The Steelers came into the Meadowlands with league-leading statistics on both sides of the ball, a defense bringing back memories of the Steel Curtain days, and a large contingency of black and gold fans in the stands. As the fat lady sang, they left with one more loss.
The Jets jumped out to a 7-0 lead with a touch-down drive on their very first possession. But with a 13-7 halftime lead, the assumption was the Jets would fold in the 2nd half like they have so often this season.
The Jets were held scoreless the entire second half until they drove the length of the field with time running out, but also allowed the Steelers just 10 points. The Jets had a first and goal from the five with under a minute left, but failed to get into the end zone with plays that included a spike to stop the clock, two incomplete passes, and a delay-of-game penalty. Mike Nugent’s 28-yard field goal was good and Pittsburgh failed to win the game on their final possession, getting the ball back with just …
The Steelers visit the Meadowlands today leading the overall series 15-2.
They bring the number one defense in the NFL in almost every major category.
They also bring the AFC’s leading rusher and a QB ranked second in the NFL in passing.
They bring a field goal kicker, Jeff Reed, who has missed just once this season, from 65 yards.
The Jets bring their anemic 29th-ranked offense and a defense ranked an abysmal 30th.
It’s a matchup, that on paper, seems futile to play. But as former coach Herm Edwards once said (incase you never heard it), “You play to win the game.”
The last time the Jets played the Steelers was that playoff game near the Three Rivers when Doug Brien ripped out the hearts of Jets’ fans all over the world, missing two critical field goals to end the season in an overtime loss and enable the Steelers to advance to the AFC Championship.
Since then, that coach has left, the kicker watches NFL games from home, and the Jets are auditioning their QB of the future.
And that folks, is basically the …
Is it just me, or did anybody else not care that this past weekend was a bye week for the Jets? In fact, it was rather nice to not care that it was Sunday and have to stress-out about our beloved Gang Green. I wore red and black instead of green and white for the first time since August. And didn’t care.
I can’t remember a recent season when I cared so little about the fact that there was no Jets’ game, or when the next one would be for that matter.
Or when I cared even less what went on with the team during the break.
And I guess I’m not alone. I looked on the NY Post website last night, and before this morning, the last column about the Jets was written on November 8th. That tells you how interested the local media is at this point as well. Bye or not, something tells me if the Jets were even just 4-5 with a glimmer of hope, the media would find a story angle to write about each …
The Washington Redskins didn’t make it look pretty, but they did what they had to do and beat the Jets in overtime, 23-20, to stay in the NFC East playoff race.
The game featured special teams’ play from start to finish, with Leon Washington returning the opening kickoff for a touch down and then Shaun Shuisam kicking the game-winning field goal with 7:48 left in overtime.
The Jets won the toss and received the ball to start the OT, only to punt it away after four plays when Jericho Cotchery dropped a third-down pass that would have given the Jets a first down and allowed the drive to continue. The Redskins took advantage of getting the ball in OT and drove 61 yards on 11 plays (8 of them runs) against the Jets’ porous defense. Shuisam kicked a 46-yard field goal to send the Jets’ fans home, reeling again, from another game that woulda, coulda, shoulda been.
Kellen Clemens looked impressive in his first start. While his stats were solid but not fabulous (23/42 for 226 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs), …
Eric Mangini announced today, what everyone anticipated, that Kellen Clemens is the new starting QB for the New York Jets.
Chad Pennington had this reaction, via the AP on ESPN.com:
“Coach made it clear that I’m not the villain here,” Pennington said Monday. “And I’m not the only one to blame for the lack of our success or our problems, but he did feel like Kellen deserved a chance.”
Mangini added:
“I made this decision not based on singling out Chad for where we are, but based on the fact that I think Kellen has earned this opportunity,” Mangini said. “I want to give him this opportunity. It’s in no way an indication that Chad is solely responsible. We all are.”
Clemens is excited for the opportunity:
“It’s exciting to have the opportunity and I’m looking forward to the chance to play,” Clemens said. “At the same time, there’s a losing streak right now that this entire team needs to work hard to turn around.”
Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.
The NY Post is reporting that Eric Mangini has made the decision to replace Jets’ starting-QB Chad Pennington with Kellen Clemens for next Sunday’s game against the Redskins.
Via Mark Cannazzaro of the NY Post:
“The Chad Pennington era is over, The Post has learned exclusively.
The scores of booing Jets fans and angry radio talk show callers will get their way next Sunday when the Jets play the Redskins at Giants Stadium.
On the heels of yesterday’s lackluster 13-3 home loss to the Bills, Kellen Clemens, who replaced Pennington with 3:32 remaining in the game, will become the starter this week and almost surely remain so for the rest of the season.
Eric Mangini has little choice but to go to his backup quarterback – and probably a number of other backup players – after his Jets fell to 1-7 with an offense that too often looked hopeless.
