24hrs until the beginning of our 1st Superbowl season in 42 years...

This swagger stuff is rubbing off on me. I do believe that we have more than enough talent to make it to the Superbowl and win. There are a few interesting teams in the AFC including the Steelers, Patriots, Cheifs Texans and Ravens. I feel we match up well and should be able to deliver a win when it counts against them all. Especially considering Peyton being a non-factor.

On the NFC side it's anybody's year. Everyone is counting the Giants out, the Cowboys are way under the radar and The Dream Team in Philly is going to fall flat on their beaks when their #1 bird goes down with a broken wing...  IMHO. We can certainly beat any team in the NFC in the big game regardless.

Now the question is this... will we play sloppy lazy football this year, starting slow and playing catch up in the second half? Or, will we learn from last season and come out of the gates on fire... week after week. We have such a stockpile of talent that the players are aware that they can start slow and still land the win. It worked 13 out of 19 times last year.

I don't agree that we need to win our division to win the Superbowl. I don't think our team has shown that they are a dominate team at home during the past two seasons. And, we have been very effective on the road. With this level of talent we just need to play 60 minutes, hard and fast, every week. We can easily be 12-4 and primed for the post-season.

The Jets signed Mardy Gilyard the WR I have been raving about since last year. I desperately wanted us to draft him, and when we picked him up last week I was thrilled. Well, he has been cut. There is an outside chance he could make our practice squad. I still love that kids skill set. I hope he does make the active roster at some point this season, and I also hope to see Maybin back in Green and White.

Our TE depth is not ideal, although I am liking Ingram. Our QB depth is a much larger concern. Brunell is banged up and 60 years old, McElroy is on IR and O'Connell has returned to the Jets. If you thought the Brooks Bolli-Wood era was a nightmare back in 05', you will be sucking on the end of a .357 magnum as a Jets fan if either of these two losers ever lines up behind center for us. Protect #6 O-line!!!

I have been disappointed and heartbroken by the Jets many times in the past 25 years. But, if they lose this game tomorrow night, on national television, on the 10 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in NYC..... this time I don't forgive.

Jets vs. Texans Pre-season Week #1

Jets drop an interesting game in Houston. Here are the bullet points:

• Sanchez goes 6 of 7 with a horribly dropped pass.
• Greene showed a little life.
• Patrick Turner goes down hard with a broken leg.
• Mangold and Moore don't play because of minor injuries.
• Vladimire Duccasse looks like he has never been on a football field in his life.

The most interesting part of the game for me was watching Mr. McElroy play 3 quarters and throw 39 passes. He is a smart young man, and he knows what it's like to play in big games. He started out really rough and looked spooked. But, to his credit, he pulled it together in the second half.

We have some serious holes heading into week one vs. the Cowboys. Our O-line just got a lot weaker. And, we have no depth at TE. I am also not very impressed by LT or Greene. Shonn did have a nice 19 yard scamper in the first quarter, but he doesn't seem to run with passion unless it's in the post season. We need him to play his heart out every down.

I liked what I saw from the rookie Powell. McKnight also looks like a guy that can contribute in more ways than one. I hope with guys like LT and Greene ahead of these other young players on the depth chart their chances at making plays for us in 2011 isn't diminished. Even if Powell is our best option I am afraid he won't get the touches because of some-sort-of hierarchy on the depth chart. The best player should start.

Plax, Santonio and Stuckey...

I never had much of an opinion on Plaxico Burress. He was always a physical freak, but he was known as being lazy at practice and even on the field... from time to time. When I hear about a guy blessed with gifts like him, and who is making millions of dollars to do his job.... and who can't show up on time... I write them off. The question regarding Plax's future success as a NY Jet is a two parter... how great is this guy, and how much has he changed in the last few years... mentally and physically?

I just watched the Real Sports special on HBO about Mr Burress. First of all, Bryant Gumbell is a pompous A-HOLE. But, thats common knowledge. Second, ad also not very important is that Plax's wife is smoking hot. She's really smart ad pretty with a skinny little frame. But, again, I digress.

My main impression of Plax is that he is not very bright, his time in prison has changed him, and he has something to prove. He was treated unfairly by Bloomberg, and a interesting side-note is that Plax had never heard of the Mayor before this whole thing started. How the fuck do you play for the NY Giants and not know who the Mayor of NYC is? Thats scary in and of itself.

