Sanchez Impresses As Jets Outlast Dolphins

JETS 31
DOLPHINS 23

As Jimmy Johnson once said to his Dallas Cowboys during the 1993 season. "If you talk the talk, you better walk the walk."

And right now, the Jets are walking the walk, after an impressive 31-23 victory over the hated Miami Dolphins in Miami Florida last night.

Defensively the Jets struggled without Darrelle Revis, as Chad Henne ripped up the Jets secondary for 363 yards through the air, but it didn't matter, because the Jets offense was spectacular.

Mark Sanchez grew up last week against the Patriots; and against the Dolphins, Sanchez looked more like a 30-year old veteran, rather than a 23-year old kid. He played with a kind of poise and zest that we haven't seen from him in the year plus he's been in the league. He held his head high, played big, and was more self confident than he has been in a long time.

On the opening drive Sanchez was sharp, completing passes of 16 and 11 yards to Dustin Keller and Brad Smith. Then he completed a 24 yard slant to the sideline to Keller for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, after LaDainian Tomlinson gashed Miami on a 21-yard run, Sanchez threaded the needle to Keller for the 12 yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead. Sanchez threw three touchdowns and no interceptions. He is developing excellent field perception and is looking to make the smart play, instead of the risky play.

After Miami grabbed a 17-14 lead on a touchdown to Brandon Marshall, Sanchez hit Braylon Edwards on a 67-yard catch and run to recapture the lead 21-17. For Edwards this was a shinning moment. After a week of public embarassment in the aftermath of his DWI, the Jets held him out for a quarter, before putting him back into the game. Good for the Jets to send the right message to Edwards, while not hurting the football team.

Then there is Jason Taylor. Taylor in his return to Miami, sacked Chad Henne in the first quarter, drawing boos from the Miami faithful. After Drew Coleman picked off Henne's desperation pass in the endzone to end the game, Taylor hugged Coleman as they were heading for the sideline. Moments later, Taylor was daused with Gatorade by Rex Ryan, as a way to welcome his successful return to Miami.

Undisiplined Giants Exposed Against Titans

TITANS 29

GIANTS 10

The Giants put together a disgraceful performance against the Tennessee Titans, Sunday that will make people wonder this upcoming week whether the wheels are starting to come off the bus for coach Tom Coughlin.

From the start things looked bleak for the Giants when Eli Manning's pass to Hakeem Nicks was deflected into the hands of Titans Sammy Marks. The Titans drove the ball down field and settled for a field goal, but the tone was set.

Later in the first quarter, after Manning hit tight end Kevin Boss on a 54 yard slant, Manning was picked off in the endzone by Justin McCourty killing the Giants momentum.

The entire afternoon was full of misakes and stupid penalties. The Giants were called for a handful of personal fouls, including a chop block by Ahmad Bradshaw that gave the Titans a safety and a 12-10 lead, as well as a 15-yard penalty on David Diehl for ripping off the helmet of Courtland Finnegan, after the Giants fumbled the ball back to Tennessee.

Leading 12-10, the Titans put this baby away fast. Vince Young completed three straight first down passes to Nate Washington, Kenny Britt, and Justin Gage respectively, before Young hit Britt, the Bayonne native, in the endzone for the touchdown.

Now 22-10, Chris Johnson took over with a 42-yard run to spot the ball at the G-Men 22 yard line. Fianlly, Johnson took it in from eight yards out to give the Titans a 29-10 lead.

Is Tom Coughlin's days in New York numbered? Many will ask whether he has lost this team. The players are talking back to him, i.e. Diehl when he came off the sideline after the penalty, the players seem unmotivated, and they are terribly indiscipline.

Joe Torre Denies He Ever Had Interest In Mets

Now Joe Torre says he never said he was curious about the Mets managerial job, even though millions of people heard differently when he was interviewed by WFAN.

Torre tried to back track after current Mets manager Jerry Manuel lashed out questioning Torre's integrity about inquiring about his job.

"I apologize," Torre told reporters before the Dodgers played the Padres last night in Los Angeles. "He is right that I shouldn't have said that, and I don't think I did. Somebody asked me if I would take a call from [Mets owner] Fred Wilpon. I have known Fred Wilpon forever. I won't be managing the Mets, I thought I made that clear."

That somebody was Mike Francesa, and Torre did indeed say he was interested in the Mets job - but lets pretend like Torre does that he never said that.

