Jets 1. Protect Brett Favre - The Dolphins don't offer an intimidating pass rush now that Jason Taylor is in burgandy and gold, but still the Jets revamped Offensive Line must protect Favre to give him time to get used to his new offense for a full game for the first time and get in tune with Laveranues Coles who did not take a single snap in the Preseason. 2. Pressure Pennington - All Jets fans know this and even though some won't admit it, but its the truth. If Pennington is given enough time (more than the average QB however) he can pick you apart and win a game, even as the underdog. The Jets must see some pass rush from OLB's Calvin Pace, Bryan Thomas and Vernon Gholston and or ILB David Harris (5 sacks in 8 starts last season along with 100+ tackels). 3. Special Teams - Mike Westhoff is returning this week (supposedly) and will help a Jets Special Teams that was sloppy this Preseason under former Chicago Bear ST caoch Kevin O'Dea. Leon Washington and or Justin Miller are two of the better return men in the game and the Jets may need a spark from one of them to get some points on the board if Favre for some reason struggles. Early indicators are that he won't, but you never know. Also, stop Ted Ginn Jr, "The Great Hype". Dolphins 1. Protect Pennington - Not much to write here. As stated in Jets key #2, Pennington can beat you with enough time back there. Jake Long will be making his NFL debut and will face a tough match-up with Pace and Gholston switching sides coming at him. Gholston was the only one to get the better of Long in his outstanding senior season at Michigan. 2. Run, Run, Run... - Ronnie Brown is coming back from a torn ACL so his carries will be limited (10-15 I'd guess) so Ricky Williams may indeed get the start and will indeed get the majority of the carries (15-25). The Jets had trouble with Ricky in the past, but that was five+ years ago and this is a different Williams. Kris Jenkins and David Harris beef up the Jets run defense. Miami will need a strong running game not only to control the clock and wear down the Jet defense but also because Pennington is one of the best QB's in the game at the Play Action pass if he has a successful ground game behind him. Perhaps the best. 3. Pressure Favre- Best way to distrupt Favre and force him to make Favre like mistakes is to pressure him. Miami doesn't have much coming at him with Joey Porter being their best option, but he's in his 30's and has been slowed by injuries. If they fail to pressure Favre it could be a long, long day for the Miami defense under the hot and humid Miami sun. Favre and Jerricho Cotchery could be teaming up all day on Will Allen or other Miami Corner's.
I think you are dead on. I know it's only pre-season stats but Miami had the #2 defense, #3 passing, #5 rushing And they led the league with 14 pre-season sacks. (Right ahead of the Jets with 13)
Thanks 124. personally I'm looking forward to seeing how our WR's get on. BTW when I first saw the thread I thought wheres the other 118 points? think I'm gona need my eyes checked!!
Pretty much agree. Hopefully the Miami heat and humidity will also tire out that added beef the Jets have up front. Miami needs to control the ball to have a shot. Our other big issue last season was converting on 3rd downs and stopping 3rd downs on D. I think Pennington will help us alot on 3rd and short-mid range conversions. Our D will need people to step up and pressure Farve, other-wise we're going to face the same problem we did last season.
Nah, I will just retire my piece. This way, maybe I can get the sympathy vote of confidence from my fellow fin fans and bring it back with a roaring thunder in week 2...
Oh, it wouldn't have 1-uped mine. Mine had graphics and flow charts and pictures and swooshy sound effects. But he lifted the title, so I don't want confusion in the marketplace. Its like Kareem Abdul Jabbar the basketball player, and Karim Abdul Jabbar the "supposed" football player. You don't want to mistake one for the other...
My two main concerns for this game... 1} controlling a superstar talent with a mighty chip on his shouler 2} This is an awful big game for a young inexperienced team that has never played a real game before. if we were going to houston or somethin i would be confident. If this team somehow comes out of this game and doesnt get shellshocked {iam worried our boys will be too hyped}i will be estatic.
Good write up....I think Favre is going to be running for his life. Roth no longer has to live in the shadow of JT and he has been pressuring QB's all pre-season. I think whoever gets more pressure on the QB wins this one. I like the Phins winning this 24-17.
