I'd Rather Get Beat Up In An Alley

Do you think the Pats are a little nervous about Monday night’s game?  I feel like they might actually have some butterflies up there in chowdah land and that makes me very happy.  As scary as Tom Brady is, I prefer the Patriots sans Randy Moss any day.  I just don’t see Dieon Branch making 40-yard one-finger grabs in the back of our end zone.

I personally  have one teeny tiny little ounce of fear going into Monday night’s game (ok I have a few but whatever).  Have you noticed the way our running backs this season love jumping over the pile on short yardage situations?  You know, 3rd and 1-  Ladainian Tomlinson takes the hand-off then leaps up and over the scrum to pick up the first down.  If you’ve been watching I’m sure you’ve picked up on the fact that Sean Greene recently added this maneuver to his repertoire.  At this point I’m certainly not complaining… they’ve converted a number of important 1sts this season.  It’s just that Jerod Mayo routinely stuffs that play.  Violently.  With helmets popping off and stuff.

I don’t want to see our old man LT (or Greene for that matter) leap up for a glorious 1 yard gain only to be smashed by the evil minions of Bill Belichik.  Perhaps Rex watched some film and picked up on Mayo’s soul crushing tendencies.  One can hope…

Is there anyone out there that could tell me why the Broncos aren’t losing a draft pick for filming other team’s during their walk through?  Didn’t we already establish that if you’re caught trying to steal other team’s game plans via film, it is punishable by draft pick denial and a 2 Kabillion dollar fine?  Monkey-see monkey-do I guess.  Or maybe… monkey-see his boss cheat and win Super Bowls monkey-think “Why not?”  I knew that I didn’t like McDaniels but I couldn’t put my finger on it.  Now I’ve figured it out.

He’s a douche Bag. 

A lying, underhanded, back stabbing, (and now) cheating douche.  I hope he cuts himself shaving if he ever becomes man enough to grow facial hair.

Sorry Schotty- you stink.

How does an offensive coordinator continually, year after year, make such bone-headed idiotic mistakes?   You’d think that someone who spends so much time working on football would comprehend basic offensive strategy.  You know, things like clock management or trying to get 1st downs… or even just understanding that his job is to try to win the game.  It reminds me of Herm Edwards back when he pretended he could coach for a few years (love ya Herm but really).

Lets relive the Jets final drive last night shall we?  We’ve got a 2 point lead with 2:47 left and the Vikings have just used their final time out.  It’s 1st down with 10 yards to go.  All we really need to do is run a play that takes 2 seconds to develop and the Vikings are on the ropes.  It could be a draw play, a pitch to the outside, a qb scramble…  anything that gets us to within 45 tics of the 2 minute warning.   At this point “yardage gained” becomes secondary to “time off the clock.”  All Minnesota could hope for is to get the ball back with maybe 30 seconds or so.   I’m going to remind you that they had exactly zero timeouts left.

I guess going for the jugular isn’t Schotty’s cup of tea because he once again got cute (or stupid- semantics I s’pose) and called a quick run followed by 2 passes.  Instead of pinning the Vikings with no time on the clock, we gave them almost 2 minutes to put together a drive that only would require a field goal to win the game.  In the words of Mark Sanchez’s great grandfather, “No Bueno.”  If you watched the game I’m sure you will agree with me when I say that we looked doomed.  Favre had been torching our defense the entire 4th quarter and 1 of two things was about to happen-  Favre was going to tear out the hearts of Jet Nation or Favre was going to throw an interception.  Thank the football gods it was the latter.

I just don’t understand it.  I’m not a professional football player, coach, ball boy, or cheerleader (well maybe) but this is basic to the game.  It’s fundamental.  What’s up with this dude?  I’ve seen him call double reverse pitches in a biblical rainstorm, in-completions on 3rd and inches, spread formations with an immobile quarterback, and pass plays to a hard nosed runner with hands made of stone.  How many times do I have to watch our offensive play calling hurt us?  Enough already.  Had we lost this game Schotty’s name would be mud and the back page of the Post would be hilarious at his expense.

One of my biggest concerns coming into this season was the lack of continuity among personnel from year to year.  We brought in so many new players with big names from foreign places I guess I was worried that the Jets wouldn’t feel like the Jets but more like some almost-all-star team. We let two of our “Play like a Jet” fan favorites go during the off season, Leon Washington being the most painful, and went on a crazy free-agent  spending spree.  Jason friggin’ Taylor is wearing Green and White for God’s sake… my concerns were real.  Would rooting for these Jets feel the same?  Would I have trouble pulling for this “Miami Heat” patchwork team wearing colors that match the blood pumping through my veins?

