Weekly Jets Blog Week 8

Another week, another humiliating loss for the Jets. An embarrassing 30-25 defeat to the Dolphins dropped the Jets to 4-4, an ugly mark considering the fact that the team started 3-0. Football in New York has been pretty degrading overall, seeing that the Giants have lost their last 3 and that the Bills are once again in the cellar of the AFC East.
A constant theme for Gang Green has been losing despite great defensive efforts. You wouldn’t have guessed this from the final score, but it’s the truth. The Jets defensive only gave up 10 points to a strong Dolphins’ offense, yielding just 3 points before the 4th quarter. The Jets held Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, two of the hottest running backs in football, to just 27 rushing yards each. No Dolphin recorded more than 41 receiving yards as Bart Scott led the Jets D statistically once again.
The Achilles heel was special teams. Again, the Jets showed some very positive signs in defeat, specifically two huge tackles by kicker Jay Feely. Nevertheless, the Dolphins recorded 14 points on special teams on two kickoff returns for TDs by Ted Ginn. Nothing hurts a team’s moral more than having a score of theirs being erased the very next play by the other team. Another one-play killer was when Jason Taylor recovered a Shonn Greene fumble and returned it for a touchdown.
The Jets defense also wreaked havoc on Miami QB Chad Henne, who only completed 12 passes for 112 yards. Mark Sanchez had a great day for the Jets, completed 20 passes for 265 yards and 2 TDs with no interceptions. Thomas Jones had another good game on the ground with 102 rushing yards.
By looking at the stats, you couldn’t believe that the Jets lost this game. In other losses, like the one to the Saints, the reasons for defeat were more obvious. It just goes to show that to be a great football team and to win big games, you have to be able to win every side and aspect of the game. This may not always be true, but the intangibles and the little things can be just as key to a victory as the more obvious parts. The Jets have a much-needed bye week where they can hopefully work out the kinks and try to build on other aspects than rushing and defense.
The key for Gang Green will be to not overlook a matchup with the pathetic 3-4 Jaguars in Week 10, seeing that the Jets have a huge rematch with the Patriots in Foxboro. The Jaguars are 1-3 on the road and were the first team to lose to the dreadful Titans this season. Nevertheless, they have dynamic running back Maurice Jones-Drew and extra-inspiration from their coach, Jack Del Rio. Rio publically insulted his team’s defense and also made them practice in full pads. A romping of the Chiefs could be a good warmup for their matchup with the Jets in the Meadowlands. Both teams realize that they’ll have to get serious if they want to be in the playoff picture towards the end of the year. This game could be more interesting than their records entail as both teams fight for their playoff hopes as well as for respect.