NY JETS news articles- 11/25/08

[Kentucky Jet]

Jets' O-line proud of how they dominated Titans _ ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com

November 25, 2008

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Tony Richardson made it clear that he wasn't speaking for anyone but himself.

"You have to ask the offensive line about how they really felt, but I know I got tired of hearing it," the Jets fullback said yesterday.

Much of the discussion leading up to Sunday's game in Tennessee revolved around the Titans' defense, particularly its front four, and how those players likely would have their way with the Jets' offensive line.

Instead, the Jets' offensive line had its way with them. D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Alan Faneca, Nick Mangold, Brandon Moore and Damien Woody turned in their best game of the season, and the proof was all over the stat sheet.

The Jets outgained the Titans 192-45 in rushing yardage, had nine rushing first downs compared with one for Tennessee and, most impressively, held the ball for 40:30. "We definitely took it as a challenge," Moore said after the game.

Woody said he drew motivation from predictions that the Titans would dominate, but Mangold said that wasn't the case with him.

"I don't think you really get tired of hearing it when you realize that they are a very good front four," Mangold said yesterday during a conference call. "I think if it was unfounded, it could really get kind of annoying, but they were a very good front four and a very big challenge for us. I think our guys came and stepped up and played well."

Mangold said the offensive line's primary motivation came not from what was being said, but because the Titans' defensive line is first-rate.

"As a player in the NFL, you want to go against the best, and we had a great opportunity going against them knowing that they're one of the best front fours in the league right now," Mangold said. "That's a great challenge and it gives you an opportunity to see where you're at."

Where the Jets were Sunday was in Titans' territory almost immediately. For the sixth straight game, the Jets scored on their first possession. They are second in the league in first-quarter points with 78, trailing Atlanta (88).

Brett Favre went 6-for-6 for 72 yards as the Jets marched 76 yards in nine plays on their opening drive, capped by Thomas Jones' 10-yard TD reception. But the Jets effectively mixed the pass with the run all day as Jones rushed for 96 yards and Leon Washington 82, including a 61-yard TD.

As Eric Mangini said: "To be able to run the football against that group, to be able to hold up against two pass-rushers, one being a larger interior guy [Albert Haynesworth], one being a high-motor edge guy [Kyle Vanden Bosch], and both of them usually being on the same side, that's tough."

Second-year cornerback Darrelle Revis came away impressed, having had plenty of time to observe from the sideline. "The offensive line ... they're opening holes for Thomas Jones and Leon to run; they're giving Brett time to throw," he said.

Revis laughed, reflecting on the time-of-possession disparity. "I think yesterday was the first game I ever played in where I sat for most of the game."

Notes & quotes: Revis went shopping yesterday at the Garden State Plaza. Winning five straight has raised his profile. "I don't get stopped in public that often, but a couple people in the mall just now were coming up to me," he said. "I was kind of surprised because usually people don't just come up out of the blue." ... Richardson took plenty of ribbing about his 14-yard run, by far his longest of the season. He entered the game with one carry. "All the guys on the team keep razzing me, but I'm like, 'You guys don't realize, in 2000, I was a primary ballcarrier,' " he said with a laugh. Said Richardson, who ran for a career-best 697 yards in 2000 with the Chiefs, including a career-high 156 yards against the Broncos: "It's not like it's my first rodeo carrying the football."

Sunday

Broncos at Jets

4:15 p.m.

TV: Ch. 2

Radio: WEPN (1050); WABC (770); WRCN (103.9)

Copyright

[Kentucky Jet]

Surging Jets have a growing fan club

BY RICH CIMINI

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Monday, November 24th 2008, 8:50 PM

Sipkin/News

Eric Mangini and Brett Favre are hoping to have plenty to celebrate in February.

There's a Jets-Giants vibe in the air, and the players know it. They see it on TV, they hear it on the radio and they live it around town.

Nick Mangold encountered it Monday while waiting for an oil change in New Jersey. The Jets' 300-pound center overheard a couple of workers at the water cooler rehashing the weekend's games - the Jets' 34-13 win over the previously defeated Titans and the Giants' 37-29 victory over the Cards.

