Decker to the Jets
By Christian Pierre Louis
From the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the Meadowlands of New Jersey.
That is the move free agent WR Eric Decker will make as he and the New York Jets have agreed on a five year deal that is for $36.25 million over five years with $15 million in guarantees.
After being the second option to the more talented Demaryius Thomas in Denver, Decker will take on No. 1 receiver responsibilities in Rex Ryan’s “ground ‘n’ pound” offense.
Whereas Decker had other quality targets such as Thomas, Wes Welker and Julius Thomas to draw defenders away in Denver’s record-breaking attack, he’s going to be the center of attention in a passing game led by an inconsistent Geno Smith.
Do not misunderstand what I am saying, this is a major get for the Jets. Decker, still in his prime at age 27, set career highs in receptions (87) and receiving yards (1,288) last season while reaching double digits in touchdowns for the second consecutive season.
The Jets top two receivers only totaled 979 receiving yards last year and the team was 31st in passing offense. Right now, Decker’s clearly the best receiver on the Jets, who may add another with their first-round pick. Their other experienced receivers are Jeremy Kerley, Stephen Hill and David Nelson. They certainly didn’t put fear in the hearts of defenses.
Eric Decker will open a new chapter in his career by joining the Jets (Via Getty)
Decker is Denver usually played in one of the outside spots, but the Broncos used him in the slot at times as well. Decker was also used in a punt return role at times in his career.
It will be extremely interesting to see how defenses now adjust to Decker being “the guy” on a team that is weak at the receiver position. He hasn’t been the go-to guy the past two seasons with the Broncos, there was no need for it, as that team had a plethora of options around him.
Not the same case in New York.
He will be the man that the team calls upon when they need a big play down the field and now everyone in the NFL knows it.
Overall, this was a good signing by the Jets, they desperately needed more weapons offensively and they grabbed the best receiver out there. Now, it is time for the organization to put more pieces around Geno Smith and Eric Decker, whether it may be in free agency or the draft, the team still needs more offensive talent to compete with the best in the AFC.
If the Jets can add more pieces to Decker on the offensive side of the ball to compliment that young and tough defense, they could have some real potential to fly high in this upcoming season.
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Christian Pierre-Louis is a journalism major at Seton Hall University. He is a HUGE fan of the, LA Lakers, NY Giants, and NY Yankees. He is also an assistant sports producer at Seton Hall’s radio station WSOU 89.5 FM. You can follow him on twitter at @CPL_78.
Broadway Johnny?
By Brett Malamud
Finally the time has come and the wait is over. After making his mark in the NCAA, Johnny Manziel has declared himself eligible for this year’s NFL draft. The Heisman winner is a projected top-ten pick with many even placing him in the top-five. While Manziel is a scrambling quarterback, he averaged 317 passing yards per game for a total of 4117 yards. This is 408 yards more than he threw for last season, a season in which he won the Heisman Trophy. In improving his passing game, Manziel had to take a step back in tucking the football and running. He rushed for only 53% of what he had rushed in 2012. However in the end, the touchdown totals remain to be consistent. Manziel finished with 47 touchdowns in 2012 and 46 touchdowns in 2013. Not too shabby when you consider the fact that Manziel threw for more yards than Andrew Luck did in any of his seasons at Stanford.
Manziel does have his problems though. He has been in the news for his behavioral issues. He was arrested back in 2012 for getting in a late night fight and possessing a fake ID. The issues continued even after he won the Heisman Trophy. He overslept while attending the Manning Passing Academy. He was kicked out of a University of Texas fraternity party. He also voiced his displeasure with Texas A&M by tweeting that he “can’t wait to leave College Station” after he received a parking ticket. His taunting on the field became quite the story during the 2013 season, and was regularly featured on ESPN. But the most notable issue came in early August 2013. The NCAA began investigating whether Manziel accepted payments from autographs that he had signed in January 2013. While it is widely believed that he did accept the money, the NCAA could not find any evidence and suspended him for only the first half of the season opener against Rice.
