-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jets? play-calling baffles the mind By Bob Glauber / Newsday Monday, September 15, 2008 - Added 2h ago EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ? You?re down 6-0 to the Patriots [team stats] ... with no Tom Brady [stats] to worry about ... at home ... with a Hall of Fame quarterback of your own running the offense. Midway through the second quarter ... first-and-goal at the Patriots? 3 ... a Hall of Fame quarterback of your own running the offense. Oh, wait. Didn?t I just say that? Sorry, can?t help it. Guess I?m like you, still trying to figure out what in the world the Jets? coaches were thinking with the play-calling sequence that was about to unfold. Here you are, with a terrific chance to make a statement against a bitter rival in your home opener, a team on the ropes after losing a quarterback for the ages to a knee injury the week before. So what do the Jets have Brett Favre do on first down? Hand it off to Thomas Jones for a run up the middle ... right into the heart of the Patriots? vaunted front seven, where behemoths Richard Seymour [stats], Ty Warren [stats] and Vince Wilfork [stats] are waiting. Gain of 1. Second down? Same thing. Gain of 1. Third down? Surely the Jets will put the ball in the hands of the player they traded for last month, the guy they?re paying a cool $12 million. Nope. Jones again ... up the middle ... loss of 2. The Jets settled for a field goal by Jay Feely to make it 6-3. The key moment in the game? Perhaps not, given that there still was plenty of time left. But surely it was the most symbolic. On an afternoon that began with such promise, the Jets failed to take advantage of Brady?s absence and showed they are not yet ready to be mentioned in the same breath as their longstanding nemesis. They went away quietly, losing 19-10 to a Patriots team that relied on its resourcefulness for a second straight week in surviving without Brady. The Patriots did it yesterday with a quarterback who last started a game in 1999, when Matt Cassel was a senior in high school in Chatsworth, Calif. And they did it with a coach who once again schooled the Jets in how to manage a football team. Bill Belichick has beaten his former assistant, Eric Mangini, five of six times, and he once again showed just how big the chasm is between the two. The questionable play-calling in the second quarter was the most glaring example. Mangini defended offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, refuting the suggestion that the Jones runs were too conservative ? read: gutless. We don?t think it was a function of being conservative or not being conservative," Mangini said. "We had been running the ball very well and liked our opportunity there and liked the way we were moving the football on the ground. (We) thought that was our best chance at that point." Really? Against a stout defensive line that was certain to bristle up at the goal line? Even though the Jets had been passing the ball just as effectively as they were running it on that drive? Favre and Laveranues Coles [stats] hooked up on a 54-yard completion to the Patriots [team stats]? 25. Favre hit Chansi Stuckey for a 6-yard gain to the 14. Leon Washington [stats] ran 11 yards around right end to the 3. Then the Jets pulled the horns in ? and got stuffed three straight times. Sorry, Coach. In that spot, you need to put the ball in Favre?s hands. The next time they got the chance, they did just that. Early in the fourth quarter, on second-and-goal from the 2, Favre lined up in the shotgun and found a wide-open Stuckey in the right corner of the end zone to make it 16-10. But by then, it was too late; the Patriots kicked another field goal on their next drive, and the Jets got no closer. "I don?t second-guess (Schottenheimer?s) calls one bit," Favre said. "Would I have liked to have thrown it? I?d like to throw every play, but you?re not going to win that way. There?s no guarantee a pass would have worked. It has nothing to do with second-guessing his decision. I thought we could run it in, as well." Credit Favre for his diplomacy. But it doesn?t change the fact that the Jets were outcoached at that critical juncture. The Jets? coaching was spotty throughout. On their first offensive play of the game, they were called for too many men on the field. On the Patriots? first play of the fourth quarter, the Jets? defense was flagged for the same infraction. And the Jets had to call a timeout before a second-quarter punt because ? again ? they had 12 men on the field. In all, the Jets had six penalties for 60 yards, compared with two for 10 yards by the Patriots. That?s just not good enough, even against a team without the best player in football. Yes, it?s early, way too early to make any definitive judgments about the season. But that still doesn?t absolve the job Mangini and his coaches did on Sunday. Bottom line: It simply wasn?t good enough. ___
It's mind boggling, really. I've been big on Mangini, but after the first two games of mind numbingly boring football, ill-disciplined (ill needs to be in here somewhere) offense and a punter that kicks like the average joe, I'm ready to hang it up on this guy. How in the hell can you defend what happened yesterday? I'm more offended by him defending the fucking moves than I am by the shit product they put on the field. It's astonishing.