BIG APPLE FOOTBALL: WEEK 12

"One guy kept trying to talk about the Giants and the other guy kept trying to talk about the Jets," Mangold said. "It was pretty neat to see they were able to go back and forth because both teams are doing well at this point in the season."

Mangold was a cog in the Jets' dominating performance against the Titans, but he went unrecognized by the debaters. Such is the life of an offensive lineman.

That wasn't the case for cornerback Darrelle Revis, who, by mid-afternoon, had created a buzz at a shopping mall in New Jersey. He went shopping for shoes, but it didn't take long before he became the hottest item in the store.

"I'm getting pictures taken of me, and it's kind of crazy right now," Revis said on a cell phone from the mall. "Usually, I don't get stopped in public that often. A couple of people in the mall just came up to me, saying I'm Revis, you had a good game, you guys are doing great. ... I was kind of surprised. Usually, people don't come out of the blue when you're just walking."

Usually, the Jets aren't this good, but their season is developing into something special. It hit Tony Richardson at an auto shop in Queens, where he dropped off his truck for repairs and made small talk with one of the workers.

"There was this older man, and he had on an old, crinkled-up Jets hat," Richardson said. "I said, 'You're a Jets fan.' He said, 'I am now. I haven't pulled out my hat in a long time, but it's pretty exciting now.' So that was pretty cool. ... There's a lot of excitement in the air. You turn on the news, and you hear about the Jets and the Giants."

It's hard not to notice. The Jets (8-3), winners of five straight, are playing their best ball since 1998, the almost-championship season that died in Denver in the AFC title game. The Giants (10-1), of course, are the defending Super Bowl champs and need no introduction.

After defeating the defending AFC-champion Patriots and the Titans in a 10-day span, the Jets believe they belong among the league's elite. But there won't be much Subway Super Bowl chatter emanating from their locker room, not on Eric Mangini's watch.

"I guess I look at it totally different," he said. "I look at it as a five-game season and the next team. I know that's not flashy or exciting. I just think it's a long time to go before the end of the season. It's over a quarter of the season left, and so many things can happen.

"I'm happy for the Giants," Mangini continued. "I haven't gotten to see very many of their games, but it's really all Jets, all the time."

Take a look at the Jets' schedule, and it's hard not to look into the future. On Sunday, they face the defensively challenged Broncos (6-5), followed by the 49ers (3-8) on the road, the Bills (6-5), the Seahawks (2-9) on the road and the Dolphins (6-5). Barring injuries, the Jets should be favored in all those games.

But that doesn't matter in Mangini's world. He tries to insulate himself from the commotion, rarely venturing into public. Save for a recent ****tail with parents from his son's pre-school, he pretty much lives at the office.

"Outside of (the party), I just don't go anywhere," he said. "Here, home, the bus, the hotel."

Boring coach, exciting team.

[Kentucky Jet]

Hopes fly as Brett Favre takes off in a snap

Monday, November 24th 2008, 8:55 PM

Fredrickson/Reuters

Brett Favre walks off the field after the Packers fall to the Giants in the NFC Championship Game ...

Sabo/News

... and now Favre might get another shot against the Giants as Jets quarterback.

Last January he was on the other side of a storybook season, for the other team at Giants Stadium. Now Brett Favre is a part of that kind of season for both teams at Giants Stadium, might even be a part of the storybook ending that football fans have imagined for 40 years, at Yankee Stadium and Giants Stadium and now off Route 3, the one where the Giants and Jets finally play each other in a Super Bowl.

Of course, the storybook season in pro football was supposed to be Favre's one year ago, when he was still No. 4 of the Packers, when he was the one who was supposed to get the shot at knocking off the 18-0 Patriots in Glendale, Ariz. But then the Giants beat him and beat the cold at Lambeau Field in the NFC Championship Game, beat Favre in overtime when he threw away his shot at the Super Bowl by throwing one to Corey Webster.

