Monday Morning Moneyball: Week 2- Big Apple Stars Are Born!
Welcome to Monday Morning Moneyball! Week 2 provided us with two New York tales of triumph that not only bucked old trends, but also may have unveiled the dawn of a new quarterback era in green and wide receiver tandem in blue. We start with the J-E-T-S, JETS JETS JETS! All week, media outlets all over the country have been replaying Rex Ryan’s message to the Jets season ticket holders. 70 seconds of fanfare and propaganda from Ryan begged for support over and beyond the norm from the Jets faithful, and his message was reiterated by Kerry Rhodes and several other Jets players, and the message was simple: We can beat the Patriots. That they did, 16-9, showing off their Baltimore style dominant defense that Ryan has brought over from the Raven dynasty. While I’ll delve into New England’s deficiencies in my Money Bites below, praise needs to be given to Mark Sanchez for his 2nd consecutive strong performance. While his numbers weren’t gaudy (14 of 22, 163 yards with 1 TD, 0 Int), his 101.1 passer rating is indicative of his efficient performance. Sanchez did everything Ryan and the Jets could ask of him in his rookie season. He stayed away from risky unnecessary throws, threw for a 65% completion percentage in the second half and executed on big plays down the stretch, including the go-ahead touchdown strike to Dustin Keller. Watch out young QB society, Tom Brady, and everyone else in the AFC, if Sanchez keeps up this act, the Jets will be a team to be reckoned with come January.
In the nightcap, it was the other New York team, the Giants, waltzing into the most impressive sports facility I have ever seen and getting a statement win 33-31. In quite the paradox, it was the Giants having trouble running the football, while the Cowboys faltered tossing the rock. But on the national stage, in a city where the G-Men are most often met with failure, two wide-outs built on their first week success and may have blossomed into stars. While the maturation and stardom of Eli Manning has been well documented, so has the Giants unnerving wide receiver situation. The Giants were hit by free agent loss of the Giants all-time leading receiver Amani Toomer to the Chiefs and the release of former superstar Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress to his own moronic stupidity and the NY court system. While Hakeem Nicks received press for being the future as the Giants round one draft pick and Domenik Hixon was dubbed internally as the next go-to stud, the G-Men entered this season not really knowing what would happen moving forward. Now they have answers. Eli Manning threw for 330 yards, 284 of which was to Mario Manningham and Steve Smith, who became the first duo in Giants history to ever have ten catches a piece in a single game. Manningham has become a playmaking threat, showing off his elusive game-breaking moves on screens, downfield plays and one incredible touchdown score where he tipped the ball to himself to make the grab while lying flat on his back. Smith was not about to be outdone, receiving 134 yards with a touchdown of his own in the role as possession receiver, and quite obviously the Manning security blanket. The Giants looked poised to repeat as Super Bowl champions last year until they lost Burress, this year, as long as these two kids keep playing at a high level, the receiving core will not hinder the Giants hopes to return to prominence, but may be their guiding light.
Money Bites:
* 0- The number of punts that hit the scoreboard in the first regular season game at the new Dallas stadium. Now if they could just find a way to get the Go-Go dancers into more TV shots instead of all these boring angles of punts not hitting the massive TV’s.
*I know this may be the least of the Cleveland Brown’s problems, but Josh Cribbs really needs to learn how to run a route. Cribbs is blazing fast, has crazy moves, but has no idea how to ditch a corner.
*For two weeks now I have watched the Redskins struggle offensively, and I can’t help but put some blame on Jason Campbell and his poor pocket management. When he’s taking a seven-step drop, the Skins offensive line is holding up extremely well, pushing the defensive ends to take an extensive route wide to the back of the pocket. The problem with Campbell is he needs to actually step up into that nice, comfy pocket and make a strong throw. Instead, he is waiting way too long, leading to sacks, fumbles and broken plays. There is a good comfort zone for him to step-up into and he does not take advantage. JeMarcus Russell struggles with the same concept.
*Speaking of the Raiders, I find myself rooting for them. They are definitely my new favorite pet. They may poop on my carpet, chew on my valuables and anger me to physical exhaustion, but by golly, I can’t help but love ‘em. Russell is far from a productive NFL quarterback, but has come up in two huge spots the past two weeks with the game on the line and Tom Cable has really established a sense or responsibility, professionalism and tact. How long do you think it’ll take Al Davis to get bored of that?
*Jeff Reed, you are the goat of the week. How do you miss those two bunny field goals?
*The Baltimore Ravens impressed me this week. While San Diego did move the ball successfully on the vaunted Raven defense, Baltimore showed that they are now possibly the most balanced team in the game. The Ravens offense got up and down the field, and their defense is still capable of incredible moments. (The Landry interception on the Ray Lewis blitz was an incredible set of events, if only the hand-off to Ed Reed led to 6 it’d be my early pick for defensive play of the year.)
*The Patriots may be in trouble. Tom Brady definitely looks a bit skittish and shy when stepping up into the pocket when there is sufficient pressure, which is often. That Patriots offensive line stinks.
*What the heck happened to Tennessee’s D? 34 points? Are the Titans not as dominant as they were last year or is Matt Schaub just that good…
*Matt Stafford, despite a loss and two interceptions, has a good demeanor. I think he is definitely on the right track to being a successful NFL quarterback.
*Is Andy Reid delusional or does he just want to get fired? With 7 Pro Bowls of quarterbacks available to start for him next week, he has decided to go with Kevin Kolb again. Now maybe he’s as drunk as the entire ESPN analyst crew, but to think Kolb had a good game means you did not watch this football game! I mean, aren’t all these analysts compensated highly to actually watch the action and react with a professional opinion that your local zoo animals couldn’t conjure up? Sure, he threw for 391 yards in garbage time, but his 73.2 passer rating, 20 incomplete passes, dozens of incorrect reads and 3 interceptions provided me with enough information to prove the stat sheet analysts and acid tripping head coaches of the world are awfully mistaken in their thinking that Kolb should ever step on the field again. Jeff Garcia knows this system inside and out, and has led this personnel to the playoffs in the past. If I wasn’t trying to cover my ass for wasting a valuable second round pick on a one-dimensional shotgun quarterback from a small school with overrated talent, it would be a no-brainer to start Garcia for next week’s game to give Donovan McNabb time to heal through the Eagles Week 4 bye.
That’s it for this week, drop in tomorrow and see what I’ll be ranting on next. Enjoy the game tonight everyone!
