Brett Favre’s debut in a New York Jets uniform was muddled by poor, inconsistent play by the rest of the team.
First things first, Brett Favre looked good. Given what the fans got to see of him for 14 plays, Favre made good decisions, sharp passes, and connected for his first exhibition touchdown as a New York Jet when he hit Dustin Keller with a four-yard bolt.
That’s Brett’s evening in a nutshell.
But the Jets’ problems against the Redskins stemmed from something much more disgusting. Mental errors, terrible decisions, and uninspired performances allowed the Redskins to squeak by with a 13-10 victory in the final minutes of the game.
In film noir fashion, I shall tell the story from the end. This tale is a tragedy; suspenseful at times, it manages to string along the audience with a false sense of hope. For every moment our heroes appeared ready to prevail, opportunities slipped away until their inevitable demise.
How does Mike Nugent miss a 23-yard field goal? Last week, I wrote that he looked to be living up to his potential as the team’s first-overall pick in 2005. This week, he looked like the same old Nugget. He missed a 43-yard field goal in the third quarter against the wind. But missing a 23-yard chip shot that would have sent the game into overtime is inexcusable.
Nugent’s missed field goal was only the final strike in a dying effort. The blade was already sharpened when Eric Mangini decided to send a preseason game into overtime and disregard an attempt to win the game from inside the five.
A dropped pass by a wide-open Paul Raymond in the end zone likely lost him a roster spot. He looked good on the opening day of training camp, but missing an opportunity to win a game when the Redskins' defense blew their coverage is unacceptable.
That final drive didn’t come without its highs. Jason Pociask showed an impressive ability to stay on his feet after taking a short pass another 30 yards. Jesse Chatman showed off his resilience, as he broke tackles at the line of scrimmage and scampered for another 17 yards.
And sixth-round draft pick Marcus Henry used his height as he emerged as a legitimate possession receiver, making tough grabs in the middle of the field.
Despite the fight those four men put up against the Redskins' defense, it wasn’t enough to battle back from the critical error James Ihedigbo made on the Redskins' final drive. Rather than knock the ball down, he went for an interception when there was no safety support behind him. The Redskins’ Jason Goode capitalized on Ihedigbo’s ridiculous attempt and took the ball 33 yards to the end zone.
I’d like to be brutally honest for a moment. When I say that Brett Ratliff should be the second quarterback on this roster, I want you to know that I mean it. I understand that it’s a far cry from three months ago when I declared my support for Kellen Clemens, but there are differences in their styles of play that cannot be denied.
While Clemens struggled out of the snap, Ratliff rolled off pressure and made plays.
10 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Jack Anderson 10 months ago
Nice recap yourself! Excellent point about Jones. Sometimes I feel the same way about Portis. He lacks the passion at times. Also we knocked down five of your QBs passes at the line. That's never good. Ratliff should definitely be the backup. He will progress nicely with Favre ahead of him.
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Andrew Mason 10 months ago
thank you for not making your article headline something like: Brett Farve Awesome Debut as he passes for a TD but Jets still lose.
I am sick of all the headlines that make Brett look likes a god. Personally i think he was being an a** to the packers with that tearful goodbye in March and then in July after the team moved on "I want to come back".
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Angel Navedo 10 months ago
Oh, it was my pleasure. I'm just as happy as any Jets' fan to have Favre here, but I'm a fan of the team first. I think I'm in store for some serious headaches this season as national media coverage revolves around Brett and ignores what the Jets' do as a team.
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Mackenzie Kraemer 10 months ago
Good article, but I think you're too harsh. For a preseason game, I was just happy to see improvement from game 1 to game 2, and there was plenty of improvement. Plus, that Favre guy looked good.
Favre will get all the credit (or blame) from the national media though, which is somewhat annoying. Hopefully it will motivate the rest of the team.
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Angel Navedo 10 months ago
It's possible that I was too harsh. The thing is, these guys practice to iron out these mental errors and inconsistencies. I'd like to see more intelligent instinct than excusable errors, you know?
But Christ, you're right when it comes to the media coverage. I read an article by Mark Cannizzaro this morning where he said the rest of the game "doesn't matter" as long as Favre played well. Absolutely atrocious.
A month ago, the Jets were a team who, despite their offseason transactions, still needed a lot of work. Now that Favre is here, the impression is that the team lives and dies with him? Totally unacceptable. The team's follies can't serve as a footnote to Brett's brief performance.
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Chris Vanderheyden 10 months ago
Welcome to the world as it revolves around Brett. As a life-long Packer fan living here in GB, it's been a roller-coaster, a lot of touchdowns and a lot of interceptions. I actually live two doors down from Brett and my kids went to school with Brealigh for two years, take it from someon who knows, he does walk on water.....acoording to some, not me. I'm a student of the game and believe in team work which should receive both criticism and accolades as unit. For 16 years, it was amazing to hear the media give Brett his praise but not give credit to his o-line or receivers. He's one of those no-no-no-ok-ok-yes-yes kind of QBs, just ask Holmgren and Sherman, they went through as many bottles of Tums as I did for 16 years.
Good luck this year.
J-E-T-S JETS, JETS, JETS and Go Pack Go!
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Craig Garrison Sr 10 months ago
Well written piece. I still can't believe Mangenius wanted overtime in this game. Incredible.
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Angel Navedo 10 months ago
It's definitely peculiar. Maybe he thinks that outside of the box approach will help maintain his Mangenius moniker. He didn't do much to build it, that's for sure.
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Curly Morris 10 months ago
Good recap because I only caught the highlights on NFL.com. I noticed you went the entire piece without ever mentioning the name Vernon Gholston. I don't know if that a good or bad thing.
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Angel Navedo 10 months ago
haha! I don't know yet either. He got some reps in with the first team, but he still looks to be about 2 steps too slow. Watching him play, you can really tell he's thinking about his first step rather than being controlled by instincts. But his performance this week was a re-run of last weeks, so there was really nothing new to add.
I haven't decided if I'd prefer to see him make mistakes at 100% or look lost at 65%. The coaches are really trying to give him a shot. Hopefully he finds a way to make something worthwhile out of his opportunities.
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