THE MONDAY NIGHT MASSACRE

(Yea he's a Saints fan but that expression is priceless)


No folks, there will be no “Monday Night Miracle” here. I don’t hear Jumbo Elliot getting announced as an eligible receiver and last I heard Vinny Testeverde is sitting at home fondling himself waiting for a phone call from Bill Belicheat. No, this is a totally different ball game, I’m M. Q. Shmuck and this is my recap, Go F*** yourself, San Diego.

I feel optimistic when I hear that Tony Kornheiser and Jaws still think the Jets can turn it around with Brett Favre under center. But Jesus Christ could they talk about something else!?!? I’m tired of Brett Favre this, Favre that. Fucker hasn’t done anything since he left Green Bay, so shut the hell up! Let’s talk about how the coaching staff is holding back on the play calls. Let’s discuss why Vernon Ghoulston has been a bust so far (typical OSU defense). I won’t bore you with the obvious, we all saw this coming. Monday night I was stoked for the new “Heroes” premiere but wasn’t too highly fond of watching the Jet/Chargers game just because I knew it was going to be a blowout. So of course I had the TV downstairs and the TV in my room both on playing the game and “Heroes”. I can’t tell you how many times I ran up and down the stairs to catch replays of the game; my quads are still sore. Once it became 38-14 the bottle of Jamison was opened and you don’t f*** with an Irishman and his whiskey at this point (I finished the Patron bottle the weekend before).

OFFENSE:

San Diego Chargers defense has been horrendous. I believe they were giving up 400 yards a game coming into Monday night? Jackpot! Finally, all this talk about how the Jets are going to spread the field and throw down field and have Favre just slinging them to the wideouts might finally come true (but Jet fans know in the back of their minds this means like one play). The pressure was on Mangini and Schottenheimer and they did not deliver.

You can’t beat a team when you turn the ball over 4 times (1 fumble, 3 INT’s.) Especially against the Chargers, who led the league last season in takeaways. And there could have been more but thank God corners are lousy receivers.

The running game was lousy and then non existent after the scoreboard started to get lit up. Jerricho Cotchery is still the best player on the field for the Jets. The man is always hustling and makes big plays. I really thought Coles should have gotten a flag on the Cromartie pick for a touchdown. I really hope the refs didn’t have any soft spots for their game last week against Denver. That’s in the past, don’t let the Jets suffer on that doochebags mistake. Overall it was a sloppy game with a lot of penalties that weren’t called.

Special Teams was phenomenal. With Leon Washington and Cotchery giving the Jets great field position this game should have been a lot closer than it was. Ben Graham was apparently released and then resigned and actually punted the ball well. But no one can be Jeff Feagles.

And Favre always seemed to come up big on Monday nights with Green Bay. But there’s a problem, he’s not in Green Bay. There’s no magic in the Meadowlands or San Diego like there is at Lambeau, I don’t care who you are. I’m not even sure Favre will understand the offense after the bye-week. Sure they’ll have time to straighten up a few things but it looks to me like this might take all season to develop

DEFENSE:

Where are you? Minus all the turnovers I think the Chargers punted like once? The defense couldn’t keep them out of the endzone. It started out good with Barrett’s INT for a touchdown. Of course 3 plays later he drops another potential interception; again, corners are lousy receivers. Kris Jenkins went down with a back injury and never returned and Pouha looked overworked. There was no pass rush and Rivers had plenty of time to throw the ball down field and make plays.

Rookie Dwight Lowery is really coming along and could actually be a great #2 corner. He still needs time to develop but he made some real nice defensive plays, especially one-on-one with Vincent Jackson going down the sideline.

Their overall defensive approach didn’t respect the explosiveness of the Chargers offense. Trying to stop the run and the big play seemed to open up the middle of the field for slant routes and crossing patterns which burned them on a number of times. L.T. was not extremely affective but he did reach the endzone twice.

But just like last week, when the Jets defense needed to make a stop or a play, they couldn’t. Instead they fall back and play it safe and get beat.

OVERALL:

Sometimes I wonder if Mangini and company actually have a gameplan going into a game. To me it looks like they take whatever their opponent gives them and they don’t make the necessary adjustments on the field. There will be a big question in the coaching staff going into the off season if they can’t make a push for the playoffs. The Jets made all those offseason acquisitions to win now and to be more competitive against the rest of the AFC’s elite. But it’s starting to look like it might be too much for Mangini and company to handle. Look at the Yankees for example. They were a dynasty and they did it all with pitching, great defense, and clutch hitting. They spent all that money in free agency adding Giambi, A-Rod, Mussina, Sheffield, Abreu, Pavano etc. and they haven’t won since. I fear this could be a similar outcome for the Jets.
Next week they play a good Arizona team with a strong offense and the best WR tandem in the league. The Jets have responded from 1-4 and made the playoffs in the past, but this was the Herman Edwards era and Pre-Tom “Perfection” Brady. If they can manage going 2-2 into their bye and fix some of their pressing issues, they can easily be a 5-2 ball club as their next 3 opponents after the bye are Cincinnati, Oakland, and Kansas City. The schedule is in their favor and they really need to take advantage of it.