A Few Thoughts

Ryan's press conference today was similar to every other post-game one I have watched. He gave a lot of credit to the Titans for their effort in stopping Jones and also in getting back into the game. A few thoughts and notes from that:

• He praised Eric Smith to no end. Smith got a game ball yesterday from Ryan and for good reason. He said that he never expected this out of Smith and actually was willing to trade him when he first got here. However, he loves how smart he is and how he has been able to pick up multiple positions in the system. Again, as I have said all year, keep an eye on him.

• David Clowney was put on the bench by Ryan in the beginning of last week because Ryan had a problem with a few Twitter comments Clowney made after the Patriots game. After that game Clowney made a post saying he was disappointed with the amount of touches and plays he got. Although he quickly remedied that by posting about the great team win Ryan got wind of it and sat him this week. However, despite the fact that he was benched for this game Ryan named him the practice player of last week. He said that Clowney came out with a great attitude and really showed that he is all about the team. I'm looking for a little more playing time out of Clowney in the Saints game.

• Ryan gave a ton of respect to the Saints and what they have been able to do so far. He knows that their offense is potent and that Payton is a great coach. He hinted at the fact that the Jets will be sending a ton of pressure at Brees this week and hoping he makes a mistake.

Note on Pennington:

Although he is a Dolphin, I hate to see him get injured and be out for the year. Pennington will always be one of my favorite Jets because of his tenacity and toughness. Although he was never blessed with the great arm he fought through that adversity and became a very good NFL quarterback. Pennington will always have his critics because of his weak arm but nobody can question his leadership and toughness. I hope he recovers from this and plays in the NFL once again but I have my doubts that he will be able to. That being said, he will make a great QB coach (and maybe more) sometime in the future and I look forward to seeing him wear Jets green again sometime in the near future.

Jets v. Titans Post Game

Jets- 24
Titans- 17

Record: 3-0

The Jets continued their winning ways today with a huge win over the reeling Tennessee Titans. Any thought that the Jets would "let down" in this game was quickly dispelled as they opened up the first two drives of the game with touchdowns to take a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. The second quarter was a little shaky as there was a complete role reversal as the Titans fought back. We saw once again the halftime adjustments of Rex Ryan which are absolutely amazing. Ryan had the defense playing very well in the 4th quarter which led to 13 straight incompletions from Kerry Collins to end the game.

Game Ball:

Jerricho Cotchery got open all day against the Titans secondary and finished with 8 catches for 108 yards and a touchdown. His most important catch of the day came on a 45 yard pass down the sideline in which he made a great grab while maintaining possession and getting both feet in. This led to a field goal which put the Jets up 7. Cotchery exposed a weak Titans secondary and is one of the crispest route runners in the AFC right now. He made a great catch on the slant for the touchdown which proved to be the most important score of the game.

Thumbs Up:

• David Harris had a great game with a key interception and sack in the 4th quarter. The interception came at a critical time and ended a potential game tying touchdown drive. The sack came on the Titans final drive and forced them into a long 3rd down situation. Those two plays pretty much ended two potential scoring drives for the Titans.

• Mark Sanchez was incredible again today as he became the first rookie to ever start a season 3-0. He finished 17/30 for 171 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. The Titans defensive line was providing pressure all day and Sanchez was able to maneuver in the pocket and find open receivers. He found 7 different receivers on the day and seemed to spread the ball around nicely. The run for the touchdown on the first drive showed me that he is not afraid of contact as he took a big hit before extending for the touchdown. The 45 yard pass to Sanchez own the sideline was perfectly placed as Cotchery was tightly covered. Overall, Sanchez played well enough today to safely secure a third straight rookie of the week award and I am amazed by his development so far.

• Kris Jenkins did his usual job of clogging up the middle and wreaking havoc for the opposing offensive line. He made an excellent play in the 4th quarter where he busted through the line and tackled the running back for a 4 yard loss with one arm while fighting off an offense lineman with another. He is a disruptive force and is playing even better than he did last season.