After Monday Night’s game against the Ravens it’s safe to say these are indeed the same ol’ New York Football Jets.  We showed the world how easy it is to take a talented group of men playing their inaugural game in a brand new stadium and make it look like they don’t even know the rules much less how to score a touchdown.  Illegal Shifts, loads of Pass Interference, pure stupidity (Keller) and fumbles galore… Yes: these men deserve to wear the Green and White.

Then why are all the Jets die-hards already jumping ship?  Literally during the 1st quarter of the game after Braylon’s idiotic penalty negated what would have been a beautiful pass to Dustin Keller my buddy looked at me with a straight face and yelled, “You know we’ve lost the game already!”  Classic abused puppy syndrome… he spent the rest of the game freaking out and now is refusing to go to the Patriots game Sunday because, “it’s going to break my heart to watch us go 0-2.”  This sentiment was not just Larry’s (sorry buddy -  you deserve it) but was also popular among many fans watching the game with us in the bar.  Not only are we in week 1 here but also in the 1st quarter of week 1.   All across the internet, on ESPN, and throughout my Jets-loving bar, people are pulling the shoot and giving up on the season.  I find it disheartening… and yet welcome.

The fact that Larry was right sucks and is beside the point.  I believe in Mojo.  I believe in Juju.  I don’t think the season is anywhere near over and fully expect to beat the Patriots despite Randy Moss’s bravado and Tom Brady’s new hairdo.  With Rex Ryan’s big mouth and coverage from Hard Knocks of training camp propelling the hype machine, our boys in Green have been adding new fans at an astonishing clip.  Seems like everywhere I look what used to say “Giants” now says “Jets.”  Everyone I talked to during the game had an in-depth knowledge of the differences between a 3-4 defense and a 4-6.  If I heard the words “Exotic Blitz” come out of one more analysts mouth I might have given myself a swirly in my aforementioned bar.  None of these things are an issue any more.  The masses are now rooting against us.  They’re cheering for the Jets to get punched in their big, wide, open mouths.

It’s back to being just us: the abused puppies, the die-hards who remember Testeverde’s achilles, Byar’s fumble, Marino’s fake spike, Rich Kotite, and the gall of Belichik hitting the road for New England.  It was before my time but some of us might even remember Shea Stadium, Maynard, Klecko, Namath and a glorious Super Bowl.

We are the Jets faithful and regardless of what happens this is our team.  True, we’re a bunch of idiots but we’re football smart idiots who sell out our games no matter how many losses we accrue or how stupid our tight end appears to be (10 yards Keller. NOT 9).  Other teams have fair-weather fans.  The Jets have foul-weather fans.  When things are going wrong, we nod in solidarity, “Yup, I remember this feeling.  Must be football season.”

I’m a rare breed amongst the sea of Green and White: an optimistic Jets fan.  It’s just in my nature to see the incredible possibilities rather than the perhaps inevitable defeat when the final whistle blows.  We all knew that the first three games of the season were going to be a bitch.  Why mope around when we lose the 1st one against what many consider to be a Super Bowl caliber team?

The Patriots don’t have the defense that the Ravens have but they do have an inexhaustibly meticulous coach who will go over every play from Sunday’s game with a fine-toothed comb.  Expect the Pats to stack the box.  Expect Brady to target Wilson and Cromartie.  Expect Larry to pronounce us dead in the water if we lose the coin toss.  I, for one, am really looking forward to a great game.

As bad as I thought the Revis situation would get, I never dreamed it would really snowball into Darrelle sitting out the whole season.  We’re not quite there yet, but after American Football’s top corner sat out Tuesday’s practice he took a giant step in that direction.  By doing so Revis lost a year of free agency which is not a good sign for my Super Bowl hopes.  It gives his threats credibility and shows his determination.  Now what?

We start discussing trade possibilities – that’s what.  If Darrelle doesn’t want to play here for $12 million a year than maybe we can ship him off to some 3-13 team and get us some Herschal Walker-esque love if you know what I mean (wink wink).  Trust me, I know this is probably just a way of coping with agony and I don’t care.

Let’s take a look at some prospects shall we?

We’ll start in the NFC… try our best not to have to face the Island on a regular basis.  The bottom of the barrel sounds promising.