Johnny Manziel will enter the 2014 NFL draft as one of the top quarterbacks available (via Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
Right now if you look at the NFL draft order, Houston has the first pick. The Texans need a quarterback and are expected to draft Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater. The St. Louis Rams have the second pick and while it seems that they might need a quarterback, they have showed no indication that they want to dump Sam Bradford. The third and fourth picks belong to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cleveland Browns respectfully. Both teams need a quarterback. The Oakland Raiders sit in the five spot and the Vikings sit at the eight spot. It’s possible that they could each want to draft a QB as well. UCF quarterback Blake Bortles is on the board as well but it’ll be interesting to see which QB gets drafted first.
An interesting pick for Manziel though could be the New York Jets. The Jets currently hold the 18th pick. Now I’m not saying that Manziel is going to slip to the 18th pick. We did see Brady Quinn slip to the 22nd pick back in 2007, after being projected to go in the top ten. Manziel is not likely to slip based on the amount of teams needing quarterbacks. Therefore, only way the Jets can get Manziel will be by trading up picks to draft him. I think that a run at Manziel could be what the Jets need. Now I know some people look and they’ll say, “why would they do that?” Well, they’ve done it before. Back in 2009, the Jets traded up to the fifth pick to select USC quarterback Mark Sanchez. Now I know that didn’t turn out to be such a great decision now that Sanchez has lost the starting position, but Manziel is a bigger threat than Sanchez ever was. The Jets current starting quarterback, Geno Smith, had the lowest QB rating in the entire league. General Manager John Idzik stated at the end of their week 17 game that they will “look at quarterbacks” in the offseason. It is this statement that shows that Idzik doesn’t believe that Smith is “the guy.” If the Jets want to get their hands on a reliable quarterback for years to come, they must trade up and select Johnny Manziel.
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Brett Malamud is a Computer Science Major at Binghamton University. He is the co-founder of dabuzzza.com. His favorite athletes are Derek Jeter and Todd Bertuzzi. You can follow him on twitter at @brettnyy
What’s Next for the New York Jets: Looking Ahead to 2014
By: Dan Lagnado
It pains me to say it as much as it pains you to read it but it’s probably about time to wave the playoffs goodbye for this season. The Jets have now lost three in a row and four of their last five games, and now sit at 5-7 on the season. “But wait”, those few remaining loyalists will say, “there’s still a chance to go 8-8 or even 9-7.” Mathematically that is correct, but is it realistic?
In this writer’s (and fan’s) opinion, no. I haven’t seen anything to make me believe that this team can beat even the lowliest teams in the NFL. The chunk of schedule after the bye was not considered to be the hardest of this season, yet the Bills, Ravens, and Dolphins have given the Jets fits. The same team that beat the Patriots and the Saints in three weeks now have lost to three straight teams who had come in to the game with losing records and lost embarrassingly. Geno Smith’s offense scored only three points against the Ravens, and the only points scored against Miami came on a drive led by Matt Simms. That offensive production is not going to get anyone into the postseason. I don’t think that the problem is only Geno Smith, as many people claim that it is, however it is true that the rookie’s performance has not been up-to-par of late. I believe that part of the issue lies in the wide receivers.
Geno Smith has not played like the first round pick he was projected to be (Via USA Today)
To begin the season, the Jets had Santonio Holmes, Stephen Hill and Jeremy Kerley penciled in as starters and Kellen Winslow as the starting tight end with Jeff Cumberland as support. However, it’s never that easy. Holmes has been plagued by foot and hamstring injuries that have caused him to miss five games and rendered him ineffective in a few games as well. Hill has played quite the disappearing act. Despite being active in every game this season, Hill has been held without a catch four different times, most notably in three consecutive games against New Orleans, Buffalo and Baltimore. Since his 108-yard performance against Buffalo in week three, his stats have dropped drastically as he managed the same yardage in nine games combined. Jeremy Kerley is the Jets’ leading receiver this season, but he has missed time as well of late because of the injury he suffered against the Saints. Winslow missed games for both injuries and a suspension and even Cumberland was held out of a game due to a concussion. As a result the Jets have had to rotate other players in to fill the empty spots. And so for this season we have seen the likes of Clyde Gates, Greg Salas, Josh Cribbs, Zach Sudfeld, Konrad Reuland and David Nelson. Though David Nelson did provide a bit of a spark in a few games, this rotation of receivers could be reason for lack of chemistry between Geno and the wide receivers.
