The Jets Are Better than Mediocre

The Jets 28-20 victory over the Bills on Sunday has the team at 2-1. The Jets were once again led by their passing attack and their running game again failed to get on track. What is clear is that the Jets have an above average passing game led by two tough, physical wide receivers in Laverneus Coles and Jericho Cotchery. Both of these players are not afraid to make catches over the middle and excel at coming down with the ball in a crowd. With Chad Pennington's excellent accuracy and football smarts, the passing game should be as good as Pennington's health will let them. Pennington has been getting excellent protection from his young offensive line which has allowed him to pick apart opposing defenses.

That same offensive line has struggled in the run game. Combined with the loss of Curtis Martin, the Jets running game has really suffered. However, I would expect big improvements as the season continues. Nick Mangold and D'Brickshaw Ferguson are both rookie 1st round picks. Often with offensive lineman, the pass protection is light years ahead of the run blocking. As these two key players gain more experience, the running attack should improve. I would expect that Kevin Barlow will be the primary running back as Derrick Blaylock has shown he can't handle the job. Speedy Leon Washington should also get some touches because of his big play ability and game breaking speed.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Jets epitomized the "bend but don't break defense." They gave up an obscene amount of rushing yards to Willis McGahee and allowed J.P. Losman to have a career passing day. Yet they were able to keep the Bills of the scoreboard when it mattered. They continue to play a 3-4 even though they are better suited for the 4-3. As predicted by many, myself included, former 1st round pick Dewayne Robertson has struggled as a nosetackle as the team has proven unable to shut down the run. The Jets have four solid linebackers although they have struggled to create a pass rush. The saving grace thus far has been the secondary who not only have played well, but emerging star Kerry Rhodes has proven an effective pass rusher and has caused 3 fumbles in the last 2 games. There is cause for concern as the Jets cannot count on their secondary to pressure the QB and certainly cannot count on Rhodes creating turnovers every game.

The kicking game has been inconsistent. Punter Ben Graham had a very good day against Buffalo after being one of the main culprits against New England. Mike Nugent has been fine since his opening day failures, although he hasn't really been tested. I was frustrated by his kickoffs against the Bills as he failed to reach the endzone even with a strong wind behind him.
At the end of the day, there are two factors that I believe will keep the Jets in the hunt for the wildcard all year. The first is the coaching. I have been very impressed with the Jets game plan each game. They have come out and played hard and smart. The offense especially has been more dynamic than in the past. Brian Schottenheimer deserves a lot of credit. However, the schedule is really where the Jets success can be found. Their remaining schedule includes Detroit, Cleveland, Houston, Green Bay, Buffalo again, Oakland, and a very beatable Miami team (twice). As a young team in transition, I would not expect them to win all of those games. However, from what I have seen winning 6 of 8 out of that group is possible, if not likely. That would put them at 8 wins. The difference between being 8-8 and vying for a playoff spot is whether or not they can pull off an upset against Indy, Jax, New England, Chicago, or Minnesota.

The truth is that the Jets can make it to the playoffs with the schedule they have. However, with the schedule they have the playoffs means nothing. All it means is that the Jets were the best of the bad and mediocre teams. Still, that's not a bad thing for a first year coach and a changing team. I was worried about 6-10. I read that the experts thought more like 3-13. I can more than live with 9-7. Lets go Jets, keep proving people wrong.