Jets vs. Browns Game Preview

[JetNation]

There’s officially only two games of the New York Jets season left. With so much talk of what’s going to happen once the season ends, it’s easy to forget the Jets and Browns will square off at 1 p.m. for the final home game of the season. While there’s no more chance at the playoffs, there is a lot on the line in other areas. Can Geno Smith finish strong and assert himself as the quarterback of the future? Is Rex Ryan coaching for his job? How will the final two games effect the draft position? Let’s dive in to this weeks matchup:

Browns Offense

Most teams are led on offense by a star quarterback or running back. This is not the case for the Browns, who have seemed to whiff on second year quarterback Brandon Weeden and traded second year running back Trent Richardson. Instead, the Browns are led by wide receiver Josh Gordon, the second year wide out who is dominating the NFL. Despite missing the first two games because of a suspension, Gordon has 75 receptions, 1,467 yards, and nine touchdowns. With the way the secondary has performed, the Jets may need to triple team Gordon to stop him.

Outside of Gordon there is not a lot to be afraid of on the Browns. Willis McGahee is the teams leading back but is averaging under three yards per carry. Jason Campbell is the teams starting quarterback and isn’t doing anything spectacular but also isn’t making many mistakes. His completion percentage of 58 is good and he has a 2-1 touchdown to turnover ratio. He is going to miss his big tight end target Jordan Cameron, who will be out with a concussion.

Browns Defense

The Cleveland defense is full of young talent that is starting to fulfill its promise. The Browns tough front seven anchors the eighth overall defense, led by one of the more underrated nose tackles in the league in Phil Taylor. Behind him is middle linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, who leads the team with 121 tackles on the year. The Browns also have three very good pass rushers. Veteran Paul Kruger came to Cleveland this past offseason as a free agent and has 4.5 sacks on the year. Jabaal Sheard and Barkevious Mingo also have 5.5 and 5 sacks respectively. The rotation those three have keeps the pass rushers fresh and is tough on an offensive lineman.

The Jets would catch a break if Joe Haden didn’t play Sunday (he is questionable with a hip injury). Haden is one of the best cover guys in the league and is a playmaker, with four interceptions and 18 passes defended on the year. The Browns also have two very good safeties. T.J. Ward plays very well in the box and is known as one of the best run stoppers in the league. Free safety Tashaun Gipson has four interceptions on the year.

How to win

As I stated in the intro, this is still a crucial game for the Jets going forward. Jobs are on the line all over the place. The Jets have to continue to see what they have in Geno Smith. I’m not saying they should completely abandon the run, because Chris Ivory and the offensive line seems to be hitting stride, but the gameplan this week will hopefully let Smith make more “big boy” throws. I expect Mornhinweg and company to try and get Jeremy Kerley involved early and often with some quick routes.

The defense has one really, nearly impossible job: stop Josh Gordon. I’m sure Antonio Cromartie will see a lot of time on Gordon, but hopefully the Jets are wise enough to always have safety help over the top. With no Jordan Cameron, the Jets can focus on Gordon and take their chances one-on-one with Greg Little or Davon Bess.

This will be an interesting game. The Browns, at least in my eyes, are just a slightly better version of the Jets. This is definitely a winnable game, but the Jets are going to need to have some big plays through the air and avoid the big mistake elsewhere. There are some fans who wouldn’t mind seeing the Jets lose their last two to get a better draft pick. I’m generally not a proponent of losing because losing sucks, but if that’s what you root for then good for you I guess. Either way, with just two games left, try and enjoy a nice Sunday of football.

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[T0mShane]

Who's the poor bastard that has to write these things?

[MexiRoll6]

Cleveland's Josh Gordon will single handedly beat the Jets pi$$ poor secondary with two long TD's. Browns 31, Jets 17. Down by 10 at the half with 1:03 left at the 40 yard line, Rex will have Geno take a knee. I have seen it before so it is not far fetched. Rex has NO CONFIDENCE in his own players or himself for that matter. All his bluster is insecurity masking as FALSE confidence.

[Il Mostro]

The Brown's are a team that is, at least, heading in the right direction -- in contrast to the Jets.  Despite their record, they are going to give the Jets all they can handle and more.  I think this game, rather than the Miami finale, will weigh most heavily on Rex's future. 

 

Lose this one in sloppy fashion and he will already be a dead man walking before week 17.   

[joewillie78]

 

Who's the poor bastard that has to write these things?

 He could have saved himself a great deal of time, and effort, and space by instead of writing that long diatribe, he could have simply summed it up with two words:

Who Cares?

[joewillie78]

Actually I'm wrong, their are those that care:

Teddy Bridgewater

Jake Matthews

Jadeveon Clowney

Johnny Manziel

Blake Bortles

Sammy Watkins

Mike Evans

Eric Ebron

Barr

Taylor Lewan

etc.

[flgreen]

Jets 17 browns 10

 

All 10 of the Browns points come off turnovers.   A required pick 6, and a Smith fumble at the Jets 6.

