Pennington to have a dog day

gustoonarmy · Oct 19, 2006

Detroits secondary have given up loads of yards and it looks as if this will be our primary route to their red zone on sunday. CP and LC league leaders monday night?

Jets wary of gaudy numbers allowed by Lions' secondary

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr., AP Sports Writer
October 18, 2006

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) -- Chad Pennington has seen the gaudy numbers opposing offenses have put up against the Detroit Lions. He's trying not to get too excited about the potential for a huge passing game.

"I think their stats are deceiving, really," the New York Jets quarterback said Wednesday.

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But the numbers tell a different story. The Lions' passing defense is ranked 30th in the NFL, ahead of only Houston and Green Bay, and has allowed nearly 248 yards a game passing. Detroit has also allowed 13 touchdown passes against only two interceptions.

"I'm very wary of those statistics because when you look at them, you can say, `Wow ... we can put a lot of points on the board and do a lot of different things,"' Pennington said. "But they have a lot of playmakers on their defense and they play very fast. You can't just walk out there and expect to run up and down the field on these guys."

The Jets have hardly done that against any opponent this season, but they have been more of a passing team than in previous years -- partly because of the running game's struggles. New offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer's game plan has allowed Pennington to throw down the field more often than in previous years.

"I think there's shots in every game that are there," coach Eric Mangini said. "And one of the things that we want Chad to do, and one of the things Chad's done, is take what the defense gives you and take advantage of opportunities when they're there."

Pennington is among the AFC leaders with a 90.9 quarterback rating, throwing for 1,261 yards and eight touchdowns and five interceptions. Laveranues Coles has re-established himself as one of football's top wide receivers with 38 catches -- tied for third in the NFL -- for 537 yards, second in the league. Jerricho Cotchery (23 catches, 339 yards) is also having a breakout season, catching more passes in six games than he did in his first two seasons combined.

"Our coaches are doing a great job of playing to the strengths of our players," Pennington said. "I think that's important that you look at the weapons that you have, you play to their strengths, you do things that put them in good positions to make plays -- and that's what Coach Schottenheimer and all the offensive coaches have done a great job of."

Teams have made a point of exploiting the Lions' secondary, which includes cornerbacks Fernando Bryant and Dre' Bly and safeties Terrence Holt and rookie Daniel Bullocks. Former Jet Jon McGraw, Jamar Fletcher and Kenoy Kennedy have also been used in the secondary with similar results.

"I hear a lot of people talking about how many yards they're allowing in the passing game, but I think that can be misleading because they're stuffing the run so well right now that a lot of teams are forced to pass," Cotchery said.

He might have a point. The Lions have allowed at least 290 yards passing in three of six games, but gave up only 201 against Minnesota two weeks ago and 207 in Sunday's win against Buffalo. On the flip side, their run defense is ranked 11th in the league.

"They do a great job of reading the quarterback's eyes, especially the underneath coverage, so you have to be very careful when you're reading your routes, making sure you don't bring an extra guy over into the passing route that shouldn't be there," Pennington said. "So you have to be very aware of how they read the quarterback's eyes."

The Jets' offense sputtered through the first half of Sunday's win against Miami, scoring only on Mike Nugent's field goal on the opening drive. But that was significant because it was the first time New York scored in the first quarter this season -- something that dogged the Jets through the first five games.

"That was a step in the right direction," Pennington said. "I'm not overly concerned. You always want to get off to a fast start, but you can't win the game in the first quarter. But you can definitely lose the game in the first quarter."

And despite all the reports regarding Detroit's secondary and the expectations that the Jets will try to pump up the offense early, New York won't stray far from its game plan.

"It's a four-quarter ballgame," Pennington said. "You'd love to get off to a fast start, but if you don't, you know that what you want to do in the first quarter is not do anything crazy or stupid to cost your team the game early."

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nice to know that we now know its a 4 qtr game :wink:

Twombles · Oct 19, 2006

yer baby lets get coles leading reciever yards

ScotsJet · Oct 19, 2006

"It's a four-quarter ballgame," Pennington said.
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You think he might mention that to the defense?

abyzmul · Oct 19, 2006

I bet we don't open up the passing game until the end of the first quarter.

OhioJetsFan · Oct 19, 2006

Yep... football clichés. Four-quarter game. Play to win the game. Their _______ (fill in the blank) doesn't get much respect. They're a dangerous team.

Yawn.

GreenMachine · Oct 19, 2006

ScotsJet said:

You think he might mention that to the defense?
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Well, the offense has not played a 1st quarter since 2004.:up:

bamjets · Oct 19, 2006

Its nice that we have games against the three worst passing defenses in the NFL this year.

Pennington to have a dog day

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Pennington to have a dog day

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