• I said before the season that Eric Smith would have a huge year for the Jets. Ryan has learned to use him in the right way and Smith has developed into a very solid backup. With Sheppard and Strickland out this week Smith came up huge with a few good pass breakups. Keep your eye on him the rest of the season as he will continue to impress.
  

Thumbs Down:

• I was a little disappointed in the offensive line today. Sanchez was rushed a lot more this game and the Titans reached him a lot by rushing only 4 people. The Titans d-line is very good but the offensive line is the best unit on this team and they need to do a better job protecting Sanchez as well as opening more holes for Thomas Jones.

• Thomas Jones had a very disappointing game today. He finished with 14 carries for 20 yards and was largely ineffective. His only good carry which went for about 30 yards was brought back because of a Nick Mangold holding call. Jones will continue to get the ball 15-20 times a game and he will have to produce a lot better than he did today if the Jets hope to be able to hold leads in the 4th quarter and run down the clock.

Game Notes:

• Both Strickland and Sheppard were inactive for this game due to injuries. The Jets will need one or both to return next week in order to shut down a very potent Saints offense.
• Sanchez showed no sign of the "knee tendinitis" which put him on the injury report this week as he ran in the touchdown with no problem.
• The 3-0 start is the first ever by a rookie quarterback.
  

Week 3 Preview: Titans at Jets

The Titans come into New York with an 0-2 record and are absolutely desperate for a win. The Jets come into this game 2-0 and coming off a week where they picked up their biggest win in the past few years. Overall, I see this being another close game as both defenses will come to play. The Jets defense comes into the game ranked #1 in the league in yards allowed and has yet to give up an offensive touchdown. Anyway, here are a few thoughts about this weeks game.

• The most important unit in this game is the Titans secondary. They are coming off a week where the Texans decimated them with the pass. The Matt Schaub/Andre Johnson duo recovered after a tough first week against the Jets and made Cortland Finnegan and the Titans secondary look terrible. A key to this game is opening up the offense early and letting Sanchez throw. There will not be much room to run in this game as the Titans still have a great, attacking defensive line. The Jets must open up the offense earlier than last week (when Sanchez only threw 5 times in the first half) and let him take his shots down the field.

• In order to win this game the Jets will need to contain Chris Johnson. Rex Ryan stated in his press conference that the easiest way to stop this guy is to hit him before he gets moving. When Johnson breaks through the the first layer he is near impossible to stop in the open field. The Jets must stop Johnson in the backfield and I think they have a good chance of doing that with Kris Jenkins clogging up the middle.

• Mark Sanchez will have to have a great game in order for the Jets to win this one. The defense will show up and hold the Titans down but the offense is going to need a lot more production than last week if the Jets hope to win this game. I expect to see a more opened up offense in the first half as the Jets will test the Titans secondary. Sanchez is going to have to be accurate and will have to use his uncanny ability to throw on the move if he hopes to escape the pressure from the Titans defensive line.
  

Players to Watch:

• Lito Shepherd and Donald Strickland. Ok, so it might be a little hard to be a "player to watch" if your not going to be on the field. However, the presence of at least one of these guys is going to be needed on Sunday. From the last thing I heard it sounds like Shepherd will play and Strickland will not. This will thrust Drew Coleman into a more prominent role and he will have to play above and beyond what he has shown so far. Look for Eric Smith to have a bigger role this week if one or both of these guys are out.

• Leon Washington makes this list every week because he is by far the Jets biggest playmaker. I have a good feeling about a kickoff return TD this week so we will watch out for that. Washington will play a huge factor in the game.

My Game Thoughts:

My prediction? The Jets will win this game in a close battle. Vegas has the Jets as 3 point favorites and I see the game being right around that number. Jay Feely will once again have to make his field goals because opportunities for touchdowns may be limited due to a good Titans defense.

My Prediction:

Jets-17
Titans- 10

Jets vs. Patriots Postgame

Jets- 16
Patriots- 9

2-0

In one of the most highly anticipated Jets games in recent memory the result couldn't have been any better for the Jets. With the 16-9 win they moved themselves to 2-0 and sole possession of 1st place in the AFC East. The war of words leading up to this game set the stage for a hard fought, passionate game which turned out to be exactly what we got. Rex Ryan and Brian Schottenheimer's stagnant first half offense came out in the second half with a completely overhauled game plan and opened up offense which they used to put up 13 second half points and shock the Patriots.