But he was made an example of because he is a rich, african-american athlete. No question. Plax missed the birth of his daughter and lost millions. He spent his time in prison cleaning toilets and mopping floors, and I don't see how that doesn't humble any man. As for his greatness... when have we ever seen the loss of a single WR impact a team as heavily as the loss of #17 did to the Giants? They have fallen off the face of the earth since his departure.

I like the acquisition of this player because he seems to still be in good shape, and he has everything to prove. He only has a one year deal, so he needs to make it happen. Is it a gamble? No doubt, but you have to take some chances to win it all.

I also love the dynamic of Holmes and Burress together. They obviously compliment each other very well because of their different and dynamic skill sets, but IMHO, the road to the Superbowl goes through Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Both of these guys are cast-offs from the Steelers, and if we should find ourselves in a re-match of the AFCCG, they would both be taking it very personal. Trust me.

I am also dumbfounded by the lack of interest in Chansi Stuckey that Mr. T showed. He was a FA and would be the perfect compliment to our WR corps. I think that our organization is 100% committed to finding and developing some young WR's, and not a moment too soon. Burress and Mason are both at the end of their careers and simply more of a risk to get injured because of their advanced ages. . We need 2 or 3 solid guys to emerge from camp, and that is a tall order.

Squad by Squad break down of the 2011 Jets OFFENSE...

Continuing with this examination of our various squads, lets look at the other side of the ball. You can't win games unless you score some points.

The foundation for everything on offense is the Offensive Line. We have two great linemen... and none of them are named D'Brick. Moore and Mangold are possibly the best at their position in the league. Moore played DT in college and we converted him to guard. We almost let him walk two years ago. Thank God we didn't do what we usually do by shipping out quality players to other teams. He and Nick are rock solid. Slauson had a respectable season last year and hopefully he will continue to develop. D'Brick is a quality LT, but he is not even top 5 IMHO. As for the RT position, we will see what Mr. Hunter is capable of, and Duccasse is also going to get a look in that spot. Overall I would say we have more than 5 quality O-linemen and 2 of them may be the best around. You can't ask for much more than that as a fan.

Our backfield has been regarded as one of our most solid units. I see a lot of question marks. At what point does LT hit the wall? Who or what is Joe McKnight? Will Greene step up and show he can be a 1200 yard 10 TD guy? The rookie Powell is quite intriguing. NFL.com said the following about him:

"Powell had a breakout season in 2010, and he has vision to excel in a zone blocking scheme at the next level. He possesses a knack for finding a seam and can accelerate on a dime to find daylight. He is very elusive in the open field, as he can idle down and then explode past a defender. He does not have the strength to run over people in the NFL, but he keeps his legs churning and usually falls forward after contact. Powell is a very good one-cut and go back and could be a middle round pick."

He has a powerful running style but their assessment of him need to get bigger to compete in the NFL is dead on. He is 5'11" and 207lbs. By 2013 he will be 225+ and making waves.

Our WR's are wicked bad... on paper or in Madden. But, Plax is 34 and has a faulty ankle tat hasn't healed in the past 20 months, and Mason is 37. Rex is predicting 90 to 100 receptions for Mason. He's simply too old. I love his skill set and he is still fast enough to dominate in the slot, but he has too much milage. If #17, #10 and #85 start all 16 games we are golden. That won't happen. Cotchery was released and everyone was shocked. I wasn't... back on March 11th I predicted he wouldn't be on our team this season... My March 11th Post.

As for the rest of the receivers... we have more interesting young players in camp at that position than we have had in many years. Courtney Smith is a massive 6'5" player out of South Alabama, the young speedster Jeremy Kerley who is 5'9" and about 180lbs, Patrick Turner who is fighting to make the active roster for the second pre-season in a row and finally Scotty McNight who is an old friend of Sanchez. Who will be our #4?

Our TE's are my main squad of concern in 2011. It's very simple... if Keller goes down we have zero depth. Matthew Mullligan has been on the team for 2 years and has one catch for 2 yards. Jeff Cumberland has 1 catch for 3 yards in his storied career. So, one injury and we will be caught with our pants down. TE is such an important position. Mr T has seriously rolled the dice on this one.

Finally our QB's. I have said more than enough about #6. Our back ups are terrible. Brunell is too old even to be a #2 and McElroy is nowhere near NFL ready. I wouldn't even let him run the scout team right now. I would have kept Clemens and paid him like a good back up. I guess it doesn't matter because if Sanchez goes down long term, the season is over anyway.

