at halftime. I was not upset as we would start the half with the ball and how can you complain only being down by 6 points on the road to a 14-0 team.

The 2nd half began and Brad Smith caught the ball about 6 yards into his endzone and decided to see if he could pull off a Leon Washington. Ten seconds later, he pulled off a Leon racing for 106 yards and a TD, a new Jets record for longest run and tied for the 2nd longest run in NFL History. All of a sudden, we were now winning the game 10-9 and Peyton Manning was still in the game. There was no gift wrapping anything yet.

However, the lead didn't last too long as the Colts walked right down the field for a touch down. However, they couldn't get the 2 point conversion so they were now only up 15-10. What was bothering me all day was that we kept on getting the penalties called against us and very few calls were going in our favor. Come on refs. Put the flags away or throw them against the Colts once in a while. It was as if the NFL wanted the Colts to go undefeated so let's just flag the Jets all the time.

After our next drive stalled, we punted to pin the Colts back deep. Then, Jim Caldwell gave us a break. On the sidelines stood Peyton Manning with his helmet still on as Curtis Painter ran onto the field to Boooo's. Painter goes back to pass, he's smushed by Calvin Pace who jarred loose the ball. Marques Douglass hops on the ball and rolls into the endzone. TOUCHDOWN ! Thanks Colts. That surely helped. And then Sanchez does something the Jets NEVER get right - hits Dustin Keller for a 2 point conversion. YES ! Jets up again 18-15.

Things then started to happen. Our running game was moving the ball. Thomas Jones went over the 100 yard mark for the 6th time in the past 10 games. We had another Feely field goal followed by Thomas Jones TD run. All of a sudden, the Colts 23 game win streak was over as we won 29-15.

People can say what they want. Maybe it was a Christmas Gift. Maybe it was a Christmas Miracle. Maybe it was hard work paying off. Maybe it was payback for all of the games we blew.

I could care less. Why? Just one win and we're in !

Let The Starters Play !

I want the Colts starters to play so we can attempt to break their undefeated streak with their real players instead of their back-ups.

Can't Just Blame Sanchez

I refuse to put all the blame on Sanchez.

Our offensive plays are so poor and predictible.

We ALWAYS are in 3rd and long situations making the throw and obvious call.

We don't have Leon Washington to be around for a short dump pass as an option when there is no one open down the field.

We also need another wide receiver. Brad Smith is good for a trick play here and there but we need another guy to get open besides Cotcherty, Edwards, and Keller.

Mark definitely makes his share of mistakes but he's trying to make things happen instead of continuing to go Run Run Pass Punt.

Hopefully these mistakes go away after a year of experience.

Look at Troy Aikman's first year - He finished 1989 with an 0-11 record as a starter, completing 155 of 293 passes for 1,749 yards, 9 TDs, 18 INTs.

So, Sanchez is learning on the run as we fix other parts of this team.

Despite all of the interceptions, there are FIVE games we blew - 2 vs. Dolphins, Jaguars, Bills, and Falcons. If we figured out how to win just ONE of them, we'd be sitting in much better shape.

Rex Ryan needs to take some of this blame. The defense needs to take some of this blame. The offense needs to take some of this blame. Special teams needs to take some of this blame. And Sanchez needs to take some of the blame. Oh, and Mike Tannenbaum needs to take some blame not drafting a Wide Receiver in this past year's draft with any of the other picks.

Playoff Scenarios

They way this works out, we have to root for the Ravens to get the 5th playoff spot and root to sneak into the 6th and final spot:

What is scary is that besides the Jets beating the Colts, all of the other scenarios are a possibility: We should have beat the Falcons though.

1.) Jets MUST beat Colts.
2.) Patriots MUST beat Jaguars
3.) Texans MUST beat Dolphins
4.) Bengals hopefully beat Chiefs so they can rest players in week #17
5.) Ravens MUST beat Steelers
6.) Chargers MUST beat Titans
7.) Eagles MUST beat Broncos

Typical Jets Loss !

You've got to add yesterday's heartbreaking loss to a long list of head scratching losses the Jets have had this year including both Dolphins losses, the Jaguars loss, and the Bills loss. Now, take this Atlanta loss that's 5 loses that ONLY the Jets would ever lose.

"Same Old Jets", "Ghost Of Jets Past", are phrases that have been circulating the newspapers. How about this phrase, "Jets Suck !"

I don't even know where to begin. We had won three games in a row and were home with Mark Sanchez back at quarterback against a dome team that hasn't won an outside cold December road game since 1982. I was freakin' 12 years old the last time they won a game like this. And guess what? We lose.

We had things going in our favor with the Jaguars losing on Thursday night. Miami was also losing on the scoreboard (and wound up losing) and the Broncos eventually lost so we would have been sitting pretty if we figured out to score a few field goals that we botched.