BIG APPLE FOOTBALL: WEEK 12

Now the Giants are the defending champions of the NFL. The only way Favre gets another shot at them is if the Jets get to play them in Tampa on the first day of February. The Giants are exactly what they were against Favre and everybody else in their run to Glendale, best team in the league. But on Sunday, Favre and the Jets were the next best, knocking off the unbeaten Titans in Nashville.

The Titans still have the best record in the AFC and the same record as the Giants. Still: the Jets just beat the Titans by three touchdowns, at their house. The Jets have won five in a row and beat the Patriots in Foxborough before they went to Nashville, and it hasn't been like this for both teams in the same season - at this exact point in the season - since the Giants were 9-2 after 11 weeks in 1986 and the Jets were 10-1.

But as good as the Giants are and as good as they have been all season, the hot kid right now is Favre. He was 3-3 and looked lost, looked more like a tourist than ever when the Jets lost to the Raiders. Now here he comes and here they come.

"Whatever 'it' is," Favre's agent and lawyer Bus Cook was saying Monday, "he still has 'it.'"

They have been together since Favre was at Southern Miss. Cook was a Hattiesburg, Miss., lawyer and a mutual friend introduced them. Favre told Cook he was thinking of "trying" pro football. Cook was honest, saying, "Son, I don't know anything about that."

Favre said, "Well, maybe we can try it together."

Now, nearly 20 years later, you ask Bus Cook, who keeps an office for Favre at BC Sports upstairs from his own, if he prefers being called Favre's agent or lawyer and he says, "How about his friend?"

Then he was talking about the meetings with the Packers in early August when it became official and apparent that Favre, the most compelling and exciting player of his time in pro football, would have to leave Green Bay and leave the Packers if he wanted to keep playing. Favre had flown back to Green Bay before the Packers' annual intra-squad game, more like a spring game in college than anything in the pros, had his meetings with Packers coach Mike McCarthy and general manager Ted Thompson and team president Mark Murphy, came away with the understanding that there would be no do-over on his retirement. Not there, anyway.

"I still want to play," he said to Bus Cook. "It's not about the money, it's not about records. I want to keep playing because I feel like I've still got something to give."

Then Brett Favre said, "I want one more year and one more shot at the title."

Now he gets it with the Jets. They are no sure thing still to win their conference, even their division. Matt Cassel seems to play better every Sunday for the Patriots. Peyton Manning and the Colts hang around. The Titans aren't going anywhere. But for the last two games especially, there has been a magic to what Favre has done with the Jets. It is why this has become one of the best times - in what is supposed to be a time for the Giants around here - Jets fans have ever had.

"We had a pretty rainy summer," Bus Cook was saying Monday, in an accent that tells you everything about where he and Favre are from. "But lately I feel like I'm seeing a rainbow."

Cook said that when it all began to fall apart in Green Bay, when it became apparent that Favre's only two options were the Bucs and the Jets, that the Bucs might have an edge for two reasons. One was that Favre knew Jon Gruden. The other, much more important, was that if he signed with the Bucs he would get a shot at the Packers, who didn't want him, in the fourth game of the season.

A deal was made with the Jets instead. Favre struggled for nearly two months, with a new team, a new system. There was that loss to the Raiders and then the Jets were lucky to beat the Chiefs. Now Favre takes them down the field twice against the Patriots when he has to. Beats the Titans the way he does. It is why for this week anyway it looks as if the two best teams are here.

"He feels like he was the outsider at first," Bus Cook said, "even if he was Brett Favre, but that now they believe in him as much as he believes in them."

The ones who believe, big, over the past month are Jets fans. It starts with their new, old quarterback. Whatever "it" is, he still has it.

[Kentucky Jet]

Streaking Jets 'O' passes right past Joe Namath's 1968 bunch

BY RICH CIMINI

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Updated Tuesday, November 25th 2008, 4:40 AM

The Jets have scored 169 points during their five-game winning streak, the most prolific stretch in franchise history.

Eat your heart out, Joe Namath.

Actually, the Namath-led Jets scored 168 points during a 4-1 stretch in the middle of 1968, the club's only Super Bowl season. The Brett Favre Jets passed that with a 34-point explosion Sunday against the Titans, who began the day as the top team in scoring defense.