This is how these things work. Met fan shouldn't get too upset in believing that Torre isn't interested. He is only saying that to protect himself legally. Until proven otherwise, Torre is still a candidate for the job.

Braylon Edwards Will Not Be Suspended For DWI

On Tuesday, Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards was arrested and charged with DWI after his blood alcohol level of .16 which is double the limit in New York City.

In case you're wondering .16 means that Edwards was smashed. He is lucky that he didn't kill anyone, especially since his old friend from the Cleveland Browns Dante Stallworth killed a man two years ago while drunk driving.

So what kind of penalty did the Jets enforce? A slap on the wrist. Edwards will not start in Miami on Sunday, but he will play this weekend. Meaning he will miss the first play of the game, then he can go back in.

According to the New York Post, Edwards was not alone when he was arrested. With him in the car was D'Brickshaw Ferguson and Vernon Gholston. Ferguson and Gholston were not charged, but nobody knows how drunk they were -- they would have to be to get into a car with a guy who is totally wasted.

The Jets shouldn't have to wait for the NFL to come down on Edwards, they can discipline him themselves, and not starting him, but allowing him to play is not the right repercussion. The Jets should deactivate Edwards to send a message.

Then again, if you remember in Hard Knocks, is the same team that Rex Ryan berated for eating hamburgers during practice, then after his tirade told everyone to relax and get a "Goddamn snack."

In this league it is all about winning. The Jets chances of beating Miami are better if Edwards plays.

Joe Torre Will Return to Yankee Stadium Tonight

Soon-to-be former Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who announced this weekend that he will not return to LA in 2011, and is considering retirement, giving his bench coach Don Mattingly the managerial job in LA, will join Mattingly at Yankee Stadium tonight for the unveiling of George Steinbrenner's monument in Monument Park.

This marks the first time that either Torre or Mattingly return to the Bronx since they left for LA after the 2007 season. Mattingly returning is not a big story, since he is beloved in the Yankee organization, but Torre's return is a huge story.

Torre left on bad terms in the Bronx. His book chronically his Yankee years threw people in the Yankee front office, including GM Brian Cashman, under the bus. Torre and Cashman have watched their friendship deteriorate the last three years, and Torre was neither invited, nor mentioned in the Yankees good-bye presentation to the old Yankee Stadium two years ago.

Earlier this summer, when the Yankees visited LA, only Derek Jeter, Joe Girardi, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada greeted their old skipper. Alex Rodriguez who hated Torre ignored him for a couple days until the media pressured A-Rod to take photos with him.

"It will be great to see them. I am looking forward to that," Pettitte said. "Joe means a lot to the organization. It's a good thing for Joe and the organization. He should be part of the organization for a long time."

Brandon "the Idiot" Jacobs Throws Helmet Into Stands

Last night during the Colts domination of the Giants, running back Brandon Jacobs thought it was a good idea to throw his football helmet into the stands.

We never saw the incident, but we saw security trying to rip the helmet from a group of Colts fans, who would not let go of the helmet, as if it was a foul ball.

The incident occurred, because Jacobs was angry that he was pulled from the game by Tom Coughlin after failing to get a first down. Jacobs then got into a screaming match with Colts fans after he chucked his helmet at them. SHUTDOWN CORNER BLOG!

The Daily News has reported that Jacobs issued an apology, but that won't be enough. He is to meet with Giants staff today, and could demand a trade! Jacobs is unhappy with the G-Men for reducing his role to back-up running back for the equally placid Ahmad Bradshaw.

Jacobs had a terrible season last year, running for only 835 yards. This year he still looks very slow and can barely get around tacklers like he did early in his career.

The Giants should take Jacobs up on it and trade him as soon as possible. The guy is a complete jerk with a capital J.

Peyton Wins Battle of Bros Against Eli and Giants

COLTS 38
GIANTS 14

Big brother 2, Little brother 0.

Peyton Manning and the Colts dismantled a suspect Giants defense en route to a 38-14 victory over his brother Eli.

Peyton was sharp completing 20-of-26 for 255 yards and three touchdowns. The Colts put the Giants away early, as Donald Brown scored on a seven yard run on the opening drive to give Indy a 7-0 lead.

In the second quarter, Peyton took control, completing a 50 yard bomb to Dallas Clark for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead. After an Adam Vinateri field goal, Manning hit Austin Collie from three yards out for a 24-0 lead.

