Nobody said it couldn’t be done. Everyone just assumed it wouldn’t be done. Some how Eric Mangini managed to get his players to tune everything else out and just believe. The mainstream media was busy explaining to us the various reasons why it wouldn’t work. The players were being worked too hard, Mangini was too young. Mangini knew the truth though. He knew that he is being graded on the field. Wins and losses, that is all that matters.Â
Today, Mangini’s Jets beat the Raiders to clinch a playoff spot. The gameplan was a simple one, stay conservative and let the Raiders implode. The Jets did not do much on offense, they didn’t have to. Pennington threw for 157 yards and as a team the Jets ran 37 times for 117 yards. This was largely by design though as the struggling Raiders offense hardly put up a fight. The defense was led by Victor Hobson (9 tackles) and Shaun Ellis (7 tackles). Kerry Rhodes and Eric Barton each had a sack. Mike Nugent was perfect on field goals (3 for 3).
Stay tuned for details on who the Jets play and when. As soon as it is known, JetNation.com will have the info. Discuss this and more in our forums.
