The State of the (AFC East) Nation, Part 3

S/R Staff class="post-date-wrap left relative post-date-mob">

September 7, 2013

Predicting a rough start for the Jets

So, I struggled to write this article for quite a while. I try to keep my tone humorous, while maintaining a realistic point of view, but when it comes to the New York Jets, I kept coming back to this image:

This fire may or may not be fueled by the last remaining shreds of Rex Ryan’s dignity, Woody Johnson’s sanity, and Geno Smith’s copy of the playbook.

Frankly speaking, the Jets are not as much of a mess as the mainstream media tries to make us believe. Yes, they have the options of Bad, Bad Rookie, and Bad Undrafted Rookie at quarterback. Yes, they have the like of Stephen Hill, Jeremy Kerley, and approximately 1/4 of Santonio Holmes for the aforementioned quarterbacks to throw to. Yes, they have multiple untested, unproven options at running back. But the offense has never been what one would call good for the entirety of Rex Ryan’s tenure in New York; defense is what this team has been sailing on for 4 years and defense is still one of their strengths. After losing Darelle Revis in a trade to Tampa Bay, they drafted a young CB in Dee Milliner in the first round of the draft. With their second first round pick, they picked up DT Sheldon Richardson, adding young talent to an already formidable defensive line group, which includes stud Mohammed Wilkerson. Linebacker is still a weakness, as is Safety, but the one thing Rex Ryan does well is scheme defenses. That unit will keep the Jets in games that their abysmal offense will keep them from winning.

The Jets have one of the worst offensive rosters I’ve ever seen in all the years I’ve been watching football, and folks, I’m a Bills fan. I honestly don’t see how they’ll score points this season. Geno Smith is the starter, but he’s shown poor judgement, a lack of play making ability, and general poor accuracy whether on the run or in the pocket. The running game is relying on the fragile Chris Ivory and the possible drug addicted Mike Goodson. There’s virtually no threat of a deep passing game, because Stephen Hill can’t catch a cold. And what’s worse, their Week 1 match up, Tampa Bay, stacks up very well against the few things the Jets have to offer.

Tampa Bay has a QB in Josh Freeman who is generally considered to be “mediocre”, but when he has targets like Mike Williams and Vincent Jackson, he can appear elite. Antonio Cromartie is a fantastic #1 CB, but Dee Milliner will have his hands full in his first NFL start. Tampa also has a good offensive line to block for Doug Martin, a surprise top 5 RB in 2012. The defensive line of the Jets will be hard pressed to contain him and if they don’t, the weak LB and S corp of the Jets could give up a lot of big gains. On defense, the presence of Revis and Dashon Goldson boost the very weak Tampa secondary and should make life very hard for Geno Smith and his WRs. The Tampa defensive line was surprisingly good in 2012 and they can contain Chris Ivory for the 10 snaps he’s healthy.