I love Chad - BUT..........

Italian Seafood · Sep 11, 2007

nyjunc said: ↑

He needs help, he is not a QB that will carry a team to a SB but as long as we upgrade around him he definitely can lead us to a SB.
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There is no QB who will carry a team by himself. Indy had to vastly improve their D before Peyton Manning got there, Dan Marino never got there after his second season when Miami's good D got old, Tom Brady has Bill Bellichick and his D, it goes on and on.

Name me one Super Bowl champion who got there simply because their QB carried them on his rocket arm, it doesn't happen that way. It isn't baseball, you can't get an Orel Hershiser who gets hot and ride one guy to the title.

#1 Jets Fan · Sep 11, 2007

I see....it's Chad fault the defense couldn't stop the Pats offense.
it's Chad fault that Hobbs ran back a 108 yard KO.
and yes Kellen could had stopped all that from happing.

PJ4Ever · Sep 11, 2007

Chad Pennington (and the pass offense in general) was the best player on the field Sunday. Not sure how anyone can argue that.

Exit 117 · Sep 11, 2007

http://www.jetscentral.com/?p=601

Thoughts on Pennington and the Injury Cheers
As a person who is NOT a fan of Chad Pennington, at all, I was still kind of disgusted by the cheering when he was injured in Sunday’s game against the Patriots. At first, it seemed like people were clapping because Chad was getting off the field under his own will after a nasty twist to his ankle. However, the eruption of cheering as he hobbled off and Kellen Clemens came in was wrong.
I can understand wanting change from Pennington. I still wait for the day when he is no longer the Jets’ starting quarterback. However, Chad Pennington has still earned enough respect, I’d think, to have his back up enter the game with ovation louder than a touchdown.

I’m in no way a Chad Pennington advocate, but after the coaching staff gave him the starting job, it was enough to at least give him a chance this year. And at the time of his injury, Chad Pennington was having a great game for the Jets. As a matter of fact, he was one of very few, if not the only, bright spot on the team after the game. He performed well, and the crowd reaction was completely unwarranted, even asinine.

While I’m on the topic of talking about people wanting Kellen Clemens to replace Chad Pennington, I’d like to just say this. People mostly want Clemens starting over Chad because of the preseason. People, it was PRESEASON. As much as I’d absolutely love a reason to discredit Chad as a starter in order to voice my dislike of him, it was PRESEASON. Most of Kellen’s playing time was against back ups, while Chad was against the first string. I think Chad deserves the right to live out there. Let him lose the job in the regular season, because starting Kellen Clemens from day one would have guaranteed a losing season. That’s not a knock on Clemens. It’s just highly unlikely that he is going to come in and be successful instantly.

If/when Chad Pennington is no longer the starting quarterback, I hope that it is on the Jets’ terms, not because of injury. I hate seeing a guy get injured like Chad was, especially after receiving a nasty knee injury myself last year. He has always been a respectful player and an efficient team leader. Pennington has been a part of three playoff teams for the Jets (notice how I phrased that), and has played well enough to warrant more respect from the Meadowlands fans.

Thoughts on Pennington and Starting
I definitely want to see Kellen Clemens starting sooner rather than later, regardless of the extent of Pennington’s injury. I am sick of seeing Pennington start. But wait, Rob, didn’t you just say Pennington deserves some respect for being a part of three playoff teams? Yes, I did. I said some respect. And “been a part of three playoff teams,” not “led the Jets to the playoffs three times.”

Pro-Pennington fans can tell me all they want to about how Chad has led the Jets to the playoffs three times, because no matter how many times they say it, it’s still not true. 2002 was golden. It was the best season of Chad’s career, and he did do a great job taking over for Vinny T. and leading the Jets to the playoffs.

As nice and wonderful as that was, that happened five years and two shoulder surgeries ago. Today’s Chad Pennington is a much different player.

After his injury in 2004 against Buffalo, Chad continued his role of starter after missing just three games. He even led the Jets to an impressive overtime victory against the Chargers in San Diego, hooking up with a beautiful 47-yard bomb to Santana Moss.

However, the next game showed the real Chad Pennington, the Chad Pennington we are stuck with today. You can claim that the Jets should have won that game all you want. I agree, they should have and could have won that game. Herman Edwards’ terrible decisions at the end of the game combine with Doug Brien being a terrible choker eventually lost us the game.

Even with all of that in mind, blame can still be directed towards our quarterback. No matter how you look at it, the Jets offense did not perform well. They put up three points on the board of the Jets’ 17 points. Seven came on a 75-yard punt return by Santana Moss; the other touchdown was on a Reggie Tongue 86-yard interception return. The offense could only get three points.

