to move up and down
RICH MACLEOD: the blog
Bachelors Degree in Digital Film & Video Production / Fan of the bad New York sports teams / Possible anger issues / rsmacleod@optonline.net
Don’t know who to root for in the playoffs Jets fans? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
After the Jets’ 19-17 loss today in Miami dropped them to 8-8 and ended their season without a playoff appearance for the first time since 2008, the one outstanding question in the mind of this and most likely all Jets fans minds is this: What now?
There’s been a lot of scrutiny on New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez and some of it has been warranted as he’s struggled the past two weeks but remember that his statistics are better than they’ve ever been with 31 total touchdowns this year and 15 interceptions. In my opinion, the person most at fault is the man calling the plays: Brian Schottenheimer. Few quarterbacks could (and should) throw 59 times in a single game and Sanchez clearly is not one of them. You can see that when Shonn Greene and LT are running the ball effectively, Sanchez can utilize the play action and becomes an effective quarterback.
Schotty gave up on the running game unbelievably quick in Sunday’s all-but-season-killing loss to the Giants. Even down by 6 points with over 5 minutes remaining and the drive starting at the 50 yard line, Schottenheimer called 3 passes which led to these results: Incomplete, batted away and a sack. Blame Sanchez to an extent for not executing but it’s hard to perform with this kind of play calling.
Everyone sees what can happen when you get the right coaches involved, look in San Francisco with Alex Smith who is much older and seems to have lesser talent than Sanchez. For the New York fans and media clamoring for change, don’t worry, it’s coming, just not from the guy taking the snaps…
Stevie Johnson Shoots Himself (and the Bills) Figuratively, Then Literally
After catching a touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to give the Bills a 14-7 lead in the second quarter Sunday, Stevie Johnson celebrated by mocking Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the leg. Unknown to Johnson at the time, he would later really shoot himself and his team by dropping at least one sure game winning touchdown.
Johnson was not too happy after the game… Hey Stevie, why so serious?
My latest video created exclusively for TheJetsBlog.com! Get ready for the next chapter of the New York Jets and New England Patriots historic and intense rivalry this Sunday night!
The Jets have made the Top 5 of ESPN’s NFL Week 3 Power Rankings.
Tomorrow the NFL season begins for the Jets and to get ready for it enjoy my latest New York Jets video!
How Stevie Johnson Changed the Face of the 2011 NFL Postseason
Now that the preseason is over and all eyes are looking toward the future 2011 NFL season, but today I’m taking one final look back at 2010.
A Week 12 match-up of the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t seem like a game with playoff implications at the time but that would change after a Buffalo comeback would force overtime. With the score tied at 16 with just over 10 minutes remaining, after a play fake, Ryan Fitzpatrick would make a perfect 39 yard throw into the endzone to a wide open Stevie Johnson for what looked like the game-winning touchdown. Unfortunately, Johnson would (in)famously drop the ball in the endzone and the Bills would go on to lose 19-16 in overtime. You may be asking, “how did this change the playoffs?” Well, here’s how…
The playoff seeds in the AFC were as followed:
1. New England Patriots
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
3. Indianapolis Colts
4. Kansas City Chiefs
5. Baltimore Ravens
6. New York Jets
The Pittsburgh Steelers finished the season 12-4 and in first place in the AFC Northern Division. However, if the Steelers dropped that game in Buffalo as they appeared to have, this changes everything. Not only would they have finished 11-5, they would have won the Wild Card instead of the AFC North, become the 6th seed because the Jets would own the tiebreaker after their Week 15 victory and that is when the playoff picture changes to this:
1. New England Patriots
2. Baltimore Ravens
3. Indianapolis Colts
4. Kansas City Chiefs
5. New York Jets
6. Pittsburgh Steelers
Now this may not appear to be a radical change but in fact it is. Instead of the Colts playing the Jets in the Wild Card Round and the Chiefs playing the Ravens, that switches with Pittsburgh playing in Indianapolis and the Jets playing in Kansas City. This also gives the Baltimore Ravens a bye-week and home field advantage. Assuming the Jets would go on to defeat the Chiefs and the Steelers win over the Colts, there would have been no Jets-Patriots rematch and therefore, no monumental upset. Say the Jets and Steelers both wind up in the AFC Championship Game as they did last season, the tables would have turned and the Jets would have been playing their first home playoff game in the Mark Sanchez era and who knows what happens then.
Looking back it’s amazing to think that a rookie wide receiver on the last place Buffalo Bills could impact the NFL postseason so greatly but there’s no doubt that he did. Oh what would have been if Stevie Johnson made that catch… We can only wonder.
In an attempt to make us Jets fans feel better, here is my new montage video: “Up Up and Away”.
A David Harris Production.