 

All the Smith people will running victory laps that he's turned the corner.................................Again

[joewillie78]

 

Jets 17 browns 10

 

All 10 of the Browns points come off turnovers.   A required pick 6, and a Smith fumble at the Jets 6.

 

All the Smith people will running victory laps that he's turned the corner.................................Again

 Damn Browns get their QB.

[joewilly12]

Jets pummel the Browns Wilkerson scores a TD!!!!!!!!!

[flgreen]

 

 Damn Browns get their QB.

Meh..They can keep Manziel

[stoicsentry]

The Brown's are a team that is, at least, heading in the right direction -- in contrast to the Jets. 

 

Haha. The Jets are definitely heading in a good direction. They might not have too much to build off: a beastly front 7 and a decent offensive line, mostly. But they have more than the full compliment of picks and perhaps more importantly, they will have more money to spend in the off-season than almost any team in the entire league. There might be some teams at a similar number below the cap following the Sanchez and Holmes cuts, but there are very few, if any, that will be in that position that also have an ownership that is always willing to spend up to the cap limit.

[joewillie78]

 

Meh..They can keep Manziel

 Browns send their thanks.

[joewillie78]

 

Haha. The Jets are definitely heading in a good direction. They might not have too much to build off: a beastly front 7 and a decent offensive line, mostly. But they have more than the full compliment of picks and perhaps more importantly, they will have more money to spend in the off-season than almost any team in the entire league. There might be some teams at a similar number below the cap following the Sanchez and Holmes cuts, but there are very few, if any, that will be in that position that also have an ownership that is always willing to spend up to the cap limit.

 Maybe, they need just about every position on offense, including the most important position in all of sports. their secondary is a disaster, and need help at LB, they need a new coach, which probably means new Coordinators, and have an untested GM (who I happen to like a great deal).Thier talent level has regressed the past 3 years,

Yes, they are in a great position once they cut Holmes, Sanchez, and possibly Harris if he doesnt restructure. They need to hit on 1. the Coach, 2. the QB. 3. the coordinators 4. youthful depth. Not impossible but a tough order nonetheless.

[stoicsentry]

 

 Maybe, they need just about every position on offense, including the most important position in all of sports. their secondary is a disaster, and need help at LB, they need a new coach, which probably means new Coordinators, and have an untested GM (who I happen to like a great deal).Thier talent level has regressed the past 3 years,

Yes, they are in a great position once they cut Holmes, Sanchez, and possibly Harris if he doesnt restructure. They need to hit on 1. the Coach, 2. the QB. 3. the coordinators 4. youthful depth. Not impossible but a tough order nonetheless.

 

I'm not worried for a second about the front 7... not at all. Not the linebacker part of it even. Coples will be fine, he is fine despite the early season whining that was going on when he was making the switch AND coming off an injury. You've seen him lately, haven't you? Looks fine. Harris took a step up this year and if you can re-negotiate, he's definitely a competent MLB. Your only issue is Calvin Pace at OLB, if you re-sign him, you can still count this front 7 as one of the best in the league.

 

The secondary is very complicated. The Antonio Cromartie we saw this year is NOT the real Antonio Cromartie. You could say that the 2012 Cromartie isn't the real one either. When he's healthy, he's quite good and you can live with him at #1. If they can re-negotiate, good. If not, we'll have 1 spot to fill. Because Milliner is not going anywhere, nor should he, and Wilson is a good nickel corner whose only problem is that he has not lived up to his billing as a #1/#2 type. They'll have to add a corner, and a safety.

 

Overall, I think any complaints about the defense are misguided. The secondary had a down year, they will be reinforced next year, and the biggest problem they're going to have is NOT their performance, but the performance of their offense that keeps undermining their work. Bring in a couple guys for this secondary, put a halfway decent offense on the field and there's no problem.

 

So it's the offense you have to worry about. Personally, I would only take a QB in the draft if one fell to me. Don't even worry about it otherwise. Maybe Geno sucks, but this group of skill players is hardly enough to prove it to me. Even if he does, do you really want to bring in a new guy and put him in the same situation? I would get a competent backup, like a McCown, and roll with Geno 1 more time.. but give him the weapons this time.

 

Here's a realistic possibility:

 

-Draft WR in round 1

-Draft TE in round 3

-Draft RB in round 4

-Sign Jeremy Maclin, WR

-Sign Maurice Jones-Drew, RB

-Sign Greg Olsen, TE

 

Offense looks a hell of a lot better overnight.

[joewillie78]

 

I'm not worried for a second about the front 7... not at all. Not the linebacker part of it even. Coples will be fine, he is fine despite the early season whining that was going on when he was making the switch AND coming off an injury. You've seen him lately, haven't you? Looks fine. Harris took a step up this year and if you can re-negotiate, he's definitely a competent MLB. Your only issue is Calvin Pace at OLB, if you re-sign him, you can still count this front 7 as one of the best in the league.

