Week 181. Mark Sanchez was outstanding and should not have been shackled the way he was. Indeed, the Herm style ultra-conservative offense unnecessarily allowed the Bengals to stay in the game. If not for Shayne Graham, the Jets might have found a way to lose.
2. Shonn Greene, Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller were excellent.
3. The announcing on NBC was possibly the worst I've ever heard. It was a pathetic performance by a major network covering a playoff game.
4. The defensive line and linebackers missed a number of tackles. On Cedric Benson's long TD run, you could see a big play coming the way the defense was setting up to aggressively overplay a 2nd and 1 run.
5. Terrible penalties on the Jets opening drive of the 3rd quarter to blow a field goal. It had already been bad enough that Sanchez was not allowed to throw on that drive, with the Jets settling for three.
6. Kickoff coverage continues to be poor.
7. The Bengals stink (Carson Palmer really looked shaky), so tonight's win should not make anybody think the Jets are a serious contender. Nevertheless, Jets playoff wins are rare - tonight's is the ninth in their tortured history - and must be enjoyed.
8. I didn't see Braylon Edwards' dropped TD pass, which I believe occurred in the 1st quarter. If the Jets have any chance to win any more games, Edwards can't drop any more touchdown passes.
9. This will probably be my final postgame Jets post of the season, as I'm scheduled to fly to San Diego next Sunday morning. I will then be in LA the following weekend for the conference championship games.
10. I was originally planning to fly out early Friday morning, but then decided (because of shabbos starting at around 4:30) that it isn't a good idea to fly cross country in the winter on a Friday. If the Pats lose and I am landing in San Diego just before kickoff of Jets vs. Chargers, I won't be happy. If the flight is delayed, I will be even less happy.
If New England loses, I will immediately try to formulate a plan to be at Qualcomm Stadium next Sunday.
posted on 1/09/2010
