http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/jets/ny-spjets1121,0,3847256.story?coll=ny-sports-headlines Pennington's funk leads to doubts BY TOM ROCK Newsday Staff Writer November 20, 2006, 10:20 PM EST After a weekend in which dancing penguins ruled the box office, Eric "The Penguin" Mangini might have done some tap-dancing himself around the hottest topic in Jets-land. "Chad's the quarterback right now," the coach said, referring to the struggling Chad Pennington, who threw a pair of game-busting interceptions in Sunday's 10-0 loss to the Bears and has 11 this season, one shy of his career high. Mangini may have been emphasizing the first three words of that statement, but for a coach who tries to control every syllable of message that emerges from the franchise, it's the last two words that open some speculation about Pennington's future with the Jets -- both this season and beyond. Mangini, who has shown a penchant for shuffling his starters and distributing playing time based on how well they practice, said the quarterback position is no different from that of cornerback or safety, to name two that have been adjusted during this season. "If someone earned the opportunity and somebody clearly distinguished themselves, then just like any other position, it would be evaluated," Mangini said of what it would take for him to pull Pennington in favor of backup Patrick Ramsey or rookie third-stringer Kellen Clemens. "There's not a special set [of rules] for one position or another." Although the coach may have hedged on a full-blown vote of confidence, he did say he is happy with a lot of what Pennington does and gave him dispensation on the Brian Urlacher interception as a "great play" by the defender. Especially pleasing, he said, are Pennington's decisions at the line of scrimmage when choosing between the run and pass plays at his disposal. "There are a lot of things that Chad does that I appreciate as a coach, that I really respect," he said. "I think he does a nice job." Lately, "nice" hasn't been cutting it. Pennington has totaled zero touchdown passes and seven interceptions in the last three Jets losses. Even in recent wins, he hasn't been sharp. He's thrown at least one interception in each of the last four games, the longest streak of his career. It's gotten to the point that the eternally optimistic Pennington is unsure how to handle the slump. "Physically, I feel good, but mentally, experiencing this is something I haven't experienced in my career, the inconsistency part," Pennington said Sunday. "That's something that I'm dealing with, and looking forward to as a challenge, to really bounce back and make something good happen." He'll have a decent chance at bouncing back Sunday against the Texans, who allowed J.P. Losman to pass for 340 yards and three touchdowns in a Bills victory two days ago. Houston is ranked 25th in pass defense and the following opponent, Green Bay, is ranked 31st. If Pennington is incapable of putting up strong numbers against those defenses, Mangini could begin to waver on his already teetering support. The statistics are damning, but the eye also can see that the on-field relationship between Pennington and his receivers is off. They call it chemistry, a tough-to-define concept that has more to do with feeling routes than running them. The chemistry was there early in the season when Pennington opened with back-to-back 300-yard games, but it has been in decline since the Cleveland game. Even Pennington's once-special bond with playmaker Laveranues Coles seems askew, especially after the receiver ran up to the passer after Urlacher's end-zone interception to emphatically draw attention to the fact he was open on the opposite side of the field. "Chemistry is a thing that just doesn't come," receiver Jerricho Cotchery said. "Once you have it, you have to continue to work at it so you can keep it. Somewhere along the line, it just got lost." Brad Smith, who has been on both sides of the equation as a college quarterback and now a receiver for the Jets, said chemistry has a flow. "At times it's probably not as strong as at others," he said. "It happens. A great team has the ability to still win during that time." Whether Mangini planted a seed of doubt about Pennington's future or merely dropped an innocent colloquialism into an otherwise definitive statement, few Jets players were willing to do anything other than support Pennington. "It's not a surprise," guard Pete Kendall said of the questioning of Pennington's performance by media and fans. "That's the nature of the beast. That's the way it goes around here. I didn't seem to hear too many complaints last week [after a win over the Patriots]."
It's just amazing. Chad is the biggest reason we have 5 wins yet after a bad game everyone wants him benched. Chad played poorly, Chi makes alot of QBs look bad. mangini should bench himself before he does so to Chad for his idiotic decisions that have cost us games. W/o Chad we have maybe 2 wins this year.
"Chad's the quarterback right now" vs. "Chad's the quarterback this season" speaks volumes..Mangini is pretty calculated in what he says...
chad has 10 tds and 11 interception.. he has been flat bad the last 3 or 4 games. i could care less what he diid in the 1st 3 weeks of the season.he needs to pick it up or there will be doubts especially when every jet fan realizes he isnt the future of this team.. like that article said if/when chad play us out of contention clemens will likely get time. there no need to bench chad he is the best qb we have to win right now.. but if he keep playing like this chad will bench himself. ramsey isnt a player on this team he is not a serious contender for QB.
