In addition to “writing poetry” I run a fairly popular facebook dedicated to the Jets’ Kerry Rhodes (number one badass in my book). I have to clear the slate of the Jets’ sad 4-12 season and so I’m archiving the news feed here. It’s another taste of just how little time this “struggling” actress dedicates to, well, the theatre. The field is a stage and the Jets are the…players.
—WEEK 1—
Starting off the season with a killer game. A valiant effort on the part of the Jets’ offense and a shady move by coach Bill. Spy camera-man on our sideline? I don’t care if the game was effected even a TINY bit. That’s not how you play football. It’s cheating any way you swing it. What ever happened to rolling with the punches? It’s a little easier to duck when you know it’s coming. Tom Brady who? SACK.
—WEEK 2—
Um, Clemens played well for 15 minutes.
Chad is scheduled to play this Sunday. Time for the first Jets’ win of the season. Maybe our defense can get it together and Dbrickashaw can keep our Chad protected. Also, Mccareins, your only job is to CATCH the ball. DO IT.
—WEEK 3—
Chad came on the field like he had something to prove and he did. Kerry got the first interception of the year and almost pulled off a sack. Personally, my favorite part was when Chad and Kerry did a little bump after Chad’s victory spike. The Washington 98 yard touchdown paired with Thomas Jones’ killer run game was icing on the cake. Now, in true Jets form, the game was too close and we could never get too comfortable, but it’s a WIN. The defense still needs to shape up, but with Buffalo’s quarterback out for next week, we should get a little help. J-E-T-S.
p.s.- This quote from today’s Newsday coverage of the game makes me laugh…
Tight end Chris Baker and wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery admitted he could use some practice with his celebration moves. “You’d think a quarterback would be able to throw it down and just spike it on the ground, but he was just too excited,” Cotchery said. “He can work on that a little bit.”
p.p.s.- Before going fishing on Sunday, Kerry had some words for the NY Daily News. In response to the defense’s poor show of Gang Green spirit and skill in the first two games of the season, he says…
“I take it personally because I expect myself to make plays and help this team win,” said Rhodes, who offered $100 to any teammate who created a turnover in practice. “You’ll see it this week. I’m going to get the guys going. We have to make plays. We have to get the ball to the offense on a short field. It’s going to be serious this week.
—WEEK 4—
Wow. Buffalo. Heartbreaking. Someone else write about it. Ouch. Chad was pretty off the whole game. I hate to admit it. Damn.
—WEEK 5—
So I slept in my Chad jersey. I was in some sort of strange denial. I’ve snapped out of it and have decided that even though it was a terrible day for Chad, it was a beautiful day for our very own, Kerry Rhodes. Not only did he cause a turnover, but he ran for his first touchdown as a NY Jet. He was all over the Giants’ offense and played like a champ.
And okay, I know this is not a Coles appreciation group, but WOW. The man goes off the field in a stretcher and within the next ten minutes he is back on the field making catches like a baseball player with the air of a basketball demi-god. He really embodies the heart and spirit of the team. Plus….he’s a super badass.
—WEEK 6—
Oh no, Chad. It’s a quiet week in New York sports, so there will be a lot of chatter about the prospect of a Clemens/Pennington swap. I’m torn. Chad has shown a lot of heart over the past few seasons, coming back from injuries, leading the team out of slumps, pumping up the NY crowd, but lately, his arm has been a sad display. I’ve now grown to anticipate red-zone interceptions and underthrown passes. He can’t get it down the field, and now, as we saw in the 16-9 defeat by the Eagles, he’s struggling on the short passes as well.. A new quarterback WILL make mistakes, but he will also be able to make new connections…deeper ones (physically…not like,emotionally).
Thomas Jones. 130 yards rushing. A force to be reckoned with, and Leon Washington on special teams is a threat every time.
I know…Kerry Rhodes group. He took quite a little hit today, but as always, he pulled off a grand play, latching onto the ankle of McNabb and holding on as the 250 ib. quarterback spiraled onto the grass. SACK.
Keep your heads up, Jets fans.
—WEEK 7—-
Chad was good. Defense was horrible. We need to change the system. Vilma can’t function in it. Kerry is great, but we can’t utilize him to his full potential.
This is sad. Every week the number of members gets smaller. Hang in there, guys.
—WEEK 10—
We practiced!