The Giants couldn't do anything. They couldn't run the ball, and couldn't throw the ball well either. Eli struggled against the blitz happy Colts, getting sacked four times from the likes of Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney.

The Giants have a lot of issues. They have no running game. Ahmad Bradshaw has not stepped up into the role as the starter, and Brandon Jacobs has become a malcontent. Their passing attack is loaded with suspect receivers, and their defense is still a total joke.

Now the G-Men get ready for the Titans, with their gigantic running back Chris Johnson. Good luck Big Blue, good luck!

Revis Injured in Pats Victory

This is why training camp holdouts are stupid.

While Randy Moss made a spectacular catch one-handed catch for a touchdown, the Jets corner pulled up with a hamstring injury. WATCH HERE!

Revis was seen on the sideline having his hamstring stretched, and did not return to the game. The thought is that Revis will not return to the Jets lineup next week in Miami to rest the hammy. That means Antonio Cromartie who did a great job covering Moss, will have to cover Brandon Marshall.

The Jets boasted all summer about how they can still be great without Revis, now they get their chance.

Stunning Development: Jets Comeback to Beat Patriots

JETS 28
PATRIOTS 14

Just when you thought the season was over, the Jets remind you that it is indeed a long season.

If you told 82,000 Jet fans sitting in New Meadowlands Stadium after Randy Moss made a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch to give New England a 14-7 that the Jets would win the game, they would have told you you are nuts.

But that is what happened. Coming out of the break the Jets put together a terrific scoring drive, highlighted by Mark Sanchez's 39 yard completion to Dustin Keller, who was wide open in the middle of the field. A 25 yards on two carries by LaDainian Tomlinson to set up a field goal to cut the deficit to 14-13.

Suddenly the Patriots vaunted offense that put up 221 yards on the Jets in the first half couldn't do anything in the second half, and this was with Darrelle Revis out of the game for Gang Green. Brady threw two dreary incompletions on their first third quarter drive, then the Jets went to work.

Sanchez hit Jerricho Cotchery on the sideline for 10, hit Keller for 21 down the sideline, and the Tomlinson did the rest with a 31 yard run to spot the ball at the Pats four yard line. Sanchez drilled the ball into Cotchery's hands for the TD. Up 19-14, the Jets needed a two point conversion - the ball was to go to Braylon Edwards, who last season dropped a two point conversion against the Jaguars that cost the Jets the game. Not this time. Edwards hauled in the TPC giving New York a stunning 21-17 lead.

Sanchez was very good. Most of his passes were of the short, precision variety, mostly targeted to the sidelines. The key for Sanchez was his feet. He was able to stay mobile in the pocket for much of the second half, creating open lanes in the middle of the field for his receivers. Does he still make you nervous? Yes, you can't blame anyone who was waiting for Sanchez to make that big mistake, but he never did.

Sanchez threw three touchdowns in the effort, and a Patriots defense that is indeed dreadful.

Defensively the Jets made the Patriots look like a bunch of old men. Wes Welker killed the Jets in the first half, but was held to two catches in the entire second half. After his great one-handed catch, Randy Moss couldn't hold onto the ball, bobbling one pass into the hands of Jets safety Brodney Pool.

Brady looked old. He wasn't under a lot of pressure, with the exception of Jason Taylor's ball stripping sack late the fourth quarter. His passes were either off target or dropped by his receivers.

The win silences the critics of the Jets ... for now. The Jets have a huge game next week at Miami with first place in the AFC East on the line. Who knew...a week ago the Jets were on death's door, now they are competing for a division title.

Darrelle Revis Feels Tightness In Hamstring, But Will Play vs. Pats

It may have been a matter of time before Darrelle Revis felt some growing pains of returning to an NFL field after holding out for a month and a half from training camp.

Thursday, Revis missed parts of practice after feeling tightness in his hamstring. As a precatuion the Jets limited Revis in practice. NJ.COM.

Rex Ryan confirmed that it was not a hamstring injury or tear, and that Revis will play Sunday against the Patriots and will cover wide receiver Randy Moss.

More deatils as they become available...

Joe Namath vs. Mark Sanchez: QB's Lash Out at Each Other

Joe Namath has taken issue with the play of Mark Sanchez and the Jets offense. On his twitter account, Namath wrote that the Jets offense was too conservative, and the final play of the game, in which Sanchez completed a pass to Dustin Keller short of the first down marker "disgusting."

