This is just not true. The Titans went 13-3 last year with no WR who caught more than 43 balls. They did have a TE who caught 58 balls but for less than 10 yards a catch. The Ravens went 11-5 with one WR who caught 80 balls and the next highest at 41, that could easily be where the Jets are next season with Cotchery in the 80 catch role and whoever at 41. The Vikings went 10-6 with their leading WR catching 53 balls. That's three playoff teams from last year who did not have a dominant #1 WR among them. The idea that the Jets are doomed if they can't fill the WR slot with proven threats before the season begins is just not justified by the body of evidence in the NFL at the moment. WR is probably the least impactful position, followed by CB. Detroit went 0-16 with Calvin Johnson catching 78 balls for a 17.1 YPC and 12 TD's. If WR play really meant anything they'd have won a game in there somewhere with that kind of performance. He was their best player by far, by double-far in fact, and he didn't do anything to help them win games anyway. Because the impact of a WR only comes into play after the offensive line, the quarterback and the defense have done their jobs.
Comparing Tennessee and Detroit by focusing on the respective receiver corps is not really isolating the variable that differentiates their respective records. I would never argue that one corp of the team would make that much of a difference, even Qb. Everyone knows Detroit's problems are widespread, and their record unsurprising. Johnson is a great talent, and they no doubt went to him even more than they would have otherwise when behind in games, playing against prevent defenses. Tennessee particularly in their first ten games were usually playing with safe leads. Again no reason to pass the ball. The significant difference is found elsewhere - Tennessee ranked 7th leaguewide in overall D, while Detroit was worst in the league. Focusing on points allowed, it was even a bigger disparity, with Tenn at #2 and Detroit again worst in the league. But after those first ten games, Tennessee could only win half their games, and lost in the wild card game. Those last six games included a win over Detroit, btw. And Cleveland. Their only impressive win, and it was impressive, was over Pitt, but that game was only sealed when Rothlisberger tossed his first interception a long time with the game on the line, again a win that should be credited to Tennessee's D. Otherwise they lost games, such as to Houston when the D held the Texans to only 13 points. But since Tenn could only score 12, it was a loss. Andre Johnson btw had over 200 yards that game. I htink it fair to say that Tenn lost that game because the other team had a better passing attack. Against Indy they went scoreless. So, taking out the wins over woeful Detroit and Cleveland, the Titans went 1-4 to end the season, scoring 13, 12, 0 and 10 in those losses. And achieving a first game exit from the playoffs despite that wonderful 13-3 record. Meanwhile the Jets did not have anywhere near Tennessee's D. In points allowed the Jets were 18th to the Titans' 2nd place ranking. Even if the Jets improve over last year, and they should, one should hardly have confidence the team will approach Tennessee's level of success. The same comparison obviously applies to one with Baltimore, a team that in many respects was quite similar to Tennessee's. So, yes, if you have a totally dominating defense, can play a ball control, play ahead in the score, game, you can have a fair degree of success in the league without a fearsome passing attack. I don't think that argues for complacency about the current receivers on the roster for the Jets, however. No. 7-9 sounds about right, unless they upgrade at wideout.
7-9 is low end of the probable range and what they need to do before camp is to fix depth in the trenches not get an upgrade at WR. A WR would be nice but an injury to anybody on the offensive line, Kris Jenkins or Shaun Ellis would be a very bad thing for the Jet's chances next year, and they're due for a big man injury at this point. The Jets could go 9-7 or 10-6 next year if Sanchez works out without getting anybody out wide. If Sanchez isn't ready to go then they could get Randy Moss and go 7-9.
The Jet wideouts will scare nobody. The current roster is weaker than last year's. I don't disagree both lines are very thin, and that is a huge problem. But the Jets have two decent receivers, Cotch and Keller, and that is it. Not enough to score enough points, imo.
i agree....i think the afc east this year will be like last year...a very tight race to the end...i really feel that brady is going to have to reinvent himself to a degree after missing a season...his injury is severe and only time will tell how his play is effected at all...it just worries me that brady has something to prove again...this could at the same time spark his career.... dolphins overacheived last year....with teams adjusting to the wildcat the phins success will go down unless they adapt as well...but lets not forget the phins were very reliant on the wildcat...in the post season those defenses shut it down which exposed Penny. phins 8 - 8 at best IMO. I think the darkhouse of the division is the bills...they really seem motivated up there and TO is giving them a swagger there have been lacking...those guys are really hungry and the addition of TO is actually letting the other players fly under the radar....look for at best 10 - 6 11- 5 season from the Jills. As for our Jets there are a lot of factors. Who is the QB? Probably Sanchez and if so how will the CS use him? How will the defense react to the system? I have good feelings but 7 - 9 to 12 - 4 is possible with this team. It really can go either way at this point. A huge factor will be how the CS uses Jenkins. They need to spell him more and hopefully the new addition from Seattle can provide some releif of the d line. If used Jenkins is used properly this defense is going to be beastly. Look for Calvin Pace to have a great year and yes Gholtson to take major strides. If Gholston can do so the Jets defense goes to the next level.