O’ Detroit, your Lions are more like possums.  There’s not much on this team that I could see being worth our stud corner.  Maybe their draft pick next year?  Okay, it’s the Lions-  I’d definitely take their #1 next season.

What about Washington?  The Redskins are always up for a trade.  Revis for Haynesworth straight up!  I’ll take it as long as we don’t have to repay any of that $20 million Albert stuffed in his pocket while he was holding out a few weeks back.

Would the Vikings give up Adrian Peterson?  No way in hell.  Maybe one of their receivers… we don’t need any.  Well then, what do we need?  A safety would be nice.

Would KC give up their rookie safety?  Eric Berry should be playing for Rex anyway.   Another defensive lineman might be a good fit.  A tight end?  Keller’s still the man.

I’ve got it!  Let’s trade him to the Seahawks for their #1 pick next season and their #2 running back.  I hear he’d be a fan favorite up here in New York.   That would be awesome!  Revis holds out because he sees the way the Jets treated Leon Washington only to be the focal point of a trade bringing everyone’s favorite gummy bear home.  Leon’s under a 1 year contract for less than $2 million… I’m just sayin’.

There’s always room for a stud running back right?  I’m sure the Ravens would love to have Revis in a purple uni.  Would they give up Ray Rice though?  Probably.  Let’s do it (although this is in our conference).

More than anything I want Darelle practicing with the rest of the NFL’s #1 defense.  I’m not surprised that Hard Knocks painted the picture with a team-sided slant.  We’ve got to remember that for the most part we’re only getting what the team is putting out there.  They want Revis to look like the bad guy and they’re doing a good job of it.  Who knows what was said at the diner?  Cameras weren’t allowed – we only saw Tanny driving to the meeting and driving away from the meeting.  I wouldn’t put anything past Revis, his agent or our GM.  When you get to this level, the big guns are always on the table.

Tannenbaum:  Hi Darrelle

Revis:  Hello Mike

Tannenbaum:  When you coming to camp again?

Revis:  Next Thursday remember?  I’m going to the Bahamas this weekend.

Tannenbaum:  That’s right.  It’s in your new contract.  You’ve got to work on your tan for the cameras.  What do you think -  tuna salad or cheeseburger deluxe?

Revis:  The cheeseburger but substitute onion rings.  They’re beer battered.  You getting a shake?

Tannenbaum:  I will if you will!!!

Training camp is under way and I’m sure y’all have heard Darrelle Revis is still holding out.  Only in America could a dude making a million bucks a year under contract until 2013 look like a good guy by holding out for more money.  I’m not saying he’s wrong in doing so -  just stating facts here.  I get it.  He could break his leg (cough… cough… LEON… cough…) and suddenly not be worth the $15.6 million he says he’s worth.  I sound bitter. Sorry for that.  It’s just that loony-tunes Al Davis may have somehow discovered a way to screw up the Jet’s Super Bowl Dreams.  It wouldn’t surprise me if Bill Belichik hatched this crazy scheme in that lab of his underneath Fenway.   You know, the one where he injected Tom Brady with Super Soldier Serum a few years back.

Sadly, you can’t build a team around a corner back.  You just can’t.  Jerry Glanville tried to do that in the 90′s with Deion Sanders. I’m pretty sure that the only thing that team accomplished was getting their butts whupped in the Wild Card Round. Maybe Darelle should follow in Prime Time’s footsteps if he’s looking for some extra loot and try out for the Yankees.  But there I go digressing again.  I don’t blame the Jets for not wanting to dump “#1 Quarterback money” on the league’s #1 corner back.  We’ve got other players to pay: namely, Nick Mangold (DO IT Tanny!).

Revis is the man, no doubt about it.   He’s an unbelievably gifted athlete who not only possesses the physical skills to be an elite NFL player but also plays with smarts.  He dupes quarterbacks into throwing his direction much like a boxer drawing his opponent into throwing an ill advised right-cross.  Then — BANG! — he snags the ball and forces a turnover.  It’s the smarts that piss me off.  He knows that if the Jets pay him $16 million bucks they’re going to have less money to spread around.  Depth is important.  Talent is important.  Multiple weapons are important.  All these motherf#$%ers want big bucks.  It might be the Jets PR finally getting to me but I’m starting to see Revis as a selfish player.  He’s putting his wallet in front of his team’s ability to win games and that’s just  a bunch of baloney.