Game Ball:

The game ball for today's game is going to be split between two players on different sides of the ball. First, Darelle Revis deserves all the credit in the world for shutting down All-Pro receiver Randy Moss. Revis was put on an island many times against one of the leagues most electrifying play makers and he came out as the winner as Moss ended up with only 4 catches for 26 yards. Revis also got the better of Moss when he intercepted one of the only long balls Brady attempted to get by Revis. The Jets were sending 6-7 men all game long and the fact that Revis was able to contain Moss with little or no help cements the fact that he is an elite cornerback in the NFL. The second game ball goes to none other than Mark Sanchez. You have to give the rookie credit for coming out in the second half and making a bunch of excellent throws after only attempting 5 passes in the entire first half. Sanchez does not seem to freeze under pressure and his touchdown pass to Keller in the back of the endzone was thrown with great touch and accuracy. The only play Sanchez missed near the endzone was a slight overthrow to Stuckey (who tripped anyway) which resulted in the Jets settling for a field goal. Sanchez doesn't look like a rookie back there and shows more poise and confidence in the pocket than many veteran quarterbacks.

Thumbs Up:

• Jerricho Cotchery finished the game with 4 catches for 87 yards. He made one of the key plays in the game when he caught a 20 yard pass over the middle to open the second half and turned it into a 45 yard gain. Cotchery never goes down on first contact and seems to always get extra yards after the catch. He made a few diving catches tonight that required very sure hands. Sanchez seems to love to throw to him and I look for him to have many more games like this.

• Donald Strickland played an excellent game today as the Jets nickel back. He was a very sure tackler and did not let the Patriots receivers get many yards after the catch. His biggest play was a blown up bubble screen where he never took his eyes off Faulk and hit him as soon as he touched the ball.
  

• The Defense. The defense stepped up huge today and after 120 minutes of football has still not let up an offensive touchdown. In fact, they have let up 9 points in that time against two excellent offenses. Sean Ellis came back today and made a huge play on a 3rd and short and the rest of the defense was just as good. The scheme today called for a massive amount of blitzes which seemed to rattle Tom Brady and did not let him get comfortable in the pocket. The talk before the game was all about Kerry Rhodes' promise that they would hit Tom Brady at least 6 times. This number was probably just about correct as Brady was on the ground for a significant portion of the day.

• The Crowd. Rex Ryan made a plea to Jets fans this week to show up at the stadium on time and to be loud and it definitely worked. You could tell that this was the most excited crowd for a Jets game at Giants Stadium in years and the crowd seems to really be getting into this Rex Ryan defense.
  

Thumbs Down:

• Penalties. This thumbs down has to do with two separate things. 1.) The refs today made some calls in the first half which made me think they were having their salaries paid by Bill Belichick. The fumble call on Leon Washington was absolutely absurd as he was obviously down when the ball was pulled out. This led to the Patriots getting field position on the Jets 25 and without a great Jets defensive stand this call could have made a much bigger difference in the game. The other call which was absolutely absurd was the personal foul called against Bart Scott in the first half for kicking the Patriots wide receiver. Simply put, Scott never actually kicked the receiver and the 15 yard penalty shouldn't have been called. 2.) 8 penalties for 55 yards is not what you want to see if the Jets plan on becoming an elite team in the AFC. Although the problem was not terrible, the number of penalties needs to be cut down.

• First half game plan. The game plan in the first half was reminiscent of the Paul Hackett years. The Jets settled for many first half runs right up the middle which kept the defense on the field for the majority of the first half. Sanchez attempted 5 passes in the first half with only 3 completions. Although the running game needs to be established, instilling confidence in Sanchez is just as important which was seen early in the second half. Once Sanchez completed a few passes he looked a lot more comfortable in the pocket.

Game Notes:

• Strickland went out with an injury in the first quarter and there will be updates on his condition moving forward
• Shonn Greene did not play today even though he was suited up.
• Larry Izzo, Kevin O'Connell and Damien Woody were all chosen as Jets captains today. Another way Ryan attempted to show up Belichick

Patriots at Jets

It's that time of week again as Thursday is upon us. Here is my weekly preview of the Jets matchup.

