16-0. Accomplishment Or Albatross For Colts, Saints?

The New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts are both 11-0 and headed for the No. 1 seed in their respective conferences with a possible Super Bowl match-up to end a story book season for both franchises.

For the first time in NFL history, we have two undefeated and untied teams after 11 weeks of competition. While the thought of each team chasing a perfect season will never be spoken about, should the 1972 Miami Dolphins keep that champagne on ice for now?

The decision by Patriot Head Coach Bill Belichick to go for an undefeated season in 2007 questions the whole rationale of trying to chase perfection given their upset defeat at the hands of the New York Giants, 17-14 and finish the season 18-1.

Any reasonable fan of the game will tell you that while the Miami Dolphins are the only undefeated team in the Super Bowl era, they are hardly considered one of the best teams of all-time. The 2007 New England Patriots by any standard were heads and shoulders far better than the Don Shula led Dolphins who were led by the aging Earl Morrall (38) when Bob Griese was injured early in the 1972 season.

Morrall and Griese threw for just 15 touchdowns compared to Tom Brady’s record setting 50. While the Patriots put up 589 points and 6,580 total yards,  Miami posted just 385 and 5,036!

Even if you account for the fact the Dolphins played just 14 regular season games, the Patriots still scored 523 point in the same stretch and 5,959 total yards in a  true, apples to apples comparison of regular season statistics.

In 1972, the Dolphins had several close contests and scares with the Vikings in Week Three (16-14), Buffalo in Week Six (24-23), the Jets in Week 10 (28-24).

In the Divisional Playoffs the Dolphins needed a last minute score to defeat the Cleveland Browns 20-14 and would have been eliminated in the first round if not for five interceptions thrown by Brown Quarterback Mike Phipps!

For the Patriots, they were never seriously challenged in 2007 until Week Nine when Brady outdueled Peyton Manning for a 24-20 victory. The Baltimore Ravens would give the Patriots all they could handle in Week 13 in a 27-24 loss while the Giants would also force the Patriots to work harder than usual to reach a perfect season in the Meadowlands with a 38-35 win to finally go 16-0.

With another come-from-behind win Sunday, the Indianapolis Colts seem to have the hardest road to 16-0.

They have a very hot Tennessee Titan squad now on a five-game winning streak of their own led by a rejuvenated Vince Young, the former Texas All-American.

The Colts then have the Broncos, the Jaguars, Jets and finish with the Buffalo Bills at Orchard Park, New York. Of there last five games, only the Bills are out of playoff contention.

New Orleans at 11-0 travels to Washington, DC to play the Redskins and then to Atlanta to play the Falcons. The Redskins are out of playoff contention while Atlanta is on the brink of elimination. They then have the Cowboys at the Superdome which could be a potential first round match-up in the playoffs and then the Saints finish with Tampa Bay and Carolina.

Other than the Cowboys, the Saints at worst should finish 15-1 or possibly 14-2 with the Minnesota Vikings just a game behind for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. That should be more than enough motivation for the Saints to try to stay undefeated as long as the Viking remain a single loss behind.

Two undefeated teams in the Super Bowl would make for a historic moment in the NFL, but just don’t count on it just yet. The burden of carrying a 16-0 record into the playoffs seems to be more than enough pressure for any team to handle when trying to win the Super Bowl isn’t pressure enough!

The goal is to become a Super Bowl champion, not an undefeated season.

Having said that, I look for both the Saints and the Colts to sit the regulars once home-field advantage is secured as they prepare for the greater goal of winning the championship of the NFL.

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Patriots Slip To 7-4, Jets Can Climb To .500 Thursday Versus Bills

With the New Orleans Saints routing the New England Patriots Monday night 38-17, the Patriot lead in the AFC East slipped to two games with five still to play.

At 5-6, the New York Jets can take a major step back into playoff consideration with a win in Canada against division rival Buffalo.

Saints Quarterback Drew Brees made mince meat of the New England secondary with five touchdown passes and has 27 on the season. If you had to compare the efforts made by the Jets and the Patriots in the Superdome, New York was at least in the game most of the way!

For the Jets, the future comes down to a Thursday match-up in Canada, which in all likelihood will determine if the Jets will have anything to play for other than pride for the rest of December, particularly the final game of the season against Cincinnati.

It is only fitting the Jet playoff hopes come down to another game with the Buffalo Bills.

