Shows I really don't need to watch

Apparently, there is going to be a reality show on HBO that shows the Jets' training camp.

Ugh.

And apparently, this is why Rex Ryan got weight-loss surgery.

Double ugh. And I'll bet he's still nasty.

I'm feeling much better about our chances today

For some reason, I all of a sudden don't feel like we are doomed. A few possible hypotheses as to this sudden optimism:

1) We've been playing injured. (for instance, Tom's rib, shoulder, finger combo). Hopefully there is some time between now and the playoffs to recover.

2) Our record is now a respectable 9-5. So is Cincinnati's. And that seems like a good place to be.

3) While we thought Carolina would be an easy game, they then went and upset the Vikings this week. Now, you could point to the Vikings and say that there were some issues there (such as Favre refusing to be benched...classy), but the point is that they were capable of more than we allowed them.

4) Remaining games for Miami: Houston and Pittsburgh. Remaining games for the Jets: Colts and Cincinnati. I feel good about the possibility that both teams will lose at least one of these games.

Wouldn't it be great if the Colts made it to 15-0 then lost to Buffalo? Can you imagine? Ouch.

Everything comes up Patriots

Life is good as a Pats fan today:

1) We won. On the road. And not one single running back dropped a ball!

2) The Jets lost. Now this makes me happy any week, but particularly now since one more loss and they are out of the playoff race.

3) The Dolphins lost. It was a particularly painful loss, no less, with Henne getting intercepted in OT. Again, that puts them another game away from the playoffs.

4) We only have to win one more game to advance to the playoffs.

5) Randy played a great game. I LOVE YOU RANDY MOSS!

(Tom and Wes...not so much. But don't worry. My love for both of you is unconditional).

Hopefully we don't blow it and some of the major injuries (especially Warren and Wilfork) are back next week.

They are moving on

I have it *on authority* that the Patriots have moved on from Sunday, so I vow to do the same. In Bill I Trust. Still. Yes, I do have something bordering on unconditional love for this team, so I will overlook the times that they don't quite execute as well as I would like. They have still given me more joy and entertainment over the past years than anything else I can think of. And for that, my Pats, I love you still.

As you may recall (or not), the last time that the Pats lost two games in a row was in 2006 against the Colts and the Jets. That cannot happen this year. We need to stay strong through the rest of the season, lock up the playoff spot, and be able to focus on January early. So we need to stay on top of the division. So far, Miami has lost one divisional game, so we're okay in that department. But it behooves us to beat the Jets this weekend...okay, maybe not 'behooves,' but sure would make things easier down the stretch.

One of my friends unearthed this week's Belichick of the Week. As usual, no one can top the master:

Interviewer: "Did you disagree with that spot [on the Faulk catch]?"

Belichick: "It doesn’t really matter."

And he is right. Remember: you can't change penalties or injuries, so just let it go.

If the Jets call and offer you a coaching job, just say no

Apparently, Jets coaches (past and present) can't get anything right this week

1) Present coach Rex Ryan apparently cried in a meeting with his team, pleading with them to beat the Pats this week. Huh? Wasn't this the guy who urged them to beat each other up during training camp? Good management style there, Michael Scott.

2) Past coach Eric Mangini is apparently being investigated by the NFLPA for running practices that are too hard. Yeah. That's the 2000 Patriots, all right.

Good move on that 'going to ESPN to be a commentator,' Herm Edwards.

And then there was one. . .

It's bye week for the Patriots. Boo!!! I hate bye week.

However, exciting things happened in other games today, including:

1) Miami beat the Jets again. This means that the Patriots stand alone at the top of the AFC East with a 5-2 record. Jets are now 4-4. Sweet!

1.5) What is kind of unfortunate, though, is that Miami is undefeated in the division. This gives the Pats just a wee bit more motivation to win, then. As you may recall, the reason we didn't make the playoffs last year was that our divisional record was worse than the Dolphins'.

