As I look up and down the stats columns a few numbers are jumping out at me that look decidedly un-Jetslike based on the last few years and even the last half decade. 1. TD passes thrown. Favre's numbers look kind of similar to Chad's over the years. If you squint a bit they kind of blur together, except for two categories: TD passes and Interceptions. Plainly put Favre will put the ball up in the air when you need to get a TD on a drive instead of settling for a FG or a punt. This causes opposing defenses to be unable to play it safe, secure in the knowledge that the drive is likely to sputter out on it's own at some point if they just keep holding the Jets to a short gain on every play. You win the game by putting 7's up and that's what Favre is doing. Miami, BTW, is much improved this year with Chad at QB, however they're being limited by what their offense can do and the primary thing the offense is not doing is putting 7 on the board on demand. 2. The ghost of Curtis Martin is finally departed. I had an epiphany after the screen pass to Jones for the TD on Sunday: that was a play that the Jets ran to Curtis a bunch of times over the years and it has been missing since 2004. I could almost see #28 juking and weaving as he made a CB sit down on the play and skated into the end zone. I've missed that a lot. Thomas Jones is putting numbers on the board that look exactly like Curtis in his prime. He's doing it the same way that Curtis did it too, putting his head down when he gets hit and getting another yard on the play. This is also due to the excellent run-blocking the Jets have gotten out of the line this year but Thomas Jones going 217 carries for 4.4 yards a carry and ONE fumble is a huge factor in the surge. The Jets are headed for 2000+ yards rushing for the first time since 2004 and only the second time since 2000. They're on a pace to beat out the 1998 squad. 3. Kris Jenkins looks like a Nose Tackle right down to his stat line. He's on a pace for 48 tackles. D-Rob had 57 last year and 62 in 2006. What that tells me is that Jenkins is staying home and letting the linebackers behind him make the plays, whereas D-Rob was trained to go get the ball and couldn't get away from that, even when that wasn't his job any more. The result is that the Jets have not been gashed at all by the inside running game. They gave up 9 yard plays inside, sometimes multiple plays like that, on virtually every drive with D-Rob at NT and they almost never have that kind of lapse with a real NT. Favre is bailing out Tannenbaum big time by bringing the most competitive risk-taking personality in the NFL to play on every down, but Jenkins is saving Mangini, whose 3-4 looked like toast before the big guy settled down in the middle. 4. The Jets special teams are #2 overall in the NFL. Offensively they lead the league in return yards and field position given and defensively they are #6. This has given Favre and the offense the advantage on many drives and they've responded with the best offensive performance since 1968. The Jets are going to break the franchise record in scoring by 50 points this year and the only team that will likely have scored more points per game is the 1968 champions. The special teams is the launching platform that is making that possible.
As much as I think Favre has helped, the bigger help has been Kris Jenkins. He makes that defense work and improves the play of the entire LB corps. He should be talked about as an MVP, but I know this won't happen because his stats don't tell the story of how great he is.
I like that post, it's refreshing to see from you after your anger in the offseason. The bolded part is something I want certain people to look at. People who think we should bench the likes of Wallace Wright or Brad Smith in favor of Clowney... Wright and Smith are always the first ones to the return man. They are always holding their lanes, they are a couple of the fastest guys on the team, they shed STs coverage blocks like no other on the team, and they are superior tacklers for wideouts - not to mention, if you watch Leon making his returns, they are always making key blocks on the opposing STs speedsters. I would never bench either one of them for a guy that would have 2-3 balls thrown at him at most in any game. I know Clowney's speed gives a dimension to the offense that we don't currently possess, but I'd rather keep opposing teams near or inside the 20 on every kickoff and punt than the alternative. It's just too valuable. Field position is just too important.
