Opening Week1. After all the offseason hopes, and with all of the talent of this team, to come out so unprepared today is shocking and inexcusable.
Oops, sorry. I forgot for just a second that Herm is gone. The Chiefs home debacle is not our problem. Those folks out in KC (and at least one fellow in Brooklyn too) don't know what hit them.
2. Ok, on to the Jets. I don't know if I can take much more of this. Today's game was torture. I'm writing at 4:30, just after it ended. I've placed my son on the couch, and turned on "Thomas The Train." He doesn't appear too interested in the US Open Men's final or the Cowboys vs. Jaguars game, though he does know to respond to J-E-T-S by saying "Jets, Jets, Jets!"
3. After going 0-8 on the road last season, a road win on opening week is fantastic, even if it came against a terrible Titans team. While today's win certainly did not prove that the Jets are a contender, it did prove that the Jets are not nearly as bad as most "experts" claim.
4. In addition to his injury history, critics of Chad Pennington point to his generally poor performance against top defenses. They have a point, but those critics should admit that Pennington has been dominant against bad defenses.
He was again today. He threw short passes, he threw accurate sideline routes and over-the-middle passes, and two very nice deep balls to Laveranues Coles. His arm seemed fine. He rebounded from his one major mistake, the fumble that led to the Titans tying touchdown, with the game winning drive, showing poise and leadership when the Jets looked poised for a collapse.
Most impressively, Pennington did all this with no running game, with two rookies on offensive line, and with other offensive linemen killing the Jets with false start and holding penalties.
5. Anyone who watched today's game knows it should have been a blowout. Mike Nugent does not look like an NFL kicker. The Jets should not hesitate to get rid of another mistake of ex-GM Terry Bradway if Nugent does not improve his kicking soon.
6. The Jets fourth quarter playcalling was disappointing. With the Jets in full control of the game, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer did a good imitation of his father with his extremely conservative running calls. Despite Pennington's dominance and the failure of the run game, Schottenheimer kept running between the tackles on first and second downs, setting up one 3rd and long after another.
Even on the Jets winning drive, Schottenheimer ran the ball on both first and second down, both times for no gain. Ironically, the Jets got a break when yet another false start was called on Brandon Moore, forcing Schottenheimer to finally let Pennington throw the ball. Pennington's 12 yard touchdown pass to Chris Baker won it for the Jets.
7. On the next drive, with the Titans trying to tie the score, I thought the Jets played too conservatively on defense. They didn't blitz, and gave large cushions, letting the Titans drive all the way to the 8 yard line.
8. John Abraham had a good game for the Falcons today, with two sacks.
9. Speaking of Coles, with his star wideout Steve Smith out today, Elster made a shrewd fantasy football game day move, picking up Coles this morning and inserting him right into his starting lineup. I had drafted Coles, who I expect to have a very good season, but reluctantly had to let him go when I realized that the Jets bye week is the same week as my two other wide receivers. Coles rewarded Elster by putting up Steve Smith numbers, catching 8 passes for 153 yards.
10. Speaking of Elster, the Jets, and fantasy football, I could not help constantly thinking about Elster throughout today's game. Every time Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck - who is on Elster's team - tackled a Jet, I could see Elster get excited, preferring his fantasy team over his purported real one.
11. Gotta run. I can no longer ignore my son's running to me every few minutes as I've been writing this and telling me "Choo Choo. Choo Choo!"
posted on 9/10/2006
