By Tom Rock
At one of the many points during which the in-stadium camera was focused on Fireman Ed early during Sunday’s game against the Colts, it was pretty simple to read his lips.
“We’re gonna shock the world,” he grunted.
Well, the Jets almost did. Now they have to extrapolate the experience into thinking that if they can almost beat a team that is surely headed deep into the playoffs, then they can definitely whallop teams from the rest of the conference. Wins are nice, but loses like Sunday’s (and in some ways the one to the Pats two weeks ago) are part of a process.
Spoke with Eddie Mac at HQ last night and we are both surprised how quickly Mangini has made a difference in the team. I figured it would be a struggle the first half of the year, but eventually the young coach’s means would start to rub off and turn things around. That’s what happened in Hoosiers (minus the “young” coach). It normally takes time to change a culture. And a drunk assistant played by Dennis Hopper.
But this has been a Mangini team from the opening week. Through four games, they have yet to play a real stinker. The first half of the Pats game was terrible, but they came back and fixed it. They were out-statistic-ed against the Bills, but found a way to win. On Sunday, nobody can say that the better team didn’t win. But nobody can say they won easily either. I think the Jets gained a lot of respect around the league on Sunday, and through four weeks they can certainly be considered a middle-of-the-pack team. That’s better than the dregs of the NFL where they started (I asked one national writer during preseason who he thought would be the worst team in the league this year and he said “We might be looking at them.”). At 2-2, the Jets could be a – gulp! – playoff contender.
A few thoughts after speaking with the coach and players:
No official update on Cedric Houston’s knee. It looked like a hyper-extension, but anytime someone is carted off the field it has the potential to be season-threatening.
The Jets run defense is definitely the weak link, and the Colts were attacking it until push came to shove and they were forced to go the Peyton Manning route.
Mangini said he would have gone for the fourth-and-goal play from the 2 again if he had the chance. When asked if hypothetically he might have gone for it on fourth-and-4 from the 30, he said he probably would have. That’s how intent the Jets were on scoring TDs and not settling for FGs.
Some mixed emotions on taking the loss. Some players were still as dour as they were in the postgame locker room while others had started to see the bright side of their performance against the Colts.
I saw the early line on the Jaguars game was 7. The Jets have covered all season and will probably do so against the Jags.
Comments (8)
Tom,
Did the Jets cover against the Pats? I thought they missed it by half a point.
think about this: if we got a touchback on that last kick-off that washington flubbed, that sandlot play at the end could have ended up in the endzone..too bad the colt's band wasnt there sunday
mangini is out for blood and watching the jets is awesome again..he's playing to win..
Tom,
What's the story with Coles and Houston?
Tom... that insight you shed,
on Mangini not wanting to settle for FGs... great stuff!
Yeah, this time it failed, but Mangini made a statement to the players, that he wants TDs... and expects the players to execute.
This will pay huge dividends, down the road.
Tom, my thoughts on game are that the call to go for the TD on 4th daown wasn't the problem. Chad threw a horrible pass to a tight end, Dearth, that hasn't caught a ball in a few years.
Also, on the final crazy drive, why didn't the JETS try a pass over 20 yards at least once wih time running out and no time outs?
Overall though, I thing the offense is coming togather really noce, the running game is starting to go. But, the run defense is killing us.
Mangini is playing to win and the team is going to get better for it.
Just my opinions.
Frank
Tom,
Great article, it's good to see a fan writing about the Jets, and not someone who has never been one, and never will.
As for the Colts... Defense. If we had it, we would have won. That simple. 'O' did the job nicely, Special Teams played great... where the hell was the 'D'?!? We can't stop a High School running back, we have NO pass rush (pressure Manning, win the game, everyone knows that), and our secondary was as tight as a piece of Swiss on rye.
Mangini made the right call, show some balls!! We finally have a Coach that has a set, and all people can do is micro analyze a decision that didn't cost us the game. NO DEFENSE cost us the game.... Manning tossing 20 yard passes on 3rd and 6, cost us the game.
Thanks for getting is right.
All the best!
Jimmy Cheese
Pray for my boy Cedric 'The Answer' Houston. I hope he's OK.
For better or worse Jets played a conservative deep cover two all day, daring the Colts to run. Peyton sucked up his ego and took what the Jets were giving, at least until crunch time.
This is why the run D looked so bad statistically, and also explains why the ever so popular "flow of the game" was different than projected and therefore a garbage excuse that most of the writers are using to criticize the 4th down play. The flow of the game was changing if the Jets took the three points.
Just a quick correction: Yes, the Jets were 7 1/2 point dogs against the Pats and lost by a TD. Good catch, Richard!