Awful Coaching
Today's Jets debacle has just mercifully ended.
The Jets coaching was horrific today. Right off the bat, Herm Edwards blew it by electing to kick off after winning the coin toss. As a result, Buffalo got the ball first in both the first and second half, and the Bills scored a touchdown to open the 3rd quarter.
Worse, Paul Hackett's offensive playcalling was predictable and conservative in the second half. In the first half, Chad Pennington was 7-11 for 141 yards, with six of the seven completions to wide receivers. Despite the mediocre play of the Bills' secondary, the Jets responded by running almost every down in the 3rd quarter and early in the 4th quarter, with Pennington failing to complete a pass in five consecutive offensive drives (he only attempted four) and not completing any passes in the second half before leaving the game with an injured shoulder.
The game also exposed the fact that the Jets are neither very good nor very mature. Pennington is not being allowed to throw downfield. The defense is erratic. They have had an easy schedule and took advantage of that schedule until today, but their schedule in the second half of the season will be much more difficult. Rather than compete with the Patriots for the AFC East title, the Jets will likely struggle even to make the playoffs as a wild card, despite their 6-1 start. Last time the Jets started 6-1, in 2000, they finished 9-7 and did not make the playoffs.
posted on 11/07/2004
