SB Nation - Darrelle Revis

Jets Flight Connections 121809

dvdvil — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:09:46 -0000

Many thanks to the Indianapolis Colts. You guys deserve to rest.

HC Rex Ryan won't say who will start at QB on Sunday, even though we all know it will be Mark Sanchez.

WR Braylon Edwards talks about former division rival Chris Henry's death.

The New York Post writes about what should be Braylon's private business.

Rex talks about CB Darrelle Revis deserving to be Defensive Player of the Year.

Read the comments on this article: some people actually think Revis gets help from the blitzes, and not the other way around.

DC Mike Pettine shares his thoughts on how the defense lures QBs towards Revis Island.

Don't forget that Lito Sheppard is a good corner, too.

And LB David "Hitman" Harris deserves to go to the Pro Bowl.

Jets Owner Woody Johnson is asking for a one-time event in 2014, a Super Bowl in the cold.

Rex and Falcons HC Mike Smith usually give each other tips on opposing teams (but probably not this week).

More connections after the jump.

The Jets defense won't be complaining if Falcons QB Matt Ryan doesn't play.

The Jets haven't done much talking lately, but letting their play speak for itself.

JetNation.com previews the game against the Falcons.

ESPN.com has AccuScore's take on the Jets' chances of winning.

Kevin Kernan compares and contrasts the two New York football head coaches.

Sanchez talks about USC teammate RB Chauncey Washington.

Former Atlanta RB Warrick Dunn will own part of the Falcons.

LB Larry to the Izzo may still play football in the future.

Don't forget to donate your old coats if you're going to the game on Sunday.

And don't forget to vote for Revis (up to #3 last time I checked), RB Thomas Jones, Hitman Harris and other deserving Jets for Pro Bowl recognition. Vote as many times as you want here until Dec. 21.

Lastly, here is video of The Sanchize practicing with the team earlier this week:

Rex Pushes Revis for DPOY

John B — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:00:38 -0000

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

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Darrelle Revis has a supporter in his head coach for his Defensive Player of the Year candidacy.

"I went back and looked and I was going to be subtle about this, but if he’s not the NFL Defensive Player of the Year something is wrong with the system. Nobody, and I mean nobody in maybe the history of the game, has had the challenges that he’s faced week in and week out. You look at the top receivers in this game now that he’s gone out and matched with and literally almost shut down.

"I’ve been around guys that have earned it, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Of course, those guys deserve those awards, but I don’t think those guys even had the impact that Darrelle Revis has had on this football team. I think that’s why ... he’s earned that award."

That's quite a statement, saying Revis has had a bigger impact than Lewis and Reed. I mean, you're talking about two future Hall of Famers.

Indeed it is. If you've read this site recently, you know where I stand on this issue. Revis is an ultimate defensive weapon. He can single handedly take the other team's best weapon out of a game. Who else in the league can do this? He has had to stick with the opposition's best receiver all game and has dominated this year. That's not even close to hyperbole.

Do you agree with Rex and me?

Poll

Should Darrelle Revis win the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year?

Jets Flight Connections 121709

dvdvil — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:20:02 -0000

It is a sad day for the NFL and for the family of Bengals WR Chris Henry.

May he rest in peace.

Jets HC Rex Ryan wasn't ready to make a decision yesterday on the starting QB, but we should find out later today.

The New York Post's Kevin Kernan says that QB Mark Sanchez needs to start.

Filip Bondy of The Daily News says that The Sanchize needs to grow up fast.

Mark Cannizzaro's blog mentions how Rex reacted to LB Bart Scott's foul in Tampa Bay.

Manish Mehta writes about Scott's punishment, RB Shonn Greene's fumbling and Falcons TE Tony Gonzalez on CB Darrelle Revis. A couple of videos are attached.

If you have a subscription to Jets Confidential, here is an article on Revis and LB Calvin Pace.

Greene will learn to protect the football from mentor RB Thomas Jones, praised in this article by G Alan Faneca.

Revis and Jones are two of three AFC East MVPs.

