Back in the saddle
By Tom Rock
The best part about the Jets win on Sunday is that they have time to enjoy it. Ha, ha. They actually have one of the biggest headaches in the league, facing the three-day turnaround to play again on Thursday. Of course, the benefit is that they'll be off on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And we all know what this team can do with a few extra days off. Look out, Dolphins!
I was thinking during the week that this game had a smiliar vibe to the first Jets-Bills game, but with the Jets' role flip-flopped. The Steelers were telling everyone who would listen that the Jets shouldn;t be underestimated, that their record and their stats aren't indicative of how good a team they are. Even in my chat with Hofstra product Willie Colon (who had an offsides penalty against him), he said "When you walk through the tall grass, you have to watch out for the snakes." Of course, every time a Steeler player said something to that effect, people rolled their eyes. Yeah, right. Just go out and get your win and get it over with. That was the same reaction people had when the Jets were talking up the Bills in Week 4, if you remember. Both the Jets back then and the Steelers this weekend turned out to make some pretty good self-fulfilling prophets. Can't wait for when Belichick starts talking about how good the Jets are.
A few things that may have gone unnoticed from the game:
The Jets used what looked like a platoon or a rotation at left guard with Will Montgomery and Adrien Clarke. That seems odd. I asked Mangini in the press conference if it's strange to have that kind of rotation at a position like left guard. He said "Yes." I'll try to phrase the question a little better today.
David Barrett seemed to have a key block late on the Leon Washington punt return, but it was really the first wave of Steelers that overran the punt that allowed Leon to split the coverage and give the Jets instant access to a field goal. Wallace Wright made a nice block just as Washington caught the ball to help free him up.
The injury to Laveranues Coles put the spotlight on other receivers, and they couldn't really deliver. The Steelers were able to lock down Jerricho Cotchery, but Brad Smith couldn;t pick up any of the slack. Justin McCareins did OK. But the Jets will really need a third receiver if they're going to be without LC for any extended period of time. Is Chris Davis the answer?
The Steelers were all about saying that they weren't confused by the Jets defensive schemes and it wasn't anything they weren't expecting. Yeah, right. Why can't someone just be honest and say "That wasn't the team we saw on tape the first half of the season"?
Dewayne Robertson had only three solo tackles (according to press box numbers) but 2.5 sacks. His sacks all came from different spots on the line. The first was a one-on-one swim move around G Kendall Simmons in a four down lineman look, the second (the half one) he was lined up as an end in a 3-man front and was able to pick up the pieces from an Abram Elam blitz, and the third (and most important in overtime) came as he was lined up right over center and beat Sean Mahan.
Mangini comes in a few minutes to give us his breakdown and talk about the 'Boys. I'll be back a little later with that stuff.
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Comments (2)
As I was saying last week, Coaching isn't the problem. Players need to execute, which they did on Sunday. The coaches didn't get run over by the Redskin offensive line, and the coaches didn't hold Parker to 57 yards. Execution (Period).
What have you got to say now, Frank?
I agree that the players play. But, the coaches did run different schemes and put players in better positions to make plays. The moved around D Rob and Ellis and they both had great games.
The defense blitzed more and they ran Jones more. Granted, having Clemens stretch the field helped in that area also.
They do seem to play better after the bye. Doesn't that point to coaching?