From today's Post:
Jets fans wondering if their team actually is any good can take solace in this: At least you don’t root for the Giants.
For the first time since Christmas Eve in 2011, it is clear the Jets are the best football team in town.
Was the 19-14 win over the Raiders sloppy? Absolutely. Do the Raiders stink? Of course. But if you watched both the Jets and Giants play this week, it is clear the Jets are New York’s only hope of having a playoff team.
If you have any doubt, ask yourself this: If the two teams were stocks, which one would you buy?
The Jets have the best defensive front seven east of Seattle, a two-pronged rushing attack that will give defensive coordinators fits, a suddenly confident quarterback and a few weapons for him to target.
The Giants offense looks like a tourist in Times Square trying to find his way around town. Eli Manning looks lost, the offensive line can’t block and the rebuilt secondary was torn apart by the Lions in the 35-14 loss Monday night.
Jets coach Rex Ryan can crow about being the big brother around here again.
During his first two seasons here, Ryan’s Jets overshadowed the Giants with two runs to the AFC title game. Everything changed on Dec. 24, 2011, when Victor Cruz raced past Kyle Wilson, Antonio Cromartie and Eric Smith on his way to a 99-yard touchdown just before halftime that erased a 7-3 Jets lead on the way to a 29-14 Giants win, sending the two teams in vastly different directions.
The Giants won the Super Bowl six weeks later while the Jets imploded. The following year the Jets got Tebow, went 6-10 then underwent radical changes. The Giants missed the playoffs, but at 9-7 still clearly were superior.
Last year, even as the Giants started off 0-6, it was clear the Jets were a middling team and never a real threat to make the playoffs. The Jets ended up 8-8 and the Giants 7-9, but both teams were just mediocre.
Now, the Jets have moved back ahead.
This is not just based on Sunday’s win over a rookie quarterback. It’s based on evaluating the two rosters. The Jets clearly are better in several areas, especially up front.
The defensive line comparison has done a complete 180-degree turn in the past few years. The Giants once set the standard for defensive line play during their Super Bowl runs, when they seemed to have endless pass rushers. The Jets have thrown first-round picks at defensive linemen for three straight years and now have the best run-stuffing group in the NFL. The Giants now have Jason Pierre-Paul and a bunch of guys. Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson lead a Jets group that looks unstoppable at times.
The Jets offensive line pushed around the Raiders on Sunday and kept quarterback Geno Smith off the turf for most of the day. If this group wipes out the penalties, it could be one of the league’s best. The Giants offensive line could get Manning killed.
At running back, the tandem of Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory looks like everything the Jets imagined in the offseason. Rashad Jennings had a nice preseason for the Giants, but behind that line it’s hard to imagine him putting up big numbers.
Then, there’s the quarterback. Though no one can say Smith is better than Manning yet, it is fair to ask who would you rather have right now. Smith is 23 and looks more confident than he did all of his rookie year. Manning is 33 and looks as uncertain as he has since his rookie year. When Smith throws an interception, you say he’s learning. When Manning does, you think he’s done.
Smith also can create plays with his legs, something Manning is incapable of. When a pass play breaks down, Smith still can get you a first down. Like their two teams, one quarterback’s stock is going up while the other’s is falling.
About the only area where the Giants have an advantage is in the secondary, and even that did not look too good Monday night. I might owe Jets general manager John Idzik an apology if Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie continues to play like that.
The two teams don’t meet on the field this regular season — the next matchup comes in 2015 — so this debate won’t be settled there. But we will see in four months whether there is playoff talk around here. If there is, you can bet Ryan and the Jets will be the ones doing the talking.
Vick tricks no good
Michael Vick played three plays in Sunday’s season opener for the Jets. That’s three too many.
The Jets just need to let Vick be a backup quarterback, you know, the job they brought him here to do.
He can mentor Geno Smith and relieve him if necessary this year. Why the Jets feel the need to get cute with him is baffling.
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Michael Vick
Photo: Paul J. Bereswill
You could see this coming for months if you saw the Jets practice. They had plays planned for Vick, and they unveiled them Sunday. He was in for one basic read-option play (Smith can’t just handle that?) then lined up as a slot receiver on two plays near the goal line. On one of those plays, he took a pitch from Chris Johnson then threw an incomplete pass intended for Eric Decker.
Chris Ivory averaged 10.2 yards per carry Sunday. Johnson averaged 5.2. Why not just give them the ball near the goal line instead of running a play straight out of gym class?
“I get it, I know where you’re coming from on that, because after it doesn’t work you probably ask yourself the same question, as you, and me, and every Jets fan would,” coach Rex Ryan said. “But really, that’s not the case. We had some great preparation things. We felt really confident in the calls that we had, and it just unfortunately never worked out that way.”
The last time the Jets tried to get cute with a backup quarterback we all remember how it worked out.
They are heading down the same road with Vick. They should tear these pages out of the playbook now.