In the first meeting of the season, the Jets squandered a 210-yard rushing performance by Thomas Jones in a 16-13 OT loss thanks to five picks tossed by rookie QB Mark Sanchez. Sanchez was a miserable 10-29 for 119 yards and no touchdowns.

Despite 319 yards on the ground, turnovers gave the game to Buffalo.

It was in that contest that quarterback Trent Edwards went down, and Ryan Fitzpatrick took over the Bills on offense. Fitzpatrick was less than mediocre, as he went just 10-25 for 116 yards with one pick and one touchdown.

But the Bills broke a three-game skid this week with an upset of the Miami Dolphins to move to 4-7 under new Head Coach Perry Fewell who replaced the fired Dick Jauron. 

Fitzpatrick played well, going 17-26 for 246 yards and one pick, as well as a 51-yard strike to a revitalized Terrell Owens who had five receptions for 96 yards. Darrelle Revis will have his hands full once again after shutting down Pro Bowlers Randy Moss & Steve Smith since the bye week.

With just three games separating first from the worst in the AFC East, the Jets are once again getting another opportunity to remain a playoff possibility.

While 9-7 might make it for some, 10-6 seems to be more realistic for the Jets unless they get plenty of help along the way.

With the game at a neutral site, the Jets should have an emotional advantage after a solid performance in the Meadowlands. The Bills should be just as pumped to end the Jets’ faint playoff hopes by sweeping the season series, which would leave New York a dismal 1-5 in divisional play for 2009.

It will be that poor divisional record that separates the Jets from mediocrity to a legitimate playoff contender, and that’s too bad because this team should be playing in the post season despite some key injuries and growing pains of a rookie starting quarterback.

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December, January Have Been Harsh For New York Jets

As the New York Jets enter the chill of December at 5-6, they’ll avoid the elements this week with the Buffalo Bills as they play indoors in Toronto, Canada versus the bitter cold of Orchard Park, New York.

While considered a Buffalo home game, the Jets have an the opportunity to reach .500 at 6-6 at a neutral site instead of the home field advantage the Bills would enjoy at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Historically, the months of December and January have been hard on the New York Jets.

In this decade alone, the Jets have entered the December chill .500 or better six times only to go 18-23 in December and 1-2 in January. Since 2000, the New York Jets are 56-55 for the months of September, October and November while just 19-25 in December & January!

The Jets have gone .500 or better only three times in this decade for the month of December (2002, 2004 and 2006). In all three instances, the Jets made the playoffs.

There best December was in 2006 when the Jets entered that month just 6-5 only to finish 4-1 in December and 10-6 overall. In 2008 the Jets entered December 8-3 only to go 1-3 for December and finish 9-7 and out of playoff contention.

While the Jets are just a mediocre 75-80 this decade, they have qualified for the playoffs four times, the most of any stretch in franchise history.

While considered a cold weather team, the Jets have not been cold weather winners much like their counterparts the New York Giants who seem to revel in the elements.

But with just 5 games to play the Jets will play indoors at Toronto, at Tampa Bay, home for Atlanta, on the road at Indianapolis and finish the season at home against Cincinnati on January 3rd for the final game at the Meadowlands.

In effect, the Jets will play indoors twice and in warm weather at least once while hosting the Falcons who already lost to the Giants earlier this season at East Rutherford while finishing up with Cincinnati.

Hopefully for the Jets, that final home game could have playoff implications but mean little to the Bengals who should finish as the #2 , #3 or #4 seed. If that’s the case, the schedule in December could be favorable for at least a 9-7 finish which just might mean a 17th game in 2010.

 

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New York Jet Defense, Revis Harass Carolina Panthers in 17-6 Win

The New York Jets played there most complete game of the season since toppling Tom Brady and New England Patriots in Week Two (16-9) as Darrelle Revis scored the team’s first defensive touchdown of the season in a 17-6 victory.

The Jets improved to 5-6 with five games to play with playoff possibilities still on life support.

While mathematically still in the hunt, the Jets will need to virtually run the table at 10-6 and hope for the best with various tie breakers working against Gang Green.

The defense harassed Panther quarterback Jake Delhomme all day long as he continued to play the worst football of his career.

Delhomme finished 14 for 34 for 130 yards and 4 more INT’s that led to two Jet scores. The Jets got to Delhomme 3 times as he overthrew receivers and looked erratic all day long.

