One of the problems the Jets have consistently had over the last three years is the teams penchant for starting slow... particularly on offense. When the Jets were winning it always felt like they were coming from behind and playing some form of catch up (remember the stretch where they kept making game winning touchdown passes). Last year the Jets lost their killer instinct and those early game struggles resulted in the team falling behind early often and never really being able to do much about it. I personally believe a lot of the problems had to do with the offensive system not allowing the Jets to obtain an early rhythym. The Jets big play ability with Brayon Edwards here bailed the Jets out of that but when replaced with Plaxico Burress that too went down hill. So what does everyone think... will Sparano and Hill replacing Schotty and Burress cure this ailment? Is this purely the fault of Sanchez? Is this something that should improve significantly this year? Will we see more of the same? How much of a factor do you believe this really plays on a week by week basis. Also, if the Jets do manage to improve in this area, how will this affect the defense? Will the perception of the defense improve considerably with an offense that gives more early leads? The Jets defense did itself blow a bunch of leads and almost seemed to play better from behind. Thoughts?
Hope it will change because it is frustrating as hell, but i think it was a matter of sanchez starting slow. I know people always have an out with blaiming shottenheimer, but i think we over the years have seen Jets starting with run plays and short playes to ease Sanchez into the games. he just seems horrendously inaccurate in the 1q for some reason. I am not ususally upbeat about the jets prospects but i have good feeling about sanchez being much better this year starting with a unspectacular but solid quarter tonight.
[table="head"]quarter|cmp|att|yds|cmp%|avg|lng|td|int|sack|rat|att|yds|avg|lng|td 1|66|102|691|64.7|6.78|74|3|5|12|73.6|4|5|1.3|3|2 2|102|166|1,070|61.4|6.45|41|8|3|7|88.7|15|36|2.4|17|2 3|60|127|719|47.2|5.66|37|5|5|6|61.8|6|44|7.3|25|1 4|80|148|994|54.1|6.72|38|10|5|14|83.6|12|18|1.5|11|1 [/table] http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/splits/_/id/12482/mark-sanchez
Personally I would like to see the Jets come out similar to the Redskins last night. Impose their will with the running game ... mix in some playaction. Keep it simple, gain some confidence ... make some first downs. I never want to lose .. even in the preseason .. but I just want to see the offense able to move the ball some. I don't expect us to torch that defense, but if we can give the defense time on the sideline it would bode well for things to come.
all i want is for there to be no injuries to the starting group and to check out our backups. it's preseason week 1 starting fast or whatever means nothing. neither team is even gameplanning...its line up and hit someone...thats all it is. No Injuries, and evaluate your depth come regular season week 1 lets have this convo
The first quarter and the opening drives are largely scripted in advance. The fact that the Jets were so woeful in those drives tells us that even with preparation time Schotty couldn't get out of his own brain well enough to run an effective NFL offense. Opening days under Schotty: 2006 - Titans, 23 pts. 2007 - Patriots, 14 pts. 2008 - Dolphins, 20 pts. 2009 - Texans, 24 pts. 2010 - Ravens, 9 pts. 2011 - Cowboys, 20 pts. That's 110 pts in 6 games or 18.3 a game. Games after byes: 2006 - Patriots, 17 pts. 2007 - Steelers, 19 pts. 2008 - Bengals, 26 pts. 2009 - Jaguars, 22 pts. 2010 - Packers, 0 pts. 2011 - Bills, 27 pts. That's 111 pts in 6 games or 18.5 a game. Taking 21 pts as the breakeven for effective offensive performance the Jets offense managed the trick just 5 times in the 12 games under Schotty. 3 out of 6 with Sanchez and 2 out of 6 with everybody else.
I don't really know why it works that way, I guess that some guys are just slower to get started than others. Or it could be a playing it cautious type approach, trying to feel out what the other team is doing so you know what plays will and won't be successful when you open it up. I'm sure we're not the only team that has a slower first quarter, though.
The way you should approach the first quarter is by going for the throat. The slow-moving stalemates are what should happen when the other guy is doing the same thing and you haven;t figured each other out yet. Every game was like a g-d puzzle to Schotty. A box to be unlocked and figured out. The Jets were only good under his direction when they had an excellent QB playing at the top of *his* game, whatever that was, or when the toys got taken away and they ran something other than what Schotty wanted. That's just what it is. What they should do this year is install the basic offense and let Sanchez run it. You worried he's too coddled? Let him call the plays from a very basic set of choices and make it all on him to cover the holes. He has problems because he has a turnstile at RT? Let him roll the protection that way. Let him call traps to that side whenever he wants to. The Jets aren't going to get anywhere with substandard personnel if they treat the offense like a set of moving parts with Sanchez just the biggest part. They need to make him more than that and you don't get that calling plays from the sideline when your personnel is flawed.
I agree with this completely. Seeing as how the Jets were so often playing from behind anyway, it seems like the first quarter is the best time to take some chances and try to set the tone of the game. I hate a passive approach to offense. The teams that try to control the field seem to be the better ones.
The best way to blowout an opponent is to go for the throat. It doesn't happen randomly or if you happen to figure something out in the first half and then take advantage of it in the second. The Jets have been so bloody passive on offense over the last 6 years. It's almost like it was a conspiracy to blunt the offense and keep the Jets from really competing with the Pats over that span. Little things like letting the offensive line fray at the edges. Changing QB's every few years. Changing WR's every year once you actually find a young QB who might stick around for awhile. If I didn't know better I'd think a very smart Pats fan was running the Jets.