Although I agree with your basic argument PRESSURE, PROTECT, SPECIAL TEAMS. I believe your analysis is heavily Jet slanted. You say Miami doesn't have much coming at Farve. While agree it is yet to be detirmined I wouldn't underestimate Phillip Merling and Kendall Langford and Roth in his new role, he looks to be a natural fit to put pressure on Qb. Yes you have had problems with Ricky in the past and we may have the best run blocking O line we have had in the last 10 years. So Ricky and Ronnie have a good chance to run all over you. It will be interesting to see Gholston and Pace they might cause us trouble in the passing game, but if we can run early it might be nutralized with play action. Come on Dolphans start backing up your team and stop thanking Jets fans for there slanted post.
To add on to my original comments I really respect Westoff we should have never let him go, however we have added several players on special teams to boost are play and Ted Ginn could be an X factor.
i don't expect many sacks in this game. our secondary is underrated though, and Favre won't be able to completely slice and dice like many would assume. That doesn't mean he'll be shut down either, by any means. I also feel our run blocking is underrated(not here, but by the NFL as a whole), and I feel we'll be rather dominant in that aspect of the game. Conversely, I feel our rush defense is strong with big down lineman and big backers. and the Jets simply do not have much talent when it comes to running between the tackles. if im a mangenious, i bench T.Jones and try to do my best impersonation of the Iggles and B. Westbrook, cuz Leon is a monster talent. fortunately, i don't think that will happen. I think it comes down to Favre being careful with the ball, and beating us. And honestly, I'd call that a 50-50. Favre's erratic potential is what gives me a solid feeling that we can win, with the presumption that we're still pretty bad and have a long way to go as a team. I expect a low scoring affair, and I'm optimistic of our chances, because I believe Miami will have a dominant ground effort. I think a lot of people are going to be talking about Donald Thomas Monday morning.
I'm interested to see if Crocker or Allen starts on Sunday, whether that 'depth chart' is a real indication we should follow...
I agree I thought it was also heavily favoring the Jets and up until this post I thought I was the only one who felt the same.
I am actually interested in what your fellow members on gang green think? Seriously, from a Jet fans view. What do they think? Is it better for the Jets, or worse, what has happened to the Fins? Do they like the fact that Penny has come to us, or do they think it will come back to haunt them?
Most Jets fans love the fact that Chad came to Miami but the only downside to it is that he knows what the Jets defense is bringing. On the flipside, the defense knows everything Chad is bringing. Its no secret that the playbooks for Pennington and Favre/Clemens were far different (once you get past 10 yards down the field), so his knowledge of what the Jets are bringing is very minimal as you've got to believe the Dolphins have done plenty of homework already studying tapes and such. I havn't met a Jet fan who has been overly pissed off about it and like I said, most are happy with it. We're happy that Chad got a place to start somewhere else where he will be loved because lets face it, he's much better than anything you've had since Marino and your team is coming off a 1-15 season so the only place to go is up. I'm happy for Chad and will be rooting for Chad to succeed except in Weeks 1 & 17 this season. Won't be rooting for a Miami W, but I'll be rooting for Chad to perform well and stay healthy. We know what Chad was, a once very good Quarterback on the verge of greatness before injuries ruined his career. Its a sad story to happen to such a great guy but he has nearly $64 million reasons for fans not to cry about it too much. Chad will always be loved here in New York, it was just his time to go. He couldn't take this team any further than 10-6 and a Wild Card spot no matter who was around him. He was limited due to the injuries. Its a shame.
Most Jet fans reactions I have seen are that they are happt he is gone and happy that he is in Miami for week 1. For the most part, the Jet fans feel this is a walk in the park and have resorted to calling Pennington names. Despite what 124 may say on here, jet nation is loving this week one matchup for their team. Some have even claimed that we are somehow WORSE off for having Pennington and the new o-line rookies. I didn't think we could get worse than 1-15.
yeah I took a little stroll through Jet Nation today but had to abort...some posts made me want to vom.
Well whoever said that is sadly mistaken. Chad Pennington > Cleo Lemon / Trent Green / John Beck. The line has improved as well. I'm just interested to see how Ronnie bounces back from his ACL injury and if Williams can perform well on a consistent basis when the games count and teams are at full strength with all starters in the game. Should be fun. Going to most likely be a close game.