Things to Watch For:

• In the recent years there has always been one thing to watch for after every Jets-Patriots game: the handshake. This year is no different as the Jets and Rex Ryan have made a splash in the media with some bold, confident statements about the upcoming game. Rex Ryan started out the fun by saying that, "I never came here to kiss Bill Belichick's, you know, rings," Ryan said. "I came to win. Let's just put it that way. So we'll see what happens. I'm certainly not intimidated by New England or anybody else." The talking continued with Kris Jenkins saying this week that the Jets will be preparing for this like its their Super Bowl. Kerry Rhodes jumped into the fun by saying that the Jets want to "embarrass" the Pats on Sunday. Now, these statements have been generating a lot of talk between Jets and Patriots fans. However, there isn't one statement that a Jet has said that has disrespected the Patriots or anything they have done. Rex Ryan simply came in with the objective of not worrying about Bill Belichek and the mystique of his unbeatable team. Ryan simply came on confident and focused on his own objective. If Bill Belichek refuses to answer a question about another team its just Bill being Bill. When Rex does the same thing (in a little more of a rash manner) it becomes bulletin board material. As far as the other two comments. Kris Jenkins is just saying that this is a huge game for the Jets (which it is) and that they are going to prepare harder than they usually would for a regular season game. I still can't find anything "bulletin board material like" about that. Kerry Rhodes said he wanted to embarrass the Pats. Isn't the objective of every NFL team to go out and embarrass the other team every week. No player in the NFL will take a 3 point win over a 50 point dominating win. He simply said what everyone else is thinking. So again, watch the handshake, it may be based on nothing but I promise it will be interesting.
• The crowd will play a huge factor in the Jets success on Sunday. They have to be in early and they have to be making noise. Nothing pumps these players up more than knowing that they have 50,000 people behind them wreaking havoc for the opponent. We need this noise to slow down the potent passing attack of the Patriots and to keep Brady from being comfortable when making pre-snap reads.

Players to Watch:

• Leon Washington will play a huge factor in Sunday's game. The Patriots had trouble containing the small, speedy Fred Jackson last week and now they will be faced with a player with twice his play-making ability. Washington should pose huge matchup problems for the inexperienced Patriots linebackers and I fully expect him to be well over 150 total yards from scrimmage. The Jets will throw a ton of quick screens (disguised in many ways) to keep the Patriots off balance and Washington should be on the other side of many of those screens.
• Kris Jenkins was bothered by back issues this week but he will play in this game and should be his normal self. He needs to disrupt the Patriots OL and open up lanes for Bart Scott, David Harris, Vernon Gholston and others to rush Tom Brady. If Jenkins can eat up two defenders in the middle it will go a long way in the Jets goal of getting consistent pressure on Brady.
• Kevin Faulk of the Patriots is one player that could have a huge game on Sunday. With the Jets blitz I fully expect Faulk to get 5-7 catches in the game and turn most of those into first downs. This could pose a huge problem in getting the formidable Patriots offense off the field.
• Darelle Revis will have the job of shutting down Randy Moss. Both of these players are key to their reams success and if Revis can shut down Moss the Jets will have a very legitimate shot to win this game.

My Game Thoughts:

How do I think this game will go? It is hard to say what is going to happen Sunday in the Meadowlands. The Jets will show up to play and match up very well on both sides of the ball against the Patriots. The Patriots defense has lost many key members and will be without star linebacker Jerod Mayo on Sunday. This could make them very susceptible to the Jets short passing attack and their heavy dose of running. I think the Jets have the capability to put up over 25 points on Sunday against the Patriots defense. I think the Jets defense will come out strong with a heavy dose of blitzing to try to rattle Brady. I am worried about a second half surge from their offense as Brady and Belichek get adjusted.