"We're locked in," WR Jerricho Cotchery said after the 34-13 rout in Tennessee.

The most fascinating part of the surge is that Favre, known for his big arm, isn't winging it downfield. In fact, he's had only three completions longer than 25 yards during the five-game span, and one of those was a screen that Leon Washington turned into a 40-yard gain.

The Jets have used a short-passing game, highlighted by Favre's accuracy - a 74% completion rate during the current winning streak. He's passed for 1,140 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

FLYING START: After failing to score on their opening drive in the first five games, the Jets turned a negative into a positive. They've done so the last six games. Eric Mangini believes the improvement could be attributed to a change in their practice routine.

Once their stretching period is done, they go right into offense versus defense for one series, however long it lasts. He lets each unit call its own plays.

"I'm not sure whether that's a direct correlation or not, but I think it does help to get used to that transition, from a stretch and some warmups to going out and being ready to play," Mangini said.

RETURN GAME: S Eric Smith, sidelined the last four games after suffering three concussions in a five-week span, could return to practice this week, Mangini hinted. ... FB Tony Richardson, who produced his longest run (14 yards) since 2002, was razzed by teammates because he rarely carries the ball. His response: Check the record book. "A lot of these guys were probably in high school, but in 2000 I was the primary ball-carrier (for the Chiefs)," said Richardson, 36, who has only three rushes this season.

[Kentucky Jet]

Jets gain flex appeal

Monday, November 24th 2008, 9:30 PM

The Jets have staked their claim to being AFC top cat, but still are not scheduled for prime time for the rest of the regular season.

This, primarily, is a function of TV schedules being set before the Jets acquired Brett Favre. Apparently, none of the schedule makers believed Gang Green, even after some significant pre-Favre acquisitions, would be a ratings magnet like, well, the Cleveland Browns. How well did the decision to force-feed the Brownies to the nation work out?

Anyway, the Jets were ticketed for two prime-time dates. Since one (Nov.13 vs. New England) was on the NFL (Invisible) Network, make that 1-1/2 national dates. The other was a Monday night (Sept. 22 vs. San Diego) tilt on ESPN.

BIG APPLE FOOTBALL: WEEK 12

Although it's no lock, there still could be another prime-time runway for the Jets - NBC. The Manginis' first '08 "Sunday Night Football" appearance could be the last game of the season when Miami visits the Meadowlands.

The NFL's "flexible schedule" gives the league, in weeks 11-17, the option of moving games not protected by CBS or Fox to "SNF." Sensing where the Jets were headed, why didn't NBC push to dump its Sunday Bears-Vikings game in favor of Broncos-Jets?

The decision had to be made prior to last Sunday's Jets-Titans game (the league must give 12 days notice when it switches a game to Sunday night), but even at that point the Jets were producing significant buzz.

BITTER BILL: SETTLE DOWN, JETS FANS

Truth be told, the wonders of "flexible" scheduling are not so wondrous. Even if some suit is drooling to see what kind of TV ratings a red-hot Jets team can produce, it's not easy making these switches.

You think John Madden isn't itching to explain the innermost workings of Favre, his main man, to a national audience? Why isn't Madden pushing for a Jets appearance on "SNF?" Then again, he may not be privy to the ongoing discussions the NFL and its TV partners have about moving games to Sunday night.

The bottom line for "flexible" scheduling is this: It's a vehicle to protect NBC from having to air a totally lame game. Chicago and Minny are tied for first in the NFC North. The game has meaning. Does that mean it will attract a larger viewing audience than Broncos-Jets?

For Week 14, the NFL has already flexed Redskins-Ravens to "SNF," sending originally scheduled Patriots-Seahawks to CBS. NBC has Giants at Cowboys in Week 15. That game sticks. On Week 16, NBC is scheduled to air Chargers-Bucs. The Jets play Seattle. Highly doubtful that game moves to prime time.

[Kentucky Jet]

FANS IN FRENZY OVER GANG GREEN

By BRIAN COSTELLO

HAPPY DAYS: Huge back-to-back wins over the Patriots and Titans have the Jets humming along atop the AFC East at 8-3, have quarterback Brett Favre (left) and center Nick Mangold grinning, and have fans dreaming of a Jets-Giants Super Bowl.