Jets fans wondering if their team actually is any good can take solace in this: At least you don’t root for the Giants.
For the first time since Christmas Eve in 2011, it is clear the Jets are the best football team in town.
Was the 19-14 win over the Raiders sloppy? Absolutely. Do the Raiders stink? Of course. But if you watched both the Jets and Giants play this week, it is clear the Jets are New York’s only hope of having a playoff team.
If you have any doubt, ask yourself this: If the two teams were stocks, which one would you buy?
The Jets have the best defensive front seven east of Seattle, a two-pronged rushing attack that will give defensive coordinators fits, a suddenly confident quarterback and a few weapons for him to target.
The Giants offense looks like a tourist in Times Square trying to find his way around town. Eli Manning looks lost, the offensive line can’t block and the rebuilt secondary was torn apart by the Lions in the 35-14 loss Monday night.
Jets coach Rex Ryan can crow about being the big brother around here again.
During his first two seasons here, Ryan’s Jets overshadowed the Giants with two runs to the AFC title game. Everything changed on Dec. 24, 2011, when Victor Cruz raced past Kyle Wilson, Antonio Cromartie and Eric Smith on his way to a 99-yard touchdown just before halftime that erased a 7-3 Jets lead on the way to a 29-14 Giants win, sending the two teams in vastly different directions.
The Giants won the Super Bowl six weeks later while the Jets imploded. The following year the Jets got Tebow, went 6-10 then underwent radical changes. The Giants missed the playoffs, but at 9-7 still clearly were superior.
Last year, even as the Giants started off 0-6, it was clear the Jets were a middling team and never a real threat to make the playoffs. The Jets ended up 8-8 and the Giants 7-9, but both teams were just mediocre.
Now, the Jets have moved back ahead.
This is not just based on Sunday’s win over a rookie quarterback. It’s based on evaluating the two rosters. The Jets clearly are better in several areas, especially up front.
The defensive line comparison has done a complete 180-degree turn in the past few years. The Giants once set the standard for defensive line play during their Super Bowl runs, when they seemed to have endless pass rushers. The Jets have thrown first-round picks at defensive linemen for three straight years and now have the best run-stuffing group in the NFL. The Giants now have Jason Pierre-Paul and a bunch of guys. Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson lead a Jets group that looks unstoppable at times.
The Jets offensive line pushed around the Raiders on Sunday and kept quarterback Geno Smith off the turf for most of the day. If this group wipes out the penalties, it could be one of the league’s best. The Giants offensive line could get Manning killed.
At running back, the tandem of Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory looks like everything the Jets imagined in the offseason. Rashad Jennings had a nice preseason for the Giants, but behind that line it’s hard to imagine him putting up big numbers.
Then, there’s the quarterback. Though no one can say Smith is better than Manning yet, it is fair to ask who would you rather have right now. Smith is 23 and looks more confident than he did all of his rookie year. Manning is 33 and looks as uncertain as he has since his rookie year. When Smith throws an interception, you say he’s learning. When Manning does, you think he’s done.
Smith also can create plays with his legs, something Manning is incapable of. When a pass play breaks down, Smith still can get you a first down. Like their two teams, one quarterback’s stock is going up while the other’s is falling.
About the only area where the Giants have an advantage is in the secondary, and even that did not look too good Monday night. I might owe Jets general manager John Idzik an apology if Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie continues to play like that.
The two teams don’t meet on the field this regular season — the next matchup comes in 2015 — so this debate won’t be settled there. But we will see in four months whether there is playoff talk around here. If there is, you can bet Ryan and the Jets will be the ones doing the talking.
Vick tricks no good
Michael Vick played three plays in Sunday’s season opener for the Jets. That’s three too many.
The Jets just need to let Vick be a backup quarterback, you know, the job they brought him here to do.
He can mentor Geno Smith and relieve him if necessary this year. Why the Jets feel the need to get cute with him is baffling.
Modal Trigger
Michael Vick
Photo: Paul J. Bereswill
You could see this coming for months if you saw the Jets practice. They had plays planned for Vick, and they unveiled them Sunday. He was in for one basic read-option play (Smith can’t just handle that?) then lined up as a slot receiver on two plays near the goal line. On one of those plays, he took a pitch from Chris Johnson then threw an incomplete pass intended for Eric Decker.
Chris Ivory averaged 10.2 yards per carry Sunday. Johnson averaged 5.2. Why not just give them the ball near the goal line instead of running a play straight out of gym class?
“I get it, I know where you’re coming from on that, because after it doesn’t work you probably ask yourself the same question, as you, and me, and every Jets fan would,” coach Rex Ryan said. “But really, that’s not the case. We had some great preparation things. We felt really confident in the calls that we had, and it just unfortunately never worked out that way.”
The last time the Jets tried to get cute with a backup quarterback we all remember how it worked out.
They are heading down the same road with Vick. They should tear these pages out of the playbook now.
