The Jets spent the shortened offseason and first five weeks of the season trying to get away from what has made them successful the past two years.
After a particularly embarrassing Week 4 performance in Baltimore, the Jets realized how ill-suited they were to win as a passing team. It took three weeks for them to re-establish that ground-and-pound mentality with a loss to the Patriots and an ugly victory over the winless Dolphins preceding Sunday’s 27-21 comeback win over the Chargers.
“I got caught up in maybe being enamored with the type of personnel we had,” coach Rex Ryan said Monday.
That falls on GM Mike Tannenbam, who overspent for Plaxico Burress and failed to upgrade an offensive line that let go of veteran Damien Woody, who then retired. It’s not too late save this season, and the Jets made significant strides against San Diego. But it does force the Jets to play without a net the rest of the way. If they had not rallied from a 21-10 halftime deficit against the Chargers, the playoffs would have been in peril and no one would have cared about Shonn Greene’s breakout game.
Every game becomes crucial thanks to that three-game road losing streak. There are 16 teams in the AFC, and 12 of them are 3-3 or better. Right now, the Jets are just one of those three-loss teams trying to figure out how to make the playoffs. The Patriots already own a two-game lead in the AFC East and unless the NFL starts following Ryan’s preseason plea to start beating New England, the Jets will need to win three road playoff games to make the Super Bowl. And that feels like a best-case scenario, at least for the moment.
It’s a situation the Jets were ecstatic to be in during Ryan’s first season, a challenge they accepted in their second season, but you expected to see them take a step forward this season. Of course, they did that Sunday, but only after taking a step back.
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But at least the Jets seem to have figured themselves out.
The same cannot be said about the Ravens after Monday night’s 12-7 loss to the Jaguars. Baltimore threw the ball 38 times with regressing Joe Flacco at quarterback. They handed off the ball to Ray Rice eight times. That added up to 16 first half yards, no first downs until the end of the third quarter, and no points till there was 2:02 left in the game.
And it also opens yourself up to criticism from members of the dominant defense.
“It baffles me that Ray Rice only had seven carries (really eight),” linebacker Terrell Suggs said, according to CSN Baltimore. “This is a Pro Bowl running back we’re talking about. You’ve got to feed the horse. They fed their horse. We got to feed our horse. He’s a good guy. He wants the ball. I think we should feed him. Ray Rice is a phenomenal player. You’ve got to use your phenomenal players.”
Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew carried 30 times for 105 yards.
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The Giants were off Sunday and got to watch the NFC East picture get a little clearer.
It will get even more so this Sunday when the Cowboys and Eagles play in Philadelphia. An Eagles loss would drop them to 2-5, possibly three back of the Giants, to whom they have already lost at home. This is all predicated on the Giants not suffering their second letdown in three games and beating the winless Dolphins.
The Redskins, who lost to the Panthers on Sunday, appear ready to take their expected role as NFC East bottom-feeder. The Cowboys appear to have found a running back with rookie DeMarco Murray’s record-setting performance, but if he can do it against a real defense, and not the Rams’, remains to be seen.
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The Buccaneers will be without starting running back LeGarrette Blount for the next week or so and without backup Earnest Graham for the rest of the season.
And even though Tiki Barber’s brother Ronde plays for Tampa Bay, there still seems to be little interest in the Giants’ all-time leading rusher.
If that situation does not warrant Barber getting at least another workout, then what will?
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Tim Tebow makes sports fun. Not watching them necessarily, as the first 55 minutes of the Broncos win over the Dolphins rivaled all 60 minutes of the Seahawks-Browns stinkfest.
And I’m not even talking about the final five minutes when Tebow led a stunning comeback from 15-0 down. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter said best on “SportsCenter,” “He gave his detractors all the evidence they needed, and he gave his supporters all the evidence they needed.”
It’s all a bit tiring but it’s an argument that brings fervor from both sides and will continue to rage on until Tebow flops or enjoys long-term success. And it may not even end then. ESPN’s Merril Hoge is so dug in he probably wouldn’t side with Tebow if he led Denver to three Super Bowls.
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With the deficit to the Chiefs at 21-0 early in the third quarter, the Raiders decided they had nothing to lose and took out Kyle Boller and put in Carson Palmer.
They got the recently unretired veteran some game experience after three practices with the team, but it certainly raises more questions than answers. Palmer matched Boller with three interceptions and looked just as rusty as you’d expect. Palmer gets a pass for now, but will need to show vast improvement after the bye when Oakland plays host to Denver.
The Raiders put unbelievable pressure on Palmer because of the unbelievably high price (one first-round pick, and a conditional first-round pick) they paid for him at last week’s trade deadline.
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Never has Tarvaris Jackson felt so needed.
I figured Seattle wouldn’t be losing much starting Charlie Whitehurst over Jackson, who suffered a strained pectoral in the win over the Giants. But the Seahawks offense was particularly pathetic in a 6-3 loss to the Browns, holding the ball for 17 minutes and amassing 137 yards on 50 plays.
At least Jackson, who is expected to return this Sunday, will revive the offense to moderately pathetic when they play the Bengals.
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It’s not a good sign when even the possibility of being benched is brought up six games after signing a six-year, $65 million contract. But that is the situation Kevin Kolb and the Cardinals are facing after a 1-5 start.
Kolb has been mediocre at best with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Cardinals backup is former Fordham signal-caller John Skelton.
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Even in victory, the Jaguars’ Blaine Gabbert seems to be the least advanced of the rookie quarterbacks that have played this season.
Cam Newton has been exceptional for the Panthers and the same could be said about Andy Dalton with the Bengals.
And Christian Ponder had an impressive debut with the Vikings, throwing for 318 yards in a 33-27 loss to the Packers.
Jake Locker has done a little mop-up work for the Titans, but watching Gabbert looking so indecisive Monday night was a telling sign, even if it did come against the Ravens defense. He seems unprepared for the adjustment from Missouri’s spread offense to the Jaguars’ two-back set.
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Press releases do not produce too many entertaining nuggets, but one from the NFL Network included a gem from host Rich Eisen.
Describing an interception by the Jets’ Darrelle Revis against the Chargers, Eisen referenced the Mike Francesa phone flap:
“Look who has it: the long-time listener, first-time caller of Mike Francesca’s radio show. He hangs up on Philip Rivers.”