November 25, 2008

Nick MangoldNick Mangold noticed it when he brought his car in for an oil change yesterday. Behind the counter, two of the workers sat next to the water cooler engaging in the debate that's filling the air in the New York area: "Giants or JetsNew York Jets ?"

"One of them kept trying to talk about the GiantsNew York Giants and the other guy kept trying to talk about the Jets," the Jets center said. "It was neat to see they were both able to go back and forth because both teams are doing well at this point in the season."

Though the Giants entered this season as the defending Super Bowl champions and favorites to contend for a return trip, the Jets have been the unexpected party crashers behind veteran quarterback Brett Favre, who may as well be wearing a lamp shade on his head.

With back-to-back victories over the Patriots and Titans, the Jets (8-3) are realistic contenders for the Super Bowl, which has Big Apple dreamers hoping for a New York-New York Super Bowl.

The Jets had yesterday off after their 34-13 thumping of the Titans and, like Mangold, other players noticed the buzz that is surrounding the city's two NFL teams.

Cornerback Darrelle Revis spent yesterday at the Garden State Plaza mall in Paramus and fellow shoppers kept coming up to him to wish him well and talk Jets football.

"The excitement is very high right now," Revis said. "Both teams are doing great. We are in the city of New York. Everything is going good for us. There is a lot of excitement and a lot of people are jumping on the Jets bandwagon."

Jets coach Eric Mangini understandably does not want to get dragged into any conversation about the Super Bowl with five weeks left in the regular season. But he may be the only person with Jets clothing in their closet not beginning to imagine Favre leading Gang Green onto the field at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Feb. 1.

The Jets have won five straight, and the last two came against the defending AFC champion Patriots and the previously unbeaten Titans. Sunday's win was the most impressive yet. They carved the Titans up like Thanksgiving dinner. The offense held the ball for more than 40 minutes and the defense shut down the Titans' offense.

As for a Super Bowl Sunday with a New York accent, Mangini cautions there is a long way to go.

"I look at it as a five-game season, and (I look at) the next team," he said. "I know that's not flashy or exciting or any of those things. . . . I just think it's a long time to go before the end of the season. It's over a quarter of the season still left to play, so many things can happen. I've been part of all those different scenarios over the course of my career.

"The most important thing to me is us improving. (I'm) happy for the Giants. I haven't gotten to see very many of their games. But it's really all Jets all the time."

Jets fans, who always expect the worst, are even starting to feel a bit optimistic. Fullback Tony Richardson brought his truck in for repairs yesterday and noticed the mechanic wearing a Jets hat that Richardson described as "old and crinkled."

"I asked him, 'Are you a Jets fan?' " Richardson said. "He was like, 'I am now. I haven't pulled my hat out in a long time, but it's pretty exciting right now.' "

brian.costello@nypost.com

[Kentucky Jet]

FAST START A BIG KEY TO VICTORY

By BRIAN COSTELLO

November 25, 2008

The New York Jets have developed into a fast-starting team, scoring on their opening drives in their last six games. The trend is not an accidental one. Putting up early points is something coach Eric Mangini stresses.

At the beginning of practice, Mangini will have the players break from stretching into a scrimmage to simulate the start of a game.

"(We) actually have a kickoff," Mangini said. "The ball goes wherever it goes. The offense starts the drive. We let the players call those plays, both offensively and defensively. It's just to get that feeling of going from relative inactivity to stretch . . . to a competitive activity. It gets really competitive because they're calling it. I think it does help to get used to that transition . . . ."

Sunday, the Jets strung together a nine-play, 76-yard drive that ended with Thomas Jones scoring on a 10-yard screen pass. Quarterback Brett Favre called the drive the "tone-setter" and the Titans never really took back control of the game.

"It gives you a chance to gain some momentum, especially when you're playing on the road, to be able to come out and score right away, quiet the crowd a little bit as you move into the first part of the game is always positive," Mangini said.

*

S Abram Elam led the Jets with nine tackles and also forced a fumble by Chris Johnson at the Tennessee 35 that led to a third-quarter Jets TD.