This is not an excuse for the poor play of the offense, nor is it an excuse for the poor decisions and play of the rookie quarterback. It is simply the idea that not all the blame belongs to Geno Smith.
Another issue that is facing the Jets is that of their secondary. The departure of Darrelle Revis certainly has been felt. Antonio Cromartie has been playing hurt most of the season and as a result has not played his best, despite leading the team with three of their six interceptions. Rookie Dee Milliner has now been benched three times and has not quite lived up to the expectations of a top-10 overall pick and there isn’t really anyone else in the secondary able to effectively cover a number two receiver. This has been an Achilles heel all season for what has been a very good defense otherwise and Ed Reed has not been the solution.
And while it is true that the Jets are only 2 games out of the final playoff spot, it is important to note the teams that are ahead or tied with them: Ravens, Dolphins, Chargers, Titans and the Steelers. Four out of those five teams own the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Jets. Basically, the Jets have to be alone in the 6th Wild Card spot to get to the playoffs.
But I will state again, unless something changes drastically with the offense, this team will be lucky to come away with two wins in their last four games.
So what comes next? It’s impossible to determine anything draft-related at this point in time. There are too many variables that would determine draft order or even who will be free agents at the end of the season. But we can consider the areas that most likely will be addressed in the offseason. In my personal opinion, I would expect to see a new coach first and foremost. John Idzik began his rebuilding of this team last season and surprised many by keeping Rex Ryan on as coach. However, Rex may not get a second chance again after this season. Look for Idzik to bring in a new face to lead the team to the future. With a new coach at the helm and a GM looking to be a contender look for the Jets to fill the holes right away this offseason. As for the quarterback situation…your guess is as good as mine.
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Dan Lagnado is studying communications, law economics and government at American University. He’s a fan of both the Mets and Jets and has been writing about sports for four years. You can follow him on twitter at @dlag1995
NFL Predictions Week 11
By Matthew Wieselthier
Sunday:
1:00 PM ET
Jets 24, Bills 13
The Jets are arguably the most surprising team this season. After being projected as one of the worst, the Jets are in playoff contention, and there is one big reason why. The “Sons of Anarchy.” The defensive line for the Jets, comprised of Muhammad Wilkerson, Damon Harrison, and Sheldon Richardson, has tortured quarterbacks and offensives in general with the pressure they’ve put on QBs. The offense should also get a lot stronger this week with WR Santonio Holmes and TEs Jeff Cumberland and Kellen Winslow returning from injuries (suspension for Winslow).
Buccaneers 28, Falcons 24
The Buccaneers may have looked bad most of the year, but the past few weeks, they have started to look like a decent team. The Falcons, on the other hand, are the most disappointing team this season, going from Super Bowl favorites to the favorites for a top 5 draft pick. The Buccaneers have looked like a good team since Mike Glennon took over at QB. The one thing they needed was a W. They got that last Monday versus the Dolphins, and the momentum should continue into this week.
Lions 31, Steelers 16
The Lions have looked very strong the past few weeks. We can say this over and over again. Matthew Stafford has looked very strong, a big thanks to WR Calvin Johnson. The Lions new two-headed rushing attack of Reggie Bush and Joique Bell has been stellar. If anything goes wrong with the Lions offense against the tough Steelers defense, the terrible Steelers offense should help them out. There has been no running game from the Steelers and QB Ben Roethlisberger hasn’t looked great either. The Lions should have ease in taking this game.
Calvin Johnson is active this week and should continue to impress (Via Thoughts of a Jeanius)
Eagles 34, Redskins 31
The Eagles are on a nice hot streak. Nick Foles has looked great in the past few weeks and so has LeSean McCoy in the running game. Meanwhile, the Redskins are exactly where they were last year. 3-6 last season, the Redskins racked up a 7 game winning streak to win the NFC East title. The Redskins are once again 3-6 and things are once again looking gloom. A miracle happens once, not twice, and not this year.
Cardinals 28, Jaguars 14
The Cardinals are another team in the running for most surprising team this season. Their most surprising player is RB Andre Ellington, who is averaging 7.2 yards per carry, is still sharing time with Rashard Mendenhall, but still taking advantage of his time and showing why he deserves to be seriously considered as a decent RB in the league. The Jaguars are still one of the worst teams in the NFL despite upsetting the Titans last week. Don’t expect that fact to change against a tough NFC opponent.