One field goal was a snap misheld by Kellen Clemens and he had to run with the ball for no gain. Another was a high snap that Clemens got down but that screwed up the kick and kick and it got blocked. And there was one were Feely just missed it wide right. Three opportunities blown costing the Jets a potential 9 points.

The defense played great all game until that last drive where they couldn't stop the Falcons like they did all day. It was 4th down and 6 with under a minute and 40 seconds to go. The announcers even said that the ball was going to Tony Gonzalez. Matt Ryan went back to pass and there was a wide open Tony Gonzalez in the endzone for the go-ahead score. How could the announcers know where the ball was going but not the Jets. How could be play brilliant defense all day long but on the last and most important drive of the game, we let them score a touchdown. I was disgusted. All hopes of a playoff run just went down the toilet. The game against the undefeated Colts next week would have been a huge game. Now, does it really matter? Yeah, there is still a slight hope left but this was a game we should have won and needed to win and let it slip away like we've done so many times this season. And this hurts worse as it's late in the season and other teams were helping us out. The Jets defense held the Falcons to just 165 total yards until that last drive. Come on...a game is 60 minutes; not 57 minutes !

Another nauseating part of the game was 4th and goal from the 1 where we went for a field goal instead of going for it with a 7-3 lead and Kellen Clemens dropped the snap and had to try and run for no gain. Result...Jets walk away with ZERO points from the 1 yard line.

The Jets offense was horrific all day. Sanchez (18 of 32 for 226) was his usual self showing glimmers of brilliance like the 60+ yard TD to Braylon Edwards or the shovel pass to Woodhead for a first down but the usual self in Sanchez also throw 3 interceptions. If you throw to the ball to the other team so many times, you are not going to win that many games. The running game was terrible as we couldn't get more than 2 yards a carry. And we had WAY too many penalties. One of the worst was Alan Fanaca's roughness penalty on our final drive putting us back 15 yards with :1:38 left in the game. You need to be smart when down and 15 yards is HUGE when you just need a FG to tie up the game. Another BAD one was Thomas Jones getting flagged for 15 yards when we should have had the ball on the 19 yard line with a first down. At worst, you get a field goal attempt but instead, we were forced to punt. Why be so stupid Thomas. And on the final drive, Donald Strickland got caught with a facemask which was minor but under league rules, it was still a 15 yard penalty putting them in striking distance to the endzone.

I'm just sick over the losses this season. Again, we BLEW 5 games at the end. We are still a flawed team but if we didn't blow just one of the 5, we'd have a great shot of making the playoffs. If we didn't blow 2 of the 5, we'd be in the drivers' seat for the Wild Card. And if we were a WINNING organization, we wouldn't have blown any of them and would be looking the AFC East with a first round bye ! But, these are the Jets and don't do anything right despite the regime running the team.

NOTES:
1.) "The Sanchise," surpassing Joe Namath and setting franchise rookie records for completions (176) and passing yards (2,275).

Defense Wins Games !

It was Kellen Clemens and the Jets in another Must Win game vs the lowly one-win Bucs. History against the Bucs was in the Jets favor only losing to them once in Jets history. However, we had our backup quarterback behind center and it would be typical for the Jets to lose a game to a pathetic team in December destroying all possible playoff hopes. But, we are now 7-6 and tied with three other teams for the Wild Card even though we don't hold many of the tie breaking scenarios, there's still three weeks left for a lot to change.

However, history was in our favor as we were able to beat the Bucs 26-3 despite not really moving the ball much on offense to notch our third straight win.

The game showed a ton about Kellen Clemens; he's NOT the answer. He misses wide open receivers. They didn't let him throw the ball much but when he did, there were not many throws that impressed me. Let's just hope Sanchez is OK to go on Sunday. Clemens finished 12 for 23, 111 yards, playing mistake free ball. So, the good thing was that he didn't throw the ball to the other team but man, some of the throws were quite pathetic. The most embarrassing throw was missing a wide open Jerricho Cotchery in the endzone.

Luckily, we were able to run the ball with Thomas Jones (99 yards & two TDs) and Shon Greene each getting yardage but the story of the game was Brad Smith as we used him in numerous formations where he was the key factor on offense. We had 175 yards of rushing on the ground for the day. The play of the day; however, was Brad Smith on the Fake Punt throwing a 27 yard pass to Eric Smith to keep a drive alive. That call took a lot of balls by Rex Ryan but luckily it paid off or we would have given the Bucs some great field position. We owned the battle of field position all day and wound up with way too many field goals as Clemens was ineffective on 3rd and long.

But, the story of this game was defense. If it wasn't for a stupid penalty by Bart Scott, they could have pitched a shut out. They held the Bucs with out a first down for the first 2+ quarters until Bart Scott gave them their first down on that same stupid penalty. They finished the game getting the Bucs with nine straight three-and-outs. The defense pressured Josh Freeman all day causing three interceptions with one of them happening on the first play of the game by David Harris which set up our first of Jay Feely's four field goals. Revis and Rhodes each snagged an interception of their own. You know things were going well when James Ihedigbo was getting a sack. The Bucs finished with a paltry 124 yards of total offense and just 6 first downs. The defense was dominating and this is after the Bucs offense went for over 450 yards the prior week.

