NFL Notes: Sanchez “Stupid” & Manning For MVP
Monday, November 14, 2011
How did Jets coach Rex Ryan feel about the timeout his quarterback called with 1:24 to play in the first half Sunday night? He told NBC’s Michelle Tafoya, “it’s the stupidest play in football history!”
With the Jets sure to put points on the board just before halftime, Mark Sanchez made the mistake of calling a timeout before the team’s 3rd down play from the New England 2. Calling a timeout to make sure that the Jets had a good play called wasn’t Sanchez’s mistake. It was WHEN he called the timeout. There was still more than 20 seconds on the play clock and the game clock was running. Instead of running the play clock down to 1 second and the game clock to under a minute to play, Sanchez hastily called the timeout drawing the ire of his head coach.
Ryan knew then that even if his Jets scored, which they did, that they would be giving Tom Brady and the Patriots too much time to respond before the half which is exactly what they did. Trailing 9-6, Brady marched the team 80-yards down field for a touchdown giving New England a 13-9 lead at the break.
File Sanchez’s mistake under “California clueless!”
-While Brady’s numbers were very good Sunday night, the Pats QB still had his problems at times against the Jets. It appears to be the same old story for New England as the Jets were playing man-to-man coverage against the Patriots wide receivers and their front four did a good job of putting pressure on Brady. With his receivers well-covered and under pressure, Brady was made to look like a mere mortal.
What was more disturbing was that Brady missed many an open receiver in the game. He missed a wide open Welker swinging out of the backfield in the first half and Danny Woodhead in the end zone for a touchdown. It’s almost as if Brady is feeling the pressure on plays when it’s not even there.
Brady and the Patriots had better get used to opposing defenses doing the same thing to them moving forward. Until they prove that they can handle the pressure and get more receivers open against man coverage, that is what they will have to deal with as an offensive unit. Utilizing the no-huddle in the second half proved to be a major plus for Brady and the offense.
-Rob Gronkowski is a beast!
-I guess the Miami Dolphins really don’t want Stanford’s Andrew Luck! Although they could contact Indianapolis at the end of the season to see if the Colts would be interested in trading Peyton Manning to Miami.
-How bad are the Kansas City Chiefs? Denver QB Tim Tebow completes only 2 passes all day AND lost his top two running backs to injury in the first half and the Broncos still managed to beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Ouch!
-Am I the only one who has noticed that Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has played horribly since signing his new multi-year, multi-million dollar contract extension?
-The Baltimore Ravens’ loss to Seattle is just another example that the AFC race is wide open this year.
-The San Francisco 49ers are clearly for real and Jim Harbaugh is proving to be one heck of a coach!
-What in the heck was Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith thinking in overtime when he decided to go for it on 4th and 1 deep in his own territory against the Saints?
-Dream Team? The only thing the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles have been this year is a nightmare!
-With the way the Indianapolis Colts are playing this season (0-10), Peyton Manning may be the first player in history to be voted NFL MVP without playing a single down of football in a season.
-Speaking of the Colts, it’s not just their offense (13.1 ppg) that has been inept this year. The Indy defense has given up a league-worst 300 points thus far. To give you an idea as to how bad that is, Carolina has given up the second most points in the league at 237.
-Mike Shanahan’s stint in Washington is just another example of how hard it is for a great coach to recreate the magic he had with his previous franchise.
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It