Jets Takeoff

Ken O'Brien

As we get set for Jets-Dolphins tomorrow afternoon at the Meadowlands, take a look at George Bretherton’s post in The New York Times’ Fifth Down Blog this morning. Bretherton selects the five most memorable moments of games played between New York and Miami at Giants Stadium:

If Sunday’s Jets-Dolphins game is the last one between the teams at Giants Stadium — and it will be barring a playoff matchup, with the new stadium set to open next year — then this series has been an amazing ride.

The Jets have dominated, winning 17 of 25 games. But both teams have had their share of memorable results.

Click here to read the entire piece.

What I remember most from Jets-Dolphins, whether the game was in Miami or New Jersey, is the classic battles between Ken O’Brien, one of my favorite Jets of all time, and Dan Marino. Take a look at O’Brien’s career stats. The guy had an impressive career. I’ll never forget the fake-spike game, which took place in 1994, during the first semester of my freshman year in college. At the time, it seemed things like that could only happen to the Jets. And they did, constantly. And of course, Chad Pennington’s return last December in the final week of the regular season was bittersweet. A true Jet before being released when the team traded for Brett Favre, No. 10 returned to beat his former club, ending the Jets’ season, as well as Eric Mangini’s coaching tenure with Gang Green.

Should be a fun and memorable one tomorrow afternoon as the two teams meet at Giants Stadium for what will most likely be the final time.

Leon Washington is the Jets’ most important, and valuable, offensive player. When you consider he returns kicks and leads the “Seminole” offense, in addition to his ability to run the football, removing him from an offense leaves a huge hole. While Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene are capable backs, Washington is irreplaceable.

Now, after losing Kris Jenkins (their second-best defensive player; Darrelle Revis being No. 1) one week ago, the Jets will be without Washington for the remainder of the season after he suffered a compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula on Sunday.

Here’s some local reaction:

Mark Cannizzaro, New York Post

Hank Gola, Daily News

Joshua Robinson, The New York Times

Bob Glauber, Newsday

And, consider the following from Cannizzaro’s piece:

As much of a blow as Washington’s injury is to the team on a football level, it’s a killer for Washington, who’s in the final year of his first contract and is way underpaid at $535,000 this year.

Washington held out briefly for a new deal at the start of training camp, but didn’t want to be a distraction to his teammates and he reported. He’s been playing on good faith that the Jets will reward him with a new deal. Unless there’s a new Collective Bargaining Agreement struck, though, Washington will be a restricted free agent in 2010.

“It’s the business side, off the field,’’ Revis said. “Leon just wants to play and he doesn’t want to let his teammates down. That (contract) situation will get sorted out soon enough. We support Leon and we know Mr. (Mike) Tannenbaum (the Jets GM) is going to get the job done and take care of him.’’

……And yet, it’s all about Leon Washington. Here’s how Rich Cimini described Washington’s season-ending injury in the Daily News:

Thomas Jones’ voice shook with emotion. He had just rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown in a historic ground assault yesterday by the Jets, 38-0 winners over the Raiders, but he was down and distracted. His mind was elsewhere – at a local hospital, where Leon Washington was having emergency surgery.

Washington, who remained in the Oakland area to avoid infection by traveling cross-country, is done for the season. In an ominous text message to reporters an hour after the game, the team announced he will be out “indefinitely.” It’s a 12-week injury, the person familiar with the situation said, although there was immediate speculation among some teammates that it could be career-threatening.

“The team is devastated; I know I’m devastated,” Jones said quietly after the Jets snapped a three-game losing streak with the most lopsided shutout victory in franchise history. “Honestly, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

Washington fractured his right fibula on his first carry, one of those sickening plays that live forever in the minds of football players. His lower leg snapped in a pile-up of bodies and, according to teammates, the broken bone pierced the skin. The compound fracture was later confirmed by a person with knowledge of the injury.

“I could see blood spurting out,” one player said. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Click here to read the entire article.

The Jets head back to Oakland today, the seventh time this decade that Gang Green will visit the “Black Hole.” Here’s how Dave Hutchinson describes this bizarre place in The Star Ledger.

The infamous “Black Hole,” a section of Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum known for its crazies, has been a house of horrors, both literally and figuratively, for the Jets over the past four decades.

On Sunday, rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez will get his first taste of Raider hospitality when the Jets (3-3) visit Oakland (2-4).

The rowdy Raiders’ fans, with their spiked hair and toy-spiked costumes, faces painted silver-and-black, mock skulls on poles, biker helmets, black leather outfits, and any number of out-of-this-universe getups, always seem to get the final word against the Jets.

Let’s just hope these people don’t have kids.

JaMarcus Russell

As for the game itself, this is a must-win for the Jets. They’ve dropped their last three, and last week they lost in embarrassing fashion to the Bills. Buffalo may actually be better than the Raiders, though Oakland surprised everyone last week with their win over the Eagles. But honestly, this is a game the Jets should win. And if New York is thinking playoffs, it’s a game they have to win.

The spotlight will once again be on quarterback Mark Sanchez, to see how the rookie responds to last week’s dismal, five-interception performance. Sanchez’s passer rating of 56.7 ranks 34th out of 36 quarterbacks.