My Prediction:

Jets- 23
Patriots 17

Rex Ryan's Call to Jets Fans

Getting his message out there.. Show up and be loud on Sunday:

9/16 Update

The Jets today were fined $75,000 dollars for not including Favre on the injury report last season. $75,000 is nothing to Woody Johnson so don't expect this to even bother him. Most influential thing coming out of this is hopefully we don't have to hear Favre and Jets in the same sentence again for a long time.

Jarod Mayo, the Patriots star middle linebacker, will more than likely not be playing in Sunday's game. He injured his right knee at the end of the Bills game. However, in typical Patriot fashion, we will not find out many additional details about when to expect their star middle linebacker back on the field.

Not a whole lot else going on today. There will be a poll placed on the side of this blog about how you think this Sunday's game will go!

9/15 Update

Power Rankings are up and the Jets have surged up in most rankings. Here are a few from around the web.

ESPN:

16. Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez are two of the most exciting additions to the AFC. (Clayton)

CBS Sports:

16. Maybe we underestimated this team. If Mark Sanchez is as good as he was in the opener, they will be good. Rex Ryan brings a nice attitude to the defense.

Fox Sports:

14. GLASS HALF FULL: What a debut for Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan. The Jets seem to really have something in young Sanchez — eat your heart out, Pete Carroll! His pocket savvy and downfield vision is better than half the starting QBs in the league already, and Rex Ryan's defense pitched a virtual shutout in the opener (only TD allowed was on INT return).

Day After

Game still looking good today and I still don't have any complaints other than that the Patriots are the luckiest team in the NFL and everything always seems to bounce their way. I think we will be ready for them next week with the blitz schemes and will definitely be able to put more pressure on Brady than the Bills did tonight.

Rex Ryan Press Conference:

• It was clear early that Westerman had the temperament and passion to make the team.
  
• Gholston was up and down. He did a lot of good things and hit the QB and pushed the pocket a few times. He wants Gholston to pile on the tackler and show more effort on hitting somebody.
• He is happy with the receivers and loves how Stuckey ran after the catch.
• Pleaded with the fans to show up and make noise to distract Brady next week.

Will have some Pats v. Jets stuff a little later in the week.

Jets vs. Texans Postgame

24-7
1-0

Feels good to start the season with a win on the road. Overall, this was one of the best called Jets games I have watched in recent years. With a rookie QB at the helm and a largely ineffective running game (until the 4th quarter) Brain Schottenheimer mixed up the play calls and really exposed weaknesses in the Texans defense. There will be very few "thumbs down" for today with the excellent effort all around but here are the positives and negatives:

Game Ball:

• This was a tough decision because so many guys on the defense deserved it. However, this has to go to Mark Sanchez making his first NFL start on the road and coming away with the win. Sanchez showed me that he is the quarterback of the future. He has an uncanny ability to move around the pocket and even out of the pocket and still keep his eyes down field to find an open receiver. He sustained a few big hits today and stood in there and got off a good throw which was very impressive. Game ball has to go to the rookie QB who wins his first start on the road.
  

Thumbs Up:

1. Darelle Revis. Revis played an amazing game and held Andre Johnson (one of the NFL's top receivers) to 4 catches for 35 yards. The 4 balls he did catch he worked extremely hard for because he was so well covered. Revis will have to face up against Moss, Owens, Colston and others throughout the season and I am confident he will do the same against them.
2. Kris Jenkins. Jenkins is the key to the Jets defense and he showed why today. He cannot be covered by one person and this opens up avenues for the linebackers to get in and pressure the QB. The few times Jenkins was left 1 v. 1 he managed to completely embarrass the opposing player. He helped hold the Texans to under 50 yards rushing on the day and even got in a few hits on Schaub.
3. The Rest of the Defense. I could continue to point out the stars on defense today 1 by 1 but it would get too long and tiresome. Bart Scott and David Harris form an absolutely lethal tandem in the middle and will continue to get pressure all season long. Bart Scott plays with a speed and intensity that seems to have rubbed off on Harris and has made both of them tenacious defenders. Lito Shephard played a great game and made a few tackles in the open field as well as a game clinching interception. The rest of the defense doesn't need to be named but they all played great games. The Texans averaged 26 points a game at home last year and today scored just 7 (and none on offense).
4. Brian Schottenheimer. The best called game I have seen in a long time. It may have been Mangini holding him back in the past but Schotty came out today with a ton of different looks for a sometimes confused Texans defense. The "seminole" offense (Jets form of the wildcat) was explosive and the counter play to Leon that got them to the 1 yard line was extremely well run. He got Sanchez out of the pocket whenever he needed to get him back on track (after the interception) which narrowed the field. He stuck with the run and Thomas Jones rewarded him and ended up with over 100 yards rushing. Great game.

