Jets Slumber through Nightmare on All-Hallows

The vaunted Jets offensive arsenal was as dormant last Sunday as Halloween specters on All Saints day. There is literally no explanation for their all-inclusive ineptness outside of being accursed. Or at least that was how it seemed, both for the frustrated fans, as well as for Gang Green. The ordinarily reliable receiver Jerricho Cotchery, (who dropped several key passes, including a long bomb over the middle, as well has having a caught ball stolen from him by cornerback Tramon Williams) stated: "I don't ever want to play on Halloween again, I can tell you that much." Head Coach Rex Ryan was unusually free of his bluster and bombast; in humbled tone all he could say was “I wish we could play it again — do it over — but there are no do-overs in this league.”

Indeed, there are not. Spoiling a sterling effort on the part of the Jets defense, which basically held Mr. Rodgers’ offensive juggernaut scoreless until the fourth quarter – the first field goal being the result of a dubious decision by Punter Steve Weatherford, who faked a punt on 4 th and 18 from the Jets 20 – their were a myriad of culprits responsible for the first Jet shutout at home since 2006. The Offensive Line could not open up any holes for the Jets potent running attack, as LaDanian Tomlinson and Shonn Green were grounded and pounded into submission. The Packers were obviously intent on slowing down the running attack, forcing QB Mark Sanchez to beat them. The Sanchise fell short; his game stats were 15-38, for 256 yards with two interceptions. Mark took the blame for the poor performance of the passing attack, but in truth, more then a half-dozen passes were dropped by a myriad of receivers, including a drop by a wide open Santonio Holmes in the third quarter, which would have likely gone for a touchdown. Holmes, the All-Pro free agent and Super Bowl hero from the Steelers, who has made a puzzlingly slow transition as the Jets primary receiver since he returned to action after a four week suspension, was unavailable for comment after the game, stating that he needed to respond to a “family emergency.” Not so with their other troubled wide-out, Braylon Edwards, who also chipped in with several dropped passes. Edwards’s unique take on the situation was that the Jets had perhaps too many offensive weapons, and that Offensive Coordinator Marty Schottenheimer was engaged in attempting to please all of them by sharing the opportunities. Translating Edwards’s critique, Braylon actually meant that Sanchez just needed to “Throw me the damned ball”; when he was advised that Sanchez had only thrown the ball his way four times in the game, Edwards’ sarcastic response was “that many?” However, the following day Edwards revised his stance, stating that he had sympathy for Sanchez, and gave praise to the oft-criticized Schottenheimer: "Maybe [Schottenheimer] is sitting back and trying to make sure the ball's being distributed equally. If so, that's a tough job on a coordinator, trying to balance out the numbers." One thing for certain; Marty was significantly out-coached by Dom Capers, the Packers Defensive Coordinator, who exposed all of the Jets somewhat predictable offensive tendencies. The thought is that other NFL teams will meticulously study the game films, and if the Jets don’t adjust, their offense might well be bogged down for the near future.

> Buy NY Jets jerseys & fan apparel online through Pro Football Fans, find NFL Fathead wall stickers or check the updated NFL scores!

There were plenty of others who shared the blame for the fiasco. Coach Ryan’s praise of kicker Nick Folk, who had previously been successful on 13 – 15 field goal attempts, will probably be muted after his attempt of a 37 yard field goal went wide right in the third quarter; at the time a successful field goal would have tied the score at 3-3. Many observers also questioned Ryan’s use of his allotted challenges. In the fourth quarter, Dustin Keller had a catch ripped out of his hands by cornerback Charles Woodson, which was ruled an interception. A replay of the catch made it clear that Keller was already grounded when the ball was stolen. However, Rex had already used his two challenges, at least one of them on a seemingly insignificant play; the interception stood, and a promising Jet drive was stalled. Ryan defended the utilization of the Jets challenges, but he seemed to be on the defensive. Summing up the afternoon, Jets linebacker Calvin Pace had this to say: “Weird day all the way around, man.”

With the loss to the Packers, the Jets record is now 5-2. The Patriots, who beat the Vikings on Sunday, took over first place in the AFC East, with a mark of 6-1. Next week they go on the road to face the emergent Detroit Lions, who are quite dangerous playing at home. The game becomes critical, as New York cannot afford to fall two games back to Belichick’s bunch.

By: Paul J. Nebenfuhr
ProFootball-fans.com New York Jets Correspondent