What happened to Mangini between 2006 and now? When he first got here, he was bold and innovative. Now he's just another cookie-cutter coach that plays not to lose and doesn't have the team talented enough and he isn't smart enough coaching-wise to get away with it.
Wait. Our 4 1st round Oline can't push it in from the 3 after 3 tries and we're ONLY focusing on the playcalling? What happened to the breakout year for Brick...the probowler Faneca...the stud in the making Mangold? Of course anytime you don't score after trying to run 3 times you have place PART of the blame on the coaching. But he shares the responsibility with the oline, which is quickly showing that it cannot be relied upon in goalline situations. Hindsight is 20/20....how many of you would have expected a run after being stuffed twice? Look. I didn't like it either but that was after the fact. You have to be able to get 3 yards in 3 tries....especially with the investment we made towards the OL.
My opinion is that you should be able to run the ball 3x from the 3 yard line and get it in the damn end zone. Block better - we have a lot of talent on that o-line and Tony Richardson, why can't they pave the way for a goal line TD? To Schottys credit, he didn't do that the next time when it didn't work the first time. Flame away.
To me the fact that the 2nd time we were at a goal line situation Schotty chose a pass play which resulted in a TD, makes the first time´s decision even more incomprehensible.
Mangini lost it in training camp last year when Pete Kendall became the big story. Really he probably lost it earlier in the offseason when Mangini was the big story. Young coaches don't have a huge window of opportunity to just be very competent in. When they get distracted by a bunch of useless shit, like the Sopranos and marketing themselves for extra endorsement money it's a sign that they don't have their eye on the ball. I'd have loved it if Mangini turned out to be the first great Jet's coach in 40 years. It just didn't happen, and whatever window of opportunity remains for him is probably in the very few next games.
Did you just do what I think you did? If I were in the same room as you I would not be able to make eye contact with you.
Good points. In the focus on the playcalling, what gets lost is that the OL could not push it in on three tries from the 3. Jets had perhaps the worst OL in the NFL last year, and the two big upgrades were needed. They have not made it a top OL, though. They looked very average yesterday, at best. This is harder to take than lousy playcalling, imo.
We ran well yesterday against a very, very stout Pats front seven. No, we could not push it in at the 3, but we did create several holes for Jones to run through and did a good job protecting Favre. We averaged 5.0 yards a carry against them. This game in no way, shape, or form was about our O-line not getting it done. It was about some seriously dreadful play calling and execution by our coaches and skill players. Too many stupid calls and too many drops by our receivers. This year's O-line is way ahead of last years and should only get better as they play together more. At this point as long as those 5 stay healthy we don;t have much of a concern there.
Yes our Oline is way ahead of last years, but how can you say it isn't the Oline's fault for not punching it in on that goalline series. Do you see what happened on 3rd down. Seymour had Jones before he even got to the line of scrimmage. Now THAT was in part a lack of blocking execution. Everything from the playcall to the execution has a part in this. Now overall...the oline did a fantastic job in the run game. Consistently paving the way for Jones to pick up some downhill speed. That series though...they didn't get it done.
You're not paying attention to the thread. Read #6 again. They bet on the OL the first time, but not the whole wad.
The Pats front 7 is one of the biggest in the NFL. They are known for their power and a lack of sideline to sideline speed. Trying to shove it up the gut on them 3 times in a row was not the brightest thing ever. After the second stright short gain you would hope for some type of mix up. A spread offense or playaction passing. All we got was trying to run at one of the best defensive lines or cores of line backers in football. Brilliant!
I'm not disputing the size/strength or ability of there front 7. But with all the additions...with all the money spent, I refuse to believe 3 yards in 3 downs is asking to much even against a stingy defense. We ran well up to that point. No reason in losing faith when it came time to finish the job. Now...going forward we obviously need to know that we still need some level of trickeration that close to the endzone. I will officially be pissed if I ever see that again this season. But the oline did well up to that point, they deserved the chance to fight for that td and they just came up short.
I guess I can understand how the O-line deserved a chance. My only beef is they got two and did not get it done. Going to the well again that third time was just silly. I'm not worried about this O-line. They played well. I am worried about the way we use our weapons on offense. Were is Keller in the Slot? Why does Stucky look like our best receiver? Why are we not getting Leon the Ball in space? This seem to be a mess at times. This can not continue.
