So it looks as if the New York Jets are not all talk.  The New England Patriots showed up at the Meadowlands on Sunday to teach the Jets a lesson and were punched in the face by a fast and smart Jets defense.  This was the first time the Jets have beaten the Patriots at home since the 2000 season.  The Jets came out swinging from the opening kickoff and did not let up during the game.  In the process, they sent a message to the league that they should not be overlooked.

We have to start this off by talking about the defense.  What a performance by Rex Ryan's bunch, holding the Patriots without a touchdown in a game for the first time since December 2006.  The defensive line held strong all afternoon, limiting to the Patriots to 83 rushing yards.  Laurence Maroney and Fred Taylor only ran the ball 14 times in the game for a total of 69 yards.  The defensive line, with the return of Shaun Ellis, was able to shut down the run and keep pressure on Tom Brady as well.  Kris Jenkins and Shaun Ellis are looking as strong as they did midway through last season when the Jets had one of the most solid defensive lines in the NFL.  Not only are they plugging the holes for the running backs, they are creating openings for the line backers to bring the blitz.  The line is looking very good to start the season.

The secondary also looked great on Sunday.  With the defensive line taking away the running game, Brady was forced to pass the ball 47 times.  Darrelle Revis is becoming one of the top three cornerbacks in the NFL.  He was matched up with WR Randy Moss and was able to hold Moss to 4 catches for 24 yards.  Late in the first quarter, Brady threw to Moss on a streak down the right side and Revis took the ball out of Moss' hands for the interception.  Last week, Revis held Andre Johnson to 4 catches for 35 yards.  Just to be noted, in week 2 against the Titans, Johnson hauled in 10 catches for 149 yards and 2 touchdowns. 

The rest of the secondary is playing great also.  Jets CB Lito Sheppard, who was flagged in the second quarter for interference, followed up the penalty on the next play by knocking the ball away from a Patriots receiver in the back of the end zone.  New England had to settle for a field goal.  The only negative on the secondary was the coverage on Patriots rookie WR Julian Edelman.  Edelman was filling in for injured WR Wes Welker, who did not play due to a sore knee.  Edelman was able to 98 yards on 8 catches, mostly out of the slot position.  Other than that, the secondary was as good as advertised.

The offense was able to manage the game for the second week in a row.  Jets rookie QB Mark Sanchez again started off a little shaky but rebounded in the 2nd half to lead the Jets to the win.  It did not start off that well for Sanchez though.  He was sacked on the first play from scrimmage for the Jets and fumbled the ball.  The Jets were able to recover the ball on their own 3 yard line avoiding serious damage.  New York was unable to get anything going in the 1st half.  Sanchez only had 15 yards passing in the 1st half of the game, but they came out firing in the 2nd half. 

The Jets received the ball to start the 2nd half and made an impact right away.  After starting on their own 44 yard line, Sanchez hit WR Jerricho Cotchery down the middle for a gain of 45 yards.  Two plays later, Sanchez hit TE Dustin Keller for a 9 yard touchdown in the back of the end zone.  On the next possession, Sanchez hit WR Chansi Stuckey for an 8 yard touchdown, but the score was called back on a challenge by New England.  The Jets settled for a field goal.  Overall on the day, Sanchez was 14-22 for 163 yards and a touchdown.  He is not making stupid mistakes and is protecting the ball very well so far.

The running game was solid although no one stood out in particular.  Jets RB Thomas Jones was able to gain 54 yards on 14 carries, while RB Leon Washington gained 58 yards on 14 carries.  Neither, Jones or Washington was able to break off any huge plays from the line of scrimmage.  They did do their best to control the game clock.  Both teams controlled the game clock for about 30 minutes a piece. 

