Blaming a single player for losing is rarely if ever warranted. It's a favorite fan flaw to scapegoat a prominent target for all their frustration and anger about losing. The people that lost the game is the WHOLE damned team. Just because you were looking at the same guy most of the time doesn't mean that he had the power to kill the game. We had a 4-12 season in 07 because we had a very bad OL, and the defense -- although it tried valiantly, and improved substantially over the course of the season -- just could not compensate for the chronic lack of offense. The NYJ were easy to play last year. "We can stuff their running game, pin our ears back and murder the passer. Don't worry about the long ball, just sit on those short routes and the Jets will come right to you. After all, there's no place else we will allow them to go." When your offense is over-manned at the line of scrimmage, the way the NYJ were, in virtually every game (except with the Dolphins, maybe), the TEAM has no excuses. The fans shouldn't either.
:grin: It would seem the professionals are thinking similarly to me. Or perhaps secretly planning a trade. If not, Chad will start.
Year Win Loss (INC Playoffs) 2007 1-----7 2006 10----7 2005 1-----2 2004 9-----6 2003 4-----6 2002 9-----6 Total 34---34 23 Games missed with various injurys. Career Games Comp Att PCT YDS AVG TD LNG INT RAT Career 70 1259 1919 65.6 13738 7.2 82 71 55 88.9 82 TD's in six years - didnt Brady put that up this season? You Chad sunshiners are hillarious.
Not when the 1-8 part of the equation had the Bills twice, bengals and Eagles to start against twice. Not when the 1-8 part was only barely able to escape with a win against the Mighty Dolphins at home. That is the main variable. The 3-4 part came in with no experience and a revolving door at RT. The 1-8 part did nothing after 6 years of a dink and dunk team designed for him to indicate that he should ever start again.
One guy does not a team, a victory, or a loss make. We'll see how Chad does in the coming competition with Kellen.
Unless Clemens demonstrates during pre-season that he has elevated his game to the next level and has made significant progress in his decision making ability, Pennington will be the opening day starter. The FO did not break the bank this off season so they could see if an as of yet unknown commodity (that would be Clemens) has what it takes to lead the team to the playoffs. Pennington is not a complete quarterback by any stretch of the imagination. His list of shortcomings is well documented but it is also becoming increasingly apparent that the FO and CS believe that he has more than enough ability to succeed provided he has a competent, well balanced team to work with so as to amplify his strengths and mitigate his glaring weaknesses. That would mean an O line that not only can consistently provide ample pass protection, but one that restore our running game. Unlike Tom Brady, a QB like Pennington cannot be successful without a strong running game but can be consistently successful with one. Chad is largely useless if he can't consistently reply on his far better than average skills as a play action passer. A defense that can dominate opponents or at least keep us in games is also essential so that Chad doesn't have to throw the ball playing catch up so much. The moves made by the FO have the legitimate potential to go a very long way in addressing the aforementioned weaknesses on both sides of the ball. Its pretty simple really. A collection of football minds vastly superior to and more experienced than any of the "know-it-alls" here have apparently concluded that they'd prefer to go with a known quantity than an unknown. They know and are more than comfortable with what Chad is capable of under the right circumstances and with the right support which is exactly what they are trying to create with last week's spending spree. While Clemens may have more potential and ultimately prove to be a better overall QB, that question is not likely to be answered this year after the amount of money that was just spent. The NFL is still a business and anyone with a modicum of business experience can read the writing on the wall as far as the current situation is concerned. Unless he is seriously injured or Clemens demonstrates early on that he has taken a major developmental step forward, Pennington will surely be the Jet's opening day starter. Try to get used to it because its not nearly as bad as it seems.
Dear Altoona, Yours is a very intelligent post, Thanks for it. It reminded me of an analysis of Brett Favre today by Carl Banks who actually played against him a couple of seasons when Brett was just starting out and Carl was playing for Cleveland. He said that Brett was a package of intangibles, that he could do a lot of things pretty well, but nothing really great. Everybody knows, he said, that Brett Favre can throw between the numbers and down field pretty well. What he can't do is throw outside the numbers to save his life. Remember that his last pass caught by Corey Webster (NYG Man) was well outside the numbers, by the way. The great thing about the Packers is that they did everything to keep Brett to his strengths (running the ball well, getting wide-outs over the middle and on long post routes) and away from his weaknesses (as few of those quick outs as possible). Kept within his sphere of competence, Brett Favre could execute well. An interesting take from a veteran on a veteran, no? There is always a lot cliche flinging about playing the best schemes to fit the players you have. Well this is a team issue, not an individual player issue. It may be that the versatility and resulting multiple success opportunities that the 3-4 / 4-3 hybrid defense affords a team have been proven through the winning of a number of Super Bowls (Just as Vilma said today). It may also be that having a balanced offense that can go in any one of four or five different directions from the same play set EQUALLY well gives all the players on this team the best chance. It's more complicated than star power, I grant you, but then again, real football has always been the most fun, as far as I'm concerned.