"I thought Abe did a great job," Mangini said. "He had some outstanding tackles. There's one on their sideline, the flat against Chris Johnson, who is really elusive in space. But he made a great play there. . . . That was him consciously going in, finding the ball, getting it out. Big play."

*

The Broncos, this week's opponents, don't have the same cachet as New England or Tennessee, but they rank third in the NFL in yards per game and passing yards per game and are second in third-down efficiency.

[Kentucky Jet]

Jets, Giants becoming must-see TVNeil Best

November 25, 2008

1 2 next Urgent memo to CC Sabathia: It's not always like this around here!

Seriously, it's a baseball town, always was, always will be. The NFL usually is what we watch in these parts just to avoid talking to relatives during the holidays.

Even the last time we had two teams this good, in the autumn of 1986, Big Town still was basking in the afterglow of a World Series winner.

Now? The last major-league games played here were two months ago Friday, and the free-agent buzz so far has been limited mostly to the $140-million offer sitting on Sabathia's to-do list.

Neil Best Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

You want numbers to illustrate this? We have numbers:

Even before Sunday's twin- killings of first-place opponents, the Jets and Giants were first and fourth in the league in local ratings increase compared with that point in 2007, rising 33 and 13 percent, respectively. (The Falcons and Titans ranked second and third.)

The Giants were averaging 14.4 percent of homes in the New York market and the Jets 12.6, averages that will rise after Sunday, when the teams scored ratings of 18.2 and 15.0.

Not that New York suddenly has become Pittsburgh or Green Bay. The Giants' and Jets' local market ratings still ranked 28th and 31st overall.

(Only the Raiders were lower than Gang Green.)

But when you factor in the percentage increases, and the fact that New York often trails other cities for sports ratings because of its diversity and the sheer size of the market, the figures are impressive.

Through last week, the Giants and Jets rank first and second in average number of households watching in home markets, at 1.068 million and 938,000, respectively.

Numbers such as those get the attention of TV networks when it comes to national appeal.

The Giants have been a consistent draw recently, for example attracting 22.3 million viewers in Week 8 against the Steelers and 23.3 million the next Sunday against the Cowboys.

But the big change nationally is the Jets, who suddenly matter, thanks mostly to their quarterback. The eye-opener came in Week 2, when the slot featuring Patriots-Jets attracted 25.4 million viewers, the most for a September Sunday game since at least 1991.

The Jets' appeal was illustrated by CBS protecting the Titans game from being moved to prime time - a call made in early October, before anyone knew either team would be this good. (Fox protected Sunday's Giants game against the Cardinals and this weekend's against the Redskins.)

How would the league and NBC feel about a Jets-Giants Super Bowl? Fine. The ratings for the Subway Series in 2000 were mediocre, but the Super Bowl mostly is matchup-proof. Even if it weren't, the Jets and Giants have enough of a national profile to draw casual viewers.

The real intrigue is what will happen in the conference finals if the Giants (probable) and Jets (possible) both host championship games.

Giants Stadium cannot stage two games Jan. 18, so one must move to Saturday or Monday.

The NFL has not announced what it would do, but a logical solution would be to leave the AFC game in its scheduled evening slot Sunday and move the NFC to Monday night.

Unlike CBS, Fox does not feature highly rated entertainment programming on Mondays, making a move easier to execute.

1 2 Saturday is problematic because viewership tends to be lower that night, and there might be competitive concerns for the team that played in the divisional round the previous Sunday.

We'll see. Our (temporary) football town would consider that an excellent problem to have.

[Kentucky Jet]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I am going away for a week so I will not be posting. See you with the news articles next week. GO JETS!

[Maxman]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I am going away for a week so I will not be posting. See you with the news articles next week. GO JETS!

Happy Thanksgiving and thanks again.

[Reluctant]

We need to name these two

http://www.hotstovenewyork.com/2008/11/26/id-rather-get-beat-up-in-an-alley-potential/

[joewilly]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I am going away for a week so I will not be posting. See you with the news articles next week. GO JETS!

have a great trip kj & thanks for all you do here