Texans 37, Raiders 17
Isn’t it about time that Case Keenum got his first victory as a starting QB in the NFL? He has played fantastic since getting the job, holding a 105.1 passer rating and throwing 7 TDs with no interceptions. The Raiders have their own QB issues. Starting QB Terrelle Pryor is out with a knee injury, prompting the first start in the career of Matt McGloin. This is a very interesting matchup of previously undrafted QBs starting against one another.
Bears 23, Ravens 10
The Bears have a nice situation in which they can trust their backup QB when Jay Cutler gets injured. Josh McCown has been quite successful this year, throwing for a 60% completion percentage and a 103.2 passer rating. The Ravens still don’t look that great and against a tough Bears defense, that fact shouldn’t change.
Browns 27, Bengals 23
The Browns haven’t played two games against the Bengals in a season since 2002. That fact may change with the way both teams have been performing recently. Since putting on an offensive show versus the Jets in Week 8, the Bengals have dropped two straight games against teams they should have dominated (Dolphins and Ravens). Now they play another division rival and need things to change before their bye week with a struggling Andy Dalton. The Browns have a chance to shock everyone with a win this week. They are in second place in the AFC North and have a chance to be one game back after this week. QB Jason Campbell has been very successful since taking over in the Cleveland QB debacle.
4:00 PM ET
Chargers 32, Dolphins 17
The Chargers are another team on the rise and surprise this season. QB Philip Rivers is having a comeback season with 18 TDs to 7 interceptions and a 105.9 passer rating and looking like the Rivers of old back when the Chargers were a regular playoff favorite. The Dolphins also looked like they were on the rise until they lost to the previously winless Buccaneers on Monday Night, not even showing up in the first half and looking dreadful all night.
Giants 24, Packers 13
The Giants may be the luckiest team in the league at the moment. After starting off 0-6, the Giants have taken down 3 straight either bad or injury riddled teams. This week, they get another injured and limping team with the Cheese heads. The Packers not only lost QB Aaron Rodgers, they lost their backup QB Seneca Wallace to injury last week. Scott Tolzein is making his first career start and he won’t have the Packers best check down target/tight end Jermichael Finley, who had spinal fusion surgery since being put on the IR, possibly ending his career. The Giants are getting very lucky. Don’t expect that to last much longer though.
Seattle 38, Vikings 14
The Seahawks were looking like they were on the decline, playing close games against not great opponents, headlined by having to squeak out an OT win versus the Buccaneers. They finally came back last week in an absolute destruction of the upsetting Falcons. Expect that to continue because the Seahawks are a top team with a top defense and a solid offensive attack against a horrible Vikings team who have not much upside.
49ers 27, Saints 25
The 49ers are very strong and arguably still underrated after losing such a tight game against the Panthers last week. QB Colin Kaepernick is back to being a top QB after a weak start to the season. The defense is also very strong, as shown last week when they held a strong Panthers offense to only 10 points. The Saints are very strong too, but tough defenses haven’t had that much trouble in stopping them. That fact should stay the same this week.
8:30 PM ET
Broncos 20, Chiefs 14
The two top teams in the NFL going against each other on Sunday Night. What more can anyone ask for? The Chiefs and their top defense in the NFL are going face to face with the Broncos’ top offense. The Chiefs are arguably the worst 9-0 team ever, that being that they haven’t played anyone with a winning record. But at the same time, the Broncos have only played one team with a winning record in their only loss of the season to the Colts. Peyton Manning is still the best QB in the league and that should propel the Broncos to victory in this AFC West showdown.
Monday:
8:30 PM ET
Panthers 35, Patriots 24
The Panthers are arguably the hottest team in the NFL right now. They have the 2nd best defense and their offense is just getting better and better. The Patriots are still the walking wounded on the defensive side and Tom Brady has looked awful this entire season. Don’t bet against the hot streak. Carolina should be able to bring home the W in this week ending primetime showdown.
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Matthew Wieselthier is the Sports Director at WPOB 88.5 FM, Plainview. He is also the PA announcer at all sporting events at POBJFKHS. You can follow him on twitter at @wieselsports66.
