Heatherthepackgirl
15 years ago
wo of the strongest-armed quarterbacks in football faced off against each other on Sunday when the Jets met the Raiders. The result? A dink-and-dunkathon that left viewers wondering why the quarterbacks were seemingly left under wraps. Granted, JaMarcus Russell is still learning the ropes in Oakland, but the Jets have no excuse for limiting their key offseason acquisition, Brett Favre.

If the plan was to use Favre so safely, then why did the Jets bother to acquire him? Perhaps Eric Mangini just wanted an excuse to convince his wife to use Brett as the middle name for their third son. If the decision was about football, this short-passing offense might as well have been built around Chad Pennington.

The Jets came out with a spread look against Oakland, hoping to isolate receivers on linebackers and second and third cornerbacks. The Raiders have one of the league's best cornerbacks in Nnamdi Asomugha, who effectively eliminates one option on every single play. The Jets wanted to put five people into routes, increasing the players not named Asomugha in coverage.

The game plan looked better drawn up on a chalk board than it did in reality. The Raiders successfully mixed dropping linemen into coverage to limit the underneath throws with full-scale blitzes that left Jets blockers outnumbered. The result was an extremely pedestrian performance by Favre. He was 21 for 38 for only 197 yards. He threw two interceptions and was sacked three times.

Making the game plan look worse, the Jets were able to run all over Oakland's defense. Thomas Jones racked up 159 yards on 24 carries. Wide receiver Brad Smith added 59 yards on four carries. The Jets totaled 242 yards rushing, compared with only 176 on 41 passes.

The Jets did not move to the running game in time, and the spread-the-ball passing game was ineffective. Before the final desperation drive, Favre threw only two passes that travelled 15 yards or more in the air. The first was a gamble when the Jets had jumped offside. The second was intercepted by DeAngelo Hall.

The Jets completely misread how to best attack the Raiders. Favre threw 11 passes before the first handoff to Jones. By the fourth quarter, the strategy had completely flipped. On the Jets' lone touchdown drive, Favre threw on only one of their nine plays.

Sunday's game plan was a particularly potent example, but it was hardly news. Through six games, an amazing 75 percent of Favre's passes have travelled 10 yards or fewer. For comparison's sake, in Miami, Pennington has thrown only 64 percent of his passes 10 yards or fewer. The vertical element that Pennington supposedly cost the Jets' offense is not part of the Jets' offense even with the strong-armed Favre.

Once a defense realizes everything is going to be underneath, it can play tight, physical coverage on receivers with little fear of the deep ball. The Raiders' poor passing defense rose to the challenge, mixing coverages beautifully to pressure Favre. Rookie Trevor Scott was the beneficiary, as he broke free for the first two sacks of his career. Scott's emergence gives the Raiders one more weapon in what is the team's only real strength to date: the pass rush.

The Raiders' defense won the game, but the good news was that their offense did not rise up to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Russell has been inconsistent at best this season, but he does succeed in one important area -- ball security. Russell has thrown only two interceptions and fumbled only once.

The problem, evident even in Sunday's win, is that Russell is too afraid to make mistakes. He rarely tries to throw the ball into tight coverage, preferring to check down or throw the ball in nearly uncatchable positions. The result is a completion percentage barely above 50 percent and the worst passing team in football in third-and-long situations. Against the Jets, on third down with 7 or more yards to go, Russell completed 3 of 8 passes for only 19 yards while also taking a sack. The Raiders converted only once in eight tries.

Until Russell is freed either by himself or his coaches to play aggressively, the Raiders will be forced to win games ugly like on Sunday. While their defense was up to the challenge against the Jets, it is a mediocre unit at best and will rarely hold an opponent to 13 points.

