Ian O'Connor takes a baseball bat to the Jets' kneecaps

[T0mShane]

Jets are who we thought they were

By Ian O'Connor

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Just as surely as the Pittsburgh Steelers fans showed up at MetLife Stadium, the New York Jets players did not. Surprised? No, an educated football observer was not surprised.

That observer understood that the Pittsburgh fan base travels through snow, sleet and 0-4 starts, and that the Jets often treat the arrival of an inferior opponent as another golden opportunity to break its own crowd's heart.

That's what went down on a certain level Sunday, when men, women and children, dressed in their faded Wayne Chrebet jerseys, fought the visiting Steelers masses for control of the building, and did so -- at least early in the day -- with a heightened sense of enthusiasm not often attached to a 3-2 team.

The people who love the Jets were loving the fact that the Giants were 0-6, the same Giants who inspired the beginning of the end of Rex Ryan as we knew him two years ago by tearing down his tough-talking act on Christmas Eve. The same Giants who have won four Super Bowl titles, including two under the current Tom Coughlin-Eli Manning administration, since the Jets claimed their one-and-done in a different life.

Yes, this was going to be a Jets fan's day in the sun, a day to mock all the tradition-rich NFL powers that so often mocked him or her. The Steelers, who had won six Super Bowls since the Jets Joe-Willied the Baltimore Colts, were a complete mess. Big Ben Roethlisberger had no offensive line or running game to speak of, and the very black-and-gold defense that had long represented a black-and-blue region hadn't managed a single takeaway in four games.

But something unfunny happened on the way to a 4-2 record and a divisional death-match next week with the New England Patriots. Six days after proving they weren't nearly as dreadful as many (this outlet included) thought they were, the Jets reminded everyone that they still aren't worth a serious look, either.

"I felt like everything we wanted was there for us," Jets guard Willie Colon said. "We slipped up."

Big time. The Steelers, Ryan said, "played exactly how we thought they would."

So did the Jets. They're not the worst team in the market, never mind the league, but a nationally televised road victory over 1-4 Atlanta inspired too many amateur-hour declarations that the Jets were back, baby, and ready to actually win two games in a row.

They didn't win that second consecutive game Sunday; in fact, they didn't even score a touchdown in the 19-6 defeat. These weren't your father's Steel Curtain Steelers, or the Steelers who beat the Jets in the AFC Championship Game three seasons ago, or even the Steelers who pounded the Jets last year.

These were the Steelers who had surrendered 74 points in their past two losses, including 34 to the Vikings.

"Their record," Jets QB Geno Smith said, "doesn't indicate the type of team they are."

Yes it does, and you don't need a Bill Parcells quote to back that up. The Jets found all sorts of ways to lose to that winless team, anyway.

Defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson whiffed on Roethlisberger for what would've been an early safety and 2-0 first-inning lead, and soon enough Big Ben was playing like a quarterback on a third Super Bowl run.

Roethlisberger beat Antonio Cromartie, bum knee and all, on a 55-yard scoring pass to Emmanuel Sanders, and would've beaten him for another touchdown had Antonio Brown not bobbled away the points.

Geno Smith? The rookie matched up against Pittsburgh's 76-year-old yoda, Dick LeBeau?

He threw a pair of brutal interceptions in the second half, the first one coming on a floater into triple coverage to a third-string tight end, Konrad Reuland, who had been promoted into action only after Kellen Winslow was suspended for performance-enhancing drug use.

The Jets were down 16-6 and driving toward a potential touchdown when the rookie made the rookie mistake, or the Eli Manning mistake, and landed the first-down pass in the arms of Ryan Clark. Smith swore that he was trying to heave it over everyone's head, but the film never lies.

"We were beaten by a team that was better than us today," Smith said.

But why? Why was Pittsburgh the better team Sunday when the Jets had home-field advantage and the benefit of that confidence-building victory over the Falcons?

It couldn't have been Bill Cowher's presence in the CBS booth, of course. Ryan fingered the bye week as the force that suddenly restored the Steelers as a temporary powerhouse.

"We got everything we told our team we would get," the losing coach said, "and that's their very best."

The Jets got a lot of quick passes from Big Ben, and a lot of different looks from a defensive coach, LeBeau, and a head coach, Mike Tomlin, who seem to get smarter when Ryan is on the other side of the field.

Truth is, Rex wasn't supposed to start out 3-3 in a season that was pre-booked for a 4-12 finish, and he doesn't need to apologize for the combined 3-13 record of the three teams (Tampa Bay, Buffalo, and Atlanta) his Jets have beaten.

But people got swept away with Ryan after five games, forgetting that he got his starting quarterback (Mark Sanchez) knocked out for the year for no good reason, and that the Patriots, Bengals and Saints were lined up behind Pittsburgh and waiting to put Rex's team back in its place.

Just because the Jets aren't as terrible as the terrible towels that scores of Steelers fans were waving in MetLife Stadium on Sunday doesn't mean they're going to be some modern-day answer to the Miracle Mets.

In the end, the Jets are just good enough to make this lost football season in New York mildly interesting. And they're just bad enough to break their fans' hearts for old times' sake.