"You gotta score some points," Namath said."Nine points is good enough if the other team scores eight."

Asked if he expected Sanchez to be more advanced than he showed, Namath said: "I don't think our passing game was trying to be more advanced [Monday] night. I think we were trying to keep from losing the game."

Namath then took issue with receiver Braylon Edwards:

"Can't catch the ball, for one thing," Namath said. "Or rarely does. He has as many drops as he does catches."

Sanchez responded, basically telling Namath to mind his own business.

"Joe likes to sling it because that's kind of the offense they had back then," Sanchez said. "But we have a great running game, and we would never want to abandon that."

Namath later tweeted that, while the conservative play-calling falls on the coaches, "the poor execution doesn't."

Sanchez should take note from Namath. The Jets offense was disgusting to watch, and his play was putrid. Sanchez played scared, and never even dared to throw the football down the field against a Ravens secondary without super star safety Ed Reed.

I say good for Namath. Unlike former Jet Greg Buttle, who on the Jets post game show on 1050 ESPN Radio, who said that the Keller's knucklehead catch was a "good play," Namath told the truth about this vanilla football team.

Hard Knocked: Jets Crash & Burn Vs. Ravens

RAVENS 10
JETS 9

So how about that Super Bowl dream now, Jets?

The Jets showed that they are not ready for prime time, instead they showed the world that in a couple of weeks they might be ready for funeral - because, after last night performance, it is clear that their season could spiral out of control really, really fast.

The Jets were flagged for 14 penalties for 125 yards, 10 of which came in the first half. Most of those penalties came on Antonio Cromartie whom the Ravens picked on all night with a combination of Anquan Boldin, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Derrick Mason. Darrelle Revis was even called for a holding penatly on Boldin. In fact, the Jets barley matched up Revis with Boldin, probably out of fear that the corner was not totally up to par physically after skipping all of camp on a ridiculous contract hold out.

The running game? Can you say Thomas Jones. The Jets clearly miss Jones powerful downhill running and ability to hold onto the football, because Shonn Greene was dreadful. Five carries 18 yards and a fumble. He was so bad, that the Jets hide him on the bench in the second half, and moved to LaDainianan Tomlinson who had the only positive yardage, 62 yards. Too bad they didn't got to Tomlinson more often.

Mark Sanchez? Terrible. Dreadful. Miserable. I'm running out of adjectives. Sanchez completed 10 of 21 passes for a 74 yards! Every pass was a check down, and he rarely dared to throw it downfield on a Raven secondary that was missing Ed Reed. Clearly the Jets coaching staff doesn't trust Sanchez with the football, otherwise they would have had him fling all over the ball park.

Stupid mistakes? Braylon Edwards and Dustin Keller come on down. For some reason Edwards was on special teams on a Ravens field goal, and the bearded one proceeded to run into the kicker giving the Ravens an automatic first down. Keller, at the end of the game, caught a short Sanchez pass, and stepped out of bounds a whole yards shy of the first down. Maybe Keller was still seeing Ravens in his eyes after getting plastered by Ray Lewis earlier in the game.

And now the Jets get ready for the Patriots, who ripped up 38 points on the Bengals. Sometimes December can come early in an NFL season.

Giants Win Ugly Behind Nicks Big Day

GIANTS 31
PANTHERS 18

That was ugly.

The Giants christened the opening of New Meadowlands Stadium with a ugly 31-18 victory over the Carolina Panthers, a game in which the G-Men lost Kevin Boss indefinitely after a concussion, a game that saw the Giants defense put together a sloppy first half, and a game that featured an invisible running game for a better part of the afternoon.

Yet 1-0 is 1-0.

Eli Manning found his new favorite target in Hakeem Nicks. Nicks had four catches for 75 yards and three touchdowns as the G-Men stormed back from a 16-14 hafltime deficit to blow away Carolina in the second half.

Late in the second quarter, Manning hit Nicks on a 19 yard go-route for the touchdown to give Big Blue a 14-9 lead. But, Carolina answered as the Panthers drove the ball down the field in the final minutes of the half, culminating in a Steve Smith touchdown.