Ed Reed to the Jets
By Brett Malamud
Yes, you read that correctly. Nine-time pro-bowler safety Ed Reed agreed to a contract Thursday morning with the New York Football Jets. The move comes one day after Reed cleared waivers, after being released by the Houston Texans. The 35 year old will reunite with his former coach, Rex Ryan, who was with him in Baltimore. Ryan has always praised Reed in the past, calling him “the best safety that’s ever played.”
Ed Reed meets with the media Thursday afternoon. (Via Kimberly Martin/Newsday)
The Jets are currently 5-4 and are coming off their bye week. At the moment, the Jets hold the sixth and final playoff spot in the AFC. They will play the 3-7 Buffalo Bills on Sunday and Reed will be available to play. The following week should be interesting, as the Jets will head into M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore to play the Ravens. In what should make for a good storyline, Ed Reed will play his second career game against his former team. Reed will play alongside Jets safeties Antonio Allen and Dawan Landry (another ex-Raven), although it is not clear who will be the starters. The addition for Gang Green should definitely help though as the J-E-T-S continue their playoff chase.
Was signing Reed a good move for the Jets? Let us know in the poll and in the comments.
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Brett Malamud is a Computer Science Major at Binghamton University. He is the co-founder of dabuzzza.com. His favorite athletes are Derek Jeter and Todd Bertuzzi. You can follow him on twitter at @brettnyy
Who Dat: Fantasy Football Week 10
By: Sam Breiter
Quarterbacks:
Case Keenum (HOU)– No Matt Schaub, no problem. In Keenum’s first week playing for the Texans he surprised many, especially against a tough Kansas City defense. Yet, after a bye week, Keenum didn’t show any setbacks, putting up flawless numbers against the Colts. He may have just earned himself a starting job for the rest of the season.
Week 9 Stats- 350 YDS, 3 TD, 0 INT, 28 PTS
Josh McCown (CHI)- Jay Cutler is a dominant quarterback when healthy, but after he suffered a groin injury, he has missed some time. In his last two games, McCown has given fantasy owners a reason to smile. He’s not putting up Peyton Manning numbers, but he has quickly proven to be a reliable quarterback that will put points on the board.
Week 9 Stats- 272 YDS, 2 TD, O INT, 20 PTS
(UPDATE: JAY CUTLER WILL BE THE STARTING QB ON SUNDAY)
Running backs:
Mike James (TB)- Doug Martin is definitely having one of those sophomore slumps. After a great rookie year, Martin only has one touchdown the whole year, and has only rushed for over 100 yards once. With Martin out, Mike James proved his potential against an overwhelming Seattle defense putting up terrific numbers.
Week 9 Stats-28 ATT, 158 RUSH YDS, 19 PTS
Zac Stacy (STL)- First of all, I think his parents ran out of ink while writing what they wanted to name this future running back. Stacy, since getting the majority of the Rams carries in week 5 has shown nothing but improvement. He’s proven to be a quick, and a powerful back, and will see more carries with a struggling passing game.
Week 9 Stats- 27ATT, 127 RUSH YDS, 51 REC YDS, 2 TD, 29 PTS
Wide Receivers:
Aaron Dobson (NE)- After weekly getting a couple of catches for a couple dozen yards, Dobson broke out in week nine. He’s part of a core of Patriots receivers that no one really knows, but could this be the one that everyone remembers. They clearly like this man in New England, and with Gronkowski back, less defenders will be getting in the way of the rookie from Marshall.
Week 9 Stats- 5 REC, 130 YDS, 2 TD, 25 PTS
Greg Salas (NYJ)- Last week, since 2011 was the first time Salas touched a football during a regular season game. He struggled with the Rams, but seems like a perfect fit into the Jets system. Jeremy Kerley was taken out of the game, and Salas proved that he should be on the field. This may be our biggest Who Dat so far, but Geno doesn’t have many options left and Salas should expect more playing time.
Week 9 Stats- 2 REC, 57 YDS
Greg Salas has come out of nowhere for the Jets this season, and should be carefully watched by owners (Via Fox)
Tight Ends:
Timothy Wright (TB)- Tight ends are hard to come by, especially in fantasy. Wright has shown in the last two weeks that he can pick up decent yards, and get touchdowns. Wright might not be a great blocking tight end, but it’s a good thing that doesn’t count in fantasy. Expect Wright to be picking up close to double digits in points, weekly.