The Jets talked trash all week leading up to the game and backed it up in a big way.  They were able to keep Brady on his toes all day.  He was never able to get into a groove, constantly looking at the defense trying to read the blitzes.  Jets S Kerry Rhodes said that the Jets wanted to "Embarrass" the Patriots.  They didn't embarrass them, but they did hang with them.  And in the end they were the better team on Sunday.  It was the first time since 2003 that the Jets defense has gone two games without allowing an offensive touchdown.  It was also the first time in 2 years that Tom Brady completed under 50% of his passes.  The last time that happened was against Rex Ryan's Baltimore Ravens defense. 

Its only week two in the NFL, but the Jets look good.  As long as the defense keeps playing like they are, then rookie QB Mark Sanchez will not have to do more than just manage the game for the time being.  The running will be better than is was against New England and the defense will continue to improve.  With the addition of LB Calvin Pace in three weeks, this defense will be very scary.  The win against the Patriots was huge, but there are still 14 games remaining.  And after last season, its never good to get too excited too early.

So here we go again.  The 2009 New York Jets season is about to start and a lot has changed since the end of last season.  The Jets will take the field at Reliant Stadium on Sunday to take on the Houston Texans.  They will be led by new head coach Rex Ryan, who brings his defensive mind to New York from Baltimore.  The Jets will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing end to the 2008 season and it all starts Sunday in Houston.

Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez will at the helm for the Jets offense on Sunday.  Sanchez beat out Kellen Clemens for the starting job in the pre-season.  Sanchez will be starting with some lofty expectations from the Jets fans.  Since New York moved up in the draft to get him, he will be counted on to try to get this team in the playoffs.  It wont come easy though.  The Texans have one of the NFL's best pass rushers in Mario Williams.  Williams did have 12 sacks in 2008.  He will be going up against a very solid Jets offensive line.  This unit will be entering it's second season together after a strong 2008 campaign.  It will be up to them to keep Sanchez upright this season.

The Jets also return a strong running game this season with Thomas Jones and Leon Washington.  Jones led the AFC in rushing last season with 1312 yards.  He also had a personal best 15 touchdowns as well.  He will be up against a Houston defense that ranked 31st against the run in 2008.  And with the way the offensive line blocked for him last season, we should expect the Jets to have a good game on the ground on Sunday.  Mr. Everything, Leon Washington, should also have a good overall game as well.  If the Jets are smart, they will find a way to get Leon the ball 10-15 times on offense.  Whenever he touches the ball he seems to make something happen.  Ryan has said since he was hired that Leon needs to get the ball more.  So lets start off on the right foot on Sunday and get Leon some touches.

One problem the Jets will run into on offense is the passing game.  They only have one proven wide receiver and that is Jerricho Cotchery.  And the problem with that is that Cotchery does not seem to be a number one receiver, he is a very solid number two though.  This puts Chansi Stuckey as the number two receiver this season.  Stuckey had a couple of big catches last season as he became a favorite target of Brett Favre for a few games, but in no way does that make him a proven receiver.  The Jets round out the receiving corps with Brad Smith and David Clowney.  Smith, a converted quarterback, is someone who the Jets are high on and will be counted on to come up big as the slot receiver.  Clowney brings plenty of speed with him.  He had a very good pre-season for the second straight year.  However, he was hurt for a big part of last season and does not have that much experience behind him.

A man who could become one of Mark Sanchez favorite targets is second year tight end Dustin Keller.  Keller started out slow last season but really emerged as a very solid option in the passing game for the Jets.  He proved that he can handle pressure situations last November in Foxboro against the Patriots, catching a few key passes in overtime to help the Jets to the win in New England.  This season Keller will be counted on to be a relible option for Sanchez.

New York's run defense returns with a few new pieces in 2009.  Free agent Bart Scott joins David Harris, Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas to form one of the strongest linebacking core's in the NFL.  Scott, a key in the Ravens defense for the past few years will be looked upon to help lead the Jets to one of the best run defenses in the league.  The run defense will be led by Kris Jenkins and Shaun Ellis.  The Jets had one of the best run defenses in the league last season until the beginning of December when they started to wear down.  The will have a tall order in week one against second year running back Steve Slaton.  Slaton is coming off a rookie year in which he ran for 1282 yards and 9 touchdowns.  Jenkins and Scott will need to shut down Slaton and make Matt Schaub beat them through the air.

