Thoughts on Week 12
SpiritOf68 · 2007-11-23
Re: Thoughts on Week 12
Oh, and if we DO do the unexpected, please, let's not do the *stupid* unexpected. If Shotty is responsible for that 6 yard QB sneak in a non-sneak situation, then he is quite clearly out of his mind. Yes, it looked cool, and yes, I cheered for it, but can you imagine if Kellen took a blow to the head? We're in a situation where we can't put Penny back in, and our only backups are Tui and Smith. If we struggle with KC that's one thing, but can you even begin to fathom how much more terrible we'd be with Tui behind center? My god, that was insane.
jake · 2007-11-23
Re: Thoughts on Week 12
SpiritOf68 · 2007-11-23
I'm a homer for having such confidence in these guys. Granted, I did expect a 21 pt loss and the talent of Dallas (especially at home) should not be taken for granted. Week 12 leaves me with these questions:Thoughts on Week 12
1. Do we still want to sack Sutton or not? This defense looked pretty good again this week, all things considered. Despite the numbers Dallas put up, its actually the offense (and special teams, to a much lesser extent) that lost this game. Which makes me wonder: what has Sutton been doing all season with them? Can we rely on them to put up an adequate performance most of the time or not?
2. Is the O-line top priority now? After the D shows up again today, it makes you wonder just how good or bad they really can be. We KNOW the O-line is abysmal.
I said that it was the offense that lost this game, but particularly the O-line. Here's why: we look terrible in the red zone. When opposing teams get the ball down low on, say, the 4, I'm confident that they can push it home on the ground, but when we get it in the same spot, I'm even more confident that TJ is about to get dropped for a loss. If we're going to get it in, we need to do it through the air, and even then it's unlikely.
This line has no push, and that killed us today. We need to control the tempo against an explosive offense such as Dallas, and the way we do that is by running the ball. TJ takes his fair share of the blame, but the point is, if you're getting 2 yards a carry, you're not getting that first down and controlling the clock, and giving your D time to rest from an excellent performance. But if TJ had a line that could help him get that extra 1-2 yards per possession, as little as that sounds, you're looking at an entirely different offense. At 3-4 per carry you are looking at an offense that maybe gives TJ about 50% more carries. That not only controls the tempo, it also: sets up the pass/PA and allows him to wear down the defense until he can bust out a 20, 30, or 40 yard rush. Although it should be obvious how having a poor O-line damages the team, I'm just beginning to realize how monumental the effect really is. TJ gets that extra push every carry then we might have kept this game close.
3. What to do about the receiving corps? Something to make you miserable: coming into this season we have, perhaps, 3 strengths: the kick return, an above average back and an above average receiving corps. Our kick return game is still elite in this league, maybe even the best, despite what happened today. However, our back has no touchdowns and is producing little.
Finally, the receiving corps: Coles/Cotchery are both quality receivers IMO. Coles is injured, I don't know the extent, or when he'll be back, but if/when he does return we don't know whether his production will slide, or how many years he'll have left now because of these injuries. So, really, we're looking at a corps that consists of Cotchery alone, with Laverneus questionable. Now all of the sudden, are we going to need to make an acquisition at WR? This was one of the few holes we didn't have to plug and now we may very well. Let's take a look at the rest of our corps:
Let me say this, and I cannot emphasize it enough: Brad Smith is lame. Totally, totally lame. The guy may do everything, but he does NOTHING. I just don't understand the kind of worship going around on him. He is a 3 receiver tops.
Now, we move on to JMac. On his best days, he's a 3 receiver. On a good day, a 4, on every other day, the 5 man whose name you never hear until you're running a hail mary, down by 7 with 15 seconds to go in the 4th quarter on your own 8 yard line.
Wallace Wright? More like, Wallace Who? We haven't seen this guy much, except on special teams, but there's no reason to believe he's anything special.
4. The playbook? OK, who else is sick of this boring Jets playbook. We were 2-8 coming into the Dallas game, do something crazy! Where are the bombs from Kellen? We know he can throw them. LC may be out, but still, let's just do it already! Where are the trick plays, let's bust them out.
Even if we don't launch the bombs or use trick plays, let's cut the crap with this 90's style Jets offense. When you need six on 3rd and six, you DO NOT run 2 yard outs to the sidelines and then pray you can stay in bounds and pick up an extra four. When you need one on 3rd and 1, you piledrive it home!!! Come on!!!