—WEEK 11—
The Jets take on the Steelers in a game that I thought would be embarassing right up to the two minute warning. Well, shame on me…
In a 19-16 victory won in overtime, the Jets looked like a whole new team. The defense was…good? Yes! They put on the pressure, swarmed the quarterback and sacked Big Ben seven times, even once, forcing a turnover.
Clemens played alright for his third start of the season, making some obvious rookie mistakes. After a sixty yard pass to the flawless Coles for an eventual touchdown, the newbie accomplished two very important field goal drives. The red zone confidence hasn’t developed yet, although, he did anticipate the blitz well. I appreciate the arm, his ability to get the ball down the field, but it is hard to trust a quarterback’s intellect after getting so used to the smarts of one, Chad Pennington. Chad stood on the sidelines like a champ, cheering on his teammates and slipping Kellen tips.
The game was a close one, as all Jets games are, and as Mike Nugent stood on the field, ready to kick the winning field goal, I had a painful flashback to Jets vs. Steelers just a few sad seasons ago
(Um, January 15th, 2005 to advance to the AFC championship to be exact…but who’se holding a grudge? In an article from the NY Daily news, Curtis Martin, another hero of the game, was quoted as saying, after that devastating loss, “I fear there is no end to my anger” Damn.)
As the ball soared through the crossbars off the foot of our confident kicker, I thanked the football gods for the firing of one, Dough Brien.
I’ve saved the best for last: our valient Kerry, who made the most agile interception I’ve seen in a while. (There’s a good shot of it in the “pictures” section) I guess if his career in football comes to a close, he can persue life as a gymnast.
J-E-T-S
—WEEK 12—
Well, at least we saw the loss coming. We couldn’t convert third downs and Jones waned in comparison to his brother, a running back for the Cowboys. The defense didn’t play so badly. We only allowed Romo to pass as deep as 25yards, but he completed 75 percent of his passes, anyway. In addition, have you SEEN the size of those Cowboys? They average about 300 ibs. At least our Kerry, strong man on a fading team, came through with yet another interception, making Romo look a fool, if only for a passing minute. I’m lucky my senses were dulled by the excessive amounts of turkey and potatoes sitting inside of me. This was a bad one. 34-3.
Kerry had this to say about the game:
“It’s embarrassing to lose 34-3 any time, It makes it even worse today when everybody is watching, it’s a national game, it’s seen everywhere.”
Heads up, Jets fans.
ps- I skipped weeks 8 and 9 . They are forthcoming.
—WEEK 13—
I’m going to try something new…updating while I watch.
This week, the Jets play the only team in the league in worse shape than they are. So far, it’s going as I had expected. The running game is tight, Coles has come back from his injury as the reigning champion of the offence, RHODES is bringing down the fishies with enthusiastic force, and Kellen is hesitating, scrambling, and being sacked.
(Just as I wrote that very sentence, Clemens was sacked for a third time. Brilliant.)
Joey Porter just picked up Brad Smith while he was in mid-air and threw him down on the field making a Dolphins’ interception possible.
Kerry Rhodes takes down Chatman, moving from the safety position to plug up a hole. Way to be.
And THAT is why we switched to Kellen. He finally got the ball down the field to McCareins who really fought to make the catch.
This is a crazy game. Updating while watching may be a little spastic. The Jets intercept…the Dolphins intercept for a touchdown. Jets touchdown. RHODES interception and 36 yd. return. What a huge badass.
HALF TIME (aka time for a burrito)
Okay…so I couldn’t watch and update for the second half. It was too much fun not to pay 100% attention to.
I think that’s the key here…fun. The guys had forgotten how much they loved the game. This “battle” allowed them to play in all senses of the word. Jones got his first touchdown as a Jet, Kerry could not wipe the smile off of his face, Kellen got to “practice” football in the 4th quarter. Maybe this will give the Jets a bit of their spirit back. Hopefully it will fuel them to take on the Browns next week. I’m proud of our guys. Sure, we played the worst team in football, but we came to Miami strong and prepared. Mangini should be proud of his guys. We’re shaping up for next season.
—WEEK 14—-
Okay, well, everything went wrong…BUT….Kerry Rhodes was a baller as usual. Another interception….he hasn’t been without one in 4 games. Oh yes…and he knocked everyone out. OUT.
That’s all I can muster up for now. It’s finals week and I have a 12 page paper due on Freud.
—WEEK 15—
This one was especially painful. The Jets were predicted to lose by a spread of 26pts…the most in NFL history, and still I had hope. From the beginning, I was convinced that our guys could get it together and take on the undefeated Pats.