Simply put, if we suffer loss #7, let's see Clemens. Once you lose 7 times, your likelihood of making the playoffs is nil, so let's prep for 2007. I know Ramsey is incapable, but I do not know if Clemens is incapable of making the calls at the line of scrimmage that this offense requires
Are those types of line of scrimmage calls the kind of thing you only see in the NFL, or are college teams also embracing the strategy?
I don't watch nearly as much College Football, but the college football I've watched, I haven't seen anyone run the no-huddle type offense we run. I'm sure there is someone, but I haven't seen it. This season would be a WASTE if at least one of the below does not happen: 1) We make the playoffs 2) Clemens gets to start 1-2 games
Pennington has been mediocre to bad since week 2 of the season. And even that game is a little misleading because of the great plays by Coles and Cotchery.
If coaches could bench themselves, I would think Edwards would have been a full time bench warmer. Not to mention, you freely go after Mangini as a first year coach, but cuddled up with Herm's play not to win style. It must be that you're on such a high level that you can't really see down there. Get better seats next time.
I can't believe this is coming from one of Herm's biggest apologist's. Or maybe it makes perfect sense, I'm not sure which. Chad has played at an overall piss poor level for the last six weeks or so. Not "one bad game" as you so eloquently put it, Mangini bench himself for costing us games? Wow, if it wasn't for him we'd be 2-8 right now.
Ok, heres the thing. People are calling for Clemens to get thrown into the starter role, but think about this, and i know many people are going to throw this in my face, but Chad Pennington is a very very smart player. Chad is given a 6 basic plays and then once he gets to the line he reads the defense and he has the whole playbook at his disposal, and get this, its the biggest playbook he has had ever, according to an article during training camp. He calls the play at the line and not many QB's can do that, he checks off all the defenders. I went to the game on sunday, but i saw the replay on TV and all you could hear was Chad and Urlacher belting out plays to eachothers units, and it was really a chess match. Stop the bench chad stuff and sit back and see what he can do, see if he can turn it around, because he will, we have an easy schdule coming up, and dont forget the losses that we have had have come against The Pats, Colts, Bears, Jacksonville, (and the one stinker) Browns < who have looked good since playing us anyway.
Sorry, we've seen what Chad can do over the last few games- and it's really not pretty. He sucks at Chess lately....
I find it amazing that anyone would have the slightest problem with what Mangini said. What does it take for some people to see that this is not just one game? In his last EIGHT games Pennington has 6 TDs and 10 INTs, and is averaging 158 yards passing. That is poor performance by anyone's measure. Even if you throw out his three horrifically bad games against Jacksonville, Cleveland, and Chicago (although why you would is beyond me), he's only averaging 184 yards passing per game in his five "excellent" games, with 6 TDs and 3 INTs. When did the standards get so low that someone who averages 1 TD pass and 185 yards per game when at his best is viewed as elite? How can anyone suggest that no other QB could have done that? I've already said what JetsIn2004 said, so I of course agree. Pennington gets two more losses. If they don't happen, the Jets are playing for at least the wild card in week 17, and you can't complain about that. If they do happen, that part of the season is over, and you need to at least begin to see if Clemens can carry the load.
Yea, Pennington lost the chess match, but look who it was against, the best defense in football. Im sorry but the Giants who have the high powered offense and supposidly has the better defense looked a hell of a lot worse then we did in their game against the bears, you cant win every chess match, its impossible.
Actually, it makes perfect sense to me. nyjunc isn't over Herm being replaced. He loved Herm so much, and defended him at any cost. In his mind, Herm received every benefit of the doubt with each bonehead decision he made. With Mangini, he gets none. Herm was afforded 5 years of on-the-job training. Mangini isn't allowed any. It's actually becoming quite laughable, and at this point, junc's posts carry as little meaning as rajensen's lately. They both loved Herm, so they'll dump on the "new guy" any chance they can. It wouldn't matter who was the HC of the NYJ's, they would still be doing this IMO.
This is just my opinion of course, but I think Chad just isn't being as aggressive right now. Yes, he gets a choice of several plays to choose, but I think he's choosing the safest play. That's not necessarily a bad thing at times, but I think he's played for such conservative coaches in the past that he's so gun-shy about letting it rip. Think about it like this. Let's say he gets a choice of three plays to run (6 seems a bit high to me) or even four. He gets a choice of 1 run and 2 passes (long and short) or 2 runs and 2 passes. When he does pick a pass, he's probably picking the safer of the two. I'm a huge supporter of Chad, but lately it seems like he's playing more like a robot and not like a football player. Even with the first INT. He went through his progressions methodically instead of just flinging it out to Coles. He's definitely thinking way too much out there IMO.
Because people here don't care about stats or performance, they just picked a favorite QB and will now make excuses no matter what. Chad is evaluated with a different set of standards than everyone else.