 

The secondary is very complicated. The Antonio Cromartie we saw this year is NOT the real Antonio Cromartie. You could say that the 2012 Cromartie isn't the real one either. When he's healthy, he's quite good and you can live with him at #1. If they can re-negotiate, good. If not, we'll have 1 spot to fill. Because Milliner is not going anywhere, nor should he, and Wilson is a good nickel corner whose only problem is that he has not lived up to his billing as a #1/#2 type. They'll have to add a corner, and a safety.

 

Overall, I think any complaints about the defense are misguided. The secondary had a down year, they will be reinforced next year, and the biggest problem they're going to have is NOT their performance, but the performance of their offense that keeps undermining their work. Bring in a couple guys for this secondary, put a halfway decent offense on the field and there's no problem.

 

So it's the offense you have to worry about. Personally, I would only take a QB in the draft if one fell to me. Don't even worry about it otherwise. Maybe Geno sucks, but this group of skill players is hardly enough to prove it to me. Even if he does, do you really want to bring in a new guy and put him in the same situation? I would get a competent backup, like a McCown, and roll with Geno 1 more time.. but give him the weapons this time.

 

Here's a realistic possibility:

 

-Draft WR in round 1

-Draft TE in round 3

-Draft RB in round 4

-Sign Jeremy Maclin, WR

-Sign Maurice Jones-Drew, RB

-Sign Greg Olsen, TE

 

Offense looks a hell of a lot better overnight.

 I agree to a certain extent, as I said, not impossible but a tough order nonetheless. What is it with e QB's from Chicago? Some have said get Cutler, and some like you have said get McCown. Which one are they keeping and which one is going? Cutler will want and demand more money than McCown, but will they "lowball" him knowing they have McCown? If I had my choice, I'd rather have Cutler.

[stoicsentry]

 

 I agree to a certain extent, as I said, not impossible but a tough order nonetheless. What is it with e QB's from Chicago? Some have said get Cutler, and some like you have said get McCown. Which one are they keeping and which one is going? Cutler will want and demand more money than McCown, but will they "lowball" him knowing they have McCown? If I had my choice, I'd rather have Cutler.

 

I think we would all rather have Cutler. I was in on the Cutler thing, too, but I think they can just franchise him. In which case, they probably will.

[joewillie78]

 

I think we would all rather have Cutler. I was in on the Cutler thing, too, but I think they can just franchise him. In which case, they probably will.

Not many teams use the tag on a QB like Cutler. If a team thinks that their QB is the Guy and a Franchise QB, then obviously if your the QB, you think WOW, they wont pay me and give me a long term Contract, like I'm the guy, they just go and franchise me. Its not a good way to try to convince someone like Cutler, that he's the guy, but then refuse to negotiate and simply tag him. When you do this, your "guy" will simply say, huh, I guess I'm not the guy, as they wont give me my money long term, and now you are risking alienating "your guy".

In fact, I cant remember the last time a perceived "Franchise QB" was tagged. they always get their money and a long term deal. Hell, even the assinine JETS extended one of the all-time worst starting NFL Qb's.

[stoicsentry]

 

Not many teams use the tag on a QB like Cutler. If a team thinks that their QB is the Guy and a Franchise QB, then obviously if your the QB, you think WOW, they wont pay me and give me a long term Contract, like I'm the guy, they just go and franchise me. Its not a good way to try to convince someone like Cutler, that he's the guy, but then refuse to negotiate and simply tag him. When you do this, your "guy" will simply say, huh, I guess I'm not the guy, as they wont give me my money long term, and now you are risking alienating "your guy".

In fact, I cant remember the last time a perceived "Franchise QB" was tagged. they always get their money and a long term deal. Hell, even the assinine JETS extended one of the all-time worst starting NFL Qb's.

 

Yeah I'm just going based off what I've heard. I don't think he would come here for a few reasons, though. He gets the comfort of staying in Chicago, he likes Brandon Marshall and vice versa and pretty much no matter what we do this off-season their Jeffrey/Marshall/Forte + others group will probably be more attractive.

 

That said, if he's available, I'm right there with you. I would want him.

[dbatesman]

In re Cutler:

[joewillie78]

 

Yeah I'm just going based off what I've heard. I don't think he would come here for a few reasons, though. He gets the comfort of staying in Chicago, he likes Brandon Marshall and vice versa and pretty much no matter what we do this off-season their Jeffrey/Marshall/Forte + others group will probably be more attractive.

 

That said, if he's available, I'm right there with you. I would want him.

If you really want to piss off your "Franchise QB", then Tag him and he is sure to bolt as soon as the tag expires. I dont think their are many GM's that could survive Tagging their Franchise QB. He either gets a long term deal, or they let him walk, because tagging him will end up with a year of complete animosity, between your franchise QB and your organization, with the fanbase right smavck in the middle. Good luck with that scenario. Even the JET idiots of the past didnt make that mistake.

[flgreen]

 

 Browns send their thanks.

NOT FOR LONG