By Tom Rock
The final results of the unofficial Fireman Ed poll are in, and I’m pleased to announce that the readers of this blog have voted overwhelmingly that Fireman Ed can stay. Good thing, too, because I’d hate to be the one to tell him to take a hike. The final vote, as near as I can tell, was 22-7 (though some posts were less specific for tallying purposes than others).
Now that that’s settled, I can tell you who wasn’t around today. RB Derrick Blaylock was with his wife for the birth of their fourth child. There weren’t many details yet, but you can bet the child will have a name that starts with a T, just like its three older sibs. Congrats to the Blaylock family!
Laveranues Coles dressed for practice today and warmed up with the team, but he wasn’t involved in any of the team drills that I saw in the opening half hour. The injury report is due at 4 p.m., so we’ll have a better idea of his prognosis and progress then.
Frank D asked if the Jets will throw in some 4-3 defenses that undoubtedly better suit their personnel. We saw the Patriots, a traditionally 3-4 team, make that move to cross up the Jets last week. There were times in the preseason that Mangini flicked the switch over to a 4-man front, but that was with LB Bryan Thomas at an end position so he could float in and out of it. I think he’s committed to the 3-4 this season and will start shopping for the right fitting players during the offseason. Before the season began I wrote a story about Dewayne Robertson not being well-suited for the nose tackle position, and the possibility that he could be on the sideline rather than over the center. Either Robertson or the 3-4 has to go, and since Mangini loves the scheme more than the player (in almost every situation, nothing personal against D-Rob), I think the 3-4 stays.
I picked the Jets for a third straight week and am starting to feel like a bit of a homer. I’m not, but I thought they could cover against the Pats last week (they got six and lost by seven) and I think they’ll cover against the Bills (they’re getting 5 ½, which I was surprised by). As I’ve written before, neither of these teams is in the upper echelon of the AFC, but I think whoever wins will come away feeling (wrongly) that they beat a solid team.
Off to Buffalo on Saturday, but before that we hit the Ducks game on Friday night for my kid’s birthday party. Happy Birthday, Charlie!
Comments (3)
Tom,
Any hope of seeing more Rashad Moore this week? Please tell me he is at least practicing with the first teamers. The run defense looked a lot better with him in the game. He was actually occupying... dare I say it - TWO GUYS! Perhaps we can send Robertson to the 49ers to get our 4th rounder back!
(PS - Keep the blog going... great job!)
Get rid of Fireman Ed? I missed the pole, but would have said 'No' anyway. Anyone notice there are no hot babes in mini-skirts on our sidelines?? We have NO cheerleaders, and you would actually consider axing Fireman ED?? Our only cheerleader?? The guy does it because he loves the team... it's that simple. I'd love to be the guy that gets an entire stadium (I've even heard opposing team fans yell it) to scream that chant. It's the best, notable chant in the NFL. If any of you play Madden NFL it's even in there. So without Ed... who starts the chant? The announcer? An LED sign? Comon' man... think of a better topic to blog or poll about. Jeeze!
Like... Cedric Houston. It's his turn now. Blaylock is terrible, he was terrible on KC, Herm (oh yes, a super personnel Guru) brought him here with a lot of folks wondering why. He's not the answer. At least Houston showed us speed and moves in real NFL games last year.... not preseaon. And we had NO O-LINE, remember... Kendall was playing Center. I say give Houston a chance, let's see what he can do. Barlow, so far looks like another Blaylock. Houston has a nice burst to the hole and is very elusive.
Poor Penny looks good again and there is no one to help behind him. Typical Jets... once we fix one thing, something else breaks.
All the best!
Jimmy Cheese.
Tom,
I have heard so often this year that the Jets don't really have the personell to play the 3-4 defense with their front 7. So why not play the 4-3 more often? NE made that change against us for most of the game and it worked pretty good for them.