Great post, Bradway, but we need to give credit to: 5. Jets Coaching Staff and General Management. Most of the above would not be possible without the aggressive offseason campaign headed up by Tannenbaum with the help and advice of Mangini. The 2008 season is a remarkable turnaround and we'd be extremely remiss if the F/O was given all the kudos it deserves. I rate this offseason an A. The only reason it doesn't rate an A+ is that we have no visible plan or vision for what happens after Favre and I'm not completely comfortable with the QBs that are currently in the stable. Game-day coaching decisions and tactics can be criticized (and will always be questioned by many), but IMO this coaching staff is doing a very good job of getting the team prepared (game-plan specific) and in calling plays (also game-plan specific). You can only do so much with playcalling if it's not being executed well. I feel that now that the team has the "chemistry" Favre talked about earlier, the team is executing better now and the play-calling is working much better as a result. Still not perfect (Sutton's penchant for still wanting to slip into prevent defense gripes the hell out of me) but in general, the decisions to run the ball at the right times and consume clock times were brilliant the past several weeks. Mangini is a very bright fellow. You need only compare him to previous coaches or other around the league and most would not trade him off for many of the others at this point. He has stressed character in the locker room and he has it in the people he's acquired and now it shows. This is a harmonious bunch without all the Pacman Jones/TO/ Lyndale White-Jeff Fisher-like drama going on which only distracts from winning. Schotty and Sutton aren't perfect but they're getting the job done against teams that are top-notch. I rate this coaching staff a solid A- right now.
Nice post....heres some more fun stats... The Jets have an almost 50% conversion rate on 3rd down. Opponents aren't close. The Jets are 8 for 9 on 4th down. We've held our opponents to almost 600 (!!) less rushing yards than us. My favorite stat is that the Jets usually win time of possession. Thats huge.
I'd add to that list that we're scoring on every opening drive now. That's also huge, because it sets the tempo right off the bat and puts the opposition in a constant catch-up position.
The reason is because we have an offensive line and a defensive line, plain and simple. We didn't have either last year, now we do.
The Jets are dominating this year , because we have the personnel to do what Mangini always wanted to do! On the defensive side we have Jenkins ; who is in the back field like every other play thus leading the opposing rusher to run smack dab into any number of defensive lineman( definitely not like 07). Brett Farve can actually throw the ball! Oh boy here goes the Chad bashing. If you ask some of these stataticians they will point out Chad is smart , Chad is careful with the ball and he doesn't take chance , well that will get you as far as some average teams go . The Jets have always coveted a passer who could go down field and make things happen , even if our past crop of quarter backs don't indicate that. We finally have in Brett Farve a quarter back that can be deadly any where on the field and takes chances that the "Safe guy" wont and wouldn't unless its all or nothing. Last year it was all or nothing for chad and we all know what that looked like. I will concede that a Tom Brady-less Patriots have aided in our resurgence and the schedule has worked out rather nicely ; having our more tougher games in the latter of the season when we have it almost where we want it. I truly don't feel as thou we are supremely dominate and look forward to the Jets writing History from here to the end!
This offense seems like it can score on a whim. Like was said before,the fact that we are scoring TD's instead of FG's, in the red zone, is huge.
1) DL can now stuff the run 2) OL can now create the run 3) Favre doing his thing 4) TJ playing like he's Walter Payton 5) excellent ST play
Because Mangini/M.T are emulating Belichick/Pioli?sure the above are true but bottom-line is we are becoming the Pats in every facet? They have/had things we don?t (better pass rush/pass D) and vice-versa for our better running game and special teams?but the philosophies & fundamentals are the same?just look at their games this season and ours?very similar?and I would bet we blow out the Broncos this week and they struggle against the Raiders? Not Jocking NE in any way but Last week?s game against the Titans reminded me of a game a few seasons back that Pittsburg played the Pats?when everyone was saying that Pitt was going to beat up on NE and sure enough Pitt didn?t stand a chance?we are becoming and old school type team (Run & play D) with a coach who is getting better?that formula will get you wins almost all the time?.
Everyone here has valid points - there are just so many factors that are difference makers this season. Personally, my favorite stat at the moment is that we're #2 in the NFL in overall scoring and #2 in the NFL in points per game. Wow!! :beer:
Yes! See, I always thought Pennington was awful in the red zone. He had a reputation for being really good, since for a long time he had never thrown a pick inside the 20, but that was really just a function of being overly cautious. He would never, ever throw a touchdown when we were at the 5-15 yard lines. He was just unable to stick a pass into the end zone in tight coverage. Basically the only TD passes we would get were on play action rollout passes to a wide open Chris Baker/Jerald Sowell/etc... from about the 3 yard line or closer. He could hit the occasional fade pattern, but us getting a TD pass was rare. This was a crucial deficiency to our offense. TD passes like the one Favre threw to Coles on Sunday are such back-breakers, and are the types of touchdowns that the Patriots would seemingly always kill us with while we were kicking short field goals.
The Patriots were always a Brady injury away from coming back to the pack. Cassell is good and will be the Pat's starting QB for years if Brady cannot come back, but he's not Brady and the Pats aren't going to be 800 lb gorillas with him at QB.
