I'd Rather Get Beat Up In an Alley: Monday not My Funday

Once again, being a Jets fan this week was an excruciatingly painful experience.

Growing pains were to be expected when the Jets went and got Brett Favre.  They were on display for the entire country to see last night.  It looked like in the aftermath of last week’s goal line debacle the Jets opened up the playbook.  Problem is, they all opened it up to different pages.  Favre was throwing balls to empty patches of field turf or to the Charger’s defense instead of to our wide receivers.  There were three turnovers in the first half.  There was also that undeniably stupid onsides kick attempt. Ugly.  Painful to watch. Had we recovered the onside attempt it would have been a great call.  But we didn’t.  So it must be looked upon as a bonehead call.

Despite the turnovers and the questionable calls, it’s the play of our defense that has me worried.  David Barrett made a great interception that he turned into a touchdown.  For a minute I thought our D might dominate Philip Rivers but I was wrong.  So wrong.  Remember Ladanian Tomlinson’s injury and all the talk about how he was having trouble at practice?  That didn’t stop him from getting 26 carries and 2 touchdowns.  The Chargers scored 48 points.  That pretty much says it all.  I knew we were in trouble when Kris Jenkins left the game early.  He left with a back injury that Mangini doesn’t anticipate “being anything serious.”  I hope not because we’re up a creek without him.  I have no idea how Chris Chambers got so wide open but Larry Fitzgerald’s coming to town next week and it scares me.

What’s up with Ben Graham punting again?  He was fired last week.  Then, last night,  I hear “Ben Graham back to punt.”  I thought it was a mistake until I saw the stats sheet today.  Was Mangini just punishing him?  Putting him in the corner for a “time out.”  I guess the replacement punter had an injury.  There’s also the fact that Graham has been the holder for the place kicker.  Whatever the reason, I welcome back the Aussie with open arms.  Maybe we’ll get to see him run with the ball on a fake soon.  Then again, after the bonehead onsides attempt maybe we should hold off on fake punts.

Early in the game Thomas Jones fumbled the ball and then the running game seemed to vanish.  The Jets need to run the ball well next week against the Cardinals.  Actually, they need to be able to run the ball well every week.  Favre’s play action passes will only work if the defense is worried about the run.  Week 1 in Miami was a perfect example of our possible playaction potential.

This is not the devastating loss that ESPN is pimping to the masses.  It was always going to be very hard to win in San Diego with Favre still learning the offense.  The fact that the Chargers hadn’t won a game combined with the way the refs blew it last week just made it even more difficult.   I had the Jets at 1-3 before the season started so from where I’m sitting, we’re right on track.  We were going to take some lumps early on in the season.  That doesn’t make it any easier to watch.  Hopefully the Jets will beat the teams they should over the next seven weeks and we’ll be looking at 7-2 record.

The Cardinals are coming to town next week and they’re bringing their own elder quarterback who isn’t ready for retirement.  They’ve won 2 games but both were against sub-par teams.  Not that the Jets are in any position to judge right now.  If we show up flat next weekend Larry Fitzgerald will have a huge day and the Jets will indeed be on the brink.

I’m going to end this on an uplifting note.  That’s right there were a few bright spots.   Or maybe I’m just rationalizing to make myself feel better.  Whatever the case, the penalties we’ve seen in recent games were almost gone.  The Jets were penalized only twice and ended up losing only 5 yards.  Also, our kick returns were outstanding.  Leon Washington is a stud.  Bona Fide. 100% stud.  He looks like he drinks Gummy Berry Juice right before he fields the kick.  Hard to tackle.  Hard to catch.  Bouncing here and there and everywhere… tell me he doesn’t look a little like Gruffi.