Like we said, it would have been really hard for the Jets to lose to the Patriots yesterday with Eric Mangini so hard on the case for the New York side.
In a media run the likes of which we’ve never seen, the freshly-fired Browns head coach was all over the press last week pushing a strategy by which the Jets could beat the heavily-favored Patriots. This included a number of studio appearances on ESPN, and a column penned for the New York Post in which Mangini explained the strategy.
All that was left for the Jets to do was take Coach’s plan and run with it, which is exactly what they did. Here’s Mangini writing for the Post last week:
Defensively against Brady you have to spin the Rolodex and not let him know what defense you’re in. You have to make sure you don’t show a pattern, not letting it look like he expects it to look. That’s when you have your best shot.
The Patriots will work hard to gather information with long, delayed counts. They may try to speed it up with a no-huddle or quick counts, so it’s a back-and-forth. You’re trying not to give him anything and they’ve got tools to gather information.
In our 2006 game — a 17-14 Jets win over the Patriots at Gillette Stadium, the last time Brady lost at home — we hit Brady a bunch of times because we had a massive commitment to disguise, disguise, disguise and they hadn’t seen it, hadn’t expected it.
Here’s Jets cornerback Darelle Revis after the game, explaining how the Jets were able to slow the Patriots offense:
“We just disguised real good today,” Revis said, “and I think that’s what confused Tom today.”
And Jets linebacker Bart Scott, who “was asked when he knew that Gang Green was in Brady’s head”:
“When [Brady] started looking for the rush when there was no rush,” Scott said. “When he thought after a certain amount of time that somebody was coming, he was fidgeting and throwing it. I give [Steelers QB] Ben Roethlisberger a lot of credit, ’cause he’s man enough to stand in the pocket and look down the barrel of the game and take the hit.”
Burn. Dang. Anyway, after having been hamstrung with absurdly substandard talent for two seasons has head coach in Cleveland, then being summarily screwed out of his job for it, it had to be really rewarding for Mangini to see his game plan put to use with such awesome effect yesterday by a team with a real NFL roster. Even better to have seen it done with so many of the players that Mangini himself had selected and coached to do just that. Here’s more from the coach on some of his former charges in New York:
We drafted to try to beat the Patriots, because if you can’t beat them you can’t win the division. The reason we drafted Nick Mangold was because we needed a center to hold up against the nose guard, which is the driving force in a 3-4 defense, especially for an inside running game. We drafted Mangold to battle Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork.
If Mangold can do a good job handling Wilfork on the inside, the Jets will have success running the ball. I think the Jets can run the ball on New England if they are patient. They can run the ball and they can use Sanchez to get out of the pocket, which puts pressure on the entire defense. New England has struggled on third down (allowing a 47.1 conversion rate).
The Jets have a lot of great matchups to pressure the inside of the Patriots defense with tight end Dustin Keller and wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery … .
Wilfork was held sackless yesterday, along with the rest of the Pats defense, and Cotchery led the Jets with five catches for 96 yards, including the play of the game, a 58-yard reception to set up a touchdown just after the Pats had closed to within a field goal to start the fourth quarter.
It’s impossible to argue with Bart Scott here.
“The better team won,” Scott said. “Not the better quarterback . . . not the better coach . . . the better team won.”
The better team, for sure. And we couldn’t be happier for Mangini about it. Steelers up next, Coach. Get after it.
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Alright. On with The Shurmur Era:
So, Rob Ryan to the Cowboys. If you’re one of the folks who thinks that Ryan’s reputation received a significant boost from Mangini’s defensive expertise, this probably doesn’t bother you so much.
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Bill Mason stays in Denver; Dick Jauron to stay in Philly? Thought to be new Browns head coach Pat Shurmur’s top choice for offensive coordinator, Mason decided to stay somewhere where he could be the one calling the plays, which makes sense (remember, Shurmur has announced that he’ll call the plays as head coach in Cleveland).
Eagles defensive backs coach Jauron, former head coach in Chicago and Buffalo, is reportedly Shurmur’s first choice on the other side of the ball, but is no longer a leading candidate for the defensive coordinator for the position after what the Plain Dealer’s Mary Kay Cabot reports as the Eagles “surprising” decision to fire defensive coordinator Sean McDermott. Maybe the Eagles’ decision to fire the 38-year-old McDermott really shouldn’t have been so surprising in view of the prospect of losing Jauron, 60. At this point, nobody should be surprised if Jauron is named the Eagles new defensive coordinator shortly.
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Here’s a nice thought from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. Did the Jets save football by winning in New England yesterday?
Regardless of the reason, the Pats have hit a rough spot in the postseason since making it to 18-0 three years ago, and it remains to be seen whether they can break out of it in 2011, or beyond.
The good news for football fans? The fact that the Pats have gone yet another year since 2004 without another Super Bowl win could make owner Robert Kraft even more antsy to see his team back on the field again, which could prompt him to push even harder for a quick resolution to the ongoing labor dispute between the NFL and the players’ union.
At the very least, this highlights the unlikelihood that these guys won’t be able to figure something out by opening day next season, with so much at stake.
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Here’s the Post’s media critic Phil Mushnick getting after the weekend’s Divisional Round broadcasts: “NFL voices drone on and on.”
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And finally, don’t forget, it’s MLK Day, one of the best days there is to remember that what’s right and what’s legal are two different things.
(It's good to break bad laws.)
Here’s to these two different things continuing to overlap with increasing frequency, and of course, to the good Doctor.
We’ll be back tomorrow unless something crazy happens. Hope everyone’s week gets off to a decent start.