One final note... after his horrible performance last year we have decided to retain Nick Folk. He has a powerful leg and no heart. This dude cant step up when it matters, he even misses kicks when we have a solid lead in a game. He must be related to Woody Johnson or something.

Squad by Squad break down of the 2011 Jets DEFENSE...

I really like to break teams down by squad. For example...You could have the greatest CB in the league like Revis, but if he is surrounded by garbage I wouldn't call the teams secondary a strength. It's all about how the safety's and corners work together as a unit. I feel pretty good about our secondary including the safety's.

So lets start with that group. #24 apologized for our defense not being ranked #1 and for hauling in a grand total of zero interceptions. The Jets have been ultra honest regarding their lack of discipline and how the Steelers played much more physical in the AFCCG last season. The were also honest about trying to upgrade from Cromartie to Nnamdi. That didn't happen and Cro was the best of what was left.

We do have to ask if we lost out on some great opportunities by spending so much time chasing Asomugha. Ike Taylor was on the market briefly before Pittsburgh re-signed him. I would have loved to see him line up opposite Revis. I expect little out of #31. However, we still have Wilson who worked with Revis very closely during the lock out and I am also a fan of Marquis Cole. As for our safetys, I love Lowery and Leonard as our starters with Pool and Smith as part of the rotation. There is more than enough talent in that group to dominate.

Next up is our LB's. Harris is a rich man, and last week in an interview Revis called him the best LB in the NFL. That is beyond ridiculous, but I am happy he is still here. Calvin Pace needs to play 16 games and put up double digit sacks... or I would have to officially chalk his acquisition up as a failure. He is capable, but is he hungry?

Bart Scott is a loudmouth who has produced very little in two years. Rex told Tannenbaum his #1 player he wanted to bring with him from Baltimore was Bart. They paid him 40 million dollars and he has produced 2 total sacks, zero interceptions and about 60 solo tackles a year. Thats veteran minimum money not 40 million. We could have landed Ray Lewis, for the same money... but Rex and Mr. T made a bad choice. He should have really been released, but the cap hit would be devastating.

Bryan Thomas is still around, and every once in a while he puts up a big season. Maybe this will be a good one for him. The whole reason he is still on our team is because we don't want him going to New England. Jamaal Westerman has been getting a lot of attention early in camp. If he could develop into a real starter it would help to make up for Gholston.

Our defensive line is very exciting to me this season. Two young rookies, some role players like DeVito and Pitoitua, and some other talented players trying to find a place on an NFL team like Jarron Gilbbert and Marcus Dixon. I love this kind of competitive environment. No one is guaranteed a starting spot. I just hope some clear cut starters emerge. I don't want us still searching for our front 3 in October.

Team by team evaluations... NFC

And away we go...

The Dallas Cowboys (Will win 9 games): For many years Jason Garrett has been a young up and coming future NFL head coach. Potential is an interesting thing. At some point "you need shit or get off the pot"... as they say here in NJ. Jason has his chance in 2011, with Americas Team no less. I like a lot of the moves they have made after what was a disastrous 2010 season. I love how they dropped dead weight like Roy Williams and Barber. This sends a great message to everyone on that team. They also hired Rob Ryan as their Defensive coordinator. My first thought when I heard about the hiring of Ryan was that Mr Garrett had better win games this year. He was also a one time assistant coach waiting in the wings. Jerry thinks at least 10 moves ahead of the game and Garrett is well aware. I was not impressed with Jason's interim coaching effort. He was 5-3 which is very average. Bottom line... he is in charge of the O and Ryan is in charge of the D. The D will be very highly ranked, so if the Cowboys miss the playoffs again, the Ryan era will begin in 2012.

New York Va-Giants (Will win 6 games): Their off-season was nothing short of a disaster. Prince Amukamara broke his foot the day after signing his contract as their #1 overall draft pick. The break was so bad it cut off blood flow to the foot and required screws to repair it. He is not necessarily out for the season, but this is a devastating long term injury for a blue-chip CB. That was the thing the Giants brain trust had no control over. Losing Steve Smith to the Eagles, letting this Osi contract situation get out of hand, and letting Kevin Boss walk to the Raiders were under their control. IMHO the rats are abandoning the ship. If the Giants don't make the playoffs their crazy fans will burn down the house and demand major change. As soon as they are out of playoff contention the stadium will be empty on Sundays and the Star Ledger will start posting pictures of empty seats on its front page. Wouldn't this be the perfect year for the Jets to win the big game!?!?! This is our city now fools.