So, we get a much needed win. And now we face another must win game vs. the Falcons. If we win that, then things get much more difficult as we end up playing the Colts and Bengals. Hopefully, neither game will mean much for the opposition. So, let this ride continue and at least it's going to be an interesting December.

Notes:
1.) It was only the second time in 20 years that the Jets produced a takeaway on the first play of a game; the other time was Calvin Pace's strip sack in Week 7 at Oakland.

2.) The Jets forced the Bucs into nine three-and-outs by the defense, the defense's most since Dec. 24, 2000 against the Ravens.

Sanchez Benched

1. Had NO issues with Mark not sliding last week. He's a competitor going for a first down in a must win game.

2. I have issues that he was benched. Let the guy try and practice. He's your starting QB in another must win game. Give him a chance if he can play.

3. Do we really have faith that Kellen Clemens can beat a 1 win team ?

Clemens To Get Start !

At least we are playing the Bucs !

Jets Win But Sanchez Hurt !

It was the 2nd Must Win game in a row and the 2nd Must Win Victory we cashed in. Now, if we can just win four more must win games in a row, we'll be in the playoffs. However, it won't be easy as Mr. Sanchez now has a sprained PCL. But, let's first talk about our 19-13 victory over the Bills which gets us back to even at 6-6.

Yeah, I know Joe Giradi came in during the week to teach Sanchez how to slide but I had NO issues when he dove for a first down yesterday. If he had gone into a slide, we would have been short of a first down. So, he was aggressive and dove for that first down to keep the drive alive. I have no problems if our QB dives for a first down. I have a problem when he doesn't dive or side and gets crunched by the defense. This was a fluke injury when he dove, his knee smashed into the ground. Who's to say that if he went into a sliding position that he wouldn't sprain an ankle or hurt his hip? Everyone is blowing this sliding thing out of proportion. There are times to slide and times not to slide. Yesterday, I was all for him getting the first down in a close MUST WIN game. So, I wish people would get off his case already, especially Rex Ryan. Rex says, "I love the kid, but he has to grow up and understand that he represents our entire organization." Well, maybe if we could get some receivers in that could catch or get open, Sanchez wouldn't have to take it himself and run with the ball. How about that Rex !

Sanchez was having a good game and would have had MUCH better numbers if Braylon Edwards would have caught a bomb when he was wide open. No one was within 20 yards of the guy and he dropped a ball that would have gone for an 80+ yard touchdown. Sanchez finished 7 for 15, 135 yards, a TD, and ZERO interceptions. Luckily Braylon made up for his drop hauling in a TD to extend our lead. But, we didn't need Sanchez to do much as we were able to run all over the Bills for the 2nd straight time gaining 249 yards on the ground. In our two games vs. the Bills this year, we rushed for 559 yards, a Jets record for the most yards against one team in a season. And Thomas Jones had another solid outing rushing for 109 yards and going over the 1,000 yard milestone for the 5th straight year.

The defense was great and Darrelle Revis was all over T.O. who had nine passes thrown in his direction but only hauled in 3 catches for 31 yards. If you add that to the 3 catches for 13 yards T.O. had in their last meeting, he's had a whopping 6 catches for 44 yards and a TD. Plus, Revis covering Owens hauled in another interception. The defense would have had more interceptions but we dropped three of them. All this was helped by the pass rush and constant blitzing strategy we had in place limiting the Bills to just 194 yards of total offense with just 36 yards in the 2nd half. Yup...that's pretty dominating.

And how about Jay Feely. This guy has been solid this year and knocked in another 4 field goals with one of them as long as 49 yards.

But, the story of the game goes back to the Sanchez injury. Kellen Clemens came in and was 1 for 2 for 14 yards but that one completion was a big one which got us a first down and put us in position to go up 2 scores. However, he did look a bit rusty as didn't look comfortable back there with fumbles and indecisiveness.

Now, we have a 10 day break and let's hope Sanchez is a quick healer as we'll need him if we have any chance even if it's against the pathetic Bucs.

Sliding 101

Let's hope Giradi's WSM - World Series Magic - rubs off on Mr. Sanchez.

Still Alive !

The Jets, losers of 5 of their last 6 games were in desperation mode to save their season in a must win game to have any slim chance of making the playoffs. The even went as far as color coding plays for Mark Sanchez to make the plays easier for him.

The colors paid off as Mark made only one mistake for another interception but protected the ball most of the day in a almost mistake free game making the big throw when he needed to connect. And, his numbers would have even been better if Dustin Keller didn't fumble the ball on the 1 yard line after a nice catch which should have been a touchdown. But, a win is a win and I'll gladly take this 17 to 6 win over the Panthers to now play for a chance on Thursday night to get back to .500 ball. You can't really complain about Sanchez' numbers - 13 of 17 for 154 yards and one interception. Plus, he ran three times for 27 yards. It's nice to see a Jets quarterback have the legs and the brains to run forward for positive yards.