Revis is one of NFL Fanhouse's non-QB MVPs.

The New York Times blog is shocked at the lack of attention towards TJ.

ESPN.com shows us where the top AFC East players are in Pro Bowl voting.

Newyorkjets.com has an article on the defense.

DT Kris Jenkins talks about money and marriage.

More connections after the jump.

Thanks to David Wyatt for this link: jetstwit.com, where I found this article on Bills great Thurman Thomas encouraging FS Kerry Rhodes.

That then made me look into twitter.com and their little known facts about Revis.

K Jay Feely thinks the Colts should play hard tonight.

Foxsports.com says the same ol' Jets will lose on Sunday, although the spread is Jets -6.

Thebiglead.com predicts the Jets will win out but lose the tiebreakers.

We signed a tackle to our practice squad.

Gang Green going up, Big Blue going down.

Thejetsblog.com has D'Brickashaw Ferguson's appearance on SNY's "Jets Extra Point."

Jetnation.com has a 1st Round Mock Draft.

This blogger is excited about the Jets defense.

Northjersey.com remembers Curtis Martin breaking records in the snow five years ago.

Jets team photographer Al Pereira posted his favorite shots of Marty Lyons.

Jonathan Babineaux says sorry, and then we find out about another Falcon's arrest.

Former Bills HC Mike Mularkey is now Falcons OC and taking heat for playcalling.

Two current Jets coaches have ties with Atlanta football - former Falcon Chuck Smith and former assistant Doug Plank.

While former Jet and DB Coach Corwin Brown recently left his job at Notre Dame, former Jets DB Coach Mike MacIntyre got a promotion at San Jose State.

The Arizona Cardinals not only have former Jets P Ben Graham, they also added Jets former first round pick K Mike Nugent.

Titans RB Chris Johnson says that Dolphins WR Ted Ginn changed his mind about racing him.

Meanwhile, QB Vince Young didn't practice for Tennessee.

Neither did Patriots QB Tom Brady.

Your daily reminder: You have until Dec. 21 to send the Jets to the Pro Bowl.

Lastly, here is Chris Henry this preseason for the Bengals:

NFL Network's RedZone Colts stat of the week: Week Fifteen

BigBlueShoe — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:30:23 -0000

More photos » by Michael Conroy - AP

5 days ago: Indianapolis Colts running back Joseph Addai (29) dives over Denver Broncos safety Brian Dawkins, bottom as he chased by defensive end Vonnie Holliday in the second quarter of an NFL football game in Indianapolis, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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This post is sponsored by Comcast and their NFL RedZone channel, a new NFL Network channel. Want to see every touchdown from every NFL game as it happens as well as live look-ins to all of Sunday's games in key situations? Then you need Comcast's NFL RedZone.

With the Colts defense still only surrendering 16.7 points per game, they maintain their hold on the #2 scoring defense spot. The Cincinnati Bengals (former #1 scoring defense) dropped to third after they were waxed by the Minnesota Vikings this past Sunday.

The #1 scoring defense is the New York Jets (16.2 ppg), but if you've watched the Jets recently (and God knows I have) you know this ranking is deceiving. The Jets are minus Kris Jenkins, their best internal run stuffer, who is out for the season. They've benched Kerry Rhodes, arguably their best safety. Darrelle Revis is still a beast and Bart Scott has clearly made a difference with this team. However, their last three opponents have been the Carolina Panthers, the Buffalo Bills, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. No offense to the Jets, but if my team played those three teams one, two, three, they damn well better lead the league in scoring defense.

Also, for the Jets, the three games prior to the Panthers, Bills, and Bucs were against the Patriots, Dolphins, and Jaguars. The Jets surrendered an average of 28 points per game against those teams, and lost all three games.

The Colts are also #5 in yard per completion, allowing only 6.3. Anytime you can limit a team to less than 7 yards a completion, you have a good defense.

