Offensive Offense
It's halftime in the Jets game as I write.
The ineffectiveness of the Jets offense was epitomized in their final offensive drive of the 2nd quarter. After the defense forced an interception and the Jets took the ball at the 44 yard line with under two minutes left, they should have immediately attacked the Chargers mediocre and injury depleted secondary. Instead, they ran the ball twice, including a draw play on 3rd and 2 that failed. They were playing for the field goal rather than a touchdown, and got nothing. The Jets' goal generally has been to play with teams, not to try to take control of the game.
Jets offensive coordinator Paul Hackett - likely in his last game at that job - is in love with the 3rd down draw. He's already tried it twice tonight, and it failed both times. It worked early in the season, but has become more than predictable and has repeatedly been stopped in recent weeks.
I am not optimistic about the second half. Hopefully the Jets will prove me wrong.
I was right that John Abraham would refuse to play so as not to jeopardize his big free agent payday. I hope the Jets let him go. Unfortunately, the Jets will probably "franchise" Abraham, while cutting ties with Wayne Chrebet, who also is out tonight, with a concussion. Despite the concussion and his history of head injuries, Chrebet pleaded with coach Herm Edwards to play. Unlike Abraham, he was willing to put the team first.
UPDATE: It is now the end of regulation. In all the decades of Jets miscues, nothing compares with Eric Barton's roughing penalty to literally snatch defeat from the hands of victory. There is something truly pathetic about this team. I am even less optimistic now than before the game started and at halftime. I expect the Chargers to win almost immediately.
UPDATE 2 (1/9 8:50 A.M.): The Jets are receiving lots of accolades today, but the reality is that they are extremely lucky to win. In their second overtime drive, San Diego drove down the field very quickly and efficiently, and had the ball at the Jets 22 yard line. The Jets defense was fatigued, giving up big play after big play. At that point, Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer inexplicably put the brakes on his offense, calling two meek runs before setting up for the 40 yard field goal attempt that was missed.
Had Schottenheimer been more aggressive, or the field goal successful, today we'd be hearing about one of the worst losses in Jets history, certainly the worst since the January 1987 debacle at Cleveland. We'd be hearing not only about Eric Barton's absolutely horrid penalty - it's no exaggeration that it's quite possibly the worst play ever in sports history - but also about the Jets having only 10 players on the field on consecutive plays, about Dewayne Robertson stupidly jumping offsides when the Chargers had 4th down in their own territory, and about how the Jets failed to take advantage of the Chargers penalty for 12 men on the field in the 4th quarter. After the penalty, the Jets had a first down at the San Diego 35 and a chance to put the game away, but couldn't even get into range for a field goal attempt.
I do give the Jets a lot of credit for one thing: After the Chargers missed the field goal, the Jets offense had to deliver a knockout punch, and they did. The winning drive was masterful. Chad Pennington looked like the QB he was in 2002.
posted on 1/08/2005