[Larz]

thats a long way to go to say the jets look like a .500 football team

[Matt39]

The Atlanta game got overrated because the game itself was super exciting and it was national tv. The Falcons arent a very good football team right now and their defense is atrocious. We also match up better against the teams that want to throw the football down the field vs the quick short pass/shift guys. 

 

Our dline is essentially useless against teams using quick passes. Plus the secondary stinks.

 

Offensively we just dont have the firepower to beat guys in man/press coverage. Pittsburgh and the Pats you know will always get away with more anyways.

[HessStation]

I'll say it again, although the announcers were 100% with Rex, kicking the FG on 4 and 1 at the goal line on the first drive just felt like the wrong thing to do and to me ended up as a microcosm for the entire game.

Jets definitely deserved to lose. Quite frankly I agree, that they, for some reason, seemed intimidated the entire game.

[Smashmouth]

The Atlanta game got overrated because the game itself was super exciting and it was national tv. The Falcons arent a very good football team right now and their defense is atrocious. We also match up better against the teams that want to throw the football down the field vs the quick short pass/shift guys. 

 

Our dline is essentially useless against teams using quick passes. Plus the secondary stinks.

 

Offensively we just dont have the firepower to beat guys in man/press coverage. Pittsburgh and the Pats you know will always get away with more anyways.

 

you know who stinks .....Dawan Landry ....he is possibly beyond stink. On one Steeler first down the runner had a good head of steam and was about 5 yards from a first down Landry was moving in for the tackle and instead of hitting him head on and stopping him from getting the first good Ole Dawan moved to the side, avoided the head on contact and the runner ran through his sh!tty arm Tackle for the first down. Big difference from his Brother Laron who would have hammered in that situation.

[Pac]

and if they won he'd be chastising fans for being overly optimistic citing the combined record of teams they've beaten 3-19. 

 

his words mean less than nothing.

[Bleedin Green]

I feel no need to defend the Jets even a little bit, because they don't deserve it, but pretty much anything that makes the asinine comments about Sanchez as the Jets supposed starter pretty much automatically proves itself to be a heaping pile of agenda-driven sh*t.

[Matt39]

you know who stinks .....Dawan Landry ....he is possibly beyond stink. On one Steeler first down the runner had a good head of steam and was about 5 yards from a first down Landry was moving in for the tackle and instead of hitting him head on and stopping him from getting the first good Ole Dawan moved to the side, avoided the head on contact and the runner ran through his sh!tty arm Tackle for the first down. Big difference from his Brother Laron who would have hammered in that situation.

 

Agreed Landry is brutal. 

[Smashmouth]

and if they won he'd be chastising fans for being overly optimistic citing the combined record of teams they've beaten 3-19. 

 

his words mean less than nothing.

 

seeing all those Steeler fans rooting for their team made me sick. If any fan base should have packed it in it would be them and if any fan base should have shown a bit more optimism its should have been the Jets

[Big Blocker]

I guess in focusing on the progress, and some would say lack thereof, of Smith, and enjoying the win over Atlanta, I personally was not really thinking so much about what kind of overall season this would likely become.  Whether to be more encouraged, enough so that we might even consider this team to be good enough to have a good season.

 

Well I still think the Jets have not lost the next  three games the prognosticators expect them to.  I remain hopeful they can avoid that.

 

But if they do....

[dbatesman]

and if they won he'd be chastising fans for being overly optimistic citing the combined record of teams they've beaten 3-19.

his words mean less than nothing.

Yeah! If everything about that game had turned out differently, I bet his opinion would be different, too! Take that, O'Connor!

[bitonti]

heres what this game comes down to... real simple... the Steelers were coming off a bye and the Jets were coming off of MNF. one team had 10 days rest the other team had 5 days rest. 

[Pac]

Yeah! If everything about that game had turned out differently, I bet his opinion would be different, too! Take that, O'Connor!

 

O'connor probably got shoved into lockers by Rex Ryan types and this is his passive aggressive way of getting revenge.  It's pretty transparent.

[Scott Dierking]

heres what this game comes down to... real simple... the Steelers were coming off a bye and the Jets were coming off of MNF. one team had 10 days rest the other team had 5 days rest. 

So teams that get the most rest always win? Really?

[T0mShane]

I like O'Connor, and having read him for as long as I have, I love this slap at his ESPN cohorts who spent all week blowing the Jets:

 

So did the Jets. They're not the worst team in the market, never mind the league, but a nationally televised road victory over 1-4 Atlanta inspired too many amateur-hour declarations that the Jets were back, baby, and ready to actually win two games in a row.

 

[bitonti]

So teams that get the most rest always win? Really?

 

it's hard to keep teams winless in this league, especially when they have 10 days to think about it (and aren't the jaguars). if the steelers were 1-3 or 2-2 it's a different mindset. the fact that they were winless played huge into their motivations. 

[Integrity28]

O'connor probably got shoved into lockers by Rex Ryan types and this is his passive aggressive way of getting revenge.  It's pretty transparent.

 

You sound like you can relate.

[Integrity28]

So teams that get the most rest always win? Really?