Also, I highly suggest you check out NFL.com's new offensive line stats system. I just discovered it this morning. Anyone know how long this thing has been up? Colts have allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL (only 10). Their "power ranking" rushing right is 19th, rushing up the center is 7th, and rushing left is 8th. The #1 power rushing team running left: The Jaguars.

Jets Flight Connections 121609

dvdvil — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:00:41 -0000

Jets great Joe Klecko says CB Darrelle Revis is the Jets' MVP this year.

He is probably better than Charles Woodson.

He is so good that he's still affecting Randy Moss.

As expected, fantasy footballers are not recommending Falcons WR Roddy White this week.

Darrelle and the defense are the best in the league.

Theweekender.com says good things about Revis and RB Thomas Jones.

Against the next three teams with high scoring ability, running the ball may not be enough.

The Jets are favored by six against Atlanta, who is dealing with injuries and police trouble.

CBSsports.com debates whether the Jets will make the playoffs.

More connections after the jump.

If you still don't know, here are the teams vying for post-season berths in the AFC.

I know we started 4-6, but in 2002, the Jets went from 2-5 to winning in the playoffs.

There is some talk about our need to get younger guys on the O-line for the future. Here is another one who got away.

Speaking of young O-linemen, Ryan McKee was signed by the Rams, just in case you were wondering.

Speaking of signings, the Jets added RB Chauncey Washington yesterday.

He and The Sanchize were on the same team in college.

He will wear #32.

He will be active for three weeks.

He might see action in special teams.

Or, his acquisition may simply be a message to RB Shonn Greene, who did some good off the field yesterday.

C Nick Mangold was at a charity event for Montefiore Medical Center.

WR Jerricho Cotchery helped with a project for teenagers, along with Giants WR Steve Smith.

QB Mark Sanchez is also promoting a good cause.

And the Jets have a benefit for Jersey Cares this Sunday at the Meadowlands.

Your daily Pro Bowl reminder: you can vote as many times as you want for Revis, Jones, Mangold, LB David Harris, K Jay Feely and other deserving Jets. You have until Dec. 21.

Lastly, Darrelle Revis talks about how practicing against WR Braylon Edwards helps his game:

Whats wrong with the offense? Lets start with some coaching shall we...

Niko Houllis — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:52:09 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

Expect a revolving door for Morris' assistant coaches on both sides of the ball this offseason.

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Just not the one your thinking. After watching the Jets game over again (Yes it was more painful to watch the second time around), I thought about the reasons why we could be playing so bad here in week 13, when it appeared we had begun to play better. Well everyone was right...its coaching. But, not so fast; I'm talking about assistant coaching. Because before I am up for a wholesale change of coaches for a team that had zero to no talent to begin with, lets look at what was observed in game replay.

I'm not going to sit here and say that Offensive Line Coach Pete Mangurian is not doing a good job, because there is no way that I know enough, but if we are going to look at coaches responsible for getting players ready, dont we look at positiion coaches too? True Mangurian came from the Patriots, but he was the tight ends coach there for 4 years. Yes he coached the OL with Dan Henning in Atlanta before New England.

Another thing to consider about the O line, is the disaster that is/was the OC this year. First they were told to lose weight and learn the Zone Blocking scheme. Now that has been abandoned, and they seem to be getting dominated by a much better defensive front 7 than people give the Jets credit for. Not that the line had ever been considered a dominant rushing line. Its strength has always seemed to be pass protectiion (or false starts from the right tackle position) rather than run, and if anything, Aaron Sears was probably the best run blocker on the team. Still, if we can criticize Bill Muir......

Tim Berbenich is listed as the assistant wide receivers coach, but on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers own website, I do not see a Wide Receivers coach besides Berbenich. He has been with the Bucs for the last 4 years, prior to 2009 he was the quality control coach in 2006 and 2007, then in 2008 he was assistant running backs coach when the Bucs rushed for a 4.07 per carry average; 5th best in Bucs history. He partnered up with running backs coach, Richard Bissacia. Injuries have hit the WR corp hard this year, with Antonio Bryant, without argument the best WR, pretty much being missing everything from the get go this year. He seems to only now be in proper form. So just when we get our starting WR back, our second string one goes down(Clayton), and our third (Stroughter). Is it little wonder the offense did not acommplish much. AB was being canceled out by Jets shut down corner Darrelle Revis, so the heart of our passing offense was Brian Clark and Maurice Stovall. Again, not sure if coaching is the problem here, but WR position is weak enough talent wise, after you talk about AB that is. I expect some coaching changes at One Buc, and assistant coaches should not feel safe.

