Tuesday, November 23, 2010
New Series: Mets Games of Doom!
Here at The Depressed New Yorker Sports Blog, we have been getting complaints that we are being too optimistic about our New York teams. This is devastating to our reputation. To resolve this, I will be launching a new series called Mets Games of Doom. In this serious, I will relay over some of my most painful experiences following some of the most frustrating Mets games of my 15+ year career. Look for the "Beltran strike 3 looking game" and the "5 runs no outs playoff game vs the Braves" coming soon, but first I will start with a special selection: The "Ryan Church missed 3rd base at 2:30 in the morning!" game. Look for this first entry in our exciting new series coming soon!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Ideas to Improve the Jets Pass Rush
The Jets are having major issues getting to the QB. Whether they blitz or they don't, they are taking way too long to get there. It is time to explore a couple of ideas to improve the pass rush:
*Time to mix up the blitzes:
The Jets are sending too many blitzes up the middle. These blitzes are taking too long to get to the QB (due to traffic by the opposing line who are expecting it and also some holding that hasn't been called). Also these blitzes allow the QB to slip out of the pocket and buy extra time or run. It is time to send some outside blitzes, especially by Drew Coleman who flies and backup Safety James Ihedigbo who is a great blitzer.
*Speaking of Ihedigbo, it is time to put him at outside LB for blitz plays. He is a great blitzer. Our guys aren't executing. It's time to get him in there.
It cannot be stated how important it is to get pressure. Our zone coverage will suddenly not have holes and our man coverage will last long enough.
Please leave your ideas in the comments.
*Time to mix up the blitzes:
The Jets are sending too many blitzes up the middle. These blitzes are taking too long to get to the QB (due to traffic by the opposing line who are expecting it and also some holding that hasn't been called). Also these blitzes allow the QB to slip out of the pocket and buy extra time or run. It is time to send some outside blitzes, especially by Drew Coleman who flies and backup Safety James Ihedigbo who is a great blitzer.
*Speaking of Ihedigbo, it is time to put him at outside LB for blitz plays. He is a great blitzer. Our guys aren't executing. It's time to get him in there.
It cannot be stated how important it is to get pressure. Our zone coverage will suddenly not have holes and our man coverage will last long enough.
Please leave your ideas in the comments.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Check out this article from Gang Green Nation: Why is the Jets Defense Not-So-Dominant Anymore? http://t.co/bnajK15
Friday, November 12, 2010
Is it Time for the Mets to Clean House and Rebuild?
For about two or three years, Mets fans have been entertaining the idea of "trading the rotten core." It is impossible to turn on talk radio for too long without hearing some fan call up and demand that the Mets get rid of their best players. Now obviously it would not be such a smart idea to dumb our most talented players and replace them with "gritty clutch players" who are not talented. Just look at the 2009 team which won only 70 games after the stars were hurt. The gritty clutch Alex Cora playing with two torn thumbs could not propel the Mets to be anywhere near competitive.
The "trading the core" to get rid of them idea is just a reaction to pain from excruciating seasons in which the Mets collapsed with these players. It is not a logical idea. However, the real question that Mets fans should be asking themselves is whether the team should be sellers this offseason to try to build a team that will be competitive in a couple of years (not to get Alex Coras at every position andwin the World Series in 2011). This is a very interesting question as the Mets have some intriguing talented players that could be of use to another team and could fetch back some prospects. We probably would not want to trade good young players who are under club control for a while like Ike Davis and David Wright. We would only want to trade players who are not under club control for too much longer, such as Jose Reyes and RA Dickey. The idea is that if we will be unable to compete in 2011 anyway or if our odds are not so good, and we are not sure that we want to re-sign them especially for the money they will command, we can capitalize on these assets and get some good prospects in return. Unfortunately, this would only work with players who do not have bad contracts. The Mets have a bunch of talented players (Beltran, K-rod) and somewhat talented players (Jason Bay) who
unfortunately have bad contracts. Trading these players would likelynot yield any prospects unless the Mets would be willing to eat a lot of their money (which they won't be as all Mets fans know). Therefore, the point of dealing these players would be to dump money. Now I don't know about you, but I don't care if Fred Wilpon saves some money. It seems that he has a fixed budget of money for the team to spend each season and saving money this year will not lead him to increase that next year. And the players will long term bad contracts (Bay, Johan Santana) will be very hard to get rid of. So a "rebuilding" move is pretty much pointless unless it yields us prospects that we can use.