The bottom line couldn’t be clearer: you sign a contract to play a team sport for X amount of years, you honor it and show up for work no matter how much more you think you might be worth.  Haynesworth is practicing for God’s sake.  Revis – get your but to work.  Football’s a team sport, homey, and you’re letting down everybody on the defense by sitting out.

This might be my favorite picture ever.

So I’ve been awol for a few weeks… apparently that’s what happens when you buy a bar.  I’ve had zero time to bitch about how much it hurts to be a Jets fan, about how we’re better off picking a fight with twelve giant Albanian thugs than rooting for the green and white, about how the Jets only consistency is their creativity when it comes to losing, and I’ve also had no time to pretend I know more about running an offense than Brian Schottenheimer.  Well, thanks to this weeks matchup letdown, I’ve made some time.

After the Dolphins loss I coolly pronounced the end of the Special Teams game-killing-instances (happenings?).  I might never have been wronger in my entire life.  About anything.  Not even when I said Star Wars Episode 1 was “going to ROCK!”  Jar Jar f*%$ing Floppy Ears is a welcome sight compared to Kellen Clemens coming anywhere near a snap ever again.  His botched snap set off a domino effect that lasted 4 quarters and somehow choked out our field goal unit.  And to think I was a Clemens believer… yikes.  Basically, I’m just admitting how wrong I was here.  With the Jets, you can lose any number of ways and I should know that.  Stupid optimism getting in the way of my football smarts is all.

Our defense played a great game but once again when all the balls are on the table we couldn’t get it done on one last game winning drive.  Matt Ryan threw many interceptions yet we came down with none.  What gives?  Revis looked unbelievable and for some reason Ryan threw at him all game.  This repeated foolery helped Gang Green stall the Falcons most of the game… then came the last drive and you know how this movie ends…

I think Rex Ryan needs to bring in a new sliding specialist.  Girardi must have taught Sanchez to slide with his face because our quarterback dove every opportunity he got.  If there’s one thing I expected to see it was at least one Sanchez slide.

These refs looked like they were borrowed from the NBA.  Go look at Sanchez’s Intentional Grounding call and then look at Ryan’s no-call in the third quarter.  Also take a look at Mangold getting kicked in the chin and then the flag being thrown at Thomas Jones.  Oh, I get it… we’ve got a rookie QB, they don’t get the calls until they earn it right?  Go bang yourself Mr. BS Referee.  Sour grapes?  only slightly

How can we score 7 points all game?  In a playoff race?  I just don’t get it… and it hurts like liquid acid.  Liquid fire.  You know burning in my veins that makes me want to go punch Kerry Rhodes for all his showboating.  Ah yes-  Kerry Rhodes is back in the starting lineup.  He made sure we saw him-  strutting, bowing, dancing anytime the ball came near him.  What about when he got juked out of his cleats on the Falcon’s final drive?  That missed tackle is indicative of what you get with Kerry Rhodes.  All flash, no muscle.  You’d think he would at least have the tact to act humbled by the last few weeks, but no-   Rhodes isn’t a team player and I just hope we get good value for him when he’s traded.  Go to Oakland, Kerry-  Al will love you there… you can dance all day and never win again.   Maybe Schotty will be joining you soon.

To conclude-  remember that from school?  Anywho, to conclude, this post was necessary you know?  Like a child possessed by the devil requires a priest, I too need to exorcise my demons.   Or at least rant about my crappy football fanhood…  Which now will most definitely have to place a few wagers on the playoffs to stay interested.  There’s always teams to root against I guess.  As they say in Houston… “F*!k the Cowboys.”

They do really say that in Houston.  A lot.

Being raised Catholic,  I have often wondered what Hell must feel like.  Well thanks to Marc Anthony, I no longer need to dwell on such trivial thoughts.  There is absolutely nothing worse than having to listen to him melodramatically slaughter the national anthem and then watch his pastel colored gimmick of a football team rip the Jets for all the world to see.

I would much rather get mugged on my way home than sit through Bart Scott getting owned by Ricky Williams again.  Seriously, you can’t argue that a good solid punch in the face is any worse than what happened on Monday night.   Alley Beatings are in full effect here folks… alas, these are indeed the Jets and the last two weeks have not been fun for those of us who bleed green and white.  Anytime a team wearing lame day-glow orange jerseys with teal highlights out-muscles you, it is exactly what Rex Ryan said.  “Humbling.”

Losing to the Saints in New Orleans is one thing.  Sanchez is a rookie.  It’s ok if he acts like one occasionally if it’s early in the season…  objectively speaking of course.  It is NOT NOT NOT ok for this big mouthed, mean, tough, “swaggerlishous”  defense to get pushed around by Lenny Kravitz’ ex-boyfriend.