Speaking of running backs, why dont we run the ball more? Well, we are very inconsistant in our rushing attack, and I think you can bet that this seasons running backs coach will not be back in 2010. That would be Steve Logan, who before coming to Tampa Bay this season, was the Offensive Coordinator for Jeff Jagodzinski at Boston College.

Thats right, he was the guy who CALLED plays for Jagodzinski at Boston College, so I'm guessing the Bucs did not want to remove the Offensive Coordinator AND and Running Backs coach too. Jags was fired 10 days before the season started because he could not call/implement and NFL capable offense.

I do not think Mark Dominik and Raheem Morris, plus whomever else is responsible, had any idea how many dominoes would fall if they didnt get their picks as OC and DC right.

On the defensive side, expect the Bucs to go after defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake. It was probably felt there would be an uproar from fans if the Bucs stocked their defense with two assistants from an 0-16 team instead of the one: LB coach Joe Barry.

If you think the offseason is going to be about who we bring in for free agents, and the draft, think again. Coaches we pick up will be just as important as to how the Bucs far in 2010, when Morris WILL officially be on the hot seat starting with game one.

Jets Flight Connections 121509

dvdvil — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:59:21 -0000

We won't find out who will start at quarterback until at least tomorrow.

QB Kellen Clemens says "I did what was required" against Tampa Bay.

Is QB Mark Sanchez crucial to keep winning, or are we good with running the ball and defense?

Bob Wischusen lauds the whole Jets defensive unit.

HC Rex Ryan explains why he wouldn't commit to FS Kerry Rhodes starting the last game.

The Jets D is first in the league in many categories.

A couple of quotes from Matt Gagne of the Daily News. Rex on LB Bart Scott's unnecessary roughness:

There's going to be some ramifications for Bart. I'll just let him tell you. He'll find out on Wednesday. It's good news, bad news for Bart.

And RB Thomas Jones on his O-line:

This is the best offensive line in the NFL. Every one of these linemen deserve to go to the Pro Bowl. Every one of them.

More connections after the jump.

The Star-Ledger's Manish Mehta breaks down the Buccaneer game.

NorthJersey.com's J.P. Pelzman grades the Jets.

The Daily News's Rich Cimini grades the Jets.

I already had this yesterday, but The New York Post's Mark Cannizzaro also grades the Jets.

With the team still alive for the playoffs, Ryan is confident the Jets will win out.

Here is the AP's Dennis Waszak Jr. on the Jets' playoff chances, with quotes from Jim Leonhard, Shaun Ellis, Bart Scott, Thomas Jones and D'Brickashaw Ferguson.

T Ryan McKee came and went.

Get RB Shonn Greene's autograph - and get him to sign it, "I will protect the football." - today from 12:30 to 2:30 pm at this charity event in Manhattan.

Your daily Pro Bowl reminder, keep voting for the Jets as many times as you want. You have until Dec. 21.

And lastly, here is CB Darrelle Revis at 12AngryMascots last October:

A Very Falcoholic Discussion: Watching Out For Jets CB Darrelle Revis

Dave the Falconer — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:00:37 -0000

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

This isn't something Falcons fans will want to see on Sunday. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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Darrelle Revis is a beast.

Arguably one of the best cornerbacks in the league, Revis will be a major obstacle to overcome on Sunday. As good as Roddy White is, I'm not extremely confident that he'll be able to get separation from Revis, and the Jets already have a swarming defense that is going to put Chris Redman or (maybe) Matt Ryan on their heels. They're also one of the more capable teams in the league when it comes to covering tight ends. Unless Michael Turner is making his triumphant return this week (again, maybe), the Falcons are going to have to go through the air often. It just may not work.