That being said, the Mets do not have too many options to trade. They can trade Reyes, but will they really get value for him? He is making $11 million and has only one year left on his contract. His value is not too high right now. I'm not sure how much we'd get for dumping him. RA Dickey is coming off one good season. I'm not sure whichteam would give up too many good prospects for him. If Beltran plays well and is healthy, he can be moved at the deadline, but by then we should know if we are in it or should be dumping players.
In short, I think that it would not be smart for the Mets to "rebuild" at the expense of 2011. As I've discussed earlier on this site and as I will show further in my upcoming Mets 2010-2011 offseason plan, I think the Mets can have some sort of shot to compete in 2011. The possible gains are not enough to warrant giving that up. Instead, the Mets should look to rebuild by actually spending money in the draft and in international signings (something Sandy Alderson has promised to do). That is the way to rebuild. Then each year you phase out an old player or two or three and replace them with rookies who are actually talented and are ready having played a year in AAA and at least close to a full year in AA. (The mistakes of rushing and destroying prospects and not spending in the draftwere key errors of the Omar era that left our farm system in the shape it is in.)
I must make one final point. The Mets success in 2006 was largely due to their incredible production at CF and SS. These positions are usually black holes for teams offensively. The Mets had top offensive and defensive players at these positions. A team cannot just get rid of good players at the four spots where it is hard to replace them (Catcher, CF, SS, 2B). A star at these positions is much rarer than anything else (even an "ace"). The Mets cannot dump Reyes unless they have a plan to replace him at SS (which they don't). Even if they would get a top pitching prospect and a top 1B prospect, they would lose out dramatically at SS and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. That is why it is key to keep stars at these rare positions, and that is why I think they should sign Reyes to a contract extension rather than dealing him.
The "trading the core" to get rid of them idea is just a reaction to pain from excruciating seasons in which the Mets collapsed with these players. It is not a logical idea. However, the real question that Mets fans should be asking themselves is whether the team should be sellers this offseason to try to build a team that will be competitive in a couple of years (not to get Alex Coras at every position andwin the World Series in 2011). This is a very interesting question as the Mets have some intriguing talented players that could be of use to another team and could fetch back some prospects. We probably would not want to trade good young players who are under club control for a while like Ike Davis and David Wright. We would only want to trade players who are not under club control for too much longer, such as Jose Reyes and RA Dickey. The idea is that if we will be unable to compete in 2011 anyway or if our odds are not so good, and we are not sure that we want to re-sign them especially for the money they will command, we can capitalize on these assets and get some good prospects in return. Unfortunately, this would only work with players who do not have bad contracts. The Mets have a bunch of talented players (Beltran, K-rod) and somewhat talented players (Jason Bay) who
unfortunately have bad contracts. Trading these players would likelynot yield any prospects unless the Mets would be willing to eat a lot of their money (which they won't be as all Mets fans know). Therefore, the point of dealing these players would be to dump money. Now I don't know about you, but I don't care if Fred Wilpon saves some money. It seems that he has a fixed budget of money for the team to spend each season and saving money this year will not lead him to increase that next year. And the players will long term bad contracts (Bay, Johan Santana) will be very hard to get rid of. So a "rebuilding" move is pretty much pointless unless it yields us prospects that we can use.
That being said, the Mets do not have too many options to trade. They can trade Reyes, but will they really get value for him? He is making $11 million and has only one year left on his contract. His value is not too high right now. I'm not sure how much we'd get for dumping him. RA Dickey is coming off one good season. I'm not sure whichteam would give up too many good prospects for him. If Beltran plays well and is healthy, he can be moved at the deadline, but by then we should know if we are in it or should be dumping players.
In short, I think that it would not be smart for the Mets to "rebuild" at the expense of 2011. As I've discussed earlier on this site and as I will show further in my upcoming Mets 2010-2011 offseason plan, I think the Mets can have some sort of shot to compete in 2011. The possible gains are not enough to warrant giving that up. Instead, the Mets should look to rebuild by actually spending money in the draft and in international signings (something Sandy Alderson has promised to do). That is the way to rebuild. Then each year you phase out an old player or two or three and replace them with rookies who are actually talented and are ready having played a year in AAA and at least close to a full year in AA. (The mistakes of rushing and destroying prospects and not spending in the draftwere key errors of the Omar era that left our farm system in the shape it is in.)