Philadelphia Eagles (Will win 12 games): The dream team. I thought that Bart Scott and Rex Ryan went a little overboard from time to time. Vince Young is the back-up QB in Philly. When your back-up is talking smack, only to hold a clipboard on Sundays, you have lost touch with reality. They have upgraded their secondary substantially. They have navigated this sticky situation with Desean Jackson very well. I also love the addition of Ronnie Brown as a change of pace runner. They could realistically have the #1 offense and #1 defense. That being said, #7 is very very fragile. Young is a solid back-up, but Vick's health is the real wildcard here.

Washington Redskins (Will win 8 games): They have a bunch of good #2 receivers, a couple of C+ QB's and no elite RB. Evan Royster, their rookie RB out of Penn State, is a prototypical no-name runner that Shanahan can turn into a 1,000 yard wonder. I have been saying for years that Rex Grossman deserves another chance. He will most likely get a chance to start opening day. However, he will be on a very short leech. They will shock people with a .500 record and their legendary coach regains some of the respect he lost last year.

Chicago Bears (Will win 7 games): They had a glaring need at the WR position. There were a ton of impactful free agents and a couple of #1's available via trade. I am not going to waste my time listing the names, because the Bears decided to sign Roy Williams as the solution to that problem. Wow. Thats beyond disappointing. You have a big arm QB and Mike Martz and you give them Roy Williams to work with??? With the Packers in their division and the young Lions beginning to roar, the Bears were big losers in the free agent tournament.

Detroit Lions (Will win 9 games): I am loving how this team has picked itself up and dusted itself off after their pitiful 0-16 season only a few short years ago. Calvin Johnson, Gosder Cherilius Cliff Avril, Mathew Stafford, Brandon Pettigrew, Ndamukong Suh, Jahvid Best and Nick Fairley. An amazing foundation built through the draft. That D-line is going to make some real noise in 2011. If their QB stays healthy for 16 games they make the playoffs... period.

Green Bay Packers (Will win 15 games): They will drop one game to the Lions or Bears, and thats it. They are the best coached and constructed team in the league. They may have gone undefeated last year if not for the rash of injuries. I love the draft pick of D.J. Williams the TE out of Arkansas, keep an eye out for him. The big question, now that they are no longer under the radar, is how do they respond to being every opponents game of the year? Obviously I think they will do very well. For the record, the Jets are the only team that has a shot at beating them in the post season.

Minnesota Vikings (Will win 8 games): All anyone really cares about with this team is how will AP perform, and is he going to be a big disappointment in fantasy football again? They have a real commitment to this philosophy of bringing in old QB's and trying to catch lightning in a jar. Every team has tried it at one time or another. The Jets tried way too many times if you ask me. But, the Vikings live by this belief that Cunningham or Moon or Favre or McNabb are going to ride in on their white horse and save the day.

Atlanta Falcons (Will win 11 games): I love the gutsy move drafting Julio Jones. That kid looks like he may actually be better than Calvin Johnson. Is that possible? They gave up a kings ransom to sign this kid. The only way this looks like a good move is if they win the Superbowl. And... they know it. Abraham and Gonzales are probably entering into their last productive season. Yet another team that needs to win now.

Carolina Panthers (Will win 5 games): Cam newton, Derek Anderson and Jimmy Clausen. Like the say... if you have 2 starting QB's, than you don't have 1. Until this is worked out they will continue to be the punching bag of this division. They have some excellent role players like Clowney, Gettis, Stewart, and Gamble. They also have some superstars like LB's Beason and Anderson, WR Steve Smith (who is already injured... again) and DeAngelo Williams and Charles Johnson who both were paid very handsomely this year. The signing of Williams and the retention of Smith are very curious to me. But even more curious was brining in Greg Olsen and Jeremy Shockey. I guess someone in that organization has a fetish for University of Miami TE's. Ron Rivera finally gets his chance. Not expecting great things in the first year of the Newton era.