It’s not like the running game was all that ineffective. Curtis Martin ran 19 times for 77 yards (4.1 yards-per-carry) and LaMont Jordan ran five times for 30 yards. Chad Pennington was ineffective. He completed 21 of his 33 pass attempts for less than 200 yards, and he turned the ball over on an interception. Pennington was unable to muster a touchdown drive the entire game.

As we all know how that game ended, the next season wasn’t any better for the Jets’ morale, or for Chad Pennington’s credibility. After apparently not recovering 100% from the shoulder surgery following the Steelers’ game, Pennington got re-injured after just three games where he threw three interceptions and fumbled eight times. EIGHT. And that was it. Yet another shoulder surgery was needed for Chad Pennington. His already-weak arm would be going through his second surgery in less than a year as he failed yet again to start all 16 games in a season.

Take the time to read what I have to say next before you get all pissy over me and complaining about Chad Pennington’s weak arm. When Chad Pennington was drafted, it was known that he had a “weak” arm, at least, compared to most others. When he started in 2002-2004, it was known and accepted that Chad had a “weak” arm.

However, no matter how “weak” it was advertised to be and how many people poked fun at his weak arm, including Jets fans, fans of opposing teams, analysts, etcetera, it wasn’t truly weak. At least, not like it is today.

Back before the two shoulder surgeries, Chad Pennington rarely showed an arm strong enough to throw 30 or 40 yards down field with a lot of “zip” on the ball. However, he doesn’t need it. No quarterback “needs” it. It’s an added bonus, really. Having that cannon arm definitely didn’t get Ryan Leaf or Jeff George or Kyle Boller far at all.

So why do I criticize Chad’s now-weak arm? The answer is simple. Before those two shoulder surgeries, Chad Pennington was able to efficiently zip the ball in to receivers on short routes, slants, etc. while maintaining his renowned accuracy. His great ability to place the ball where only the receiver could catch it, and in stride, combined with his leadership abilities made him a great quarterback.

Like I said before, though, things have changed. Those surgeries have weakened his arm. You rarely ever see that zip on those short routes or anything anymore. Almost all of his passes seem to be floated to the receivers. It seems like the only throws he can efficiently make nowadays are the swing passes to running backs in the flats.

Take, for example, the 2006 game against the Chicago Bears. Chad Pennington basically cost the Jets the game with his poor play. Chad was 19/35 for 162 yards, no TDs, and 2 interceptions. Yes, it is understandable (sort of) because the Bills had one of the best defenses in the league. However, the timing of Pennington’s interceptions was terrible. His first came with the game tied at zero when he made a horrible decision with the Jets on the six yard line, getting picked off in the back of the end zone by Brian Urlacher. His other interception came with the Jets down by a field goal and driving in Bears territory. That interception was a terrible lob thrown off his back foot thrown to seemingly no one.

Or, how about the Christmas game against Miami? Yes, the Jets won and played well overall. However, it was a perfect example of how Pennington’s arm strength has greatly changed, and for the worse. Time after time, he floated passes to Laveranues Coles. On two memorable occasions, Coles had to wait and leap for a soft-toss from Pennington, both times getting decked by Miami linebacker Zach Thomas. One of the times, the Jets had to use an injury time out because Coles was decked so hard.

The old Chad Pennington would have never had made such passes. He’s not the same. He still has those same leadership qualities, but he doesn’t have the arm to make the Jets a serious competitor, really. Yes, there is way more to a championship-caliber team than just the quarterback. However, in the long run, I feel that the Jets would be better off with a different quarterback behind the center. In my honest opinion, Chad Pennington is a rich man’s Jon Kitna, in the sense that he would be an efficient stopgap quarterback who can mentor a young quarterback. But wait, isn’t that what he is doing now? Not quite. Chad Pennington was signed to a seven year, $62,000,000 contract; the type of contract that you give to a franchise quarterback who you know can lead you to a Super Bowl.

I’m sorry, I respect Chad Pennington as a person and a leader, but he is NOT the answer at quarterback. He just isn’t the same player anymore, and it’s a damn shame, too. At some point the Jets have to cut their losses and just move on. I’m sure some of you feel differently. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion; mine is that Chad Pennington sucks compared to the old Chad, and is not capable of doing what the Jets are paying him to do. He’d be fine somewhere like Detroit or a team that drafts a quarterback of the future. Not the Jets.
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