Heatherthepackgirl
16 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
wpr (3h) : yooper
Zero2Cool (3h) : next is create topic from headline
Zero2Cool (3h) : new site has recent topics and headlines now
buckeyepackfan (4h) : Micah wearing #1, Packers offered it to him. Curly only one to wear #1
Zero2Cool (5h) : Micah said he told Rasheed he's gonna get some practice. LT1 yeah?
Zero2Cool (5h) : Patriots release Jabrill Peppers Before 2025 Season
Mucky Tundra (5h) : yooper!
Zero2Cool (7h) : Never. But gonna be looking different in few days :D
yooperfan (7h) : Whew, I got it back. I was afraid that I lost this site for good.
Zero2Cool (8h) : Harrisburg Packers
Mucky Tundra (8h) : Yes
Zero2Cool (9h) : No.
dfosterf (9h) : The man carried us a lot of the time
dfosterf (9h) : I think a Kenny Clark tribute is in order
Zero2Cool (17h) : new site, text editor gooder even on phone
beast (18h) : Oh yes, sometimes they make using a cellphone tough. I just wanted to make sure it was the correct article, & thank you for pointing it out.
jdlax (19h) : I can't believe one of my teams went out and wablammo just up and acquired one of the best players in the world overnight
dfosterf (29-Aug) : I do very much appreciate when Beast and others pick up my slack 😊
dfosterf (29-Aug) : I accept Beast's admonishment regarding my failure to link stuff I reference. I simply never learned to link from my cell phone.
beast (29-Aug) : That's not what your she said 😌, she said keep going 😏
Mucky Tundra (29-Aug) : Anything over 4 hours means he needs to get to the hospital
Mucky Tundra (29-Aug) : Someone might want to check on Hafley and make sure his erection has gone down
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : LaFleur texts "bleep me I cannot sit down"
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : YouTube has had me last hour or two lol
Mucky Tundra (28-Aug) : Ugh this trade happened right as my shift started and it's killing me
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : Parsons wore 23 in high school.
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : Packers just cost Lions more money with Hutchinson too huh
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : That is fair by me.
buckeyepackfan (28-Aug) : Kenny Clark is the player, 2 1st rnd picks
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : umm... what?
wpr (28-Aug) : I am stunned
Mucky Tundra (28-Aug) : RICKEY SCOOPS WAS RIGHT AGAIN!!!
Mucky Tundra (28-Aug) : ITS HAPPENING
buckeyepackfan (28-Aug) : DEAL IS DONE
buckeyepackfan (28-Aug) : MICAH IS COMING TO GREEN BAY!!!!!!!!!
wpr (28-Aug) : Me do-ed it gooderly,
Zero2Cool (28-Aug) : Bahah, I was like WTF why isn't anyone posting on PP.com ... oops no one has permissions
dfosterf (27-Aug) : tell her I reckon
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Micah Robinson cut. Probable PS player tomorrow. Has to call mom back and t
Zero2Cool (27-Aug) : New site so much better. Might make switch and deal with it.
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Mecole Hardman to our practice squad
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Nick Nieman from Texans our 5th linebacker. Special teams signing
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Looks like we signed Clayton Tune as QB3
wpr (27-Aug) : TKT people lose their minds over QB3. Point is almost none of them are ready that's why they are on the PS and other teams don't take them.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Unfortunately he doesn't seem ready to be an emergency QB.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : As a Canadian and a follower of Canadian University football. I am rooting for him
dfosterf (27-Aug) : I bet a lot of us will follow the Taylor Elgersma journey with interest. Personally, got a Kurt Warner vibe goin' on. I like him
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Not sure if either will be claimed though.
TheKanataThrilla (27-Aug) : Tune or Hooker would make sense
dfosterf (27-Aug) : Clayton Tune cut by the Cards? Don't know if that's the guy, we shall see
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