I don’t care how good Braylon Edwards looked last night-  the only image I remember is him dropping a TD and then getting bailed out by the refs. Which reminds me… the refs actually helped us out all night and we still couldn’t win.  WTF!!?  I’m reading that Jerricho Cotchery re-injured himself by playing and may miss next week’s game against Buffalo which means we’ll get another week to wonder what our offense will look like when it’s all together on the same field.  By the way, maybe it’s because I wear his Jersey but I still consider Cotchery the #1 and Edwards the “tall receiver.”  One performance- albeit a good one- isn’t enough for me to welcome you aboard the bandwagon especially when it’s in a losing effort.

All week long my thoughts went to Mark Sanchez and I worried how he would respond to his buffoonery the week before.  Would he rebound?  Maybe he’ll just revert to being the “game manager” that so many said he must become.   Truthfully, I hoped he would escape Miami with only one turnover and our defense would hold the fort.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine D Rex would implode and allow 21 points in the 4th quarter.  Darrelle Revis got burned so bad he’ll be penciling in his eyebrows for 3 to 6 weeks.  Even  our special teams, which has been 100% meh this season, displayed what shoulda/coulda/woulda been a winning effort if it weren’t for the weak-ass defense that wore green and white on Monday night. We bent, then we broke, and finally laid down the welcome mat.  Sorry fellas, I love ya, but it’s true.  Pwned by the fish.  Destroyed by the dolphins.  Erased by the… uhhh, bright orange SoFla dancers-with-the-stars that you talked smack about in the papers.  It hurts….. I don’t care if Sanchez looked great.  I don’t care if Edwards caught 2 touchdowns (maybe).  I don’t care if Westhoff’s Special Teams has finally arrived.  We should have been able to stop the Dolphins from running the ball when their only option was to run the ball.

We knew it wasn’t going to be an undefeated season.  Our Rookie is indeed a human so, at some point, he’s probably going to have a terrible game.  The Saints have a great offense, a great defense, an undefeated record, and a big-time home field advantage.  Why then, did Sunday’s game hurt my eternal soul so much?

Maybe it’s because our defense played it’s ass off.  Drew Brees wasn’t tossing TD passes at will to say the least.  Rexual Assault hammered the Halos forcing the explosive Saints to be patient and do something they rarely resort to.  Punting.

Maybe it’s because our running game still hasn’t shown up four weeks into the season and I’m starting to wonder if it ever will.  That’s an expensive offensive line and it’s getting paid to do two things- 1) Protect the quarterback, and 2) Run block.  On Sunday it didn’t do either.  Maybe our receivers should have caught some of those balls… particularly the one Stuckey whiffed that turned into an interception.  Wait a second, WHAT?  BRAYLON EDWARDS?  REEEEAAAALLLY?

Way to interrupt my weekly rant Mr. Tannenbaum.  Do you ever stop wheeling and dealing? Sheesh…

Oh, wait a second, I get it.  Edwards is being run out of town by Lebron James‘ posse.  The story came out yesterday that Edwards punched one of Lebron’s friends at a nightclub.  Lebron then called Edwards “childish” and “jealous.”  Does Lebron really have this much pull?  And, more importantly, will Braylon and Mark Sanchez light up the scoreboard Monday night against Flipper?  Most coaches probably wouldn’t start a receiver before he’s even unpacked but this Rex Ryan character takes the bulldozer approach.  My prediction?  Edwards 2 receptions- 73 yards, 1 touchdown.  His first is a 4 yard dink-  his second is a long distance hook up off of a blown coverage.

Or, ere this….  Rex wakes up early in the morning, grabs a cup of coffee and the NY TImes.  He sits down on his porch and peruses the Business section.  He reads the Science Times next and then moves on to Arts and Leisure.  Finally he glances at the skimpy Sports section (which might actually be the back of the Business section on Tuesday).  He stumbles across this headline… “Edwards Punches Lebron’s Friend.”  Rex spills coffee all over himself and his paper in a mad dash to the telephone.

“Mike, get back on the horn with your BFF and see if we can still get that stone-handed sonofabitch.  I know he can’t catch for shit but we can use some help protecting the quarterback.  Anybody with balls big enough to take on Lebron’s posse in Cleveland is welcome in my huddle!    I thought you said we can afford anybody… well figure it out!”