 

Sure doesn't hurt their chances to have an extra week off.

[HessStation]

you know who stinks .....Dawan Landry ....he is possibly beyond stink. On one Steeler first down the runner had a good head of steam and was about 5 yards from a first down Landry was moving in for the tackle and instead of hitting him head on and stopping him from getting the first good Ole Dawan moved to the side, avoided the head on contact and the runner ran through his sh!tty arm Tackle for the first down. Big difference from his Brother Laron who would have hammered in that situation.

It's an entire unit of jags at Safety.

 

At CB...Walls looks like he could be a decent #2/#3 and Cro is hurt, however even when healthy, will be hit or miss. Milliner?

 

Quinton Coples is not a very good OLB. Dude needs to be moved back to the DL as a rotational player. 

[Scott Dierking]

Sure doesn't hurt their chances to have an extra week off.

Rex Ryan after the bye: 1-3

 

So much for that advantage

[T0mShane]

Quinton Coples is not a very good OLB. Dude needs to be moved back to the DL as a rotational player. 

 

 

Word. It's almost depressing to watch. They should just play McIntyre at OLB full time and let Coples learn how to be a DE.

[Integrity28]

Rex Ryan after the bye: 1-3

 

So much for that advantage

 

Doesn't Rex usually give his team a week off during the bye, thus dismissing the extra prep time? I feel like he's done this more often than not.

[Matt39]

Word. It's almost depressing to watch. They should just play McIntyre at OLB full time and let Coples learn how to be a DE.

 

And Chandler Jones is beast mode.

[T0mShane]

And Chandler Jones is beast mode.

 

 

If only Jones had more swag.

[Scott Dierking]

Doesn't Rex usually give his team a week off during the bye, thus dismissing the extra prep time? I feel like he's done this more often than not.

I think the new CBA dictates how much time players get during that period. I may be wrong

[HessStation]

And Chandler Jones is beast mode.

 

Lets revisit this. At the time it was all about position and scheme, right? That was the supposed argument with all of us. "Well, Jones is the better fit as a 43 DE but Coples is the bigger, stronger, better fit as a 5T 34 DE. He's really a better DT in a 43" Right? That the conventional wisdom. 

 

2 years later and I'm watching Jones yesterday thinking, "Man, that's exactly what the Jets could use at OLB."

 

****in Jets..

[Matt39]

Lets revisit this. At the time it was all about position and scheme, right? That was the supposed argument with all of us. "Well, Jones is the better fit as a 43 DE but Coples is the bigger, stronger, better fit as a 5T 34 DE. He's really a better DT in a 43" Right? That the conventional wisdom. 

 

2 years later and I'm watching Jones yesterday thinking, "Man, that's exactly what the Jets could use at OLB."

 

****in Jets..

 

The sweeping arm tackle he made in the open field yesterday was unbelievable. 

 

Coples just strikes me as aloof. 

[T0mShane]

I had to re-read this a few times because I thought it was a typo (and maybe it is). Quinton Coples' stats through six games: 3 tackles.

[Integrity28]

I had to re-read this a few times because I thought it was a typo (and maybe it is). Quinton Coples' stats through six games: 3 tackles.

 

 

The long-term impact of drafting Coples, and him being a bust so far... trade Revis, use Revis pick to replace Coples by drafting Richardson.

 

Now don't get me wrong, Richardson is great ... but he techically comes at the price of the Coples 1st rounder and Revis.

[Matt39]

The long-term impact of drafting Coples, and him being a bust so far... trade Revis, use Revis pick to replace Coples by drafting Richardson.

 

Now don't get me wrong, Richardson is great ... but he techically comes at the price of the Coples 1st rounder and Revis.

 

And an offense with little skill position talent.

[T0mShane]

The long-term impact of drafting Coples, and him being a bust so far... trade Revis, use Revis pick to replace Coples by drafting Richardson.

Now don't get me wrong, Richardson is great ... but he techically comes at the price of the Coples 1st rounder and Revis.

That's fair, but it's probably too early to label Coples a bust. He's just clearly playing out of position. Perhaps the defensive savant head coach will remedy this situation.

[Greenseed4]

I don't get the Coples hate.  He doesn't record statistics, but his presence is felt.  See: Jake Locker, Ben's throwing arm, and every other QB he's had an opportunity to "fall" on top of. 

 

He's our version of a "dirty" player, and sets the edge so others can get home. 

[Larz]

I think the new CBA dictates how much time players get during that period. I may be wrong

 

the steelers got 5 days off.  that's how most teams treat the bye I'm pretty sure.  the steelers had like 1 guy on the injury report, that's what makes the difference, usually, rested bodies

[bitonti]

it's tough to bag on Coples considering he fractured his ankle during presseason and came back after week 4. That's a ridiculously fast recovery, it's unlikely he's truly 100%

[Integrity28]

And an offense with little skill position talent.

 

Yup. In a league with rules engineered to make every contest a shootout.

 

That's fair, but it's probably too early to label Coples a bust. He's just clearly playing out of position. Perhaps the defensive savant head coach will remedy this situation.

 

I wish Coples could play WR.