We had a very conservative game plan in place but I guess it worked even though it was a bit boring at times. However, I'll take boring over those last second loses which we've grown so used to. Another fumble for Shon Greene hurt us as well. Ya gotta hold the ball a bit tighter Shon.

This game was also helped out by our defense. Darrelle Revis continued his pro-bowl season with an interception for a TD and Kerry Rhodes helped get himself out of the doghouse with two picks of his own after getting benched as a starter.

The Jets also got some help as well with the Dolphins, Jaguars and Texans all losing. Still, we need to win the next three, all winnable games, before the P word can really be mentioned as we end the year with the Colts and then the Bengals.

What has drived me crazy week after week is the wasting of time-outs. Again, we had to call a defensive time-out in the 3rd quarter due to too many men on the field. Not sure why this happens week after week but it's important to have your time outs for the 2nd part of the 4th quarter. We also wasted a time-out on a field goal attempt due to the play clock near expiration. What a joke.

There was one part of the game that I almost barfed. That was when Sanchez went down near the sideline after a run holding his knee. After three pathetic plays by Kellen Clemens, Sanchez was back in the game the next time the Jets had the ball. I saw "Career Disaster" written all over the injury as that would have been typical but thank G-d, he was OK.

Not much else to say as nothing really happened. Bring on the Bills on Thursday night in the next Must Win Game !

A Season Crushing Blow

We have gone from 3 and 0 to now 0-shit after the first loss all year were we were murdered by a score of 31-14.

The cards were not in our favor. We had beat New England once so they were out for revenge. Also, this game, the Patriots were coming off a tough loss so they wanted nothing more than to get back on the field and make a statement. I just so happens that the statement was made against the Jets.

The Wikipedia definition of a "Dirty Sanchez" is the act of smearing feces on the upper lip of a partner during (or following) various types of anal sex. Some experts claim an equivalent term Stinky Hitler or Frosty Mustache.

I think they should add an alternative definition - "The act of throwing 4 interceptions to the opposing team, fumbling another ball away, and having your last name be "Sanchez."

Things started off bad before game time. The team's hotel had a the fire alarm go off at 1:20 am, 90 minutes past curfew waking up everyone in their hotel and rumors are saying that Patriot fans tripped the alarm on purpose. That's NO excuse for what happened yesterday but it does suck to be awaken in the middle of the night.

What a disgusting day yesterday was. We have lost 6 of the last 7 games after a perfect three game start to the season.

I'm not fully putting the blame on Sanchez. There were a few drops during the game with Braylon Edwards dropping another ball in his chest that would have kept a drive alive. Sanchez also is working without Leon Washington who was a short option if there was no one deep. It seems like we don't have anyone out of the backfield that can even catch the ball. Plus, we are always in 2nd or 3rd and long as the opposition always knows we are gonna run on first down thus putting us in long yardage situations not ideal for a rookie quarterback.

Don't get me wrong, Sanchez (8 for 21, 136 yards) threw some terrible throws but I thought this offense was supposed to be a smash mouth offense running the ball and only passing when necessary. It seems like we throw more than we run and with plays being called that are not high percentage completion attempts. Plays are either too short or too long down the field. Can't run a nice 8 to 12 yard play? Mark made a few bad decisions and a few bad passes. I'm not sure how many of them were due to a bad route being run or Sanchez and the receiver not being on the same page. It also doesn't help when your rookie QB was under constant pressure. What's with the offensive line? Protect the rookie to give him more time? Still, Sanchez needs to better protect the ball as is interception total is now up to 16 with a few of them this week leading to 17 points. If you take away those 17 points, we got a tie game. So, as the QB learns the game, these things are going to happen and hopefully things get better each year.

I remember other highly drafted QBs what happened to them the first year. Remember Troy Aikman? Remember Peyton Manning? Remember Eli Manning? All were horrific in their first year and it took time before they became comfortable running the offense and making smart plays. I'm glad Sanchez is getting the experience instead of on the sideline with the clip board. He now needs to have a few decent games to regain some confidence for the off season and to come back a smarter player in 2010.

But, Sanchez did have some moments of brilliance leading the team to start the 3rd quarter down the field completing 3 passes for 62 yards ending with a 29 yard touchdown to Cotchery. So, the QB has it in him. He just needs to play smarter and we need better coaching and play calling, and fewer mistakes (penalties and dropped balls) for him to succeed. It's just a shame that Bodden wasn't in a green uniform as Sanchez would have had three more completions and three less interceptions.