Thumbs Down:

1. Penalties. 10 Penalties for 80 yards is something that is overlooked in this game because it was such a dominant win. However, if we expect to beat New England next week giving away 80 yards will not help accomplish that. Penalties need to be cut down.
2. Running Game. Although the final stats look good (Jones ran for over 100 and Washington for over 60) this was not a great performance for the Jets running game. Jones was completely shut down in the first half and on his first 15 carries only had around 16 yards. Thankfully, he picked it up when it mattered and allowed the Jets to kill clock and put away the game with a few big runs.

Notes:

• Jamal Westerman, the undrafted rookie from Rutgers picked up his first sack today.
• Vernon Gholston recorded 3 solo tackles, which is an accomplishment in and of itself.
  

Final Preseason Thoughts

Here we go again. We start this season with many new faces (Rex Ryan, Mark Sanchez, Bart Scott) and are missing many old, familiar ones (Eric Mangini, Brett Favre, Laveranues Coles). However, because of the departure of future hall of fame QB Brett Favre, the Jets are facing the new and exciting challenge of playing a rookie starting QB in Mark Sanchez. Sanchez will be complimented by one of the leagues best offensive lines and running back tandems in Thomas Jones and Leon Washington. Washington will see an increased role this year and will turn in a season which will surpass that of starting RB Thomas Jones. If you need a big play from the Jets offense this year, go to Leon. Shonn Greene should be groomed this year as an eventual replacement to Thomas Jones. Jones is getting up in age and although he can still produce, there needs to be an option to back him up.

The defense returns as strong as ever. The Jets came into last season with a greatly updated defense after adding NT Kris Jenkins and OLB Calvin Pace. This year, the Jets upgraded yet again by adding Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard from Baltimore and Lito Shephard from Philadelphia. The addition of Rex Ryan as head coach should make for an attacking, exciting defense. However, despite the positives of the new defense there are also a few negatives. Vernon Gholston will have to produce in the first 4 games of the season in order for the Jets defense to get off to a fast start. With the suspension of Calvin Pace, it is essential that Gholston live up to at least a little of the potential that made him a top 10 pick just a year ago. If Gholston doesn't produce look for undrafted Rutgers alum Jamaal Westermann to step in and take his spot. Westerman has impressed in the offseason and made this team despite great odds against him. Kris Jenkins will need to have a strong season at NT in order for the defense to be successful. He must not fade at the end of the season like he did last year if the Jets hope to be successful stopping the run. Also, Lito Shephard will have to play a lot better than he did during the preseason if he hopes to hold down the #2 CB role.

The special teams units will again be great under top special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff. Leon Washington will be the kick returner and should be, yet again, one of the top in the league at this position. He needs to give Sanchez and the offense good field position, especially in the first few games of the season. Jim Leonhard has proved to be a good punt returner in Baltimore and he will take that duty from Leon this year.

BOLD Predictions:

• David Harris will lead the Jets in tackles this year.
• Dustin Keller will be the Jets #1 receiver this year in both yards and TD's
• Leon Washington will have over 700 yards rushing and 400 yards receiving.
• Kerry Rhodes will finish with over 5 sacks and 5 interceptions each.
• Jamaal Westermann will have a very large role in the defense during the first 4 games this season.
• The Jets will change punters at least once.

Final Season Prediction: 8-8
Team MVP: Leon Washington
Most Improved Player: Chansi Stuckey

Possible New York Jets and JetBlue Partnerhsip?

