Monday, January 18, 2010

The Pretenders Of '10

I just can't shake the conviction that the New York Jets really don't belong here. In the playoffs? Sure. Someone had to be the worst team in the playoffs but in the AFC Championship? No. No way.

But here they are, as much because of two awful games by their opponents as because of their own performance. Or was it?

One of the broadcasters* during the game said something to the effect of 'that's what the Jets do. They are patient and wait and wait and wait until eventually their opponents make a mistake'. I guess that is true to some extent.

This team is Ravens-lite. They are capable of grinding down inferior teams and capitalizing on mistakes. They imposed one of the more efficient beatdowns of an opponent last week against Cincinnati in a game that completely exposed the Bengals. Yesterday they appeared to get outplayed but when the dust settled .. they won.

Following the game Bart Scott said

"It was ugly, but that's how we play," Jets linebacker Bart Scott said of the aesthetic quality of the win that put New York in the AFC title game for the first time since the Bill Parcells era in 1999. "This isn't the Golden State Warriors (or) the Phoenix Suns. This is the old-school Pistons. It's going to be ugly. It's not entertaining. I know the league and a lot of guys would prefer to see [the Chargers] so they can build it up, but we got them old grimy Jets here, so tune in if you want to."

But still, it's hard to get excited about this team. Nate Kaeding missed three field goals, which is three more than he normally would. The passing attack was anemic and the running game was only productive through repetition, not efficiency. It is hard to imagine the Jets beating on Peyton Manning the way they did Rivers and that was really the key to the entire game. The Colts won't be able to run on New York but they probably don't even care. They couldn't run on the Ravens either. The Jets may have the defense to slow down the Colts. They have what the Ravens lack with a terrific secondary. But even so, it seems remote that Indianapolis will be forced into the types of errors that doomed San Diego.



*I can never keep those guys straight since Madden left. To me they are disembodied voices that pretty much repeat themselves throughout the year.

3 comments:

  1. Historically speaking, Manning lays one egg in the post-season. If the Jets can force that to be this week, they've got a chance. If not, they don't.

    Has a 1 seed ever been able to have to play two teams with a combined 14 losses to reach the Superbowl? I mean, that's pretty amazing by itself, the lack of resistance...

    And FWIW, I can tell Collinsworth, but that's about it. I really like Collinsworth, the more I hear him. I think he's an excellent booth analyst.

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  2. Obviously it's not unprecedented for a team like the Jets to win the Super Bowl. They are comparable to the 2000 Ravens, a comparison Rex Ryan has clearly been eager to make to his guys.

    That Ravens team got some luck in the postseason, including the voodoo hex whammy they had on the Titans FG kicker. If Shaun Ellis gets a chance to belly-flop on Peyton Manning, the way Siragusa did to Gannon years ago, you might see the Jets in the SB whether you believe in them or not.

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  3. opposing FG kickers are 0-5 this postseason, incl 0-4 from 40 and in, which is crazy. Jets are thisclose to being 0-2 instead of 2-0. But anyone can win on Sunday...

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