I would go look up the post...but I really don't want to. But yeah the same poster said we were worse of for having Ricky back (from a talent perspective I disagree. From a locker room perspective...I do) and that we have unproven rookies on our team. My thought is...aren't all rookies unproven? That would be like me saying that Gholston is an unproven LB. Uhm...duh? I agree that it should be fun. I know I will be plopped in front of my tv on Sunday morning getting ready to yell at the first Miami mistake!
Stupid. Most likely one of the newbs that have came around since Favre was aquired saying that he or she has been a Jets fan his or her whole life and just really wanted to talk to others about Football now. Yeah, right. Its bad enough that people ask you if you're a Favre or Jets fan if you go out in a Favre tshirt or jersey. Ridiculous. Anyway, yes it's going to be close most likely and I'll be yelling at the Jets before they even take the field. They'll do something to screw up before the game even starts. They're the Jets.
Ronnie looked good in the last game, he took a few hits on his knee and he bounced back right back up, still I wouldnt rush him.
While I would love to be just as optimistic and/or positive as you on this, I can't be. This off-season we saw Satele struggle with Jason Ferguson. Earlier this off-season, our great scout Conuficus analyzed the offensive line and one of the possible problems with Satele was playing against heavy tackles. In this case, Jenkins might be the heaviest one not named Shaun "Chicken Wing" Rogers. Jenkins is a very talented player and you know that well, he can disrupt everything and I don't know just yet how Satele plays against him. Donald Thomas is still a rookie even though he has been a success for us thus far in his career. Jenkins is a veteran and knows his advantages. Honestly, I don't know how much confidence I have in Smiley. In this game, I am expecting nearly 40 rushes by our RB's. Whether their successful or not, I don't know but what I do know is that if they stop the run, we may be in big trouble. I can't imagine Allen not starting. I think he's a better player overall than Crocker and should be out there. While there are some trolls there, just like every other site on the web, there are some good posters there. I used to visit there but then I forgot my password and after trying several times to log in, I got frustrated as hell lol.
It's going to be won and lost at the point of attack. Our defensive line has to hold up against Ferguson, Faneca, Mangold and Woody in both run and pass defense. Porter has to put pressure on Farve. If Porter is slowed up then Anderson has to step up big time. Roth as the full time SOLB has to get to Farve as well and seal that edge on running plays to squeeze everything to the inside for Crowder and Ayodele. Our offensive line is going to have it's work cut out protecting Pennington. They have not faced the blitz in pre-season and will be greatly tested. I would like to see how they work together here. Fins interior line against Ellis, Jenkins and Coleman will be key in establishing the run. We need to set the tone for the mean and nasty, smash mouth football we have been talking about since February. This is where it starts.
DUDE, I think you may need to worry more about Porter then Roth... Roth is gonna be our sleeper on the D this year... He's been consistently throwing people around since his emergence at OLB! I am excited about this defense this year! Yeremiah PLEASE stay healthy and you'll be seeing a Pro-bowl! Running the ball is of course VERY important but so is the pass protection, especially if they start with some run-blitzing... I hope the Dolphins are practicing some 3-step drops this week just in case! I think everyone is gonna be surprised at our performance out of the gate though. I know everyone is infatuated with Ricky right now (and I think he's a great player) but don't be surprised when Ronnie starts making the bigger plays (running and receiving)! Might see some 3-TE sets too with Martin in the backfield. Prediction: Dolphins 24 Jets 20
What Im hoping for with Jenkins is that Satele is able to get under him and maybe stand him up a little bit and then have Thomas apply his "jumper cable" punch all game long....and just frustrate the **** out of him.
First of all Satele has come along way since the begining of camp. Second of all there was a reason why Jenkins was traded. He is a very inconsistent player. Big names aren't necessarily the best players to bring in.
Yeah, that's true, another reason he was traded was because he simply didn't want to be in Carolina anymore. I believe they didn't to pay him. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. But some players, when they want out, tend to lack the effort they would give normally. In NY, I have no reason to believe that he will show up. There paying this guy to lose weight for God's sake.
Satele should very rarely be matched up on Jenkins 1 on 1 anyways. Especially a NT in a 3-4 should be a guard and a center on them nearly every snap unless they are pulling. I don't think there is a center out there that you would match 1 on 1 with a NT.