So the question I pose to you, dear readers, is how we can effectively get around Revis and that tough Jets D this weekend. What will it take for the Falcons to have an effective game through the air? Should they forget about it and just turn to Snelling and Norwood early? What, why, where, how?

Go!

Closing the Book on Week 14: Bucs Dominated In Every Phase of the Game, Swept by the Big Apple

Craig T — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:00:35 -0000

More photos » by Steve Nesius - AP

When your offense can't stay on the field and spell the defense, this sight was inevitable. (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

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If you've got a weak heart, don't read this article.

They say "Home is Where the Heart Is." Maybe somebody needs to put that sign over the door to the Buccaneer locker room, because they sure haven't shown much heart at home this season. There's no other way to sugar-coat Sunday's debacle. No gameplan. No inspiration. No nothing. The result: another home blowout loss to a decent, but not great opponent from the Big Apple. Back in Week 3, I thought that the Buccaneers hit rock bottom in all phases against the New York Giants. One red zone trip in the final minutes. No first downs until end of 3rd quarter. Blown coverages. Missed tackles. Leftwich couldn't complete a pass to an open receiver to save his life. Just dominated on both sides of the ball.

Sunday's game at the Jets just reeked of many the same old problems.... plus a new one that's reared its ugly head recently. Our Face of the Franchise Josh Freeman carried over his myopic tunnel vision from last week on the game's first play, trying to force the ball into a blanketed Antonio Bryant. AB ran a skinny post with a cornerback slightly trailing, where a safety was ready to step in front of the already covered Bryant if the flat-footed ILB David Harris had not had the ball gift-wrapped for him. Again, like last week, Freeman locked onto his #1 wide receiver from the snap, enabling the safety to slide over and get what would have been a pick or break up if the underneath LB zone coverage had whiffed. Freeman has to show better awareness, as there was no way Bryant could have caught that ball.

The playcalling was suspect. 40 passing plays against 16 rushes... with all 3 running backs and all 5 offensive linemen active and available? With a struggling rookie quarterback who's locking onto wide receivers, having problems recognizing simple NFL zone coverages? With Darrelle Revis consistently locked in between the "8" and "9" on Bryant's jersey? Yes, I understand the Bucs were trailing, but they came out throwing and never made a serious attempt to match the physicality of the Jets defense and establish a consistent, serious ground attack, especially into the second quarter, when the Bucs were trailing by 6 and 9 points. (When your offensive line is getting whipped on each play, I can undestand you've got to try something else. Then again, when your rookie QB is taking sacks and tossing picks, trying to establish the run can at least limit some negative plays that set up Jet scores.)

From there, things just got worse. Zero first half yards. No, that is not a mistype. Zero yards. Even with the immovable Kris Jenkins on IR, Jeff Faine and the guards got NO push against the interior of that Jet defensive line, leading to a porous 1.4 YPC for Caddy, Ward, and Graham.

The aggressive Jet defense got in Freeman's face early and often, bringing him down and/or forcing some ill-fated throws. As I noted in my game preview, the Jets love to blitz multiple guys from the same side, and they did just that. Their blitz of choice was to overload the right side of the Buccaneer offensive line and go after Freeman, mainly on 2nd and 3rd down. One drive-killing sack put the Bucs back deep at their own 6 yard line, which eventually led to a Jay Feely field goal. A 4th quarter blitz off the left side collapsed the pocket, contributing to Freeman's off-target mid-range throw and Revis' game-clinching pick. Unfortunately, as I also discussed in my preview, the Buccaneers failed to make the aggressive Jet defense pay... to wit, by failing to run some running back screens, wide receiver bubble screens, and delayed swing/flat passes to the running backs and tight ends. Granted I didn't see everything in between trips to the beer stand, but I don't recall seeing them run a screen or designed play to get behind the blitz once.