Within the first few plays, Kellen was injured (rib related). I know, we need to get him used to starting for us, but the minute he fell I couldn’t wait for Chad to get in there. Surprisingly, the coaching staff decided to go bonkers and insert a rusty and mostly unsuccessful Brad Smith. Not only did the decision fail, but I’m sure putting Chad in as a third string didn’t do much for the guy’s pride. Mangini stated that Smith would have entered the game regardless of injury. I say? Bull. Chad came into the game with a heap of adreneline and threw the ball well. The truth is, the offence made him look bad. One player stuck out like a sore thumb. It’s the name now on everybody’s sh*t list: Justin McCareins. His only job is to what? Catch the ball. I’ve said it before. With our go-to guy, Coles, out with an ankle injury, Justin was forced to go on. If I were Mangini, I would bench him and play a pee-wee football star instead.
Shoddy offence aside, the defence played a killer game. They confused the Patriots’ offence by using their “Times Square Formation” and walking around the line of scrimmage like they were Christimas shopping. Brady didn’t throw for one touchdown pass, was 14 for 27, and threw an interception. It was his worst statistical game of the season. What did our Kerry have to say, you ask?
KR: We played pretty well on defense. We had a good game plan coming into the game. We knew some of the things we could do to slow them down and it held, to a point, in the game, so we weren’t surprised.
(You can find the rest of that interview from “The Boston Channel” linked below)
Kerry played so well that at the end of the game, he received a hug from Belichik. Damn. Good thing there are showers in the locker room.
So yeah, we lost, and as a Jets fan, I was not surprised to have my dreams crushed once again. We just keep on fighting, and once in a while, we come out even more badass than before.
In other disappointing news:
Rhodes was screwed out of the pro-bowl AGAIN. This short article from scout.com sums it all up:
Rhodes screwed in Pro Bowl voting
By Lee Roberts
Posted Dec 18, 2007
The Pro Bowl rosters were announced today, and Jets safety Kerry Rhodes got robbed again.
The AFC safeties are Baltimore’s Ed Reed, Indy’s Bob Sanders and Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu.
That is the same Polamalu who missed four games this season due to a knee injury, and doesn’t have one interception.
Rhodes is clearly having the better season, but since the Pro Bowl voting is flawed, he missed out.
—Only two more games left in the season. Still time for Kerry to up his “baller” status.
(Oh yeah, and if you wanted to learn all about spy-gate…I couldn’t care less. I wish the press would get off it. Yeah, it was wrong and people were dishonest, but it was dealt with. Let’s focus back in on the game)
Hang in there, Jets fans.
—WEEK 16—-
A power-line across the street crashes to the ground after the first half and I am left football-less for a couple of hours. Listening to football on the raido sucks. I did catch the SNY post-game show, though
Not much time to write. A more in-depth analysis later. For now, here are a few scattered thoughts.
—Chad and Cotchery…GOOD game.
—Cotchery and Jones break the 1,000 yd. mark
— McCareins and D’Brickashaw…BAD game. (what’s new?)
Also, the offence allowed Chad to be sacked six times. Granted, these were new guys, and they handled themselves the only way they knew how. It was a tough situation, but how much more can Chad take from Mangini. Take him out as starting QB, put in Smith when Kellen is hurt, try out the new guys in a playoff important game so the Titans’ defence can have sacking practice? WTF…who are Oldenburg and Turner? I bet you Chad didn’t know them. Way to look out.
The NY Daily News mocked the first meeting of the guys:
Pennington: “Hi, I’m Chad. Who are you?” Turner: “Uhh … I’m, I’m, I’m …uh, uh, uh, R-r-r-robert Turner.” Pennington: “Okay, Robert, you see that No. 92, the big dude frothing at the mouth?” Turner: “Uh, y-y-yeah.” Pennington: “Well, that’s Albert Haynesworth. You block him. If you don’t, I die.”
—The defence is playing like a playoff-ready defence. Rhodes is a champ as usual.
—Post-game, Coles says, when asked if he’ll return next year, that it’s something he and the Jets will have to “sit down and talk about”. Sounds like he wants a big ol’ raise.
He also said that he would have to sit down and talk to Chad about his plans. They are best buds.
-Here’s to hoping Chad gets a starting job with Herm on the Chiefs.
—Where is Ben Graham? Bring him back!