No they weren't, the Dolphins ran the wildcat about 6 times a game. The Dolphins ran about 45 to 55 offensive plays per game. Running the wildcat 6 times out of 50 plays per game, in your opinion that's "very reliant"? Stop it! The Bills have nearly the same staff as the previous three seasons where they couldn't win even with a super soft schedule last year, not to mention the Bills couldn't win against the 3-4 defense last year and every team in the division runs the 3-4. But you think an aging TO who drops more passes than any WR in the game is gonna make the Bills a dark horse? I see no logic in that opinion.
Hey, Boxscore Bill, can you find the stats on how many big plays and scores were a direct result of the Wildcat? That's why people say the Phins relied on it. Oh, that, and your QB is perennial failure.
Hey whiner, I know reality doesn't favor your side of the argument, but too damn bad. I present the facts because that's what they are. I could twist things to make Jet fans happy, but that wouldn't be realistic. Stop getting pissy because you can't make this conversation go the way you want it to go. I'm not here just making stories up, a Jet fan posts an exaggeration, I correct that exaggeration with cold hard facts and this pisses you off? Well boo frikin hooo!
It's not crazy to think we'll finish in last, it doesn't mean we'll suck but the division is better and we'll have a rookie QB.
I've got no problem with them saying 7-9 or that the Phins will be better but I take issue with the Cheats ebing anointed the record of 13-3 based on the fact that Deadbeat Dad is back at QB.... We have no idea how his knee will hold up once he takes a shot, their D is another year older (let's be honest Stroke can't play LB forever) The Pats may win the division but to say they'll be 13-3 is assanine. I think 11-5 is more realistic. Maybe they'll prove me wrong and go 13-3 but there are alot of questions with that D and with their QB's knee.
This Dolphin bandwagon...I mean..with all due respect to our Dolphin fanbase that posts on TGG....did anyone watch this team play last year (yeah...they beat up on the Jets..I understand it..so save it)? Talk about smoke and mirrors. The Dolphins have bust written all over them. Can anyone expect Pennington to come close to last year? -I have no idea what the Jet record will be. 7-9? 11-5? 4-12? no clue. This year has surprise written all over it...good or bad. I doubt anyone will look at our record at the end of the year and say "thats what I expected".
IF Chad stays healthy the answer is yes b/c that's how he always plays when healthy. His problem has always been his health and he's never had back to back healthy seasons.
Do you listen to yourself? The Dolphins had to overcome a lot of bad to win last year. A lot of the success in sports is about confidence and continuity Miami had little to none starting the 08 season. They had to trust a staff that had never coached them before. Miami won games they could have easily lost. They won because they were well coached. No reason to think the good coaching won't continue this year. I'm not here to tell Jet fans how awesome the Dolphins are or how we're gonna dominate the league this year. I'm worried the Dolphins will take a step backwards, not because of talent or coaching but because it's hard to win on a regular basis in the NFL. However Miami is more talented this year than they were last year, they are more confident and they know they can win if they follow this coaching staffs plan. That's how it starts and that's how you become consistent winners. Miami may not be a SB contender this year, but there is no reason Dolphin fans shouldn't think Miami can't return to the playoffs and even contend for the division. I think some Jet fans are just unhappy the Dolphins were successful last year and the last thing they want to see is the Dolphins continue that trend. So of course everytime a Dolphin fan even suggest the Dolphin could be better, Jet fans lose their minds. God forbid Dolphin fans could be right. The games still have to be played and there are no guarantees for success for any team in any sport. But you can't just simply ignore the philosophy that truned a 1 win Dolphin team into an 11 win Dolphin team in just one season. Miami has the pieces in place to imporve. As for Pennington, Miami has made an effort to improve their QB position. Chad Pennigton isn't the only QB on the Dolphins roster. I, along with many Dolphin fans hope he has another record season, but if he get's injured Miami drafted Chad Henne to be their future. He's had a year to watch one of the most accurate, hard working professional QB's in the NFL. Henne was also a very successful college QB in a big time program, infact both Henne and Pat White were winners in college both regular and post season. Henne has the size, arm strength and intelligence to succeed at this level and again he will be well coached. So to think the Dolphins will only succeed if Pennington is the QB is just wishful thinking. Jet fans have no problem believing Sanchez is their future why should Dolphin fans feel any differently about Henne?
Just answer the question. How many big plays were a direct result of the wildcat? How many yards were gained from those 6 per game? Everyone says one thing and you disagree. That's fine, but it doesn't exactly make you "right"
Miami ran between 720 to 880 offensive plays in 2008, they ran the wildcat approximately 70 to 100 times in 2008. Obviously Miami didn't have success every time they lined up in the wildcat formation. Even if they had success every single time they ran the formation, that would have only accounted for 1/8th of their offensive plays. Please explain to me how 1/8th of a teams offensive plays is so relevant that the uneducated fans here constantly make an issue out of it? Oh I could understand the logic if the Dolphins ran the wildcat 35 or 40% of the time they lined up, but that wasn't even close to the actual number of tiems they ran the wildcat. The whole idea behind the wildcat last year was to jumpstart the Dolphins running game that was so bad in the first three weeks of 2008, what the Dolphins learned was the wildcat gave the Dolphins an unbalanced line that forced oposing teams to spend part of their weeks preperation working on ways to stop the wildcat and Miami used that to have success with their regualr offense. This isn't tough to understand, it's pretty simple stuff. Yet Jet fans constantly act like the wildcat was this huge part of the Dolphins success, wehn in reality it was really a very small part of their game from week to week. How many times does this need to be explained to Jet fans?
