Week 14 Review - Jets

The snow that postponed the Giants-Vikings game and moved it to Detroit tonight apparently grounded the New York Jets as well. For the second week in a row the Jets offense didn't show up and nobody was running around pretending to be an airplane, although Santonio Holmes had a chance to. Trailing 10-0 with just under 5 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter and the Jets deep in Miami territory Holmes dropped a ball that even Luis Castillo would have caught. The Jets were forced to settle for a field goal to make it 10-3 and the offense lost any momentum it was building.

While the defense kept them in the game, the offense looked anemic. The running tandem of LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Green gained 66 yards on 27 carries. Prior to their week 7 bye, Tomlinson had only 1 game in which he averaged less than 4 yards per carry and made GM Mike Tannenbaum look smart for picking him up off the scrap heap from San Diego. However, since that time, Tomlinson has averaged under 4 yards per carry in each game except once and had only 2.6 yards per carry yesterday against Miami. Maybe Chargers GM AJ Smith knew what he was doing when he didn't resign the aging Tomlinson after all.

Mark Sanchez was completely ineffective for the second week in a row. While he did drop a perfectly thrown ball into Holmes' hands that should have been caught for a touchdown, for most of the afternoon Sanchez looked like a young quarterback. Sanchez was 17-44 for 216 yards, an interception, and 4 fumbles, 1 of which was lost. Sure, Sanchez should have had a touchdown pass to Holmes, but he easily could have been intercepted 3 or 4 times as well. After not throwing an interception in the first 5 games of the season, Sanchez has now thrown an interception in 8 straight games, an alarming trend that needs correcting. As bad as Sanchez has looked in the last two weeks, he has also shown a lot of cojones in clutch situations in his young career and it would seem that the Jets do have a quarterback they'll be able to count on for a long time.

Perhaps the worst part of yesterday's game was when Dolphins CB Nolan Carroll was tripped by the Jets strength and conditioning coach, Sal Alosi, along the sideline during a punt late in the 3rd quarter. As Rex Ryan said in the preseason on Hard Knocks there is a difference between having fun and acting like a jackass. Right now the Jets are acting like a bunch of jackasses and this display by Alosi further illustrates that.

After losing 2 straight and falling to 9-4 with trips to Pittsburgh and Chicago looming the Jets have reached a crisis point. I still think that the Jets are one of the 4 best teams in the AFC and I expect them to be playing at New England or Pittsburgh in the 2nd week of the playoffs, but right now they sure look like the same old Jets...

Midseason Grades AFC EAST

Bills- F

I will make this short and sweet. The Oregon Ducks could put up 50 on this team. To say they have bright spots on this team is like saying "W" could win Jeopardy. They'll be picking #1 overall in 2011,2012 and 2013.

Dolphins- B

This is a scrappy team that will rope-a-dope you until you make a mistake, and then POW right in the kisser. That is, unless, they are home. How can you have a winning record and not win any of your first 3 games at home. You must be able to impose your will on teams when you are in you're own home! The addition of Brandon Marshall was a step in the right direction, but may not have been enough to put this team atop this unreal division. Best thing Miami has done is to acquire Mr. Everything on defense, Karlos Dansby. He has played better than advertised. I just don't think the Dolphins have enough to get them into the post season this year.

Jets- B-

Any other year you tell a Jets fan that after 8 weeks they'll be 5-2, they would be excited and their grade would most likely be an A. After this offseason and build up, this team makes you nervous because they seem to not be on the same page every game. When they are firing on all cylinders, they just might be the best team in the league, but every so often they show you a glimpse of just how bad they can be. What got them so far into the playoffs last season was the fact they caught fire near the end of the year, and if it happens again this year the curse of Namath just might be lifted.

Patriots- B+

Tom Brady + Bill Belichick = 10 wins. All they need is the rest of the team to get them 2 more wins and this division is theirs. The '10 Pats eerily remind you of the last Super Bowl winning Pats team, which doesn't bode well for the rest of the NFL. It may not be through the same dominating fashion as they are used to, but not many would be shocked if the Lombardi Trophy is in the hands of Mr. Kraft and the rest of the New England franchise.