Jets tipped plays on goal-line series

[Steveg]

Steelers players say Jets tipped plays on goal-line series in AFC Championship Game

By Jenny Vrentas/The Star-Ledger

ARLINGTON, Texas -- On the Steelers' goal-line stand in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game, which helped Pittsburgh to Super Bowl XLV, defensive players said the Jets tipped off their play calls.

Linebacker LaMarr Woodley batted down quarterback Mark Sanchez's pass on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line and said he could tell before the play that the Jets were going to pass, and not run with LaDainian Tomlinson in the backfield.

"Usually on third-down situations most teams are going to run," Woodley said at Super Bowl XLV Media Day yesterday. "The offensive lineman is usually going to be in the three-point stance ready to charge at you. I just read the offensive line, and I saw that he was standing up in a pass set, so I decided I wasn’t going to rush up field because it had to be something quick in that situation."

Woodley was matched up against Jets right tackle Wayne Hunter. When Sanchez threw a quick pass to receiver Santonio Holmes, Woodley was right in the line of fire to break it up.

"He threw the ball and it hit me right in the chest," Woodley said. "I should have caught it and ran 99 yards.”

The Jets passed on the previous play, too, after executing a run fake that didn't appear to fool the Steelers. Sanchez faked the handoff to running back Shonn Greene and then rolled out right and threw a low pass to tight end Dustin Keller in the end zone. Woodley was in his face and defensive end Ziggy Hood was pursuing, too.

Hood told ESPNNewYork.com that he could again tell by Hunter's stance that it would be a pass, not a run.

"I knew they were going to try something funny, maybe a rollout or a sprint pass," Hood said. "I came off the ball and was in the backfield and forced him to make a bad decision."

The Jets' play-calling on this series came under fire, and coach Rex Ryan admitted maybe they should have run the ball on each down. Greene picked up one yard on first-and-goal from the 2-yard line, and after passes on second and third downs, Tomlinson was stopped short of the end zone on the Jets' staple "blast" play on fourth-and-1.

“If we had the benefit of hindsight, we should have probably just ran Shonn Greene or (LaDainian Tomlinson) four straight times,” Ryan said the day after the 24-19 loss. “That’s easy to look back on it. We clearly thought that we had some good plays designed, and it just never worked out.”

Asked if was puzzled by the Jets' play-calling, Woodley credited the Pittsburgh defense.

"I really can’t say," he said. "I think we did an excellent job playing defense. They tried to run the ball on us, and we stopped them on fourth-and-1. We had a great goal-line stand.”

[Thor99]

Third time's a charm.

[Maxman]

Third time's a charm.

We appreciate all content and new threads. If a mod would merge this with the other thread(s) that is what would be truly helpful.

Thanks.

[SMC]

Thanks for posting the story.

As to the substance of the article? I've already mentally moved on so I don't give a crap. I laugh at the Steelers talking about it now. Dudes, concentrate of the SB. No one cares about what happened last week.

Right now, I care about whether there will be a 2011 season and what the Jets will do in FA/draft.

[visajets]

Reading this again pisses me off even more.

[aec4]

"I knew they were going to try something funny, maybe a rollout or a sprint pass," Hood said. "I came off the ball and was in the backfield and forced him to make a bad decision."

If I'm not mistaken, if the ball was 6 inches higher OR if Keller made a decent catch, it was a good decision.

[JetsFanInDenver]

Groundhog Day ?