Well this is certainly getting to be fun.  I’ve spent the last two Sundays watching our Jets blitz the winning column from my very own seats way up in Section 303.  I mean waaaaaaaay up there.  Whereas last week we still had a little of the abused puppy syndrome running throughout the Jet Faithful at half time, this week there was nothing but soaking wet raucousness at the Meadowlands.  The rain sucked, sure, but Giant Stadium still held 76,000 lunatics in green yelling ’til we all went hoarse.  My ears were ringing when I got home.  Seriously – no lie.  AC/DC’s got nothing on us.

Sanchez wasn’t perfect.  Actually, sometimes he looked like Inspector Clouseau trying to find the Pink Panther in the shotgun formation.  He had no idea where the ball was nor did he know how to hold onto it.  This is what happens when you grow up playing football in SoCal.  There’s a learning curve going on here -  I’m just happy we’re winning with on the job training.  Butterfingers are okay as long as you manage to put up more points than your opponents.

I noticed the beginnings of what is sure to be phenomenon throughout Jet Nation.  The crowd at Giant Stadium wore a light sprinkling of Sombreros.  Speaking as a Tex-Patriot, watching the folks in New Jersey embracing Sanchez’s Mexican roots is priceless.  Jets fans don’t have the best reputation around the league but there’s no denying our football smarts nor our loyalty. Mark my words: if Sanchez can keep up his winning ways there’s going to be a Sombrero shortage in New Jersey the likes of which haven’t been seen since… I dunno… where do you buy sombreros in Jersey anyway? Next game I’m bringing a Pinata loaded with PBR and airplane bottles.  If you’re tailgating and can bring a nerf bat please email me so we can hook up.  I’ll be working on my paper mâché skills ’til Buffalo comes to town.

Kerry Rhodes promised embarrassment.   Rex Ryan left me a voicemail.  Patriots fans everywhere talked landfills of trash.  Even though we’re only in week two, this matchup came as loaded as any game could be.  If it were a potato it would be one of those chopped beef, cheese, chives, butter, sour cream, salt, pepper, and barbecue sauce “bakers” that I’ve only seen in Texas.  Damn…  victory is delicious.

So everyone in the media keeps talking about the fans.  Our intensity.  Our decibel level.  What about our nervous stomachs during a very ugly 1st quarter?  The stadium was uneasy after watching Sanchez fumble his first snap of the game but when Leon Washington turned it over on the next excuse for a drive, the fear was visually perceptible.  What I mean is you could actually see it.  Our nervous energy took the shape of a big white helicopter which circled the stadium pretty much the entire game.  It’s not like it flew high above us- it hovered just above the top row.  Anybody else see that thing?  If you were at the game it was hard to miss.  I thought helicopter blades were about to scrape the side of the Meadowlands.  Yikes.  Maybe the CIA had money on the Jets…

Seriously, that 1st half was one of the hardest to watch I’ve ever sat through.  Our offense’s only constant was terrible field position.  The Jets looked inept.  We kept giving Tom “I’m perfect” Brady the ball in Jets territory.  I’ve seen this movie many times before.  It ends in tragedy- like a car accident inside a bullet commuter train during rush hour.  All the Pats had to do was move the ball forward and they could sniff the endzone.  Except, well, they couldn’t really move the ball forward.  And the only thing Brady was sniffing was the turf.  He threw 47 passes and not a single one resulted in a touchdown.  His longest pass went about 40 yards to Darrelle Revis and while it was a tight spiral I think he could have led our star corner a little better.   How’s he supposed to get a pick six when he can’t get separation from Randy Moss.  This is about when the “same old Jets” comments ceased and fans dug in with our rookie quarterback.  Mark Sanchez might be the new kid but once he settles down you can almost see the wheels turning in his head.  It’s only a matter of time before he figures out who is left open when the opposing team blitzes.

Revis was fantastic.  Even when it comes to describing his own performance on Moss.

“I just covered him.  If he went to the bathroom, I went, too. I covered him any way I could. When he went to the sidelines, when our offense was on the field and he sat down, I sat right across from him wherever he was sitting on the bench.”

I feel like not enough is being made out of the handshake(s) at the end of the game.  I gotta say I love Rex Ryan.  The dude left me a message, gave me a game ball, and blitzed Belichick all the way through the good sportsmanship handshake.  Belicheat almost dodged D-Rex only to run into a grinning Mark Sanchez lurking with a handshake of his own.  Kill the grinch with kindness…. what a thing of beauty.