Look, I hate losing as much as anyone, but there are many factors that make this a pretty digestable loss. First off, it's a non-conference away game. Those are the most disposible games. Secondly, NO is a team in it's 4th year of its current iteration, and one that is firing on all cylinders. And taking away Sanchez's rookie mistakes, they didn't beat us by much. Not bad for a team in it's first year in its current iteration. So Sanchez actually picked a good game to go rookie on us. Now, that isn't saying there aren't concerns. The coaching staff HAS to work with Sanchez on his ball handling skills. He's acting like he's still in college. That is a very correctable mistake, but it must be corrected. Also, Thomas Jones looks like shit. He hesitates EVERY FUCKING TIME he takes a hand off. Shonn Greene looked much better that TJ. He hits the hole with explosiveness that TJ now lacks. I have no idea why TJ hesitates like he does, but it's almost every single time he gets the b all. I'll post more on this later when I study the game replay on Directv shortcut. So the best thing to do here is show the film to Sanchez tomorrow, point out that he HAS to do a better job in both handling the ball and getting rid of teh ball quicker (especially in his own end zone. Cripes, Mark, that was terrible, even for a rookie), and then focus on the Dolphin game.
i agree. as been mentioned by others before, rather it be against a damn good team (that happens to be out of conference) than against a team we should beat. edit: there are a ton of things that can be learned from in this game. so there is a bright side.
Tony this is a great thread... the ball handling concerns me very much. This is the 3rd game in a row he has fumbled so it's not an isolated incident. My honest thinking was he shouldn't have been scrambling around in the back of the endzone like that anyway but w/o Thomas Jones running effectivley you have to do some different things. I think the Saints D is alot better than we all anticipated and they deserve alot of credit for doing what 2 established defenses in New England and Tennessee couldn't which is force him to make multiple mistakes. I just hope this isn't the blueprint to beat the Jets. We will rebound and with 5 very winnable games in a row on the schedule anything less than 4-1 will be disapointing. Miami twice in the next 4 weeks and Buffalo should all be W's and Oakland is dogshit so a loss to them would be cause for alarm. the Jax game worries me a bit because I think they are decent and the Pats on the road follows. Honestly I envisioned 0-4 going to Miami so I'm pissing my pants and whistling Dixie evene after this loss.
Good Post Tony. Sanchez was not good today. The blocking for him, both in execution and scheme, was very poor. Our Defense was great today. We held what is perhaps the best all around offense in the NFL in check today. Now we need to rebound big time against a Miami team commign off a huge win today.
You mentioned blocking, and the one thing I really noticed about the Saints was that they block extremely well. Not just at the point of attack, but their downfield blocking is executed beautifully. I really believe that this is the best team in football right now, and they have as good a shot at winning the SB as anyone.
Hey Tony, like the others have said this is a good thread. I like the term "digestible loss". That pretty much sums up how I feel about this loss. Time to put this behind us and focus on improving and beating the Dolphins.
Yep, good post. I also think they need to drill in Sanchez that he has to be careful about staring down his receivers at times. I don't think it is a huge problem, but there are times, obviously, when it has been an issue; but, he is a rookie and as you say, yesterday he played like a rookie. I do think there are quite a bit of positives that can be drawn from yesterday. Here are just a few: D held best O to 10 points Greene played and was making positive plays until ankle tweak Revis is fantastic Harris - great game Scott - a real leader Everbody, from the coach to the O to the D handled the after game presser very well; like, it would have been horrible if Sanchez came out and threw a hissy fit at the media. He did a very good job in a tough spot. We are 3-1 for the first quarter against some tough teams Next 4 games are very winnable with good play, execution, and determination Pace is coming back and I expect he will make himself known quickly I guess Gholston will be spending more time with Clowney That's enough for now
As I nursed my post-loss wounds yesterday and reflected on the game, I pretty much came up with the same thoughts as you posted here. I think this will be a very good thing for Sanchez, actually. As hard a worker as he is, he has made mistakes in previous games and hasn't really had to suffer for them. This week, I think our rookie will be spending twice as much time with his receivers and QB coach working on timing and technique, and twice as much time in the film room. There's nothing like throwing away a winnable game to get under the skin of a competitor like Sanchez appears to be.
The key now is going to be reel him back and let the running game take over... something they've failed to do through the first four. If the Jets can start running the ball effectively, it'll make life on Sanchez much easier, and he'll be able to learn from his mistakes. However, if we keep depending on Sanchez as our primary source of offense, we're probably going to experience more games like this past one.
While I agree about running the ball more, they haven't been running it all that well. They'll need to play Greene much more than they have if they want to run the ball. Jones just isn't getting it done stutterstepping around like he's on Dancing with the Washed Up Football Players and Disgraced Politicians.
I definitely agree that the running game has been shit. Schotty and Callahan need to figure something out and get them going. I think one thing that can help them with this is Clowney. They haven't let the guy play yet but he's probably the single player on this team that can stretch the field for the Jets.
I completely agree. Having Clowney and Cotch out there could make a difference in how the D plays us. Our O line has to do a better job; this also needs to be brought out. Yesterday, was not a good game by our O line at all.
The fumble in the end zone had a huge rookie component to it: Sanchez was acting like he had a normal amount of time to get the play off, and that's never true in the end zone. You don't get to sit back there in a pocket, you either throw the ball away quickly or you take a sack. I really don't think the Jets should have been passing there. They should have just run it into the pile a few times and then punted. Asking a rookie to handle that situation was a tactical error.
We need to think positive about what the aftermath of the NO has produced. Chalk it up as a learning experience for Sanchez, nothing more. Jets are 3-1 - so who expected better at the start of the season? I certainly didn't. Looking at the next 4 games - they can be a very possible 7-1 or 6-2. The QB will only get better.
Thread after thread and post after posts asks that the Jets get the running game going. How can they if opposing D's are going to stack 8 in the box. And I want them to run more too but I understand why they can't.... Sanchez played 4 games. You can't at this point believe defenses will respect his passing ability and you have to expect that when a play is called, Mark is going to have to run that play and not be allowed to change it at the line (most of the time). The coaching staff is not going to take the reins off him this early. But no Defense will respect our run game if Mark isn't throwing the ball and setting the backfield up properly. He HAS to be allowed to make those mistakes so he can grow and learn from them (hopefully). I think Schotty is doing the best he can with the tools he has. You put Brees, Brady, or either Manning behind center on our team and the score would have been NYJ 35 - NO 10. Mark Sanchez is a rookie QB and that's pretty much what the problem is. We as fans, have to take the good with the bad at this point. Running the ball with TJ, LW, or Greene, won't improve until opposing D's have to cover our wideouts. And by the way, Greene may have great explosiveness but his durability sucks - 2 injuries in 5 games (4 pre, 1 season)? I would take TJ over Greene any day. If you told me the Jets will lose the AFC Champ game this year, I would sign up for that in a heartbeat. Baltimore and to a lesser extent, Altanta, were at the point we are now, last year. This could mean the Jets being a dominant team for a long time and i will sign up for that right now. As long as Mark can learn from his mistakes and improve his play I will be happy.
The Jets Defense played great and on may threads fans talk of holding the Saints to only 10 offensive points. Not that it really matters, but remember it (possibly) could have been 17 points, but the Saints decided to knee the ball near the goal line at the end of the game instead of going for more points. Again, the Jets 'D' was very impressive.
Great thread Tony! Like others have said, digestable loss is a great way to put it. No one wants to lose, but we lost on points scored on our offense. And those were a result of rookie mistakes by our QB. It's a learning experience game. Hopefully Greene is okay because I really want to see him supplant Jones at this point.
