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The Jets need to narrow the QB gap with New England. Maybe Sanchez can do it, or maybe somebody else, but this gap is really hurting them (more on this later) . . .
One reason Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick are so successful is they treat all 53 players the same, and don’t operate with a double-standard.
You all saw Tom Brady get yelled at by New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien this season. That was a powerful moment, and sent an amazing message to the Patriots players – we don’t play favorites.
This is something Rex Ryan needs to learn – he coddled Mark Sanchez and Santonio Holmes to such a degree this year, it hurt team chemistry.
This isn’t a T-Ball league, it’s the NFL, and Rex doesn’t need to start yelling and screaming, but has to stop coddling . . .
Everyone talks about how dominant the Giants defensive line is, and how much trouble they are going to give New England.
But don’t lose sight of the matchup between Giants center David Baas and Vince Wilfork, who dominated the Baltimore Ravens last week. Baas had an average, injury-plagued year. Look for Wilfork to also line-up over backup left guard Kevin Boothe, now starting.
I had a chance to interview Eagles center Jason Kelce (pronounced Kelsey) this morning on Sirius, and asked him what makes Wilfork so tough?
Aside from his freakish athletic ability for such a big man, Kelce couldn’t stop talking about his intelligence as a player. Wilfork is a true student of the game, and has all the tricks in the book. Kelce says he does a nice job of picking up tendencies as the game progresses . . .
I’ve covered high ankle sprains for a long time as an NFL reporter. And to honest with you, I wouldn’t be shocked if Rob Gronkowski is inactive.
Two weeks after suffering a high ankle sprain, you are still in the grips of this terribly debilitating injury. As one former player put it, “your leg feels like it’s broken.”
And there is only so much the Toradol shot can do to deaden this pain of this extremely painful injury.
So much of Gronkowski’s game is cutting away from linebackers with his 4.6 speed, but this injury makes it really, really tough to cut.
If Gronkowski does play, he will likely be mostly a decoy – running down the seams on a straight line – running straight isn’t as much of a problem.
And we all know darn well, if he catches a pass, and is tackled, somebody in the pile is likely going to go after that ankle.
A Giants defender admitted he attempted to concuss Kyle Williams, who has had concussion problems. So don’t you know they would twist Rob’s ankle? . . .
With Gronkowski injured, expect Danny Woodhead to pick up some of his workload in the passing game.
I also think the former Jet is going to be a factor in the running game. At 5-7, 200 pounds, he is a nightmare for tall defensive linemen, and the Giants are like a basketball team on the front with players like 6-7 Chris Canty and a bunch of 6-5 players like Jason Pierre-Paul and Mathias Kiwinuka. Woodhead has such a low center of gravity, he can constently run under guys like this . . .
I wrote this the other day, and I think this is the reason the Giants win this game – the Patriots missing on so many draft picks in the secondary, like Brandon Merriweather, Darius Butler, Ras-I Dowling (IR), Terrence Wheatley and now a struggling Devin McCourty.
Belichick bad track record of picking defensive backs is going to bite him in this game.
While inconsistent quarterbacks like Mark Sanchez and Joe Flacco couldn’t take advantage of this, an elite quarterback like Eli Manning should be able to get the best of the Pats patchwork secondary . . .
Did you know this is the Patriots fifth Super Bowl appearance in 11 years? What a nightmare for the Jets to not only have this team in their conference, but their division.
And so much of this dominance is about Tom Brady, perhaps the greatest quarterback of all time.
That is why it’s essential the Jets get better quarterback play. Perhaps Mark Sanchez can take that next step, or maybe it’s somebody else, but this massive QB gap is killing them (and most other AFC teams).
And remember what I wrote before about Eli likely being a nightmare for the New England patchwork secondary, Sanchez didn’t take advantage of this group in either game this year, and that hurt the Jets. This is a group you need to torch. A demoralized, banged-up Buffalo team got off to a 21-0 lead over New England in Week 16, for heaven’s sake.
(Premium will return on Monday night by 8 pm. Enjoy the Super Bowl.)