GIANTS 29
JETS 14
The New York Giants got exactly what they wanted for Christmas, while the Jets suffered a nightmare before Christmas.
I'll get to the Giants in a bit because they have everything in their control once again.
But this game was more about how badly Mark Sanchez performed, how badly Brian Schottenheimer's play calling functioned, and how Coach Rex Ryan was forced to eat his own words. The Jets not only lost a game, they completely bobbled their chance at making the playoffs. They now have to beat the Dolphins and hope that the Bengal, Raiders and Titans lose next week in order for them to make the playoffs. Trust me; the Dolphins would love to TKO the Jets next week.
Furthermore, if you need more evidence that Sanchez is not a true NFL franchise quarterback, look no further than today's game against the Giants; in sum, Sanchez was inaccurate, easily rattled, and made one bone-headed play after another. He threw two costly interceptions, fumbled a ball at the Giants one-yard line, and threw a series of dreary incompletions, including a half-dozen near interceptions. He was pathetic!
Like he did against the 32nd ranked Patriots defense, Sanchez made a 29th ranked Giants pass defense (the same Giants defense that got carved up by REX GROSSMAN the week before) look like the 2000 Ravens! That being said, what were the Jets thinking having Sanchez drop back 64 times to throw the ball 59 times?!?!?! Hello?
This is a team that is built to run the football, and when they ran, they actually ran it pretty well, but, and this is a big BUT, they never committed to the run. Brian Schottenheimer was awful once again with his play-calling. He was too aggressive when he needed to get the game back under control and focus on ball control when things were breaking down around the Jets offense.
Hence, this is where Rex Ryan needs to get critcized. As head coach, he has to take control of the reins of everything, even the offense when things are not going well. It is established knowledge that Ryan is a defensive coordinator; offense is not his forte, but, still, he must get into Schottenheimer's ear and tell him to stop throwing the ball on every down.
Furhtermore, for an entire season the majority of criticism against this Jets team has been focused squarely on the shoulders of Sanchez and Schottenheimer, but it high time to place blame on Rex Ryan. Ryan, who spent the better part of three years throwing the Giants under the bus; he even wrote a chapter in his book about how much his Jets would kick the butt of the Giants, and he continued to echo those words this week.
He is eating major crow right now. Ryan should have never ripped the Giants publicly the way he did. He has written way too many blank checks for this football team that consistently comes up small.
The bloom is clearly off the rose of the Rex Ryan bandwagon. He changed the culture after the dour Eric Mangini tenure, but, let's face it, the guy is proving to be more hot air than solid coaching decisions. Ryan is not on the hot seat, but he is definately on notice. What he does to change this offense, and it needs changing, has to start with getting rid of Schottenehimer which will go a long way to reveal what happens to him in 2012.
Finally, let me throw Nick Folk off the bus as well. Here is a kicker who has developed a reputation of being inconsistent from any distance. In fact, this was a guy who only averaged 65 % of his kicks during his career in Dallas and was dreadful last year for the Jets. With the Jets down 10-7 and in position to kick a field goal to tie the game before the half, Folk missed a forty yard kick wide right, killing any momentum for the Jets. Instead of going into the locker room tied, they went down three.Then, in the fourth quarter, after Sanchez was sacked for a safety to give the Giants a 22-14 lead, Folk botched an on-side kick on the safety punt that didn't go 10 yards; it ended up in the hands of the Giants. What next? Ahmad Bradshaw chugged into the end zone for the touchdown to ice it at 29-14.
As for the Giants, they came up huge. When they needed a big time team effort with all of the chips down, they got it. Granted, the Giants made their mistakes: having 12 men on the field in the opening series on defense that allowed Mark Sanchez and the Jets to score the opening touchdown, and in Eli Manning's interception in the fourth quarter to set up a Jets score.
However, for the most part, when the Giants needed a big play, they got it. Speaking of which, someone tell Darrelle Revis who Victor Cruz is. Earlier during the week, Revis said that Cruz was a pre-season player, and claimed he didn't know who he was. Well, Revis probably knows who he is now. Cruz broke this game wide open when he caught a desperate Manning pass at the 20, broke a tackle and was gone down the sideline for a 99 yard touchdown giving the Giants a 10-7 lead.
After that the game became a slug fest as neither team's offense could muster much momentum at all, but the Giants defense came up huge. They harassed Sanchez all afternoon, forcing hit to throw off his back foot, forcing some bad incompletions and several near turnovers. It was imperative for both Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck to have a big afternoon, and the duo did just that. Pierre-Paul enjoyed two sacks and three quarterback hits, including a forced fumble, while Tuck accumulated a sack and a two pass blocked in the ball game. Even David Tollefson got into the fray with a Sanchez sack.
Then late in third quarter, Manning threw another huge completion, this time to Cruz again for 36 yards to the Jets 42. Brandon Jacobs then bulled his way down the sideline for 28 yards to the Jets 14; Bradshaw took it in unmolested for the touchdown.
The Giants then received a huge gift on the Jets next possession when Sanchez threw his first interception of the afternoon that led to a Giants field goal to make it 20-7.
Things got really interesting in the fourth. The Giants had the Jets dead to rights when Mark Sanchez was stripped sacked, but the Jets challenged the ruling and got the play reversed, forcing an already tired Giants defense back onto the field. Thankfully for Big Blue, Mark Sanchez was the opposing quarterback since he then proceeded to fumble the snap on third and one at the Giants 1, giving Big Blue the ball back.
Finally with 2:24 left in the game, and the Jets needing to score a touchdown to win the game, Giants special teams came up huge. A brilliant punt by ex-Jet Sam Weatherford spotted the ball at the Jets eight yard line, and the defense did the rest. Chris Canty came hard on the blitz and Sanchez didn't know what to do, throwing a desperate pass out of the end zone to an ineligible receiver, D'Brickshaw Ferguson. The ruling was a safety, pretty much putting a kibosh on the Jets hopes.
For Big Blue, no one can say their defense is soft anymore. They came up big when they needed to. Their quarterback, Eli Manning, while not having a great day, made the big throws when he needed to, and the running game was there when it mattered.
Great moment: Granted it's never great to see a coach get injured, i.e. Sean Payton, who broke his leg earlier this year, but in the fourth quarter, Tom Coughlin injured his hamstring on the sideline, but he stayed out there. He stood on that sideline, limping around on a bad leg, pushing his players to victory. I think the Giants fed off of that because they kicked it up a notch in the game's final five minutes. Anyone who still thinks Coughlin will be fired after the season can forget it.
The Giants are in control of their playoff destiny. All they have to do is beat the Cowboys and they are NFC East champions. The Jets ... well ... better luck next year.
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