The running game was no better as the Jets held DeAngelo Williams to just 40 yards on 16 carries of which 18 came on one carry.  Jonathan Stewart  carried the ball 9 times for 35 yards and 13 came on one carry. Take away the two big ground gainers, and the Jet defense held the Panthers to just 44 yards all day long!

The only bright spot for the Panther offense was the fact Williams reached the 1,000 yard mark as he pushed his overall total for the season to 1,022.

Mark Sanchez distributed the ball well today as 5 receivers made receptions with Dustin Keller grabbing 4 balls for 68 yards and Braylon Edwards catching an additional 3 balls for for 40 yards. While Sanchez didn’t throw any touchdowns, he managed the game well with a magnificent 13 of 17 for 154 yards and just one INT.

A silence fell over the Meadowlands in the second half when Sanchez was forced out of the pocket and ran to his right looking for the first down marker. The Panthers Richard Marshall grabbed the rookie from behind and forced him out of bounds with Sanchez apparently grabbing at his left knee.

Sitting out for three plays, Sanchez returned after Kellen Clemens briefly took control of the offense and the Jets were forced to punt. Clemens looked flat as he underthrew his receiver and it only confirmed the need for the franchise to get themselves a legitimate back-up for Sanchez as the weather gets colder and the possibility of injury greater in the season’s waning weeks.

Only Jet owner Woody Johnson and GM Mike Tanenbaum can explain why this franchise refuses to invest in a real back-up for the rookie Sanchez!

Upon his return Sanchez threw an ill fated interception which could have opened the door for another second half collapse and Panther comeback.

Steve Smith would make a spectacular catch in the end zone despite great coverage by Revis, but Jet Head Coach Rex Ryan challenged the ruling on the field and Carolina was forced to settle for a John Kasay field goal to make the score 14-6 with about 12 minutes left to play.

The final score came with roughly four minutes to play as Jay Feely booted a 47-yard field goal to extend the Jet lead to 17-6 all but sealing the victory.

After weeks of Rex Ryan talking about his defense, the unit led by Darrelle Revis actually came to play.

Revis proved again why he is an elite, shutdown defender as he held Pro Bowler Steve Smith to just two receptions and no touchdowns. Revis doubled his interception total for the season at four and the Jet defense looked every bit aggressive against the run holding the Panthers to just 75 yards on the ground.

Thomas Jones had another good outing with 75 yards on 25 carries increasing his season yardage total to 959 on a total of 216 carries. With 5 games remaining, Jones is poised to reach 1,000 yards for the fifth consecutive time next week as he improved his all-time yardage total to 8,774 and his 57th lifetime rushing touchdown.

The Jets received some help with the Buffalo Bills defeating the Miami Dolphins 31-14 which leaves both clubs tied at 5-6. Unfortunately for the Jets, the Dolphins hold all tie breakers and the Jets would love to see the New Orleans Saints knock off the Patriots Monday night which would leave New England at 7-4 and the Jets just two games behind in the loss column with five to play.

The Jets will play division rival Buffalo on Thursday in Toronto, Canada in what should be regarded as a neutral site as the Jets seek to get back to .500 in a must win scenario. The Jets are catching a break as they’ll play indoors versus playing at night in chilly Orchard Park where the Jets have historically played poorly in sub zero conditions in past December contests.

With Mark Sanchez showing lots of guts and managing the offense quite well, the Jets just might be able to play themselves back to respectability with the faint hope of a playoff spot should they continue to win while getting some needed help along the way.

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Desperate Carolina Panthers, New York Jets Play to Stay NFL Playoff Relevant

Both teams are on the hot seat with no room for error if the postseason is even a remote possibility for the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers come Sunday in the Meadowlands.

Both 4-6, and both 2-3 on the road as well as at home, the Carolina-New York match-up features two struggling quarterbacks that rely on the running game to get them started. Both hope to get closer to .500 come the final gun.

Jake Delhomme and rookie Mark Sanchez are probably the two worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL outside of Bruce Gradkowski of the hapless Oakland Raiders. Delhomme, who has just 8 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, is playing worse than the rookie Sanchez, who has 10 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Delhomme has passed for 1,885 yards while Sanchez has 1,791.

Both teams bring a strong running game to the table with the Jets’ Thomas Jones and his 884 yards rushing and the Panthers’ DeAngelo Williams, who currently has 982 yards on the ground. Both Williams and Jones should eclipse the 1,000-yard mark come Sunday afternoon.