Which brings us to the Jets achilles heal from last year, the Secondary.  Last season the Jets secondary surrendered 234 yards per game, good for 29th in the league.  To address this issue, New York brought in cornerback Lito Sheppard and safety Jim Leonhard to join pro-bowl corner Darrelle Revis and safety Kerry Rhodes.  These upgrades should bring the secondary back to respectability.  They will be tested on Sunday against the Texans' Andre Johnson.  Johnson is coming off a season where he had 1575 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns.  He will be matched up with shut-down corner Revis while Sheppard will be on Kevin Walter, who had a good season himself in 2008 with 899 yards and 8 touchdowns.

The few keys for the Jets this week will be to: A) protect Mark Sanchez.  The offensive line needs to try to keep the pressure off the kid so he can make some plays.  B) Establish the running game.  Jones should put up good numbers against a weak Texans run defense.  C) Get Leon Washington the ball more than 10 times.  The more he gets the ball, the more plays he is able to make.  This is a key for the whole season.  D) Get pressure on Matt Schaub.  Get the pressure on him and let the revamped secondary make some plays.  With Ryan's new attack style defense, the secondary should be able to make some key plays. 

The 2009 season is about to begin and the Jets are an enigma.  The have a very good defense on paper and have a very good running game.  The question this season is how fast Mark Sanchez will develop.  If he can settle in and have a season like Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan did in 2008, then the Jets will be in good shape.  If not, it may be another long season for Gang Green.  But for this week, the Jets will rely on the running game and should come out of Houston with a win to start the season.  I see the Jets winning 21-17.  Sanchez just needs to manage the game and let the running game and the defense do the rest.

I think it's now time to take the Jets seriously as a contender in the AFC this season.  The Jets managed to not only beat the undefeated Tennessee Titans in Tennessee, but they steamrolled them in the processby a score of 34-13.  New York now sits at 8-3 on the season and could be in a position to get a bye week for the first round of the playoffs.  Of course we are still five weeks away, but the Jets have put themselves in a very good position after Sunday's win against the Titans.

Brett Favre is showing everyone that there is still some gas left in the tank.  Favre managed the game very effectively once again.  On the day Favre was 25-32 for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns.  I believe there were two huge moments in the game.  The first was a Chris Johnson fumble in the 3rd quarter.  At the time, the Jets were leading 13-3.  The Titans were getting a drive together when Johnson coughed up the ball.  Favre was able to put together an 8 play drive that ate up almost 5 minutes of game clock that ended with a 2 yard touchdown pass to Laveranues Coles in the back of the end zone in double coverage.  That gave the Jets a 20-3 lead late in the 3rd and from that point on they were in the drivers seat. 

The other key moment was the Jets last drive on the 4th quarter.  After the Titans put together a 4 play 66 yard drive late in the 4th quarter that ended in a touchdown that cut the score to 27-13, the Jets took over. Favre was able to lead the Jets offense on a 12 play 75 yard drive that ended with a 4 yard touchdown run by Leon Washington.  The key to that drive was the fact that it ate up 7:34 off the clock.  It gave the Titans the ball back with 2:09 remaining in the game trailing 34-13.  Favre was hitting open receivers all day.  His new favorite target, Dustin Keller, had his 3rd straight big game.  He hauled in 6 catches for 42 yards.  Not as big as his last two games, but did have some key catches on 3rd down.  He has become a very reliable option for Favre over the last month.  Coles had the big day for the receivers, grabbing 7 balls for 88 yards and a TD.  Jerricho Cotchery also grabbed 6 catches for 55 yards.  Brett's only mistake in the game was an interception by Cortland Finnegan in the second quarter.  Finnegan made a one handed catch with Coles all over him.  Other than that, Brett was near perfect.