2) Tennessee beat Jacksonville, so they are no longer winless. Also, they are clearly not the worst. football. team. ever. So let's all take a moment to savor that 59-0 win just a little bit more.

3) The Rams won too, beating the Lions. I forget the score. But at least the Rams will not be the 2009 equivalent of the 2008 Lions now (if that reference made any sense).

4) Giants lost their third straight. Heh. Eli is sure earning that ridiculously huge salary.

5) Some guy who used to be a Packer went back to Green Bay and played. Game was completely overhyped.

And the remaining winless team is (drumroll please): the Bucs!

Best. Football. Weekend. Ever.

1) Clearly, Pats winning 59-0 over Tennessee was a highlight (I will never get sick of these).

2) Saints destroyed the Giants 48-27, and it was partially Eli's fault.

3) Bills came up with an overtime win against the Jets. That means the Jets are on a 3-game skid, and clearly suck.

4) Notre Dame lost on a goal line stand with seconds to go in the 4th quarter, missing 4 opportunities to score against rival USC (what does this have to do with me? It's petty and stupid, but I'm feeling very anti-Notre Dame these days).

5) Did I mention the Pats? Because they were FREAKING AWESOME.

Crazy ending in Miami

The Dolphins pulled it off against the Jets with a 31-27 win. They scored a touchdown in the last seconds of the game. Exciting! And so much for that vaunted Jets defense.

This is good on several levels. We are now tied with the Jets in the AFC East at 3-2. The other good thing is that the Jets lost. And clearly because it is an odd-numbered year, the Patriots will not lose to Miami.

I have another crazy theory

What about this?

Maybe the Jets meant to wait on using Sanchez yesterday? They could have waited, seen how the running game went, then changed strategies in the second half. By then, the Patriots would have already settled into their game strategy, then in the second half, the Jets could come out and BOO-YAH.

Much as they did.

Just another crazy theory.

Interesting method of building a team

The Jets are at it again. Apparently, new coach Rex Ryan thinks that the best way to get them in a competitive mindset by actually punching each other. And also, apparently this type of behavior is completely normal at this time of year in training camp, which is strange because I have yet to read any other stories about guys punching each other at other team training camps. Seems to me -- and I could be wrong here -- that it might be better to figure out other ways of controlling temper or else such behavior could transfer over against an opponent. But what do I know?

Also, is it just me, or are the Jets amazing kiss-asses to whoever the coach is? Note Kellen Clemens' quotes about how awesome this is, so much awesomer than the Mangini years.

Speaking of training camps, I'm going to Foxborough on Friday!!!

Jets make potentially assy move, get new QB

So after the disaster that was Brett Favre this year, the Jets have decided to try a new tactic: instead of creating an overpriced team of old guys, they're going to draft a team of new guys. To whit: yesterday they traded away 2 players, 2 draft picks, and maybe even a couple of kitchen sinks to get the Cleveland Browns' pick, thus assuring themselves of snatching Mark Sanchez of USC.

Will it work? Who knows.

However, as Dan Wetzel points out, 'Sanchez may be popular, but that doesn’t get you past the Patriots.'

Also, it's not too often that a QB comes in straight from the draft and succeeds (Matt Ryan with Atlanta being the exception this past season and of course Tom Brady, but he was never intended as the starter). So, as usual, good luck with all that, Jets.

I hate to say, 'I told you so,' but...

Yeah, I so said this back in August:

'The Jets had gambled on salary-cap hell for one small window of a Super Bowl opportunity. At the time of the conversation, the GM suggested the Jets could be as much as $15 million-$20 million over the cap when the offseason arrived. And if the wager on Favre didn’t end in a serious run at a championship, the Jets would be in significant trouble. Why? Because the entire gamble would hang on Favre’s unpredictable and emotional nature at the end of a season. The free agent gluttony and willingness to put the team’s future into the hands of Favre was the NFL version of the Battle of the Bulge – one desperate and risky head-on run, hoping to break through to a championship. If the risk failed, it would mean imminent disaster.