Really, with very, very few (if any) positives coming out of this game, where does the onus of the blame lie for this debacle? There are plenty of culprits...

Offensive line: It's just so baffling that an experienced group of veteran lineman on this roster could be so ineffective as a unit this year. In keeping with the season-long trend of the Bucs inability to establish a ground game, the Buccaneer running backs managed a meager 22 yards on 16 carries... less than a yard and a half per tote. It's tough for a back to run through a wall, and the holes just weren't there at all. As Davin Joseph said on his radio show last week, the Buc line has gone from a primary zone-blocking scheme to a mixture of zone and assignment-blocking schemes. I've got to go back and watch a little bit more, but the two-gap system clearly gave them fits and I've got to wonder if playing against the Jets' defense, which switched between base 3-4 and 4-2 nickel fronts, confused our guys and led to an increased number of missed assignments. Regardless, to put things into perspective about this line, when's the last time this offense executed an interior run, where a large hole opened up and our back got to the second level and ripped off a 20-40+ yard run??? This unit just isn't getting the push needed to hit some big plays on the ground and consistently move the chains.

Coaching: It's the same coach-speak, week in week out, and this week was no different. The coaches were going to make a conscious effort to be physical... to run the football consistently and establish a running game. That plan might have been nipped in the bud by the halftime score, but I don't think they had created enough plays to overcome the Jets' blitzes. Same spread formation, same mid-to-deep range passing plays. No screens or swing passes to negate the blitzes. Raheem Morris admitted today at his presser that he didn't have the team ready to go Sunday. I think that's true with both the milquetoast offensive game plan and lack of urgency, hustle, and toughness that was noticeably absent on Sunday. Even though the offensive line is underperforming, it's incumbent on Morris to find a way to get some balance into this offense and some success on the ground. It's just not getting done. To be fair, the defense has played better with Raheem running the defense and their gap penetration has limited the gaping holes to the linebackers and secondary for opposing backs (even a little better than the Bucs did in the last four games of the 2008 season), but at the end of the day, the numbers continue to demonstrate this being a defense that yields alot of yards.

Josh Freeman: For the third straight week, he looked like the rookie he is. It's starting to look like defenses are figuring out that Freeman locks onto receivers and that if you keep an underneath 3-LB basic zone coverage (not even a zone blitz where they drop an end or 3-4 OLB, but a simple drop zone coverage), you can break up the mid-range pass or turn him over. First pass of the game was an unmitigated disaster to a completely blanketed AB. Whenever AB, Brian Clark, or Kellen Winslow managed to get a slight bit of separation, Freeman continually missed them. His pass behind AB in the first half killed one drive and his pass behind Brian Clark in the 4th quarter led to the final Jet score that salted the game away. He looked every bit as green as he is and appears to be regressing since exploding onto the scene. Time will only tell if his dropoff can be attributed to the dual role of Olson as coordinator/QB coach (check out BucWild's article from today... fantastic read), or if his NFL production can be expected to be as inconsistent as his college numbers turned out at Kansas State.

Defense: Well, what can you really say when you're on the field the entire game? Our overworked D held Thomas Jones to just under 100 yards rushing on 24 carries. Not terrible, considering the Jet front pounded our front 7 with 39 designed runs to the Jet running backs and wide receivers... but still... 175 rushing yards and 4.4 YPC is not particularly great. Missed tackles in the middle and a bad angle from Tanard Jackson led to a 33-yard TD run from Thomas Jones, putting the Bucs in a huge hole early. The Bucs also were beat in coverage in one-on-one situations and were lucky that Kellen Clemens missed some open receivers. By contrast, the Jets' defense was a pillar of consistency on each play and showed what great defenses do... execute on every single play. The longest Buccaneer run of the game was 6 measly yards, and the Bucs failed to hit any big play in the passing game that could turn the tide of the game or, heck, even flip the field a time or two.

What were your impressions from Sunday's game?

