You're all widely mistaken if you expect the Jets to come close to what they did last season against the Pats when the Pats are filling their holes and the Jets are sitting back and waiting for 2nd tier scrubs when they could be filling them with top of the line talent. Sorry, but we don't have a Tedy Bruschi anchoring our 3-4 defense. We don't have a Tom Brady leading our offense. We don't have an Asante Samuel in the secondary or a Running Back like Laurence Maroney. The Jets need to make some moves.. NOW. Joey Porter, Kris Dielman, Michael Turner, Ahman Green or Thomas Jones would be a start, please bring one of those five.
Faulk was traded for a second and a fifth, which for a back of his proven skills was a good deal. Trent Dilfer was a 2nd tier (almost 3rd tier) free agent signing. The fact that the Rams did not spend a first on Faulk meant they were able to draft Torry Holt and the Ravens by not spending a first on a high profile QB were able to draft Jamal Lewis. That's how those teams came out of nowhere. They picked up second tier free agents (Kurt Warner was like 7th tier actually) and saved their draft picks for superstars. Then they drafted the superstars.
According to published reports the Pats don't have a Tedy Bruschi anchoring their 3-4 anymore either. He retired. And the only way to get a Laurence Maroney is to stand pat with our 25 pick and see if one drops to there. That's how the Pats did it.
The one thing I will disagree with you on about the Pats is that their nucleus is now somehow old. That Defensive line, which is awesome, is very young, their good O-line is relatively young and Brady has a lot of good years left. They are not going down anytime soon with a talented nucleus in the trenches they have. With that defensive front LB's and DB's automatically become better. Then with their O-Line and Brady, it is not far fetched for them to be an elite team as long as the legs of that front line takes them. I just appreciate the fact this nucleus they have was not built overnight and I think the Jets will be there in a year or two as well.
Their D-line is extremely good and yes extremely young. I come from the school of thought that a team lives and dies in the trenches, so I certainly see where you're coming from. But, there's a difference between being an elite team and what the Patriots have stood for in the past 5 years or so.Sure they have great talent. But what's set them apart is they've always had that smart, tough/refuse to lose type attitude from their playmakers. Guys like Bruschi, Vrabel, Law(now gone) McGinnest(now gone) T. Brown, and Harrison. Those were and are the guys that give them the mental edge on the field that can make them appear unstoppable. Yes they still have Brady, but as coordinators and recievers have left him, he has began to slip up alittle bit. What used to make him so good was the fact that he didn't make mistakes, and we've seen in the past couple years that he can have a habit of throwing picks in big spots. I'm not insulting the Patriots talent in anyway, they surely will be a great team for quite some time. But my arguement is they may not be the unstoppable force w/ the ferocious swagger like they once were. And it's that swagger that has made them such a thorn in jets side.
Relax. You sound like a crazy guy runing around a Food mart stocking up on FA's. Half of that list is just plain silly.
The decline is going to be sooner and faster than anybody realizes. That's what happens to great teams when they fall, it's like going over a cliffside. It probably won't be next season but it's going to be soon. The only team in the modern NFL that has never precipitously declined for more than a couple of seasons tops is the Steelers. That's testament to the value of having a single coach handle your talent and strategies over a period of time. The reason the Jets will likely decline a bit this year is that Mangini still needs to do a lot of the gut rehab to clean out the Bradway/Edwards players who do not fit his system. In a year or two he will have a 53 man roster that fits his system and then the changes will be much more gradual. There are no free agents over the age of 26 or 27 at the outside that it would pay to bring in right now because you need people who fit your system and who are going to be around long enough to make an impact. That's why the Jets didn't jump on Thomas. They'd have gone down scratching and clawing before they let him get to the Pats if he was 26 instead of 29.
It is cool. I know where you are coming from. I just think that with their front 3 they are not going anywhere (barring injury) anytime soon because they can mask a lot of short comings. You are correct though that their big time playmakers such as Vrabel Bruschi and Harrison are long in the tooth. I also think that with the Jets their weakness's are not going to get shored up through free agency at least not with this godawful crop of them. You are not going to get a stud DLineman nor a stud OLineman with all this ridiculous money being thrown around. We had a very good to great draft last year, the first in a while. I am confident that can be replicated because I think this front office is very good. They realize how to build a team.
Yes the Patriots are better than the Jets, but step away from the ledge. Yes they added Adalius Thomas, but they have lost Dillon and Graham, plus Bruschi is reportedly retiring. Sorry, but they don't have a safety like Kerry Rhodes, a wide receiver like Cotchery (let alone one like Coles) or a center like Mangold.
I saw on espn that the damn Pats are likely to sign dolphins WR Wes Welker for about 3 mill...they already got Thomas and TE Kyle Brady were is all this money coming from
Are you trying to tell me that a safety carries a team to a championship? They don't need a stud WR with Tom Brady leading the way at QB. They reached the AFC Championship with anything more than a #3 WR, if they can bring a #2 in there or even just some more depth, they're set at the position. Mangold? You're kidding right? I'd take New England's OLine as a whole over our's anyday. Oh and to a poster above, Tedy Bruschi did not retire, he is / was mulling retirement but I believe I read that he is coming back for 2007, or at least leaning towards returning for 2007.
"For those whining about what the Patriots are doing... " Who the hell is whining about what the Patriots are doing? I could care less what they're doing and I certainly wouldn't whine about it if I did. In fact, I'm looking forward to kicking their asses real good next year and joining a list of other teams that are about to "dethrone" them good and proper. Brady knocked up some movie actress and will have distractions up the whazoo. Belichick has become a mental case, IMO, and they've lost some of their best coaching staff that is damn-near irreplacable, so I look for us to fleece them of some talent during F/A, develop the existing talent we've got, and win two against them next year. We're beyond the Patriots. They've had their moment. It's time for us to really step up and take back the AFC East. Patriots go 9-7 in '07 and do not make the playoffs. You heard it here first.
Everybody has a lot of cap room. They also signed Sammy Morris today to be the #2 / bruiser behind Laurence Maroney. Belichick isn't dicking around, he wants to get back to winning championships.
you need to pay a little more attention to the nfl and not just the jets. thomas played inside and outside backer, thats what makes him so valueable. the guys you mentioned on the pats that are getting old is true but, they are a very young team(both lines are in their mid twenties and the rest brady,marony,jackson etc:etc" are young). the few older players you mentioned will be replaced most likely in this years draft. they draft wisely and are far from heading to the downside. the jets have their work cut out for them having to catch this brilliantly coached team. they draft great every year and manage to get extra picks (2 first rounders this year) by being very smartly run. until bb and brady call it quits, they will be in the thick of the hunt for the sb every year. thats the reality of the pats and what the jets have to contend with.
didn't you make this simular assnine prediction last year? take off the green homer glasses and look at that football team. they're a force to be reckoned with. anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves!!!! you can be a jets fan and still be able to admit there are better teams out there.
