New York Jets Are a Lesson In Futility
By Paul Newbold
It was great watching the Jets win on Sunday! They came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, Marty Mornhinweg put together an awesome game plan, and it was apparent that the Jets came to play. The defense also came to play, creating four turnovers and setting the Jets offense up for success! It was fun to watch at times, but overall it was an act of futility. This team is going nowhere, it won’t post an above .500 winning percentage by season’s end, and that makes this a futile win, to go along with another futile season. I’m glad to get a win, especially before the bye week, but I’m not overly excited.
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Much has been made of the defensive performance on Sunday. The Jets defense only allowed the Steelers two field goals and a late TD, while creating four turnovers. A closer look at the box score however tells a slightly different story. The Jets defense gave up 343 yards in the air, on count them, 30 receptions!! They once again allowed a receiver to break the century mark! Of course they played well against the run, shutting down the run game and only allowing 36 yards on 17 carries, but that is to be expected from a top ten run defense. Amazingly, the Steelers actually ran more plays from scrimmage, had more yardage, and averaged better yardage per play then the Jets offense. It was an admirable performance by the Jets secondary, but this unit is still broken badly!
Nov 9, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback
Michael Vick(1) scrambles against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Michael Vick has brought life to an offense that was totally void of success under Geno Smith! Personally, I think that says how badly Geno played this season, and not how well Vick has played. Once again he had a mediocre game, going 10/18 for a measly 132 yards, and that includes the long 64 yard TD pass. These aren’t great numbers, and performances like that won’t win you many games. Thanks to the turnovers by Pittsburgh, they were enough to get the victory though! The run game was present and effective on Sunday, the line blocked fairly well, and the running backs punished the Steelers defense. Willie Colon committed another two penalties, making it a necessity to replace him at season’s end, and Vick was again pressured in the passing game. The offense looked much better yesterday, but it is still far from stellar.
This game was more about a Pittsburgh Steelers’ team that got caught looking past the New York Jets, then it was about the Jets playing good football! Ben Roethlisberger played poorly, the Jets picked him off twice, and he was lucky it was only two! Both interceptions were both passes he had no business throwing, he threw into double and triple coverage, and as a result Jaiquawn Jarrett had a career day! Antonio Brown, the guy everyone was concerned about beating the Jets secondary did manage to put up 74 yards on eight receptions, but his two fumbles cost his team the football game as well! The Steelers lost focus, looked past the Jets, and got caught looking, they performed poorly and virtually handed the victory to the Jets. I’ll take the win!
This game was an act of futility as it means very little to fans of a team that is now 2-8. The team lacks talent and depth at too many positions to be considered a good football team. I take my hats off to the coaching staff for getting their guys ready to play! After the last two week’s performances, it was refreshing to see this team play with some fire! All in all though, this is a poor football team, a major rebuild is in the future for our Jets, and it is my hope that a new front office and coaching staff are in place to get it done! Now I want to hear what you guys thought! Is this the beginning of a win out streak? Have the Jets found the answers to the secondary woes? Are they a better team then I’m giving them credit for? Let’s discuss this one!!