For me, it's cohesion, bringing it all together. All the new faces are great additions, but will they all come together as a team? Favre is the other piece of the puzzle at QB too, but will he develope the "chemistry" in time to get on a roll to a possible SB run? For me, it's like, we've got this pretty good team on paper, but will it all translate into wins? That's only gonna happen if everyone jells and comes together early as a winning UNIT or TEAM. My main concern is, it could take us too long to get it together. The positive side of that coin is, if we can come out of the Bye at 2-2 or POSSIBLY even 3-1, that could go a long way to making this '08 team something really great and special.
One other major concern i have is the conservative defensive approach we have started the last two yrs with. maybe its just me but both seasons we seemed much better after the bye. I understand we didnt have the talent to go buck wild but we seemed much more effective when we were more active with the blitz regardless of the personnell. Hobson sucked rushing the passer. Pace is so much better its not even close and throw in the monster manhandling people in the middle and harris must be wetting himself. i want to see aggressive playcalling from the get go. I also want to see a short leash on thomas, he is starting to make me think he sucks like sutton. Nothing is worse than wasted talent.
WTF Winston? Last season when I was ragging on the CS you would come on here and disagree with me about it, and say how quickly some people turned on them. Now, it is your biggest worry on the team? You crack me up, man. :rofl: My biggest concern going into the season is...the CS. :smile:
I think that's why we brought in guys like Chatman and Caulcrick and Smith, although Smith was a non-factor. I think the ball is going to be in Chatman's hands for short yardage. My biggest concerns are the playcalling on offense and defense. Shotty has seemed very inflexible since the day he got here and I'm not sure that's going to change, although Favre is pretty damned good at calling audibles to get out of stupid plays. I guess my primary concern is whether we are going to see a repeat performance of crap from Sutton. We have a lot of players who fit the scheme now. I think he's the weak link on defense, and I'm not sure you want your damn DCoord being the weak link.
The biggest concern for me is that the Jets thought that the answer to 4-12 last year was to go out and get a bunch of post-prime free agents to plug the gaps for them this year. I'm happy that we probably won't watch a bad team this year, but I can't help feeling like the cost of that will be a much extended rebuild process probably finished under the next regime, whoever that may be. I'm 47 now and I recognize that I'm probably only likely to have another 15-20 years (knock on wood) in which to see the Jets win a championship. Having 5 years go under the bridge now, on top of the decade+ since Parcells last ignited the Jets, is a huge expenditure of my time.
Who's...post-prime here? I'll answer and say "Faneca," who at 31 is more late-prime. Pace and Jenkins at 27 and 28 are hardly post prime. Those are the prime years for LBs and DTs...and they sure as fuck haven't looked like they're post prime so far...
I look at all this stuff on this thread, and the thought comes out that the CS has really given the running game short shrift in these first three pre-season games. They've hardly tried it at all. Why do you think that is? Also, I note that when somebody actually gets around (and not that often) to talking to a lineman -- you keep hearing this low-key confidence from the likes of Woody, and D'Brick, and Faneca. After a steady diet of these two factors, there becomes kind of a stark contrast, don't you think? In other words, it is intentional that we have no idea what the hell is going on with the running game of the NYJ. All that anybody wants to talk about is Brett Favre throwing balls to a couple of WRs. Hell, Coles hasn't even been on the field for a single pre-season snap, and he's supposed to be our no. 1...? I think what you are watching with me is a 'bate and switch' game by the CS. This over-watched vanilla pablum we've been getting is a PR scam. I have no idea what to think of a running game until I see 25 to 30 carries in a real game with actual stakes. Maybe you guys think you can see through the rice pudding being dished out here... I reserve judgment, until I see the real thing. Apparently, this Callahan guy is working out overtime with these OLs, but what the results are has not been found on the field -- practice or otherwise. Lots of guesses, but no body has bothered to turn on the lights yet.
Weren't you one of the people clamoring for Faneca all last season? Changed your tune already? Woody is not past his prime, Pace is young, Jenkins is 28 years old, the only one I can think that you are talking about is Richardson, and that's just a stupid-ass thing to whine about. Richardson is a stopgap. Favre is a stopgap. Both designed to keep the team competitive and challenge late in the postseason while the team continues to rebuild. The average age of this team is around 27 years old. I'm starting to wonder if you stopped taking your medication. They have done everything that you have lambasted them for not doing, and you nitpick still. If you are going to gripe, at least make valid gripes.
The plan, obviously, was to become relevant this year. Nothing else matters. Not next year, not the long term. Just now. And if you think it isn't all about the new stadium and PSLs I am afraid you are wrong.
Dream on. Favre is thirty-a-million. Jenkins is 28 with major knee surgery in his past. Woody is 31 and working on his third team in three years. Faneca is 31. Pace is 27 and showed nothing but journeyman prior to last season. (Bryan Thomas was a year younger than Pace when he had his breakout contract season as an example.) Richardson is ancient for a runningback, even as a fullback he's old. These guys join a 30 year old main runningback, a 31 year old defensive end who has been slumping for three years in a row, a 31 year old linebacker in the middle and a pair of 31 year old cornerbacks who will likely share the RCB slot for most of the season. I wanted Faneca to give Mangold and Ferguson a shot at developing normally without a turnstile in between them holding them back. I didn't like the idea but I fully supported it as the best option given the Jets unwillingness to use another high draft pick on an offensive lineman. The rest of the moves were like cotton candy. They taste really good now but we'll forget we ever had them in a year or two.
I'll be waiting for you to admit how wrong you are halfway through the season, although I know I'm dreaming there too. You must be a lot of fun in life. I would imagine you bashed every single move that Parcells made, you know, because he loves those 'post-prime free agents'.
The Jets could go 10-6 with a bit of luck this season. That wouldn't get us to a super bowl and it wouldn't say very much about our ability to play well in 2009. That's kind of the definition of being on the same treadmill we've been on since Vinny's injury in 1999.
10-6 was good enough for the 2007 Giants and 1988 49ers. If the Jets make the playoffs they could win some road games. Why the hell not?
the length of time it takes for the offense to gel. i expect alot of tough times in the first 6 games, penalties, missed blocking assignments, and a general sense of inexperience from all of the offense. if it goes much further than game 8 and the team is not at .500 then the post season would only be a distant hope. However I do believe the coaching staff and players will not let that happen. Grit and Competitiveness will see them through.
Couldn't disagree more with you. We have drafted well and since we freed up money and the cap has opened we filled holes with good solid players. We have a young team and now we have a corp of veterans who still have something in the tank, fill holes and can lead. We unloaded an old injury prone QB with a bum shoulder for an old injury free top 8 NFL QB with no long term cap hit and kept two solid young QB's who both have a chance to develope into something special. We added depth at OL, DL, LB, WR and drafted a starting CB from day 1 to add on the other side from our starting CB we added in last years draft. We got bigger and faster on both sides of the line. Parcells turned this team around but in an era of tight cap put us in a bit of a box. That era is over and the cap is growing. Draft choices while still important are liable to be a little less important as the cap has opened and more players in their prime are available after their first contracts expire. We have added starters and depth in the draft and FA, we are stronger at the point of attack on both sides of the ball. We have more talent and depth at WR and the Secondary to both move the ball and stop the ball. We have a dynamic QB whith a track record of winning leadership coupled with incredible skill. The coaching staff is still young and realitively inexperienced. They are fielding the most talented Jets team since 98.