But, I'm not going to blame the game on the entire offense. We were losing 24 - 0 and even though one interception went for a touchdown, the defense still couldn't stop the Patriots offense. Revis did a great job on Randy Moss holding him to just 5 catches for 34 yards and a TD even though they threw to him 11 times. So, great job by Revis. As for the rest of the defense, POOR job. How the hell do you let Wes Welker catch 15 balls for 192 yards. Can you imagine how many more catches he'd have if we made the game close? What a joke. Brady just used Welker to pick us apart. Aside from a few pressures from Shawn Ellis, we let Brady have all the time in the world to find an open receiver.

There was one moment which was nice...the blocked punt which gave us a gift of 7 points before half time.

Now there are 6 games left and it's not looking good. To have any chance, they need to run the table but when you still have to play the Colts and Bengals, the odds are not in our favor. Let's just play some good football and starting correcting the ship now so we don't make the same mistakes again next year.

Notes:.

1. The Jets dropped two games under .500 for the first time since the end of the 2007 season, when they finished 4-12 under Eric Mangini.

2. In the first half, the Jets were outgained 272 to 34 and Sanchez had a 0.0 quarterback rating.

3. Ever since the 3-0 start, Sanchez has six TDs and 14 INTs.

4. Amy Fisher, performing at a nearby strip club, was also in the lobby during the false alarm. I guess any of her "killer instinct" didn't rub off on the Jets.

5. It was the Jets' first blocked punt since 2007, when David Bowens blocked one against the Patriots and scored.

And Now The Tissues

Cryin?

THERE'S NO CRYING IN FOOTBALL !

Another Last Second Loss !

How many more ways can the Jets lose a game this season? We've had so many games we had won and lost. We should have beaten the Dolphins...twice. We should have beaten the Bills. We had yesterday's game in the bag. Instead of having 6 or 7 wins this year, we just have 4 due to ANOTHER crushing last second loss for the green and white. It's just a bunch of the same S**T, different week. We keep on finding new ways to lose games instead of figuring out how to win a game. We started out 3-0 and if we were able to figure out how to close a game, we'd be sitting on top of the standings instead of looking up at the Patriots who now have a 2 game lead on us and are now going to be pissed off after losing yesterday as we head up to Foxboro.

Things didn't start out well for the Jets as Sanchez under threw a bomb for an interception on the first play of the game setting up a nice drive by the Jags to go up 7-0. So, before we could blink, we are in a 7-0 hole at home for this "Must Win" game.

When the offence needed to score in the 4th, we had a nice drive to recapture the lead after a one yard Thomas Jones TD. However, our streak of NEVER converting the 2-pt conversion continued as Braylon Edwards dropped a ball in his hands which would have put us up by three.

Then, it got ugly. The Jaguars were 80 yards away, and much less since they only needed a field goal. And the Jets defense just let them walk down the field including a few third down conversions that we let them convert with ease. There were a TON of mistackles and players left wide open to catch the ball. However, we only had one time out because we WASTED two of them. The defense called one of the time-outs due to 12 men on the field. This seems to be a weekly occurrence. And then, there was further miscommunication on the sideline when the offense, in scoring position on the 1 yard line, had to waste a time-out as well. The worst play was a 33 yard reception by the Jags where Kerry Rhodes didn't change coverage and assumed he had help. Well, there was no help and the Jags had the ball on the 14 just needing 3 points to win. Basically, unless a miracle missed field goal or if we just let them score a TD, the game was over.

So, there go the Jags, driving for the win with the clock ticking down and we only have one time out. What a freakin' joke.

The biggest joke was that the jets were told by the coaching staff NOT to tackle Jones-Drew and let him score a TD so we'd get the ball back instead of having them kick a field goal with no time left on the clock. I know Jones-Drew put his knee down on purpose but he would have made it to the endzone if we didn't try to tackle him. Now, I'm hearing tha tPouha and Douglasss didn't hear the call to let them score. How can you not hear it? Is the wax build-up so caked to the inside of your ears? Then, the Field Goal. Game Over. YUCK !

There was so may other mistakes during the game. There was the Braylon Edwards 41 yard catch to only fumble the ball on the same play. There was the 2nd Sanchez interception which led to another score. There was the poor offensive play calling AGAIN by Brian Schottenheimer who doesn't like to throw into the endzone when they get close. This guy needs to go after this year.

Now we head to New England where Must Win really means Must Win if you want any chance of salvaging this season and that's not going to be an easy task.

NOTES:
- Jets lost their 5th game in 6 tries.
- Jets dropped to 0-4 in games decided by less than seven points.
- Jets, below .500 for the first time since last season's 1-2 start, remain two games behind the first-place Patriots, who lost Sunday night to the Colts.
- Jets allowed their first 100-yard rusher. The last time a Ryan-coached defense allowed a 100-yard rusher was Dec. 10, 2006, when the Chiefs' Larry Johnson ran for 120 against the Ravens.
- Braylon Edwards is 1-8 this season - 0-4 with the Browns, 1-4 with the Jets.
- Jets dropped to 2-3 at home.
- Jets allowed the Jaguars won their first road game.