Quick update on the Kerry Rhodes twitter saga. It looks like Brandon Marshall is not headed for New York (at least not yet) and the newest rumor is that Rhodes could be talking about a potential relationship between the Jets and JetBlue. Although details of this relationship haven't been finalized we can expect some news tomorrow according to Rhodes. Could this mean a "JetBlue Stadium" is in the near future. Stay tuned and find out.

In other news:

• Danny Woodhead was cut and will most likely be added to the practice squad if he clears waivers. Woodhead was a great story through the preseason but this cut was expected.
• The Jets will go with Steve Weatherford as punter.

Brandon Marshall Coming to the Jets?

kerryrhodesjet fans expect a big announcement coming soon lol!32 minutes ago from web

Question to Rhodes:

@kerryrhodes Hey im tellin ya, Clemens is gone. Jets traded for K.O'Connell, watch, Jets are making trade move with denver as we speak.

Rhodes response:
@ChrebetBoy1 u may be right!!! (hint hint)

These are twitter updates from Kerry Rhodes over the last hour. The first is a post Kerry made saying that Jets fans should expect a big announcement soon. The second two indicate that Kerry knows something that the rest of us don't. With the acquisition of Kevin O' Connell today from the Lions there is a very good chance that Kellen Clemens is being shipped off to Denver as we speak for troubled wide receiver Brandon Marshall. Again, since this is twitter we could be waiting for hear about something from Rhodes personal life. However, he is making it apparent through these updates that something is happening which should make Jets fans excited really soon.

Jets Announce Final Cuts

Injured Reserve:

WR Aundrae Allison

Waived:

CB Rashad Barksdale
TE Kevin Brock
TE Kareem Brown
RB Jehuu Caulcrick
FB Brock Christopher
S Emanuel Cook
LB Kenwin Cummings
OL Stanley Daniels
WR Britt Davis
K Parker Douglass
WR Marcus Henry
RB Anthony Kimble
DL Matt Kroul
T Nevin McCaskill
OT Ryan McKee
C Michael Parenton
DE Zach Potter
TE Jack Simmons
DL Ty Steinkuhler

Reserve/Suspended:

DL Shaun Ellis
LB Calvin Pace

A few short notes on the cuts made yesterday.:

• Rex Ryan liked Britt Davis coming into training camp but he proved absolutely nothing through the preseason. He won't be missed after his short stay on the team.
• Jack Simmons is another player who had some potential to make this team coming into the preseason. However, a dropped TD pass doomed him and cemented his fate as a preseason cut.
• The most surprising move coming out yesterday was that the Jets will keep Danny Woodhead on the 53 man roster. Woodhead earned the spot after rushing for over 150 years in the 4th and final preseason game. However, there is a lot of speculation that Woodhead was only kept on the roster because the Jets knew that he would never make it through waivers and onto the practice squad. For now, the Jets will carry 4 RB's (Jones, Washington, Greene, Woodhead) as well as FB Tony Richardson. My prediction: Danny Woodhead will be cut or moved to the practice squad either before the start of the season or upon the return of Shaun Ellis and Calvin Pace.
  

AFC East Prediction

Predicted Final Standings:

Patriots- 12-4
Jets- 8-8
Bills- 7-9
Dolphins- 7-9

The Patriots will return to their spot at the top of the division with the return of Tom Brady and the best offense in the NFL. Although their defense is spotty, especially in the defensive backfield, they should have no problem scoring over 24 points a game and blowing teams out with a great passing attack. After the Patriots the rest of the division is fairly weak. Although it is a biased view I believe the Jets will secure the second spot with an 8-8 record because of a really solid defense and a relatively easy schedule. After the Jets, the Dolphins and the Bills will battle for the final spot. Neither team is very strong on either side of the ball. The addition of T.O. will not improve the Bills and with Marshawn Lynch suspended for 4 games to start the season I think they will run into early troubles. The Dolphins had a good season last year but I do not see them coming back with the same fire and excitement as they showed last year. Chad Pennington is a great regular season QB but he will never lead them anywhere past the first round of the playoffs. Look for them to battle and probably win the second place in the division.

The division will be won by the Patriots and none of the three other teams will seriously compete for a playoff spot. There is not enough talent on any of the three offenses to make a serious run and look for the Patriots to run all over the division.