That's great- for a second I thought that I had seen the end of the "Micro-short" passing game, poor reads and play action, an inability to throw across the field, ducks, ducks and more ducks, at least 2 or 3 serious hits to one of our receivers who were forced to stand there and wait for a pass. The even better news is that every 8th game we'll get to see Chad's signature "downfield bomb," at which point all of his supporters will come on here and try to convince the rest of us that he's the second coming of Christ.
Quote: "...That's great- for a second I thought that I had seen the end of the "Micro-short" passing game, poor reads and play action, an inability to throw across the field, ducks, ducks and more ducks, at least 2 or 3 serious hits to one of our receivers who were forced to stand there and wait for a pass. The even better news is that every 8th game we'll get to see Chad's signature "downfield bomb," at which point all of his supporters will come on here and try to convince the rest of us that he's the second coming of Christ...." I can understand how one can be bitter when everything the offense tries is murdered in its boots by that sieve of an OL. Just ask the RBs and the WRs, you don't even have to talk to the QBs...
Code: G GS Att Comp Pct Yds YPA Lg TD Int Tkld 20+ 40+ Rate Joey Harrington 81 76 2538 1424 56.1 14693 5.79 86 79 85 124/770 165 26 69.4 Chad Pennington 69 61 1919 1259 65.6 13738 7.16 71 82 55 132/812 165 28 88.9 Look at how Chad stacks up against Joey Harrington; the only difference is 20 picks, which I firmly believe Chad could have made up for had we let him start five more games last season (He has 15 less starts than Harrington).
Be prepared to get back some meaningless passer rating stats from some clown that will argue Chad is a top ten Qb alltime. He is closer to Harrington and Nagle than Brady and Manning!
I have been as frustrated as anyone with Chad's significant list of shortcomings. I do not, however, underestimate his chances success if placed in a proper team situatation. If all we ever saw of Vilma as a LB was in 3-4 defensive configuration, he would have been declared a bust from day one. That, however, is simply not the case and if he is able to fully recover from his knee injury, he will prove himself once again to be a top quality middle linebacker in the 4-3. I believe that the same applies to Pennington. It is both difficult and counterintuitive to defend a QB who lacks what are generally considered to be essential traits for a quality signal caller such as arm strength, mobility and durability. While Pennington will never qualify as anyone's ideal quarterback solution, I believe he nevertheless has enough in the way of skills to lead a properly assembled, well balanced team.
Well I'll stay away from QB rating as nobody, I mean nobody, looks as that as meaningful.:lol: I see 600 less attempts, nearly same yardage. I see 9.5% lower completion percentage for Joey. I see higher yards per ave. for Chad. I thought he was the worst at that? I see Chad has 3 more TD's on 600 less attempts. I see 30 less interceptions. I see that Chad has the same amount of 40+. All this despite Joey's better arm. Cmon guys. Chad has his deficiency. But he is the best we have. Draft, trade or FA. If the team isn't looking at this, maybe you guys are wrong. Maybe?
Nice intelligent and well-written post Altoona. Sadly, this subject matter has been nothing more than passionate rants from both sides of the Penny Love/Hate festival. As you can all see, it can be debated ad nauseum. Perhaps one of the more telling actions not taken by the CS is to aggressively pursue a speedy WR in FA with the hopes of capitalizing on Kellen's arm by expanding the vertical game. It seems like they've taken the classic Parcellsian approach of fortifying both lines with the intention of establishing a stronger running game to go with a very stout defense. The kind of offense that eats up the clock and that is best led by a mistake-free move-the-chains kind of QB. The kind of offense that wins games in the Northeast during the month December. With that said, only the unrelenting observation and full examination of each QB's body-of-work by the CS at end of TC will determine which QB is best suited to lead the team. I for one would rather not get into this disheartening pissing contest between the two camps.
There's no question in my mind that the Jets will be bringing in some quality receiving help before all is said and done. I don't have any idea as to Coles' status but I don't think he'll be around much longer. Whether it be via trade, free agency, the draft or some combination of the three, based on the action we've seen the FO take this week, I'd be shocked if we didn't make some interesting moves in this area as it remains somewhat of a weak point. The draft should be exciting this year as well. I'll be happy if we end up with either Gholston or McFadden although if we draft McFadden, I imagine we'd have to move Jones. (He's greatly missed in Chicago and it appears quite possible that Benson may be done). I also hope the Jets pick up either Flacco or Josh Johnson in the middle rounds of the draft. I'd also like to see us draft Chris Johnson and put him in the slot as a wideout. Finally, I really hope we can get our hands on another top corner like Sheppard or Hall.