After the game, Mangini would not give any hints whether he was poised to make a change, but a source with intimate knowledge of the team’s thinking told The Post …
The New York Jets managed to continue their stumble into NFL-obscurity on Sunday with a 13-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
It all started when the normally unimpressive team introductions (rather than individual) were made even less enthusiastic with the numerous empty seats throughout the stadium.
There were more kids and new faces sitting throughout Giants Stadium than ever before. My guess is that next Sunday the stadium will be emblazoned in red and gold, and then black and gold after the bye. Tickets for the remaining games are being sold at half-price throughout the internet. Rich Kotite’s name was mentioned for the first time in years, questioning whether or not the Jets will get a 2nd win this season.
The Jets managed just 254 yards against the 30th-ranked Bills’ defense, and once again failed to give QB Chad Pennington any reasonable amount of time to throw the ball. He was 13-20 for 106 yards, but as usual, many of those passes were short dinks and dunks, and the yards-after-catch were just that.
Leon Washington had a …
The Jets have officially placed linebacker Jonathan Vilma on the injured reserve list and moved Matt Chatham from the PUP (physically unable to perform) list to the active roster.
There has been no announcement as to whether or not Chatham will be activated for Sunday’s game against the Bills, but his removal from the PUP list makes him immediately eligible.
The Jets will go with just 52 active players on Sunday, one less than the league-allowed 53.
Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.
The NY Post is reporting that Jets’ lineback Jonathan Vilma, injured in Sunday’s Bengals’ game, could be out for the season.
In his daily column, Mark Cannizzaro is reporting that Vilma is weighing his options, possibly to include season-ending surgery on his injured knee.
In the event Vilma does not play on Sunday, and it appears doubtful, rookie linebacker David Harris will get his first start. Harris is the first-round pick from Michigan that the Jets traded up 16 slots to get. The former Michigan Wolverine is well-known for his ability to stop the run, something the Jets have not been able to do all season.
Vilma has played in all 55 games since being drafted with the first pick in the 2004 NFL draft. Harris had this to say about Vilma, via Mark Cannizzaro of the NY Post:
“Vilma is a great player,” Harris said. “Any time you lose a player like that it’s very hard to fill his shoes. He’s a great team leader. He’s very well respected. He’s …
Head Coach Eric Mangini announced during his morning press conference that Jonathan Vilma will not practice today.
Vilma underwent a series of tests yesterday after suffering a knee injury during Sunday’s Bengals’ game.
Mangini borrowed quotes from his early-in-the-season press conferences when Chad Pennington was hurt and said only that they are treating this injury like any other injury and evaluating it every day. In other words, no concrete information is being disclosed.
Vilma stated on his weekly radio show on WFAN that he wasn’t hurt on Sunday and it was the coach’s decision to take him out. Mangini agreed that it was his decision to take him out, saying that he felt the injury was detracting from his performance and that’s why he substituted for him.
Today’s poor weather is a perfect excuse to keep Vilma off the wet turf and rest his knee one more day. His presence or absence from tomorrow’s practice will say a lot about the extent of his injury. Clearly from all the quotes, player and coach don’t agree on the …
Eric Mangini has made it official ~ Chad Pennington will remain the starting QB for the Jets this Sunday when they host the 2-4 Buffalo Bills.
Mangini had this to say about his decision, via ESPN.com:
“I went back through the tape, looked at it and felt very good about the decision-making process,” Mangini said, referring to Pennington’s performance in the Jets’ loss at Cincinnati. “There were quite a few plays that I really liked.”
At 1-6, the fans and media have been calling for Kellen Clemens to replace Pennington at the helm to try and right the sinking ship. Pennington is coming off his best performance of the season against the Bengals and certainly can’t be blamed for giving up four TD’s in the second half at Cincinnati.
It makes sense to keep Pennington in these next two games heading into the bye week. Pulling him now is admitting the season is over and plans for the future are being made.
At the bye, the Jets will either still barely be in it at 3-6, or completely out of it …
Coach Dick Jauron announced today that the Bills’ starting QB job has officially been given to Trent Edwards. The Bills’ starting QB at the beginning of the season, J.P. Losman, suffered an injury during the Patriots’ game. Edwards took over and has been solid in the starting role ever since.
Edwards will bring a 2-1 record as a starter into the Meadowlands on Sunday to try and sweep the season series against the Jets. He was not the starter and did not play in the first game when the Bills defeated the Jets at Orchard Park.
In three starts, Edwards has gone 56-for-80 for 563 yards passing with a touchdown and two interceptions. He led the offense to a 19-point outburst against a Ravens’ defense that had allowed just ten points total in their previous two games.
Coach Eric Mangini has yet to make a decision as to who will start at QB for the Jets. With Chad Pennington coming off perhaps his best game of the season, the decision becomes even more difficult. However, for the first time this season, …