I must make one final point. The Mets success in 2006 was largely due to their incredible production at CF and SS. These positions are usually black holes for teams offensively. The Mets had top offensive and defensive players at these positions. A team cannot just get rid of good players at the four spots where it is hard to replace them (Catcher, CF, SS, 2B). A star at these positions is much rarer than anything else (even an "ace"). The Mets cannot dump Reyes unless they have a plan to replace him at SS (which they don't). Even if they would get a top pitching prospect and a top 1B prospect, they would lose out dramatically at SS and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. That is why it is key to keep stars at these rare positions, and that is why I think they should sign Reyes to a contract extension rather than dealing him.
Adjustments the Jets Must Make for Sunday Against the Browns
While the Jets have won two of their last three games, they have played very poorly in them. It is time for Rex to stop being complacent with his team's effort. It should be inexcusable for the Jets to come out flat again, even if they pull it out in the end. We should be whipping these teams. We should not get up there and say that we hung in there and won and that's what good teams do. We should be looking to cream our opponents and we should not be satisfied if there was any chance at all that we could have lost, even when we eke out a victory. We should plan to dominate and should not be happy unless we do.That being said, I would like to see some adjustments on Sunday. First of all, Shonn Greene has got to become the starter at RB. Opposing defenses are sending eight guys in the box to stop the run. If we are going to be successful running the ball early on, we are going to need to have Greene and his tackle-breaking ability in there. We will have to live without the ability to do dumpoffs and screen passes at times. We need Greene in there.
Also, look for Kyle Wilson to be in there instead of Drew Coleman (according to Rex). Coleman was torched Sunday by #3 receiver Nate Burleson for 7 catches for 113 yards and a TD. Wilson has looked lost at times especially on deep passes but he is much better at the short and mid-ranged stuff that we usually see out of slot receivers. Use some safety help on his side for deep passes and the Browns will not be able to complete a pass to a WR.We better see some gameplan adjustments as well. This Browns defense is a very dangerous bunch. They employ a lot of different looks with odd packages. These coverages baffled Tom Brady and Drew Brees. It is very dangerous for a rookie to be throwing against this team. The Jets have to open things up, but they have to do it while aiming for the sideline a little more and trying to keep out of the middle of the field whenever possible, except when coming off play action. This will save Mark Sanchez from making mistakes and being picked off by the Browns' deceptive LBs. Pick on the Browns' weak secondary instead. It is much safer.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Most Valuable Defensive Season in NFL History
Our New York Jets led the league in total defense in 2009. The biggest reason for this was star CB Darrelle Revis. Revis shut down receiver after receiver in '09, yielding very few catches. What made Revis's production truly amazing is the way he was utilized by Rex Ryan. Revis moved around the field to take the #1 receiver the whole game. The Jets played a ton of man coverage, and Revis made sure that the #1 receiver didn't just line up against a bad corner. He took care of the top receiver on every play, and he shut them all down.
There is a concept in the NFL of an elite CB shutting down one side of the field. What that means is that the opposing QB is afraid to throw to that side and instead throws to the other side. What that really means is that the opposing team just puts their top two receivers on the other side of the field and lets them pick on the inferior members of the secondary who play there. This doesn't help the team nearly as much as football announcers and analysts claim it does.
Brilliantly, the Jets avoided this problem with Revis by having him shade and shut down the top receiver every play. QBs were not able to rely on their top weapon, because Revis shut his man down on every play. But QBs couldn't altogether stop throwing to their top guy, and as a result Revis was thrown on much more than any other good CB. But in the end, it did not yield good results for opposing QBs, as they threw numerous incompletions and some interceptions and their top receiver was unable to provide any production.
This unique strategy makes Revis's 2009 season the most valuable defensive season EVER IN NFL HISTORY. Never before had a player impacted as many plays as Revis did. No pass rusher or linebacker ever affected the game as much as Revis who affected every throwing play. Perhaps Lawrence Taylor was more talented. Perhaps Ray Lewis is more popular. Perhaps Deion Sanders was a more talented, faster CB than Revis and perhaps he was better at interceptingthe opposing QB. But there was nobody on defense who provided as much value as Revis did last season. Ever.
