Buffalo Bills @ NY Jets Report Card

by Patrick Stanton
JetNation Senior Columnist

QUARTERBACK
Brooks Bollinger (11/20, 153 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT) B He didn’t win the game, but he didn’t give it away either. When your #3 QB is starting, this is important. Excellent throws on the bombs to Coles and Cotchery as Bollinger continues to show a strong arm and success while throwing deep. On the negative side, Bollinger’s short game has yet to catch up, and I think that he’s been punished so much by a terrible OL that it’s apparent that he senses pressure a little too quickly. One thing is certain, he’s 400% tougher than Pennington with the abuse he has taken.

RUNNING BACK
Cedric Houston (15 rushes, 55 yards, 3.4 avg, 1TD) B+ Not one of his most spectacular games this season but he did what he had to do given the pathetic blocking from the OL. While he has looked good thus far, time will only tell what he truly holds and that time starts when he gets an OL that can actually block someone.

WIDE RECEIVERS
Coles (4/79, 0 TD) B+ Coles had a nice day and it was pleasant to see him streaking down the sidelines again on the deep strike from Bollinger.

Cotchery (1/45) B While only catching one pass, Cotchery showed some very nice speed on what was a great throw. If anyone doesn’t want Bollinger gone it’s Cotchery, who has seen more passes from Bollinger then he ever got before.

TIGHT END:
Doug Jolley (1/-1) D+ The only guy on the field who apparently got the memo from some fans that the Jets need Reggie Bush.

J Dreesen (1/6) C+ One catch, zero impact on the game. But with the shot he took on the 1 reception, he deserves something.

OFFENSIVE LINE: F
Writing anything more than this sentence on this crew would be a waste of valuable bandwidth on what is a very busy JN server.

DEFENSIVE LINE: F
Throw up the caution tape, deploy the Men Working signs, this unit is officially “Under Construction� until further notice. These guys are terrible and a somewhat decent 4th quarter can’t make up for it. The get owned repeatedly, getting pushed around by decent offensive lines week by week. John Abraham’s new name is Mr. 4th Quarter because his pass rushing only seems to appear during the last quarter of play. As scary as this sounds, I honestly think Bryan Thomas is the only decent run blocker on that line right now. Legree, Reed and Pouha are human blocking sleds dressed in Jets uniforms. Insert dynamite, detonate, and rebuild.

LINEBACKERS: B+
Welcome to the party, Mark Brown. Albeit lucky, Brown was in the right place at the right time and made a key interception. Although their run defense needs continued work, the linebacking corps had a decent game today. Vilma was everywhere today, but what else is new. I actually heard Hobson’s name called today for the first time in weeks.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: A-
Ty Law, it was a pleasure knowing you. All Ty Law managed to do today was shatter the franchise record for INTs in a season. While it would be easy to call a few of them ‘lucky’, the fact is the man always seems to be in the right place at the right time, and his last INT was the final nail in the Bills coffin. Barrett had a much better game today and although he could use some work, Justin Miller is really beginning to come around at CB. Coleman and Rhodes led the defense in tackles today.

SPECIAL TEAMS:
Justin Miller (6 / 38.8 avg, 1 TD) A+ Well it took 17 weeks, but the Justin Miller fans out there finally had their Miller KR predictions validated today. Ironically some of those same fans have now turned Miller into the goat for allegedly ‘blowing the Reggie Bush sweepstakes�. Pathetic! If you weren’t cheering Miller on then you’re not much of a Jets fans. Congratulations Justin Miller on your game winning 95 yard TD return.

Mike Nugent (3/4; Made:49, 34, 25; Missed: 43) A- Nugent has finally come around and anyone who saw that 49 yard FG split the uprights with distance to go has to be excited at what this kid is capable of. Hell even his kickoffs were a little better. Let’s hope he gets into a good off season training regimen and comes to camp next year ready to rock the NFL.

COACHING: B
Henderson did a good job calling defense today considering he has a defensive line that couldn’t stop molasses from going uphill. He mixed up his coverage well and combined with some key blitzes he managed to shake Holcomb up early. While it’s still not pretty and well, effective, Dinger’s offense had its moments today, mainly the bombs to Coles and Cotchery. To Dinger’s credit, he learned his lesson after the Baltimore disaster and attacked as best he could this season, given the personnel at his disposal. Edwards managed to avoid screwing up his clock management this week; I guess that’s good for something. On a side note, his current attempt to gain leverage on the Jets with the Chiefs vacancy is pathetic.

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