While the Panthers have the slight edge at wideout with Steve Smith, he’s not having a Steve Smith season with just 45 receptions and four touchdowns in 2009. The Jet passing game has been equally mediocre as Jericho Cotchery and Dustin Keller have been virtually invisible these last two weeks and the Jets could use some production from Braylon Edwards as well if this is going to be a competitive contest.

Despite a complete collapse at 1-6 after the 3-0 start, Jets coach Rex Ryan is sticking with Sanchez as the starter for better or for worse.

Sanchez is coming off his worst game as a pro last week in New England. He threw four picks in a game that has left the Jets all but dead for any tangible postseason possibilities.

Based on the numbers, both teams seem equally matched in terms of personnel and production. The difference seems to be in the coaching, where John Fox has played through some rough patches while the Ryan-led Jets seem to look worse and worse as the season continues to become another typical Jet debacle.

A win by the Panthers would leave them 5-6 with some faint playoff chances should they run the table and get to 10-6. The same would hold true for the Jets, but the schedule seems much tougher than anticipated and if New York could just get back to .500 football, fans will have some hope that Ryan is in fact the right guy to lead the team into a new facility come 2010.

But should the Jets continue to slide, one has to look real hard at keeping Rex Ryan around after all the promise he guaranteed the day he was anointed head coach by the Jet brain trust that seems more like a brain fart.

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Jets’ Sanchez Would Be Wise To Emulate Former Giant Phil Simms

Since the New York Jets see no value in bringing in a mentor for the struggling Mark Sanchez, it looks like former New York Giant great Phil Simms sees potential in this USC standout.

The former Super Bowl MVP, and a first round draft pick himself in 1979, sees plenty of upside in the rookie and that’s a good thing for a player in an organization as dysfunctional as the New York Jets.

Simms is not only a great evaluator of talent, but has a son in the NFL and understands the rigors and trials of becoming a successful starting quarterback in the National Football League.

Thirty years ago Phil Simms was an unknown college quarterback from Moorehead State who swelled into the first round when the San Francisco 49ers worked him out, and even considered passing on a guy named Joe Montana from Notre Dame to get the services of this injured prone kid from Kentucky.

But New York made Phil Simms the seventh pick, and he led the Giants to a 6-4 record as a starter passing for 1,743 yards, and 13 TDs, and 14 INTs in 1979.

Between 1979 and 1983 several injuries, and a lack of confidence by a new head coach named Bill Parcells, saw Simms go the bench in 1983 where he would stay til the sixth game of the season when he found himself in an annual competition for the starting job with Scott Brunner.

Simms would finally wrest the job from Brunner once and for all in 1984, as Simms tossed for over 4,000 yards with 22 TDs as the Giants got back to the playoffs and began their march as a dominant force in the NFC along with the Niners, Redskins, and Bears.

Simms solidified himself in the eyes of Parcells and the organization as a great quarterback with his 22-25 performance in Super Bowl 21, when he outgunned the great John Elway of the Denver Broncos for the first of two Super Bowl rings in his fourteen year career with Big Blue.

Phil Simms finished his career with 95-64 record as a starter and a .597 winning percentage, which should be good enough for a call from Canton sometime in his future.

Phil Simms has gone on to be one of the game’s better color analysts with CBS and a featured motivational speaker and author. If Mark Sanchez can be half of the talent, individual, and leader of former Giant great Phil Simms, his career will be a bright one.

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The Belichick Coaching Tree: In Need of Some Water?

While no one will question the success and Hall of Fame credentials of New England Head Coach Bill Belichick, the saps that have fallen from this tree hardly spell success in the NFL.

In fact, those considered Belichick disciples in the NFL currently have a combined record of 71-90 (Mangini, Saban, Crennel & Groh).

With a winning percentage of just .440, does any mere association with Bill Belichick guarantee an interview for an NFL coaching job?

Hey Rex Ryan: Shut-Up and Coach!

Why would a 46-year old first time head coach get into a war of words with a marginal NFL player in the same division you face twice a year?

Why would a person who’s coached in the NFL for 13 years even engage another player from a rival club?

Why would a head coach who’s never won a single game waste his time in a publicity stunt against a relatively unknown player?

Welcome the 2009 version of head coaching for the New York Jets!

As if watching Herm Edwards and Eric Mangini underperfom and fail in the same capacity, you think the new head coach would have the sensibility to simply coach and build your own team and simply avoid such sophmoric activity?

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