The Jets running game had a huge day.  Thomas Jones, who coming into the game was the AFC's leading rusher, was able to rack up 96 yards against a very sound Tennessee run defense who was ranked 10th in the league heading into the game giving up about 95 yards per game.  Jones was able to do that on 27 carries.  He has really become the Jets workhorse over the past 2 months.  Washington also contributed with 82 yards rushing on his own.  He was able to gain that on only 8 carries.  He got most of it on a 61 yard touchdown run early in the 4th quarter in which he bolted to the end zone almost untouched.  He didn't have his usual big day on special teams that we have all come to expect, but he always seems to contribute in a big way each week.  In all the Jets ran for 192 yards against Tennessee.  New York's offensive line was great again as you can see from the rushing stats.  But they also managed to keep Favre upright for most of the game, only allowing 2 sacks.  The line has really come together over the last 6 weeks.  This has allowed the running game to improve each week as well as letting Favre have time in the pocket to be able to make big plays.

The Jets defense also had a huge day.  The defensive line put together one of it's biggest efforts of the season.  The Titans who had been rushing for an average of 133 yards per game were limited to a season low of 45 yards on the ground.  The defense, led by Kris Jenkins and Calvin Pace were able to take the running game totally away from the Titans.  This meant that the game was left to Kerry Collins against a spotty Jets pass defense.  New York's secondary, which was torched by Matt Cassel for 400 yards last week, had a strong game against Tennessee.  Collins, who does not make mistakes and did not in this game, was held to 243 yards in the air for 1 touchdown.  With the running game being shut down, Collins was never able to get into a groove.  The Jets secondary, which has been having a good week followed by a bad week all season, had a good week in a big spot.  Collins was able to get the ball to nine different receivers, but none of them had more that 43 yards receiving.  Even with the Jets offense turning the ball over three times and the defense only forcing one turnover, the Jets defense still managed to step it up and dominate the Titans offense.  One key stat for the Jets was the fact that they dominated the time of possession.  They controlled the ball for over 40 minutes.  That is just straight domination. 

New York is really hitting their stride at the right time.  They have now won 5 straight games and 7 of their last 8.  Currently, they are tied with the Steelers for the second best record in the AFC at 8-3.  I know it's early to get too excited with five weeks remaining and two trips out to the west coast ahead, but this is getting exciting for Jets fans.  The rest of the league has now been put on notice.  After huge wins against the Patriots and Titans in back to back weeks, both on the road, the Jets are now a huge factor in the AFC.  This is something that has not happened in about ten years when Vinny Testaverde led the Jets to a 12-4 record and got the Jets within 30 minutes of going to the Super Bowl.

With the Jets still riding high after their huge win against the Patriots last week, they now head down to Tennessee to take on the undefeated Titans.  Right now the Jets sit alone on top in the AFC East, but they are well aware that if they do not show up against the Titans, they will be back in a tie for first in their division.  On paper the Jets seem to match up well with the Titans, so I do not see this game being a blow out for either team.  But it will be fun to watch, that's for sure.

One of the main keys for the Jets is for Brett Favre to keep playing smart.  He has only thrown 1 interception in the past three games.  He has been able to manage games efficiently without putting the Jets in any bad situations.  Favre has found a new favorite target the past 2 weeks to get the ball to, Dustin Keller.  The rookie tight end has finally become what the Jets thought they were getting when they took him in the first round of the 2008 draft.  Against the Rams two weeks ago, Keller had 6 receptions for 107 yards.  Last week against the Patriots he had 8 more catches for 87 yards.  With him emerging as a down field threat, defenses will have to adjust which could leave either Jerricho Cotchery or Laveranues Coles in man coverage.  And if that is the case, Favre should be able to see this and expose it. 