Second Half

We now enter the 2nd half of the season at 4-4 after a 3-0 start. It's time to get on a roll or it will be another season watching from the outside !

What Coulda Been...

We have 4 loses this year and all 4 loses were winable games in the 4th quarter. The Jets have a history of head scratching loses including The Mud Bowl, the Fake Spike Game, the Eric Allen interception return, the Bubby Brister flea flicker, the 10-0 halftime lead against the Broncos for a trip to the Super Bowl, the Blair Thomas MNF fumble against the Bears, the Doug Brien missed FG (which I still blame Herm on), last year's Brett Favre collapse the last few weeks, the 10-1 start only to lose the rest of the games, the Mark Gastineau late hit on 3rd and 10 vs. Cleveland, the 2 failed trick plays in 97's season finale in Detroit which included Leon Washington's halfback option, the Heidi Game, Jets handing Panthers first win ever, etc...

I'm sure I'm missing a TON of other heartbreaking losses from each year but ALL 4 loses this year I'll be sure to remember forever. I still can't figure out which one is the most pathetic:

JETS vs. SAINTS
Sanchez's 27.0 passer rating was the lowest by a Jets starter since a 21.1 by Chad Pennington on Oct. 29, 2006, at Cleveland. Held Drew Brees to just 190 yards and 0 TDs.

JETS vs. DOLPHINS
We gave up 413 yards and gave up 3rd down conversions 9 of 14 times.

JETS vs. BILLS
On a day that you can rush for 318 yards, give up only 13 points in regulation, and have a 10 point lead at one point, you would think you would win the game. It's also the second-most rushing yards by a losing team in NFL history. Sanchez is the first Jets QB to throw five INTs in a game since Chad Pennington threw five against the Patriots in 2003. ... The Jets' 14 penalties and 96 penalty yards are both the most in a game since they had 15 penalties for 100 yards in Game 2 of the 1996 season vs. Indianapolis. Lose Kris Jenkins for the year.

JETS vs. DOLPHINS #2
Ted Ginn Jr. became the first player in NFL history to score two kickoff-return touchdowns of 100 or more yards in the same game, He's the first player to return two kickoffs for a touchdown in the same quarter since Travis Williams of Green Bay did it in 1967. We outgained them in yardage 378 yards to a pathetic 104 yards. Yes...we only gave up 104 yards ALL game and lost.

All four of these games we had a chance to win and that's what kills me - what coulda been !

Jets Gift Wrap Victory For Fish

It was time to take revenge on the Dolphins for embarrassing us with their Wildcat offense just 20 days ago.

We were home coming off a dominating win out west and hoping to bury the Dolphins and get to 5-3 for the first half of the season.

Things didn't go as planned. After starting out the season at 3-0, we've not fallen apart and are just 4-4 at the midway point of the season.

We dominated on both sides of the ball. Heck...our defense gave up just 104 yards ALL game long.

On offense, Sanchez went 20 for 35, 265 yards and 2 TD passes as well as running it in for another one.

We outgained them in yardage 378 yards to a pathetic 104 yards.

But the blunders killed us. In just the 3rd quarter alone, we gave up TWO 100+ yard kickoff returns to the same guy. That's a 14 point gift. We also gave up a fumble by Shon Greeen for a TD. That's another 7 point gift. All in all, we gave them 21 points in gifts in the 3rd quarter.

And the coaches made just as many blunders. When down 11 points in the 3rd quarter, you don't need a 2 point conversion. Go for 1. There is too much game left to be played. By missing the 2 point conversion which the Jets never convert, we had to go for 2 on the next TD which we also missed. If we went for 1 on the first TD and 1 on the second TD, then the end of the game would have been just to kick a field goal to tie the game. Coaching like that is inexcusable. And what was worse...we wasted a time out on a failed 2-pt conversion play. What a joke ! The fish went 12+ minutes between offensive snaps that 3rd quarter and wound up with 21 points. Yes, you heard me. I said TWENTY ONE points !

The coaches made more mistakes as well. In the 4th quarter, it looked like we had a fumble recovery and we didn't even challenge? Who knows if a whistle was blown but you at least have to throw the red flag.

So, it's the end of the game and we are down by 5 (should have been three if we kicked extra points). We have the ball on the 12 yard line and it's first down. We run the ball on first down. Sanchez runs on 2nd down and almost breaks thru but doesn't. We get sacked on 3rd down. And we throw a desperate pass on 4th down that was incomplete. When you are on the 12 yard line to win the game, why are we running for 4 yards on 1st down? Take chances at the endzone. Why limit your chances to get a touchdown by running plays that is only going to get you closer to the endzone? The play needs to be in the endzone.