Week 9 Stats- 4 REC, 58 YDS, 1 TD, 11 PTS
Zach Ertz (Phi)- Clearly his parents weren’t as lazy as Stacy’s. With Nick Foles as quarterback, Ertz has seen more chances compared to when Vick was running the offense. Yes Celek is still the number one tight end, but Ertz saw more work then the veteran last week. Celek is having his worst year since 2008, if Ertz keeps up the good work maybe he will find himself a spot in the starting lineup.
Week 9 Stats- 5 REC, 42 YDS, 1 TD
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Sam Breiter is a high school senior at Plainview- Old Bethpage JFK High School. Sam is looking to major in sports management, with a minor in communications next year. He is the co-founder of dabuzzza.com. His favorite teams are the Mets, Giants, and Knicks. You can follow him on twitter at @baseballbreiter
The Most Confusing, Awful, Good Team in the NFL…The New York Jets
Eric Huberman
Heading into the 2013 regular season, some thought Mark Sanchez might still be the quarterback for the New York Jets. Some thought the Jets might be winless. Some people thought Rex Ryan would be fired by now. Well, none of those things have happened, in fact the Jets are in solid shape to compete for a playoff spot as we enter the second half of the regular season. The Jets have showed signs of being a true contending football team as well as signs of why many picked them to win at most four games this year. They are easily the most confusing team to understand and can’t be relied upon to give you a consistent performance, whether good or bad, week in and week out. Nevertheless, here are the Jets at 5-4 after nine weeks and currently slotted in 6th and final spot in the playoffs. It’s been a wild ride this point, let’s try to make some sense of it…
Week 1:
New York Jets 18 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17
Team Headline: Better to be lucky than not!
Coming into their season opener the Jets were considered to be a laughing stock. Well, in their first game of the season, New York showed how good of a defense they really have. The Jets really didn’t deserve to win this game; in fact they shouldn’t have if not for a stupid unnecessary roughness penalty by a Buccaneer defender which set up Nick Folk for a game winning 48-yard field goal. Geno Smith showed he could lead this time as he initiated a last minute drive to put the Jets in position to win the football game. Granted, they needed a little bit of luck to win the game, but a win is a win.
Week 2: New England Patriots 13 New York Jets 10
Team Headline: Geno Sucks!
Working on a short week, the Jets traveled to Foxboro for Thursday Night Football and played well once again defensively as they limited Tom Brady to only 185 yards through the air. Bilal Powell and Chris Ivory combined to run for 100 yards on the ground and showed what type of game the Jets would need to play in order to win football games this year. Unfortunately, that recipe does not include turning the football over four times, three times from Geno Smith interceptions. Geno lost the Jets this football game, and after looking good the previous week, Jets fans were back on the hater bandwagon in regards to their new quarterback.
Week 3: New York Jets 27 Buffalo Bills 20
Team Headline: Hey! Geno isn’t too bad!
Despite looking so bad the previous week, Geno Smith silenced the critics as he took down a tough divisional opponent on the road. He threw for over 300 yards for the first time in his career and also tossed two touchdowns. The Jets ran the ball effectively for 182 yards, mostly from Bilal Powell who racked up 149 yards on 27 carries. Despite losing the turnover battle again and committing a team record 20 penalties, the Jets got the win and moved to 2-1 on the year.
It’s been quite the roller coaster ride, but Geno Smith has led the Jets to 5-4 (Via AP)
Week 4: Tennessee Titans 38 New York Jets 13
Team Headline: I need a drink!
Oh boy. After week three, the Jets were feeling great about themselves as they were 2-1 coming off a big road win. The Titans were 2-1 also, but not viewed as a good football team, until week four came around. That’s when the Titans put a beating on the Jets 38-13. Geno was horrendous and threw two more interceptions to put his four-game total at eight! The Jets fell down 10-0 after the first quarter and never had a chance after that. Jake Locker and Ryan Fitzpatrick combined to throw for four touchdowns and zero interceptions as they torched the Jets secondary. This was a huge step backwards for a team that was really showing signs of life.
Week 5: New York Jets 30 Atlanta Falcons 28
Team Headline: What just happened?
