Still Sticking with Chad in NY

Two days after saying he would evaluate the entire team, including the starting quarterback, coach Eric Mangini announced Wednesday that Pennington will start against Buffalo on Sunday.

"I went back through the tape, looked at it and felt very good about the decision-making process," Mangini said, referring to Pennington's performance in the Jets' loss at Cincinnati. "There were quite a few plays that I really liked."

With the Jets struggling at 1-6, fans and members of the media have been calling for Kellen Clemens to start, mostly based on the second-year quarterback's stronger arm and solid performance in Week 2 in relief of an injured Pennington.

--AP

Whenever a teams goes 1-6, fans, media, etc. are going to start doubting the QB. That is just how football is. For Chad Pennington, the fact that there is a young #2 QB who has gained media and fan hype right behind him only increases the pressure.

While Clemens has shined in preseason play and nearly took the Jets down the field to beat the Ravens in week 2, he could underperform. Judging how a player will handle a starting QB spot in the NFL is always a coinflip.

Let us not forget Ryan Leaf.

In more recent times, Vince Young by many accounts, including mine, wasn't considered NFL ready when he took over the starting job for the Titans. Matt Leinart, however, was deemed NFL ready. Long story short, Young turned out to be the better player out of the gate.

Personally, with where the Jets are right now, I would like to see Clemens get the job. He looks ready to take over, and if he falls flats on his face, at least the Jets will know they need to be looking for a new QB during the off season.