Many of the 3rd downs all game were passes thrown well short of the 1st down marker. This has been a big beef I'd had with Schottenheimer in his tenor here in NY. When you need 8 yards for a first down, why do we only throw the ball 5 or 6 yards. You need to design plays that gets you to the first down marker. And why do we ALWAYS run on 1st down? We get put in 2nd and 3rd and longs every drive. Can we change it up a bit?

The big positive of the game was Jay Feely making two Field Goals with one being a 55 yarder. He also recorded two tackles.

We were supposed to squish the fish and all we did was squish our chances of making the playoffs and showing the league that we could win a big game.

Notes:

1. Sanchez has gone two straight games without a turnover.

2. Ginn became the first player in NFL history to score two kickoff-return touchdowns of 100 or more yards in the same game, He's the first player to return two kickoffs for a touchdown in the same quarter since Travis Williams of Green Bay did it in 1967

3. The Jets had last given up a touchdown on a kickoff return in 2007.

4. During special teams coach Mike Westhoff's nine-year tenure, the Jets had given up three before Sunday.

5. Miami swept the series from the Jets for the first time since 03'.

Losing Streak Ends Out West !

Out West has never been kind to the New York Jets. And, the Jets were playing that one team out there that just always seems to have our number - The Raiders. We were coming off three heartbreaking loses and it was a must win situation to turn the once promising season around. However, yesterday, we finally had their number. We actually had all of their numbers as they scored ZERO points in a 38-0 romp.

The win would have been perfect except for the loss of Leon Washington who broke his leg and is now out out for the season. In two weeks, we've lost two starts - Leon and Jenkins - which really hurt.

However, Shon Greene stepped up big time getting his first true action carrying the ball and impressing with every touch gaining 144 yards and 2 TDs. Thomas Jones ran for another 121 and a TD. And get this, the Jets rushed 54 times for 316 yards which made them the first team since 1975 to produce 300+ yards in back to back weeks !

I liked the game plan of run run run limiting the amount of times that Sanchez needed to throw the ball to help him regain confidence and limit the rookie mistakes. Sanchez still managed to make a few bit throws including a 35 yard TD to David Clowny as well as rushing for a 3 yard TD on a draw play. Sanchez ended 9 for 15, 143 yards, 1 TD passing, 1 TD rushing and ZERO interceptions giving him a 114 QB rating. I guess you can't complain about the offense when you score 38 points even though we started 2 drives on the Raiders' 4 yard line. The biggest part of the offense was the offensive line making large holes for the running backs as we averaged 5.9 yards per carry. Gotta love Ryan's smash mouth football.

And the defense looked as good as advertised. Well, we are playing the Raiders but shutouts in this league don't come around often and it was nice to notch the big 0. Calvin Pace is starting to look like the Calvin Pace of old recording 3 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. The D was all over the place forcing a total of 4 turnovers (Jim Leonard and Darrelle Revis each got an Interception) which resulted in 21 of the 38 points.

The game started off great with Pace forcing a fumble at the start of the game and before you could blink, the Jets were up 7-0 and there was no looking back.

I'm not going to get all excited as we were playing the Raiders but I thought the same last week when we were playing the Bills and thought the same the week before when we were playing the Dolphins. So, it's an NFL win and it was much needed.

The best was watching Sanchez scarf down a hotdog in the 4th quarter. I guess he was hungry or just bored out there in this ass-kicking the Blue and Gold (Titans Colors) put on.

Now, it's time to redeem ourselves vs. the FISH next Sunday and prove to them that two weeks ago was a total fluke !

Notes:

1.) It was the Jets' first shutout since Dec. 14, 2003, when they blanked the Steelers, 6-0, at home in a snowstorm.

Just Disgusting !

There are so many words to describe my emotions: Embarrassed. Disgusted. Sick.

People say this is a new regime but it's same crap, different year.

This season started off with such promise. A new energetic head coach. A young stud rookie quarterback. A 3-0 start. All of that has been quickly erased as we lost to an inferior opponent as we usually do and are now 3-3 and a game back of first place. It's just pathetic.

On a day that you can rush for 318 yards, give up only 13 points in regulation, and have a 10 point lead at one point, you would think you would win the game. But, these are the Jets. We were playing a Bills team that had lost 3 straight games and had only scored 2 offensive touchdowns in that same span. So, this should have been a game the Jets should have dominated.

Sanchez, they tell us, has never played in a game where the temperature is under 55 degrees. Well, Mark...welcome to the North East. This was a warm day compared to what it is going to be in a month or so. Sanchez threw the ball great...to the other team ! He had FIVE interceptions. Yes, he had 5 interceptions while at the same time in a different game, Tom Brady threw FIVE touchdowns in just one quarter of football. Some of it wasn't Sanchez' fault. He has NO receivers. Braylon Edwards still is learning the Jets offense. Jerricho Cotchery and Brad Smith were out. That left us with David Clowny, Wallace Wright, and I can't even remember the 3rd wide receiver's name. Not a single ball was throw in the direction of these guys. With not many targets out there, Sanchez really had limited options but that is not an excuse for so many interceptions.