—Chad is a stand-up man and should start the last game.
Also, there’s a new link below. It’s an article about our Kerry Rhodes and how much of a gangsta he is. My favorite part is when Revis and Elam go to his house, hang out, and watch tape together.
—WEEK 17—
We win! We lose our draft pick!
There are my thoughts. Actually, I have many more. Surprised? One even includes a dream in which Chad Pennington is my college roommate.
I’m going to Israel for a couple of weeks, so the plane rides will give me ample time to mull over the future of our Jets. For now, I’ll give you this jumble.
-Kerry should get a raise. A big raise. SNY Extra Points says that Kerry being shafted from the pro-bowl is a “travesty”. I agree.
-Let’s trade Vilma. He’s a great player, but he’s better in the four-three. Hopefully he heals up fast so he’s worth a good trade.
-I hope Chad goes to the Chiefs and starts. He’s such a champ.
-Albert Haynesworth. Let’s get him.
-We need an offensive line.
-Dear Justin McCareins,
You are SO fired.
Love,
The Jets
-Kerry should get a big raise. Did I say that already?
It was a tough season. Let’s take on an amazing offensive line, a couple of HUGE (physically) defensive players, and a good backup quarterback to take us to the playoffs.
That’s all for now. MUCH more later. Any thoughts?
—OFF SEASON—
Our tiny group has reached 100! Exciting. I have been out of the football world for about two weeks now. Turns out Israel isn’t too big on the American sport. It is a very exciting Sunday for me! Stay tuned for post-season updates. Invite your friends.
—I just posted an article from the NY Times that summed up the Jets’ off season thoughts. Surprisingly, it sounds like the Jets are planning to keep Chad on the team, allowing him to compete with Clemens for the starting job during off season. You all know what comes next…yes…it’s me…attending every off season practice with a big sign reading “GO CHAD!”. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need for a new, young, quarterback who can get the ball down the field, but I still have an undying faith in our Pennington. When talking to Newsday, Pennington addressed the issue of a competition with Clemens saying:
“It wouldn’t be a level of shock or something that I don’t know how to handle. I do have confidence in that, if that were a scenario that I was faced with. I would feel comfortable with that because I have been through that before.”
He’s a starter with at least a few good seasons left in him.The talk of keeping him could be strategic, though. Who knows who will bite when it looks like he’s off the table. The article also made it clear that the Jets plan to hold on to Coles and Rhodes pretty tightly no matter what the cost. Smart move. Tannebaum says the Jets are looking to trade Vilma. Saw that one coming. I’ll miss the guy.
On the coaching side, losing Mike Westhoff is a huge blow. I’m sure he’ll be on the phone with Eric every game playing the same role he did on the field. He’s too good to lose. Here’s to hoping he recovers well. We may need to start shopping for an offensive AND defense coordinator as well. Both look to be heading for the door.
Here’s to hoping the Packers crush the Giants…and then the Pats. Cheers.
Oh…awesome.
—HELLO—
-13 new people joined the group in the past couple of days. Welcome. Let’s keep it growing. Post articles, talk trades, bash the Pats!-
—PRO BOWL—
-So…how annoying can the probowl get? Polamalu, the strong safety chosen to go to Hawaii (not evenly remotely as good as our Rhodes) withdrew from the bowl about a week ago and was replaced by the Colt’s Bethea. Rhodes must be more than a little ticked off right now.
I understand the logic behind the vote, though. America assumes that because the Jets are having a tough season, there’s no one on the defensive (and certainly not offensive) line that can hold their own. Why look to the Jets for stars when you can look to the Steelers (who we beat), the Colts…the Pats. Ugh. We need to shape up for next season. Maybe with a slightly better record, America won’t discard the entire defensive line as unproductive. This will allow the fans to finally recognize that baller that is our Kerry Rhodes.
While the “strong safetys” are enjoying the Hawaii sun, Kerry will be watching from the couch. Hopefully he has some seriously tasty snacks to cheer him up. I strongly suggest cheetos (puffed of course), boneless buffalo wings, and some optimal pizza.
p.s.-Superbowl thoughts? I hope both teams lose.
—SUPERBOWL—
Tom Brady got hit. A lot. Mission accomplished. I plan to hang a picture of his crying face right up next to my smiling Chad.
—VOTE—
I know this is a football group, but please, don’t forget to find out about the candidates, educate yourselves, and if its’ your states’ turn tomorrow….VOTE.
