Both New York City NFL teams are among the better teams in the league. On Sunday, the Jets made an effort to come back from their recent slump while the Giants showed vulnerability. Neither team looks quite as good as they did early on in the season. Though, it seems like both teams are on track to challenge for a playoff spot if they can maintain consistency and overcome injuries.
REX AND THE JETS RAID OAKLAND
Everything went right for the Jets in the shutout of Oakland on Sunday afternoon — at least in terms of football. The Jets rolled up over 300 yards on the ground and Mark Sanchez had an impeccable (9 for 15 w/ 143 yards and a TD), though limited, performance. Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene both went for over 100 yards while Greene scored his first two NFL touchdowns.
On defense, the Jets were formidable forcing JaMarcus Russell into three turnovers before he was benched in favor of Bruce Gradkowski. The one thing that did bother me is that both Russell and Gradkowksi seemed to have limited success targeting receivers downfield. Dwight Lowery and Donald Strickland seemed to have a hard time locking down their men and Darrelle Revis even blew an assignment or two. Though, it’s likely this was part of Rex Ryan’s defensive strategy. Oakland is so bad that they depend on a basic passing game that relies heavily on tight end Zach Miller and running backs as receivers. Last week, the Eagles allowed Miller and Gary Russell to catch 11 balls on 16 targets. The Jets held Miller and Russell to just four catches on six targets for only 17 yards. So Rex Ryan’s plan worked out — it’s just annoying to see Louis Murphy and Heyward-Bey actually making plays.
Unfortunately, the injury bug that’s plagued the Jets reared its ugly head again. Leon Washington suffered a gruesome lower leg injury in the first half that was classified as a compound fracture. The bone broke through the skin and required immediate surgery on Sunday night. Rich Cimini of the Daily News thinks that the injury could be “career threatening” and that it likely means the Jets will bring back Thomas Jones. However, that’s basically a knee-jerk reaction. There’s no indication that Washington’s compound fracture was any more serious than a typical open fracture. The Jets didn’t even put him on injured reserve immediately with hope that he could return this season. With Leon likely out for the rest of the season, the Jets will have to make adjustments in the passing game and pick a new return man. It also shakes up the running back situation for 2010. Next offseason, Thomas Jones is due a $3 million roster bonus. TJ is quality and you have to respect what he brings to the table. Though, guys like Mike Bell, Correll Buckhalter, Fred Jackson, etc. are all useful RB2 types that make less than Jones’ potential bonus. The Jets could even target LenDale White, who’s scheduled to be a free agent, or they could simply draft a new running back instead of pay the hefty price for TJ.
The Jets seem to have righted the ship for now. The Jets schedule is seemingly favorable for the rest of the season. In the next three games, the Jets will play their most important (and two of the last three) divisional games against Miami (next week) and New England (week 11). You can bet that Rex and co. will be studying the Patriots during the week nine bye even though they face Jacksonville in week 10. If the Jets can beat the Pats, they can make a push for the best divisional record in the AFC East. The Jets face both Tampa Bay and Carolina in their remaining games and finish with a brutal stretch against Atlanta, Indianapolis and Cincinnati. The most interesting matchup may come on December 3rd against Buffalo in Toronto when Mark Sanchez gets a chance to make up for the worst game of his career and potentially move the Jets into a favorable standing in the division.
GIANTS SUFFER CRUSHING HOME DEFEAT
Facing the man that kept the seat warm for Eli Manning, the Giants fell to the Cardinals in the Meadowlands last night. It was seemingly a favorable matchup for New York since the Cardinals were banged up at receiver and lacked a true primary running back.
The good news is that Hakeem Nicks is emerging as the go-to receiver for the Giants. The rookie is averaging a whopping 19.7 yards per catch and now has 315 receiving yards while scoring a TD in each of the last four games. It’s also worth noting that Steve Smith was targeted 10 times but only made four catches. Due to watching the Yankee game, I’m not sure if this was the result of coverage or drops. Though, it seems to indicate that Smith is getting much more attention than he was early in the season.
It’s likely that the Giants faced the inevitable slump brought on by a rash of injuries. The Giants were already without LB Michael Boley (knee), DT Chris Canty (calf), and S Kenny Phillips (knee) while Aaron Ross (hamstring) also missed the game. Other than injuries, Eli Manning’s poor overall performance contributed to the New York loss. The former number one overall pick was just 19 of 37 and threw three picks.
The Giants are certainly a power in the NFC East and should be a decent bet for a playoff berth. However, they’re not quite as good as advertised (hyped?). Injuries are the primary concern at this point and it’s hard to believe they can be a contender with Ahmad Bradshaw seemingly outperforming Brandon Jacobs. At the same time, the Giants are 5-2 and that record includes four “gimmes” against Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Oakland, and Washington. It’s likely the Giants will be pretty close to .500 during the next nine games of the season. The schedule is considerably more difficult with opponents including Philadelphia (twice), San Diego, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, and Minnesota.
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"Injuries are the primary concern at this point and it’s hard to believe they can be a contender with Ahmad Bradshaw seemingly outperforming Brandon Jacobs."
Were you watching the same game I was? I think it became clear last night that Bradshaw is not a primary back, esp. when teams game plan for him. But Jacobs looked pretty good. First Giants game I saw live, and it made me think that Jacobs's woes are tied to the playcalling more than his performance. Most of the time when Jacobs ran it, it was eminently predictable (both situation and his presence in the lineup). And yet he still had some nice runs. I think they need to have Jacobs in there on more passing situations just to mix it up, make defenses guess, and because he's a better blocker than Bradshaw. To have Jacobs average like 7 ypc last night and only get the ball 11 times (esp. when Eli was getting killed and Bradshaw was blowing goats) is pretty retarded.
Well, I was watching the Yankee game — so we probably weren't watching the same game. But yeah, I actually agree with you. Brandon Jacobs should get AT LEAST 20 carries per game and Bradshaw should be the change-of-pace/closer. You're definitely on the right track about getting Jacobs on the field in different scenarios so the Giants are less predictable.