With every passing week, the Jets offensive line keeps improving.  Thomas Jones was able to get another 100 yard game last week, gaining 104 yards on 30 carries against New England.  He has become the Jets workhorse over the past month.  He still is the leading rusher in the AFC with 854 yards on the ground.  He also has 8 touchdowns over the past six games.  This week will be a lot tougher for Jones to have a big game.  The Titans are a very physical team and they have big Albert Haynesworth plugging up the middle of their defensive line.  Haynesworth is having an MVP type season for Tennessee with 7 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.  They will be tough to run against, but they do give up almost 100 yards on the ground per game.  I'm not saying the Jets will gain 100 yards on the ground, but I do think they can get close to that number if Favre can get the passing game going.

With the exception of Matt Cassel gaining 62 yards rushing last week, the Jets still have the 4th best rushing defense in the NFL.  They were able to limit four other of the Patriots running backs to a total of 63 yards on the ground.  Kris Jenkins, who is also a candidate for defensive MVP, is having a stellar season anchoring the line for the Jets.  He may not have as many stats as Haynesworth, but what he has done for the Jets run defense has been remarkable.  And with him having the season he is having, it has allowed Shaun Ellis to have his best season in the past 4 years for the Jets.  He currently leads the team with 7 sacks.  They will have their work cut out for them with the Titans running game.  Led by Chris Johnson and LenDale White, the Titans rush for about 133 yards per game.  Johnson leads the way with 787 yards rushing and White has pounded his way to 11 touchdowns so far.  I believe the Jets run defense matches up well with the Titans running game.  If they are able to keep them under 100 yards and not control the clock, then they just have to deal with Kerry Collins and the passing game.

This is where the Jets may run into a problem.  The Jets passing defense has been up and down all season.  One week they look great, as they did against the Rams two weeks ago.  And the next week they look horrible, as they did against the Patriots last week.  Letting Matt Cassel throw for 400 yards in the air, most of that in the second half of the game.  And Collins, as we have seen the past two weeks, is more than capable of leading the Titans to a win through the air.  They went down early last week to the Jaguars 14-3, only to have Collins throw for three touchdowns and lead the Titans to a 24-14 win in Jacksonville.  Collins does not make mistakes, with only 4 interceptions on the season, and will not hurt the team with bad throws.  The Titans are a run first team and they only seem to rely on the pass when they need to.  Last week the Jets welcomed back Ty Law and he did a very good job on Randy Moss.  Considering it was his first game action in 11 months, I'd say he was up to the task.  With Darrelle Revis most likely matched up with Justin Gage, that means the Jets linebackers and safety's need to watch out for the Titans tight end Bo Scaife.  He leads the team in receptions and yards.  This will be tough for New York, who is still missing David Harris, but Kerry Rhodes has played a lot better as of late and should be on him for a good portion of the game.

I really think the Jets can win this game.  Basically, Favre has to limit his mistakes to pretty much zero and the pass defense has to show up.  If they play they way they did against the Rams and Bills, then I think the Jets will win.  The run defense will play the way they have been all year and the running game should be able to eat up enough clock in the second half to be able to grab a win.  The field position the Jets are given by Leon Washington will also be a big factor.  Every time he touches the ball, he has the ability to make something big happen.  I think the Jets win a close one 21-17, with the Jets making a big defensive stand late in the game.

You would not believe it after last week's performance, but this is the perfect situation for the Jets this weekend with the Chiefs coming into town.  The Jets are home, where they are 2-1 on the season.  The Chiefs will be starting their 3rd sting QB, Tyler Thigpen, who will be making his second career start.  And Larry Johnson will be serving his one game team imposed suspension.  This game has the writing of a Jets blow out all over it.  They need to put the loss to the Raiders as well as the Favre fiasco this week behind them and focus on destroying Kansas City on Sunday.

First off, Brett Favre needs to play better.  He has four interceptions in the last two games and eight in the last five.  I know the picks come with Favre, but he needs to limit them in big spots.  That being said, Eric Mangini and Brian Schottenheimer need to turn him loose and stop playing so conservative.  You don't go out and get a big arm quarterback and have him throw 10 yard slants into the slot.  If that's what they want then they should have kept Chad Pennington.  The Jets need more big plays incorporated into the offense this week.  The Chiefs are giving up about 200 yards passing per game on defense.  Favre and the coaching need to expose this and basically go nuts on Sunday.  It may be a little tough though.  Laveranues Coles has a slight head injury from last week and Jerricho Cotchery has a shoulder injury but still should play. 