So the Jets get embarrassed by the Titans the previous week and in week five they faced the Falcons, bitter off of a home loss to New England, who are usually unbeatable at home. Here is where the un-predictableness of the Jets started to kick in. Somehow the Jets led in the fourth quarter 27-14, but the Falcons stormed back as expected to take a 28-27 lead. Geno got the ball with 1:54 left in the game down two points on the road own his own 20-yard line. From there Smith would engineer a magnificent seven play drive to set up Nick Folk for a 43-yard time-expiring kick to give the Jets the win. In a game where Vegas dubbed the Jets as ten point under-dogs, Gang Green shocked the world. No one saw this coming, especially after week four’s embarrassing loss to Tennessee.
Week 6: Pittsburgh Steelers 19 New York Jets 6
Team Headline: Well, it was a nice season!
After a big road win on Monday Night Football, Geno Smith and the Jets let it be known throughout the league that they are no joke. In week six they returned home to face the Steelers and dropped the ball. Geno played his worst game as a Jet so far as he threw for only 201 yards on 34 attempts and two interceptions. They were shut out in the second half while Pittsburgh put the game away, as they fell to 3-3. It was a classic Jets let down after a huge win the previous week and another step back as the Steelers won their first football of the season.
Week 7: New York Jets 30 New England Patriots 27 OT
Team Headline: Referees 1 Patriots 0
With Rob Gronkowski returning to the field, the Patriots came into week seven feeling pretty good about themselves. They left the field scratching their heads. After getting completely shut down offensively versus the Steelers, Geno Smith played much better this week and led his team to victory in overtime despite throwing a pick six. Tom Brady was held out of the end zone and completed less than half of his passes, while also throwing a pick six. A controversial call in overtime negated a missed field goal by Nick Folk, and set up a much closer kick later in the drive which gave the Jets the victory. Once again, the Jets bounced back from mediocrity the previous week to win in improbable fashion.
Week 8: Cincinnati Bengals 49 New York Jets 9
Team Headline: Is Sanchez healthy? What about Sims?
The Jets just beat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, so with the way their season is going it just made sense for them to go out and lose by 40 to the Bengals the following week. When Andy Dalton throws five touchdowns against your defense that usually is an issue. When Geno Smith throws two picks and only 159 yards you probably aren’t going to win football games. The Jets were shelled in every phase of the game and received a decimating blow to their confidence going forward.
Week 9: New York Jets 26 New Orleans Saints 20
Team Headline: We just beat the Saints in a game that wasn’t in Madden?
This one still confuses me. After losing as bad as you can to the Bengals, the Jets came right out of the gate defensively and made Drew Brees feel uncomfortable. Throughout the football game the Saints just felt out of sync, well except for Jimmy Graham because he’s well…not human. Geno Smith didn’t do much to win this football game, but he certainly didn’t lose it for the Jets. For once, the Jets won the turnover battle after getting Drew Brees to throw two uncharacteristic picks. Chris Ivory was a tank as he rushed for 139 yards on only 18 carries and found the end zone. He ran very hard throughout the game and was definitely the x factor. It was a game that was won by the Jets very good defense and their ground and pound offensive attack. Get embarrassed by the Bengals one week, and then beat the Super Bowl contending the Saints the following week. Yeah, I got nothing.
It’s absolutely incredible how on and off the Jets are each and every week. They have alternated wins and losses every single week even though some weeks have looked great and some have looked abysmal. After nine week the Jets head into their bye week in the sixth spot for the playoffs. They will face the Bills in week 11 where, if their prior games this season are indicators, they will probably get the doors blown off themselves and lose by 30 to the Buffalo Bills. The combined record of their remaining opponents is 26-30 so to imagine the Jets winning four to five more games is not so far-fetched. They are a run first team that can sometimes rely on the arm of Geno Smith to make a big play every now and then. The Jets would prefer to not have Geno decide the outcomes of games and instead just manage them while their ground and pound attack moves the offense. Their back bone has become their defense which is top ten in the league. They specialize against stopping the run as they have allowed the fewest rushing yards in the NFL, 77.9. As bad as the Jets were supposed to be, they have shocked many by winning five games already, including beating the Falcons, Patriots, and Saints. Their losses have been ugly, but they will gladly take a 5-4 record right now although this roller coaster has a long way to go until it has reached its end.
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