2007 New York Jets Post-Mortem

This time last year, New York Jets' fans were celebrating an unlikely 10-6 regular season with an upcoming date with the Patriots in the playoffs. The Jets had won five of their last six to put a cap on a season that was expected to yield maybe six wins at best. There was an air of great feeling that had me clammering all Spring and Summer for year two of the Eric Mangini era. I even took two trips to Hofstra to see Gang Green at training camp in anticipation of another big year.

Unfortunately, the second year under Mangini was not the fairy tail last year was. It all started with the Pete Kendall situation, which put a negative spin on the season from the beginning. Add that to the cheers for Chad Pennington's injury in Week 1. Chad had a great '06 in leading the Jets to the playoffs. Those negative situations were an omen to what would become an ugly year.

As the year began, the biggest problem was the terrible defense. Yes, a hobbled Chad looked really bad at times, but the defense never came up big. The defense gave up a ton of yardage on the ground, and was unable to put any pressure on the quarterback, thus allowing quarterbacks to carve the Jets up. Darrelle Revis holding out really set his development back. He improved a great deal as the year went on, but his hold out may have cost the Jets a few close games. The defense blew 2nd half leads to the Giants, Bengals, and Redskins. The defense as a whole got better as the year went on, but it seems like every year the defense stinks early and by the the time they get good it is too late to make a push for nothing more than a wildcard bid.

The 1-8 start paved the way for Kellen Clemens to take over as the starting quarterback, and to see if he could possibly show some promise of becoming the quarterback of the future. Unfortunately, we did not see any real promise in his game other than a few glimmers of hope vs. Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Miami. His best game was at Miami, but who didn't torch Miami this year? The most disappointing game for me with Clemens was this last Sunday vs. Kansas City. I really wanted to see Schottenheimer open up the playbook for him, but we saw 3rd and 3 run after 3rd and 3 run. He showed absolutely nothing in that game, but should have been given more opportunities in a game that meant nothing! Clemens should be the starter next year as he should get more than a handful of games to prove himself, but believe me, I am quite nervous about it. Chad probably won't be around to backup next year, thus adding even more pressure on Clemens.

To add salt to the wounds, the win vs. the Chiefs dropped their draft spot from potentially 2nd to 6th. I wanted to win, but not that way. A 13-10 loss at least could have equaled Darren McFadden or Chris Long. The Jets could have REALLY used a gamebreaking player in McFadden. Just look at what Adrian Peterson did his rookie season this year. Unless McFadden is somehow still on the board, the Jets need to take the best defensive end avaliable with their first pick. Then they need focus in on drafting another wide-out to go with Cotchery and Coles and sure up the left side of their offensive line.

This was a very bitter season with high expectations. No way did I think the Jets would finish 4-12. I thought they might slip a couple wins from last year with the much tougher schedule, but I thought they would continue to build on last year. However, the truth is that the Jets are not really that bad a team. They lost a lot of close games that they could not hold on to or make a big play late. The defense needs to come out on fire next year, and allow Clemens to develop into the offense and make that facet of the game much better. The shrink wrap stayed on Mangini in year one, but was violently ripped off this year. However, he is still the man for the job, and if Herm Edwards could get five years here, Mangini deserves no less than six.

Can't wait til next year! J! E! T! S! JETS! JETS! JETS!

Pat Morgan

Spygate Continues: Jets Reportedly Did Some Videotaping Of Their Own

A report has surfaced that the New York Jets were caught videotaping New England Patriots signals a year ago when the teams played in Foxboro. It is still yet to be determined whether this happened during New York's regular season win against the Pats or during it's playoff loss to New England.

According to a published report, an employee of the Jets was asked to stop videotaping from the mezzanine level at Gillette Stadium. Unlike the Patriots, the Jets are saying that no rule was actually broken in the process.

"All filming at last year's Patriots game was done with pre-approval from the Patriots and in accordance with NFL rules," Bruce Speight, the Jets' senior director of media relations, told Newsday.

The equipment was removed from the stadium, but was never confiscated by the league. It just makes one wonder how many teams are doing this in order to gain a competitive advantage. The Patriots and Bill Belichick were fined a total of $750,000 for videotaping the Jets' sidelines in Week 1. Now, there might be an investigation into this matter, even though I don't think there will be any punishment for the Jets. I don't understand how videotaping another team from the mezzanine level of a stadium was approved by the league or the opposition, which makes me suspicious of Speight's comments, but that's all we have right now.

It's strange how this is coming out right before the Jets and Pats game this Sunday. It's almost as if the Patriots knew about this right after Week 1, and didn't want to tell on Eric Mangini and the Jets until right before their second matchup. Could this motivate the Jets, just like spygate seems to have motivated the Patriots in their pursuit of perfection? I highly doubt it and I don't think the Patriots need to have any more of a psychological advantage. The team is 13-0 and the Jets are 3-10. The Patriots might put up 70 this week and another win will be tacked on to their undefeated record. But this spygate controversy will be brought up in future discussions regarding these two teams, and it's a shame.

Shawn Marosek

Action for Clemens a Possibility

Don't be suprised to see Kellen Clemens make an appearance in this weekend's game against the Buffalo Bills. Despite the decision of Eric Mangini to once again start Chad Pennington, I would think there will be a quick hook if he starts to falter. In his only start this season, Clemens had a rough first three quarters against the Baltimore Ravens and then showed his talents off in the fourth quarter. It wasn't his fault that Justin McCareins couldn't catch one single ball. Clemens could have been the hero. If the Jets would have won that game, I still think Pennington would have been named the starter the following week. However, Mangini might have decided to give Clemens a shot at being the full-time starter a little sooner instead of dragging this nightmare out any longer.

Shawn Marosek

Chad Will Start vs. Buffalo

Eric Mangini announced today that Chad Pennington will remain the starter for the 1-6 New York Jets. Chad was said to have been on a short leash going into last week's game against the Bengals. Despite another fourth quarter meltdown, Chad's performance was viewed as good enough to warrant him another start.

I love Chad more than anyone, but I think it is time to start Kellen Clemens. Pennington played decent last week, but in the three weeks previous he has been terrible. Even against Cincinnati, he threw a dying quail late in the game that was picked off for six and sealed the Bengals comeback. They are not going to make the playoffs this season, so I feel it is time to find out what kind of quarterback Clemens is. If he is good, then it gives him valuable experience going into next season and beyond. If the Jets wait too long, they may have to devote some of the 2008 season to his development. Of course if Clemens is bad, the Jets can find out that too, and make draft accordingly in 2008.

Again, no one more than me loves the heart and determination Chad gives each and everytime out. He works harder than anyone and I really hope his career in the NFL lasts beyond next week. Even if it isn't for the Jets, I will root for him to succeed wherever he goes. However, for the immediate future of the New York Jets franchise, it is time to see what Clemens is and if he can spark this football team the rest of the way. In 2002, Pennington relieved Vinny Testaverde and sparked the 1-4 Jets, which would then end up 9-7 and AFC East Champions. That won't happen this year, but a spark to take the team to 6-10, 7-9 would be greatly beneficial for the future of this team.

Pat Morgan