And that brings us to the Raiders, where Oakland quarterback JaMarcus Russell is ranked 35th. Consequently, the Raiders don’t have a very good offense. They’ve scored only 62 points in six games.  And their defense allows, on average, 365.5 yards per game, and has given up 139 points this season. Hard to beat your opponent when the other team scores more points.

Wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, wide receiver Brad Smith, and cornerback Lito Sheppard are all out with injuries, and last week Rex Ryan suspended safety James Ihedigbo and linebacker Marques Murrell for throwing punches during overtime of last Sunday’s loss.

Prediction: So the Jets should win, but they also should have won last week. If they lose today, things will have begun to unravel. It’s conceivable that Sanchez could go into the “Black Hole” and struggle. Not because of the Raiders, or Raider fans, but because Sanchez has been abysmal in two of the last three games. It’s also possible that Sanchez could rebound today, showing the talent and maturity that were so evident the first three weeks of the season. Rex Ryan and the Jets better hope for the latter. Jets 16, Raiders 9.

Some random thoughts (mostly concerns) as I get ready for the Jets and Raiders tomorrow afternoon in Oakland:

• The Raiders are a mess, one of the worst organizations in professional sports. And at 2-4, they’re not a very good football team, though last week’s win over the Eagles was impressive. Still, the Jets haven’t won on the West Coast since 2004, and, as I showed in last night’s post, they’ve struggled against the Raiders this decade.
• Oakland’s starting quarterback, JaMarcus Russell, isn’t exactly Tom Brady, and the rest of the offense doesn’t scare you. But consider this, again from my colleague Steve Swidler: The Jets have lost to backup quarterbacks the last two games, Miami’s Chad Henne and Buffalo’s Ryan Fitzpatrick. Many NFL observers don’t consider Russell to be anything more than a backup. What does that mean for the Jets this week in Oakland? 
• The Raiders’ defense has given up 139 points in six games. But, Mark Sanchez isn’t doing too well these days. Five interceptions last week agains the Bills, and now concerns about his body language as reported this week by Greg Bishop in The New York Times.

Game analysis and prediction on the way tomorrow. Go Penn State! And go Yankees!

The Jets and Raiders have met eight times this decade, with six of the games taking place in Oakland. New York is back in Oakland this Sunday, as the 3-3 Jets take on the 2-4 Raiders in the ninth match-up between these two teams since 2000. Here’s how the Jets have fared this decade against the Raiders:

2000: @Oakland, Lost 31-7

2001: @Oakland, Won 24-22

2002: @ Oakland, Lost 26-20 (Regular Season); @Oakland, Lost 30-10 (Playoffs)

2003: @ Oakland, Won 27-24

2005: Home vs Oakland, Won 26-10

2006: Home vs Oakland, Won 23-3

2008: @Oakland, Lost 16-13

This is the worst-case scenario for the Jets.

Nose tackle Kris Jenkins is done for the year after injuring his left knee in Sunday’s loss. The anchor of the Jets’ defense was placed on injured reserve yesterday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

Here’s Darrelle Revis on the loss as reported in today’s Daily News:

“He handles the run, he handles the middle and he’s a big vocal leader. It hurts a lot. It’s something you don’t want to see. He’s one of our top players on defense, and we need him.”

And Rex Ryan:

“There aren’t many Kris Jenkins in the league. To think those guys are going to come in and play like Kris, that’s not realistic.”

“We’re all going to have to step up our game to make up for his loss. We’re going to have to stop the run now more than ever.”

This is a devastating loss for the Jets, a team already reeling after losing three straight. New York would have been better off losing any other player on the roster, with the possible exception of Revis, their superstar cornerback.

Things just got a lot more difficult for Rex and the Jets.

Well, I was right with regard to two things I said in yesterday’s post, the one where I predicted the Jets would beat the Bills 38-10. First, I had a feeling that Thomas Jones would finally have a breakout game, and he did. Second, I said that the Jets could erase the bad memory of the Miami loss with a blowout win. And I was right, they could have. Unfortunately, Mark Sanchez was awful, and now the Jets have to live with this loss for a week before they head to Oakland next Sunday.

Kris Jenkins left today's game with a knee injury.

Here’s what you need to know from today’s game:

First and foremost, this was Sanchez at his worst. Five interceptions on 10-of-29 passing. Jerricho Cotchery didn’t play and that didn’t help. Neither did the weather, which was cold and damp all game. Neither did the fact that Sanchez is a rookie and performances like this are going to happen. It wasn’t the first time this year that Sanchez didn’t played well, and it won’t be the last.

Next, New York had chance after chance after chance, especially against a Buffalo team that just isn’t any good. When starting quarterback Trent Edwards left the game early in the second quarter, the Jets should have wrapped this one up. When New York led 13-3 at halftime, it should have been over. When the Jets had the ball at the Bills’ 24-yard line on their opening drive of overtime, it should have been over. At 3-3, the season is far from over. But after the Jets’ third straight loss, it’s hard to think playoffs right now.

On the bright side, Thomas Jones ran for a franchise and career-best 210 yards on 22 carries, including a 71-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Finally, Rich Cimini from the Daily News reports that nose tackle Kris Jenkins may be lost for the season. Jenkins went down with a knee injury in the second quarter.