Now in the third quarter with the Giants up 17-16, Manning hit Nicks again on the right from five yards out to give the G-Men a 24-16 lead. Finally, Ahmad Bradshaw bullrushed his way for a four yard touchdown to close out the Giants scoring at 31-16.

Manning played extremely well, completing 20-0f-30 for 267 yards and three TD's. He also threw three interceptions. The big problem for Manning was the fact that his receivers kept dropping passes, and his interceptions were of the tipped ball variety.

The loss of Boss is going to hurt. The Giants are very thin a tight end, and they will have to look at the waiver wire to find a new tight end. Boss, who was a big target for Manning will be missed dearly.

Defensively, the Giants were much more aggressive in the second half recovering two fumbles and picking off two Matt Moore passes. The defense will be tested big time next week at Indianapolis.

The Giants win, but it wasn't pretty.

Jets coaches and players abuse female reporter

A report from the AP states that the New York Jets abused Ines Sainz, a reporter for Mexico's TV Azteca, when a coach threw footballs at her, and several players were making cat calls in her direction in the locker room.

Azteca was at Jets practice Saturday to do a interview with Mark Sanchez.

"NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Sunday that the league and the Jets began looking into the situation when they were made aware of it Saturday night." (AP) and (FOX Sports).

If the story is true, it will be a huge black eye to the Jets who have been walking the tightrope of proper decorum from the personalities they brought in last off-season to the R-rated profanity laced episodes of "Hard Knocks."

The names of the coach and players who taunted the reporter were not revealed.

Bill Parcells Steps Down as Dolphins GM

Former Jets and Giants head coach Bill Parcells is stepping down as President of Football Operations in Miami. Parcells is turning the team over to GM Jeff Ireland, who acted as a figure head as Parcells turned a 1-15 Dolphin team from 2007 into an AFC East contender the last two seasons.

As typical with Parcells he leaves a franchise in a lurch, but in a much better position then when he arrived. "The 69-year-old Parcells can leave Miami at any time and collect the balance of the $12 million due him under a four-year contract that expires after the 2011 season." ( Yahoo Sports!)

There were no reports of a health related problem with Parcells. When he left the Giants in 1992, he complained of chest problems, and when he left New York and Dallas it was for unspecified health reasons.

Does this mean the Tuna will take a year off to re-charge the batteries before going back to coaching? Probably not, but if a team needs a new GM/President Bill is their guy. Maybe Parcells can go full circle in the AFC East. He was Head Coach in New England and New York, GM/President in Miami, maybe in 2011 we will see Bill taking over the Bills, as in the Buffalo Bills?

You never know, especially with the Tuna.

2010 NFL Predictions: Storylines that Could Unfold this Season

Here is a link to a slideshow I put together on Bleacher Report. With the NFL season just days away it is time to make some bold predictions about what will happen this season.

Can the Jets come through on their prediction of winning the Super Bowl? Will the Giants rebound? Does Tom Brady and Patriots have anything? Take a look. BLEACHER REPORT.

Darrelle Revis & Jets Agree to Contract

Darrelle Revis has ended his holdout.

The Jets and Revis have agreed on a brand new contract, that will last four years, although financial terms were not released.

Revis is flying to New York as of 1 a.m. when the story broke on ESPN, and he is expected to play in the Jets season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

Roethlisberger Suspension Reduced

As expected NFL commisoner Roger Goodell has reduced Ben Roethlisberger's six game suspension to four games. The Steelers quarterback has been suspended for violating the personal conduct policy of the NFL, after stories leaked that he had sexually assaulted a young woman inside of a bar.

Roethlisberger has the history of being quite the party animal, as the picture indicates. ;)

With the reduction in his suspension, Roethlisberger will be back under center for the Steelers October 17, in a home against against the Cleveland Browns.

This summer Pittsburgh had an open competition for the starting job between Dennis Dixon and Byron Leftwich to determine who will start the season's first four games.

Getting Roethlisberger back early will be a boon to the Steelers, that is if the team is 2-2 when the two-time Super Bowl champion returns. In the interim, Roethlisberger cannot practice with the team, or be anywhere near the facility until the suspension ends.

Cohen's Corner Returns This September

Attention readers, we apologize for not posting in the last two weeks, but Cohen's Corner has undergone some maintenance - a brand new look to our website was long overdue. We will return to posting everything New York sports starting today. Jets, Giants, Mets, Yankees. You name it, you will find it here.