This means a lot for the rest of 2010. For whatever reason, Rex has not employed the same strategy this season that he used last year. There was Revis's holdout and injury, and also it seems that Rex felt that with another Pro Bowl CB in Cromartie, there was no need to put Revis on the top receiver. But Rex saw the light at halftime of Sunday's loss against the Packers. In the first half. In the first half of the game, Rex put Revis on the outside on the right side of the field and Cromartie on the outside on the left side of the field. The Packers countered by putting their inferior receivers on the outside and using their top receiver Greg Jennings in the slot to be covered by Drew Coleman and Dwight Lowery. He made some big catches including a 31 yard catch that set up the field goal (when Lowery played zonewhile everyone else was playing man). At halftime, Rex put Revis on Jennings and he was pretty much handled from there. With Revis showing that he is 100%, we can expect him to be covering the top receiver from now on (with Cromartie on #2). In fact, Rex said in today's press conference that Revis will "generally" be on Calvin Johnson during this Sunday's game in Detroit. This will allow Revis to go back to being the most valuable player in NFL history, and will allow Cromartie to take lesser receivers where he will be less prone to giving up the couple of catches he gives up each game and more likely to make some interceptions. From here on out, expect the Jets defense to round into form and be the best defense in the NFL (even better than the Giants!) as we all expect them to be.
J! E! T! S! JETS! JETS! JETS!
This unique strategy makes Revis's 2009 season the most valuable defensive season EVER IN NFL HISTORY. Never before had a player impacted as many plays as Revis did. No pass rusher or linebacker ever affected the game as much as Revis who affected every throwing play. Perhaps Lawrence Taylor was more talented. Perhaps Ray Lewis is more popular. Perhaps Deion Sanders was a more talented, faster CB than Revis and perhaps he was better at interceptingthe opposing QB. But there was nobody on defense who provided as much value as Revis did last season. Ever.
This means a lot for the rest of 2010. For whatever reason, Rex has not employed the same strategy this season that he used last year. There was Revis's holdout and injury, and also it seems that Rex felt that with another Pro Bowl CB in Cromartie, there was no need to put Revis on the top receiver. But Rex saw the light at halftime of Sunday's loss against the Packers. In the first half. In the first half of the game, Rex put Revis on the outside on the right side of the field and Cromartie on the outside on the left side of the field. The Packers countered by putting their inferior receivers on the outside and using their top receiver Greg Jennings in the slot to be covered by Drew Coleman and Dwight Lowery. He made some big catches including a 31 yard catch that set up the field goal (when Lowery played zonewhile everyone else was playing man). At halftime, Rex put Revis on Jennings and he was pretty much handled from there. With Revis showing that he is 100%, we can expect him to be covering the top receiver from now on (with Cromartie on #2). In fact, Rex said in today's press conference that Revis will "generally" be on Calvin Johnson during this Sunday's game in Detroit. This will allow Revis to go back to being the most valuable player in NFL history, and will allow Cromartie to take lesser receivers where he will be less prone to giving up the couple of catches he gives up each game and more likely to make some interceptions. From here on out, expect the Jets defense to round into form and be the best defense in the NFL (even better than the Giants!) as we all expect them to be.
J! E! T! S! JETS! JETS! JETS!
Monday, November 1, 2010
My 1st Post: State of the Yankees
With another season gone in disappointment the Yankees are looking at a very steady pace downhill if they dont act. The core 4 should probably renamed the 4corpses by now... Jeter never had any range in the field and definitely doesnt have anymore. posada looks like he may need some more oil for his knees because every time he gets behind the plate he has to sit out another 2 games- although good ol' MO is still the BEST CLOSER in baseball u gotta wonder how many more cut fastballs and splitters he really has left in the tank.Pettite is done so why waste time... however probably the biggest prob right now on this team has gotta be A-rod. without his steroids he just cant seem to stay healthy or productive. if 272 million can buy u a 30 homerun hitter who is at his best when it only comes to saving his stats, then id say to the Steinbrenners and $man get a new proffession. maybe the mlb should decide that u can have 3 dh's in the AL instead of 1 because if any1 can find another way of getting posada and a-rod into that lineup should become the new gm- now about braces man- its nice to see that he wanted to stay in NY and not bolt for the Cubbies, but do we really care if he did? if id sum him up in 1 word it would be questionable. just about every move he has made since getting here has been controversial. plus he blew this past post season: with men in scoring position he decides to walk david murphy to pitch against molina with burnett! what was he expecting? molina 1.has killed the yankees throughout his career 2.in the same situation the night before he had a big hit 3. aj burnett was pitching! aj can only get the ball over the plate if he gets lucky why would u let him pitch in the biggest at bat of the season?
right now the yankees must begin to build a new core around Cano. Sabathia and Texeira are nice pieces along with Hughes gardner and granderson but there is a lot of work to do. now as any good yankees fan ought to be i got my wish list for santa steinbrenner this yankees: i want cliff lee and jason werth and maybe carl crawford-also give kerry woods a new 3 year deal and sponsor the marlins pay roll for this year in exchange for hanley ramirez- is that too much 2 ask 4?
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