Wow that was ugly. It was over so fast my mind spent 2 plus hours racing through all of the playoff scenarios.
NOT SO TONE TIME: Just a brutal day for Jets WR Santonio Holmes. After the Jets defense forced a punt on the Eagles opening drive, Holmes caught a short pass near midfield was hit from behind and fumbled and could only watch as Juqua Parker returned it 47 yards for the games first score. Things didn't get much better for Holmes as the Jets were trying to even up the game late in the first quarter. On 2nd and 10 from the Eagles 14 Holmes tried to turn upfield before securing the ball, had it bounce it off his hands and intercepted by Asante Samuel. When Holmes finally made a positive contribution when he caught a 25 yard pass from Sanchez to bring the Jets within 18 at 28-10, he made a complete ass of himself by celebrating in the end zone and earning a 15 yard penalty.
OFFENSIVE LINE CONCERNS? Yes this was a brutal performance by the Jets offensive line, but don't hit the panic button just yet. Early turnovers and the inability of the defense to keep the Eagles out of the end zone never allowed the offense to take advantage of their running game. In fact, the Eagles have a defense built to play with a lead which allows them to unleash Jason Babin around the edge against embattled OT Wayne Hunter. Everyone and their mother wants to criticize Hunter for allowing 3 sacks and we sure as hell won't compare him to Anthony Munoz, but lets keep this in perspective. Babin has 18 sacks for a reason and they all weren't against Wayne Hunter. With the Jets trailing for the entire game, they were forced to throw, and we all know that the Jets passing attack is not the teams strength. We expect this unit to bounce back next week against the Giants as long as they prepare for #90.
ANOTHER TE SHREDS D: Once again the Jets failed to cover the TE, allowing Brent Celek to shred the middle of their defense for 156 yards on 5 catches from only 6 targets. Celek only found the end zone once, but also had the back breaking play to effectively end the game in the 3rd QT when he took a Mike Vick pass 73 yards to the Jets 1 yard line. We have said this before and we will say this again --the Jets inability to cover a TE is absolutely perplexing when they have Revis & Cromartie to cover the top 2 WR's leaving 9 Jets defenders responsible for stopping a slot WR, TE, and RB. By my math that means 9 Jets defenders need to stop 3 players, yet the Jets never cover the TE. Simply amazing.
STRENGTH OF VICTORY: Most of you are trying to figure out how the Jets seem to control their own destiny despite an identical 8-6 record with the Bengals with both teams also sharing an identical 6-5 AFC record. The simple answer is the Jets maintain a better strength of victory(SOV) than the Bengals as of today, and we will explain how it could but shouldn't change, allowing the Jets to control their destiny by winning out. The Jets have 8 wins have come against DAL(8)JAX(4)MIA(5)SD(7)BUF(5)BUF(5)WAS(5)KC(6) for a total of 45 current wins with games remaining with NYG(7)MIA(5). The Bengals have beaten CLE(4)BUF(5)JAX(4)IND(1)SEA(7)TEN(7)CLE(4)STL(2) for a total of 34 current wins with games remaining with AZ(7)BAL(10). Based on the current record of opponents the Jets would hold the tie break based on total strength of victory (57-51), however things could certainly change. Things get really dicey if the Jets somehow lose again and find themselves in a 9-7 tie. We expect the Raiders to lose once more (possibly to SD) and think the Bengals will have a tough time beating the Ravens (playing for #2 vs #5 seed) to finish the season, let alone beating the Cardinals this week. We wouldn't be shocked if that left the Titans, Bengals (if they only lose once), and Jets in a 9-7 tie. Due to the Jets 5 AFC losses, they must beat MIA to get in under any 9-7 scenarios involving TEN due to their 7-5 AFC record (Jets loss to MIA gives them 6 AFC losses). If Jets lose to Giants, beat MIA and find themselves in 2 way tie with TEN with same 7-5 AFC record, strength of victory is currently a dead heat with the 9 Titans wins coming against BAL(10)DEN(8)CLE(4)IND(1)CAR(5)TB(4)BUF(5)JAX(4)HOU(10) for a total of 51 wins vs. Jets 45 SOV in 8 wins. Since the Jets would have to beat the Dolphins you can add in their 5 wins for a current total SOV of 50 vs the Titans SOV of 51. Of course that will change over the next 2 weeks so it could make for a lot of scoreboard watching. Also, keep in mind the Jets would lose most 907 tie breakers involving the Raiders, but win most with the Chargers. Bottom line is Jets must win out to be safe.
Our brains are now fried from all of the playoff scenarios. Let us know your questions and thoughts.
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