Jets Lose to Falcons; Fall to 7 and 7

By admin Posted On December 20, 2009

It looked like it was going to be a defensive masterpiece. In front of a home crowd that had to travel through a December snowstorm, the Jets lost on a late touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to Tony Gonzalez. Prior to that 4th down play with time running down, the Jets defense had held the Falcons to 3 points.

Turnovers and mistakes remain the Jets achilles heel. Mark Sanchez threw 3 interceptions and the Jets missed 3 field goals. Add in some costly penalties and you have the recipe for a losing game plan. Although the Jets are still technically alive in the playoff race, the loss makes things very difficult for the Jets. Rather than dwell on the negative (we have all off season for that) let’s look at some things that have gone right.

Defense: They gave up a late TD that put the Bengals ahead. But they seemed to be on the field all day and it is very hard to hold a team to only 10 points. That is what they did. Why is the defense something that has gone right this year? Because they are active, fly to the ball and outside of Kerry Rhodes, they seem to love contact. As we look ahead to next year, there is the centerpiece of this team.
Mark Sanchez: Today was the first game in a long time that he seemed to improve upon some things. The turnovers are the reason this team won’t be in the playoffs. No excuse for that. He is a rookie though and today he did a much better job of spreading the ball around, taking smart chances down the field and even threw the ball away a few times. Progress.
Braylon Edwards: Had a very good game today 5/105 and 1 TD. The Jets need to use his size and strength in the red zone, today they did that.
Brad Smith: The Jets finally seem to remember how to use him again. Brad Smith isn’t a traditional receiver. Recently they have been moving him around a lot and letting him run the wildcat. That is how he made his name in the NFL.

Tough loss Jets fans. The stadium seemed to be half filled today. Good job to all those that were in attendance and supporting this team. Stop by our football forum and tell us what you think.