New Orleans Saints (Will win 12 games): Brees continues to show his amazing leadership. I believe in my heart that the team tat works the hardest and wants it the most will win. Thats why I think they make a comeback and win the division. No one was more serious about player organized off-season work outs than the Saints. Love the players they added and the subtraction of Bush will be negated by the addition of Spoules. Brilliant.

Tampa Bay Bucs (Will win 7 games): Tampa had more money to spend than any other team under the cap. They have a player friendly, young head coach who is gaining more respect around the league everyday and an excellent young signal caller. They are also in a division with two of the best teams in the league. The new CBA requires every team to spend 99% of the cap. Want to or not, they have to spend the cash. SO, the first thing they did was sign their punter to a 20 million dollar contract. WTF? They still don't have an elite WR or RB. They let Barett Ruud walk to Tennessee, and are still banking on Winslow at the TE position. I just don't see a team that wants to win. They hit a homerun in the draft with Freeman, and I guess they plan to ride that train and hope it keeps the seats filled. Too bad for Josh. He is a winner.

St Louis Rams (Will win 10 games): They have a real QB and a substantial pass rush. Therefore they win the division. Watch out for 2nd year WR Mardy Gilyard who was injured last season and the rest of their WR corps including Avery, Amendola and Simms-Walker. Bradford is my fantasy football sleeper of the year! I wish they would have taken D.J Williams in the draft.

Arizona Cardinals (Will win 5 games): They overpaid for Kolb and should have made Mr Brown in Cincinnati an offer he couldn't refuse for Palmer. They come up short in the draft every year and decided to pass on Braylon Edwards for short money. I don't get it. I'm not impressed.

San Fransico 49ers (Will win 2 games): I love that they have numbers in the spelling of their name. Thats where my love affair with this team ends. ALEX SMITH IS PURE GARBAGE!!!! What were they thinking??? One of two things. Either they throw the season and draft Luck next year or they are planning to pull a rabbit out of a hat and persuade the Bengals to give up Palmer... which would immediately make them a contender. The aren't that smart.

Seattle Seahawks (Will win 6 games): They have cornered the market in back-up QB's. Lienhart actually turned them down. Weird. They are a ways away from being relevant. How did Palmer not end up here either?? Oh yeah, the Bengals are insane. No real elite players on this team. I like the role-player, no-name.. we beat the defending champs last year thing. But this isn't a Disney movie. They stepped in shit making the playoffs with a below .500 record and even landing a home game. Maybe the league needs to look at their playoff seeding rules.

Jets training camp 8/11/2011

I finally made it out to Florham Park to check out a Jets practice. Here are some thoughts:

First off... Brunell looks like a 600 year old man... he is unbelievably slow and clunky. Seriously, I would have just kept Clemens.

Lowery was practicing with the safety's and is officially listed as one. That makes me happy considering I have been calling for this move for 2 years. He's a ball hawk first of all. But, when I saw him up close his physical conditioning was impressive. He is going to make the pro-bowl as a safety if he gets enough snaps. I am very comfortable with a rotation of Leonhard/Smith and Lowey/Pool. Solid.

#34 Marquis Cole looked like the next best corner on the practice field to #24. However, this is the practice field we are talking about. In one on one drills with the CB's and WR's Cole shut down Mason and the 6'5" rookie Courtney Smith out of South Alabama. Wilson was beat badly by Plax, and Revis dominated everyone on the field. I know Revis worked with Wilson a lot during the off-season. I hope it shows dividends. Cromartie continues to flash brilliance, but he is very sloppy and lazy. He kept removing his helmet during practice... he's constantly laughing and joking around... and he was dropping balls in routine drills. Not proud of this member of the NYJ.

On the other hand, LT is a sight to see on the practice field. This guy is focused and goes full speed in every drill. If the players can pick up anything via osmosis it's a huge value having him on the roster, not to mention his contribution on Sundays. If he touches the ball 10 times a game, mostly on 3rd down... he could be fresh and a real difference maker come the post season. For that to happen #23 needs to step up ad take over as our bell cow back. Fingers crossed.

Overall it was a very lack luster, casual practice. At one point Rex was playing catch with #10, #85 and #17. I have no idea what the hell that was suppose to be. We have two guys that have been brought in to be a HUGE part of our offense and they stood around for the first 45 minutes of practice chatting with Rex in the shade. Our team was lethargic and sloppy last year. If you are going to keep promising Superbowls then it starts in practice. It starts in the pre-season.

If they are a discombobulated hot mess on Monday, there should be no question why.