Well, here the Jets are, coping with a veteran roster that has them pressed firmly against the salary cap, and with Favre’s retirement, no franchise quarterback in sight.'

I'm dying to know who they will actually get as QB. Rumors have suggested Jeff Garcia but that can't actually happen, right?

The Patriot Way

Here' s a little insight into why the Pats are just such a good football team with an example that makes the Jets look bad. So you knew I was going to post it:

'There is a laundry list of players who get drafted higher than their college production dictates based upon their physical prowess. The New York Jets selected physical wunderkind Vernon Gholston with the sixth overall pick last year based more upon his freakish combination of size and speed than his inconsistent production at Ohio State. The Patriots, on the other hand, took Tennessee linebacker Jerod Mayo with the 10th pick. He was the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Gholston was a non-factor.'

If they've named a whole approach to scouting after you, you know you're good.

What ever happend to...

Brett Favre?

Is he staying or going? Or retiring? Where is he? Was he waiting for the new coach? Because they have a new head coach of the Jets.

What we learned from Mangini: a retrospective

1) If your kicker can make a field goal with room to spare, the kicker can probably make the same field goal from 5 yards back. It's at least worth a try.

2) It's 1st and goal and your quarterback is future Hall of Famer Brett Favre. What do you do? Next time, try letting him throw.

3) The problem is not always the quarterback. Maybe it's time to look deep inside and ask if the problem is the quarterback inside yourself.

4) Brett Favre, in this day and age, is no Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. Or, for that matter, no Chad Pennington.

5) It's 4th and 2 late in the 4th quarter. You are down by 7 points. What do you do? Maybe not a deep route (see #4).

6) Money cannot buy you happiness. Or championships. <-- how does someone in New York not know that lesson?

7) 'Roster depth' is a great idea. See #6.

To quote one beleaguered fan: 'What the hell is going on in Mangini's pee like brain.'

Christmas came twice this year

No more Mangini!

I'm not sure that it's worth us missing the playoffs just to see Mangini fired. Although it might be.

Heath Evans on the plane ride back from Buffalo

"We were all watching. The plane has those little TV screens on it, so we saw our lovely Jets not helping us out."

Yup.

Rusty Old Man Favre throws away our playoff hopes, karma is a bitch

So you probably know by now that the Miami Dolphins are the AFC East champions, primarily (but not exclusively) due to the fact that Favre freaking sucks. Three interceptions. Three. Three! I heard the game on the radio (while returning from my game) and come on! Three! And this man is a Pro Bowl QB, which is a bit like Britney Spears winning multiple MTV awards for 'Piece of Me.'

But I'm not going to lie: as someone on the anti-Mangini Train, I was, in a way, very pleased that of all QBs to beat them, they lost the final game to Pennington. This, to me, is a great story. He gets cast aside in a truly wretched manner by the Jets to bring in Favre, then has what has got to be a career-best year. So ha, ha. And that's the karma part of the post.

I still have lots to say about match-ups, football, and everything else. Not quite time for a full blog switch to hockey. Not quite.

And sometimes I do hate it when I'm right. Weeks ago, I said Miami had the best shot at the AFC East title. Boo me.

Mangini delusion, Cotchery to get many passes this week

So apparently Mangini is not worried about his job, despite what pretty much everyone else in the world is telling him. I think that this development is fabulous. I'm worried about Mangini's job, and I don't even like the guy.

And what is the deal with Cotchery giving all of these quotes about how awesome a coach Mangini is and how Favre isn't hurt? Favre himself has implied that he's hurt. There is something weird going on in the Meadowlands, I can tell you that much.

Brett Favre turns out to be Rusty, Old Man

The excuses for choking are coming out of Meadowlands already with the season not even over.

Apparently, Favre's shoulder has been giving him problems, leading him to reconsider whether he wants to come back for next season.

That's some good long-term planning, Mangenius.......especially because it's been seen before.

What I'm finding ironic here is that this situation is exactly what I hoped would happen at the start of the season, yet I actually need the Jets to bring it against Miami this weekend.