And things got worse. Kris Jenkins may have had a season ending knee injury and he's our most dominate man on the line. That is a killer injury.

But, it shouldn't have mattered. Their starting QB left the game with an injury so we are facing a backup QB for the 2nd straight week and still can't sack the quarterback. What is up with the defense that is supposed to reek havoc on the quarterback and only getting one sack?

And penalties. I think we had 14 at my last count with SIX of them coming in Overtime. How the hell do you have 6 penalties in OT? This is unexceptable. These penalties put us on 1st and long for a ton of drives and killed us towards the end when we got to the 10 yard line only to have it called back due to a Ben Harstock penalty and then we have a perfect snap on a winning FG attempt and Weatherfod couldn't handle it. Instead, he had no choice but to get up and just throw the ball which was picked off.

There was a few bright spots in the game. Thomas Jones rushed for 210 yards and broke his personal record for his longest career run twice. Leon Washington also added 99 yards on the ground.

And get this. Mark Sanchez' passer rating was 8.3. Thomas Jones average per carry was 9.5. That's embarrassing for the QB.

We are poorly coached. Why would you challenge a call over 6 yards when you thought they stepped out of bounds. You lost the challenge and wasted a time out. We also wasted another time out when on fourth down we tried to draw the Bills offsides and then called time out. Time outs are valuable and we need to stop wasting them as we've done the last few weeks. We also wasted a time out when we had too many men on the field for the field goal block team. We also had an intentional delay of game after a time out. Just stupid.

Next up is the Raiders in Oakland where we never win. This season took a bad turn and it needs to be turned the other way before it gets out of control !

Notes:
1. The Jets 14 penalties were the most since a Rich Kotite game in 1996.

2. Thomas Jone's 71-yard run was the longest by a Jet since Adrian Murrell's 78-yarder against the Cardinals in 1996.

3. The Jets managed only one sack against a Bills offensive line that began the day with only 41 combined career starts.

4. PK Jay Feely made his first two FG attempts to break Pat Leahy's team record for most consecutive field goals (23). He was wide left, from 44 yards, on his third attempt.

Put Your Money On The Jets

Yeah...we mostly lose to the Bills. However, we are coming off two tough loses and we can't erase a 3-0 start with a 3rd straight loss. We are back at home playing a 1-4 Bills team that can't do anything right. If I was a betting man, I'd put my money on the Jets. I'm just glad I'm not a betting man.

Great Quote !

Fish Cause Jets Crash !

The Jets were entering the game 3-1 against the Dolphins who were in a "must-win" situation and wearing their UGLY orange shirts. They had a quarterback playing that was even more unexperienced in the NFL than Sanchez. They have a pot head as a running back. We were pissed coming off a loss last week. But, it's Monday Night and as Jets fans know, MNF hasn't always been kind to the Jets less a few specific games.

I'm not sure where to even begin. The offense looked much better as we now have another target in Braylon Edwards to throw too. He looked great hauling in 5 catches with one going for a TD and it looked like he should have had a 2nd for a touchdown as well. Our running game was okay but we just don't get enough yards on 1st down. Sanchez looked much better and more comfortable with his new wide receiver. It was great to see a tall receiver jump up and haul in some catches that would be to high for our other receivers. Sanchez also threw a nice bomb to David Clowney for a huge gain. However, two of the drives were extended that probably shouldn't have been. One was our punter not sure if he should kick it and was able to run for a first down to keep a drive alive instead of punting. Another situation was a direct snap to Brad Smith how somehow was able to change directions and dart forward for a first down to keep another drive alive. If you take away those two strange plays, we'd have less points on the board.

The story of the game was our defense, or lack thereof. How many long drives did the Dolphins have? I think they started the game with a 8 minute drive to go ahead 7 - 0. They had another 8 minute drive later in the game and ended the game with a 5 plus minute drive. We couldn't stop the wildcat. We couldn't stop regular formation. We couldn't get pressure on an unexperienced quarterback. We couldn't stop Ronnie and Ricky (sounds like 2/3rds of Bel Biv Devoe). And, the passing game just ate us apart.

We were coached poorly down the stretch not using any time outs to have time on the clock if Miami scored. The sad part is that we were up and let them drive to score the winning touchdown with 6 seconds left. You gotta call Time Outs and even if they score, you have more than 6 seconds left. What is worse is that they started that last drive on their own 30 yard line and went 70 yards. How can you let that team have a drive like that? Were they not prepared? Hell, we had Calvin Pace back so we should have been even stronger on defense that we were the first four weeks when our defense was unstoppable. We gave up 413 yards and gave up 3rd down conversions 9 of 14 times. That's pathetic.

Not sure what else to say. We got our asses kicked by an inferior team. They better turn it around against the Bills or their 3-0 start would have been erased.

Just disgusting !