The Jets running game showed up last week in Oakland, with Thomas Jones running for a season best 159 yards.  Expect to see a similar performance against the Chiefs.  Kansas City's defense gives up an average of 207 yards per game on the ground.  The Jets also had a Brad Smith sighting last week.  He ran four times for 59 yards and had 4 catches for 29 yards.  I think he well be in the game plan for Sunday, even if it is just to keep the Chiefs on their heels.  Dustin Keller has disappeared since weeks 3 and 4.  But he may be more involved this week since Bubba Franks is banged up and is questionable this week.

The Jets defense had another solid game last week until the game got to overtime, when they gave up the two big plays that led to the game winning 57 yard field goal.  With a third string QB and no Larry Johnson to deal with, I don't see the Chiefs scoring a lot.  Kolby Smith, one of Johnson's back-up's, saw a majority of the carries last week and probably will this week as well.  The Jets who still have one of the league's top rush defense's should be able to contain the running game.  The pass defense was better against the Raiders but needs to continue to improve if they want to be there at the end of the season. 

This seems like a good game for the Jets to get back on track.  They need to win this game with the Bills and improved Rams coming up on the schedule.  The Jets play good at home and I'm sure the Meadowlands will be rocking come Sunday.  The Jets are also celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Super Bowl III champions.  With Broadway Joe and so many other great Jets of the past in attendance, I expect the Jets to come out firing on all cylinders and win this game big.  35-10 Gang Green.  No let down this week.  Jets take it running away and stick it to Herm Edwards.  A battle of two original AFL teams, but this is not the 1960's anymore.

Week six is over with the Jets pulling out a victory over the Bengals 26-14.  This was not an easy win in any way.  After blowing out the Cardinals two weeks ago, the Jets played "down" to the Bengals on Sunday, until securing the win late in the fourth quarter thanks to Thomas Jones third touchdown of the day.  The offense looked average and the defense looked solid in the win. 

Let's start with the offense.  Brett Favre was not vintage Favre yesterday by any means.  Brett "The Jet" fumbled about a minute into the game which was recovered by the Bengals and ran in for a touchdown.  7-0 Cincinnati.  But he then led the Jets on a 53 yard scoring drive to tie the game 7-7.  Favre was average, throwing for 189 yards with 1 TD and 2 picks.  The running game was not that effective either.  Thomas Jones had only 65 rushing yards, but did have 2 rushing TD's and 1 receiving TD.  The first 3 TD game of his career.  Jericho Cotchery and Laveraneus Coles each had 8 catches for a total of 146 yards.  Dustin Keller was a non-factor in the game this week.  He did have a touchdown in the first quarter but it was negated by a Jets penalty. 

The defense looked very good against a mediocre offense that was missing its star quarterback.  The run defense, anchored by Kris Jenkins, got the job done again.  Limiting the Bengals to 43 rushing yards.  Calvin Pace followed up his effort against the Cardinals with another strong game Sunday.  He had 4 tackles and a forced fumble.  The secondary put in a solid effort all around yesterday.  Limiting both Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh to less then 60 yards receiving.  Overall the defense only game up 1 offensive TD so it was a good "team" effort on Sunday.

The MVP of the game was Leon Washington.  He gave the Jets solid field position all day on his returns.  Washington had 142 return yards and their average starting field position was around their own 45 yard line.  The Jets also started 5 drives in Bengals territory.  This game could have gone either way.  The Bengals secondary took away any deep threats the Jets had so Favre had to manage all day with short passes.  It was not his best game so far this season, but like he said after the game "A win is a win".  So the Jets will head out to Oakland to face the Raiders next week at 3-2.  This is right where we all thought they would be at this point.  It was not a great day for the offense by any means, but they won.  And that's all it comes down to, wins.