Jets 26 Buccaneers 3: Flying High Again

John B — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:02:58 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

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The Jets are somehow back in the Playoff mix after their 26-3 victory today over the Bucs in Tampa. Gang Green is riding a 3 game winning streak and is back over .500 at 7-6. The last month of this season could get very, very interesting. This performance rivals the Houston and Oakland games in terms of domination.

More after the jump.

The Good:

The Defense: We'll definitely profile some of the outstanding individual performers, but this was just an excellent defensive effort. Tampa's only 3 points came as the result of a personal foul on Bart Scott on which the officials arguably should have thrown an offsetting flag on the Bucs. The blitz packages had Josh Freeman's head spinning and overwhelmed Tampa's offensive line. Freeman was 14 for 33 with 93 yards and 3 interceptions. The Bucs didn't have a first down until the third quarter. They ended with 6 and 124 total yards. This was domination.

Jay Feely: Feely was money today. He hit 4 out of 5 field goals. One was from 40 yards, and a pair were from 49. Feely's kicking helped the Jets put the game away even as their offense struggled to advance deep into Tampa Bay territory.

Calvin Pace: He was constantly running free and finished with 7 tackles and a sack.

Darrelle Revis: Another dominant performance by the game's best corner. Antonio Bryant had 2 catches for 22 yards. Revis had an interception that just about iced the game and broke up a few passes.

Mike Westhoff: A fourth successful fake punt this year deserves kudos. It was the third variety of fake punt the team has run. Apparently the Bucs didn't pick it up on film.

Danny Woodhead: 3 catches for 35 yards. I'm really liking the idea of having him as a third down back and replacing Leon Washington a bit as a receiving threat out of the backfield.

The Tiger Formation: I made that name up, but it's what we'll call the Wildcat package for Brad Smith. Smith only had 16 yards on 5 carries, but getting the ball into the hands of a playmaker in the open field is a good idea and at least gives upcoming opponents something to notice on film and spend time preparing for. Smith had a 21 yard punt return. I'd like to see him out there instead of Jerricho Cotchery. He's more apt to make guys miss. I know he doesn't have great hands as a receiver and would seem to be more of a turnover risk, but catching a punt is different from catching a pass.

Thomas Jones: Another big stat line against an opponent that was gameplanning to stop him. TJ had 99 yards on 24 carries and 2 touchdowns.

The Bad:

Kellen Clemens: The best thing you could say is that he avoided a catastrophic mistake, finishing with no turnovers. In other words, he was lucky that Tampa Bay's offense was no inept because he didn't make any plays. This was bad any way you slice it. This is a bad defense that was loading up to stop the run. Kellen only hit 12 of 23 passes for 111 yards and looked lost aside from a brief period in the second half. He left plays on the field. He wasn't making decisions quickly enough. When he found a receiver, his throws were wildly inaccurate. His mechanics were a mess. He struggled with all but the most basic throws, and even some of them were an adventure.

A lot of us (and I include myself in that number) have been making excuses for Kellen for four years. He was young and inexperienced. He wasn't supposed to play. His offensive line was terrible. The team never gave him a chance. He's out of excuses. By this point, if he was ever going to be a player in this league, he would have shown some sign of it. It's sad to say because from what I hear you'll never meet a more genuinely good person. However, I don't see how Kellen finds a job in the NFL after this season.

Shonn Greene: That would be three fumbles in six games. When the ball is getting punched out from behind like that, it's a sign you're carrying it way too loosely. The Jets are going to have to start taking carries away from him. Even though he's been productive, it's becoming too much of a turnover risk.

Mike Westhoff: Westhoff got credit for the fake punt. He also has to take heat for the onside kick. It's been obvious the up men have been leaving too early all year. It almost cost them against Jacksonville. It hasn't been corrected at all. The Jets had no shot of recovering that kick because their men were so far down the field.

Three down, three to go. Nobody can say for sure how this thing will end. One thing is for sure. The Jets have shown a lot of character this year. It would have been easy to pack it in after the midseason swoon. The way they have continued to fight and get themselves back into this position says a lot good.