Both teams need to remove the restrictions placed on their strong-armed quarterbacks and live with the occasional mistake. A deep passing attack will free up their rushing attack, along with the safer underneath throws that both teams prefer to throw. The Raiders remain years away from the playoffs. Unless the Jets start to stretch the field, they also will fall short of an opportunity to play January football.
Heathiee
Fan Shout
dfosterf (17h) : Maybe
Mucky Tundra (17h) : Yes
Zero2Cool (18h) : No.
Mucky Tundra (20h) : End of a Degu-era
dhazer (21h) : Steelers sign Patterson because of new kickoff rule interesting
Zero2Cool (28-Mar) : Former #Packers TE Josiah Deguara is signing a 1-year deal with the Jaguars, per source.
Zero2Cool (28-Mar) : They do not do it for "content sake".
dfosterf (28-Mar) : For the record, I enjoy Beast and Mucky drafts
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : Haha
Mucky Tundra (27-Mar) : No time for talking! Back to work beast!
beast (27-Mar) : You saw only 4,201 of my mocks? 🥺 I think that means you missed more than half of them 😢
dfosterf (27-Mar) : Does anyone know what Lambeau field improvements got put on hold? My guess would be for the 2025 draft
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : It's like listen, you made 4,201 mocks, no shit.
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : Cuz during the draft "I had them mocked there!" as if it's amazing.
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : They're fun to do once in awhile. It's people who think they are "content" that annoy me.
dfosterf (27-Mar) : Against tbd
dfosterf (27-Mar) : Answer to your question is yes, it's a Thursday, will be the Chiefs aga
dfosterf (27-Mar) : Luckily for all concerned, I don't post them. I did one, but that was like 25 mocks ago
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : NFL 2024 gonna start Sept 5th isn't it???
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : Ugh... kids these days!
dfosterf (27-Mar) : I'm gonna go do some more mock draft hell instead 🤪
Zero2Cool (27-Mar) : Did we do one of those prediction threads yet for 2024 season?
dfosterf (27-Mar) : In my city, they are playing the nimby game, in order to keep some railroad tracks vs. 2 professional sports teams and a concert venue.
dfosterf (27-Mar) : And/Or a city council, of which I haven't seen a good one in a very long time
dfosterf (27-Mar) : That sounds like a Mayor, not a city.
buckeyepackfan (26-Mar) : Packers halt scheduled 80mil upgrade of stadium until lease agreement talks are restarted
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : City of Green Bay puts Packers' Lambeau Field lease talks on hold
buckeyepackfan (26-Mar) : Packers 1 of 3 teams to vote no on new kickoff rule.
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : Packers sign another Kicker
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Lengthy explanation at PFF if you click the link
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Kickoff rules officially changed.ngthy explan
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : lol
Cheesey (26-Mar) : 2009? No thanks! One open heart surgery is enough!
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Good for you!
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : Yes. That's the one.
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Is that "Lady Dugan" per chance?
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Crystal?
dfosterf (26-Mar) : Please refresh my memory
Zero2Cool (26-Mar) : Alan posts. Crystal back in my life. It's 2009 all over again! Lol
Mucky Tundra (26-Mar) : BAH GAWD! THAT'S CHEESEYS MUSIC!
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : Gutekunst said early stages of Jordan Love contract being discussed.
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : Shouldn't be penalized cuz official screwed up
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : Yeah, challenge until you are incorrect twice.
Zero2Cool (25-Mar) : Fining them is the goal, per the people who made the rule anyway.
dfosterf (25-Mar) : Still waiting on the kickoff rule changes. Did hear yesterday that the touchback proposal will now be the 30 yard line, not the 35
dfosterf (25-Mar) : Probably speed of game issues with your proposal
dfosterf (25-Mar) : Hopefully the refs don't get in the habit of throwing flags on this
beast (25-Mar) : I think when it comes to Challenges should get two strikes, so unlimited challenges as long as they keep winning them, but 2 wrong then done
dfosterf (25-Mar) : Still subject to the fines etc
dfosterf (25-Mar) : Yes, I should have been more specific. Also, they are now saying it would be a 15 yard penalty. That makes more sense .
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