The Jets Need A New Quarterback

Before you blame Doug Brien for the "New York" Jets 20-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Saturday, you should take a hard look at what Jets QB Chad Pennington did and didn't do in that game.

Pennington's 21 for 33, 182 yard and one interception game does not fully show the horrible performance he had today. When the Jets needed him to step it up, he either threw a duck into double coverage or grossly missed open receivers.

The play of the game that doomed the Jets was not Doug Brien's 47 yard attempt of what would have been the winning field goal just under two minutes, but the play right before it.

On a 3rd and three play, Pennington dropped back and threw to a wide open Wayne Chrebet, who was running a crossing route just ahead of the first down marker. Pennington threw is behind his receiver, making the catch impossible, and the ball hit the ground for a fourth down. A first down would have kept the drive alive, a catch would have made it a shorter field goal.

Instead, Brien went out to attempt a 47 yard field goal, missing it by inches.

Throughout the game, Pennington would throw short and behind his receivers all day. This was not the strategy of a bad offensive coordinator failing, it was bad execution by the Jets. They should not have had to rely on Brien's 47 or 43 yard attempts to win the game. The Steelers offense had three turnovers that the Jets could not capitalize on.

The bottom line is, the Jets offense only scored three points. Pennington just can't get the job done. It's time to look elsewhere.

Many Jets fans might not agree, but the proof is in his lack of execution.



That being said, it's safe to say Doug Brien will not be a Jet next year. I wouldn't be surprised if they cut him while he's checking his bags at the Pittsburgh airport.

I have to give credit to Jersey's finest...the Jets just don't lose, they lose in a fashion that can be remembered twenty years later. Perhaps it's the ghost of Jimmy Hoffa, or its their insult to New York by putting an "NY" on their helmet, or the fact that Joe Namath sold his soul to the devil to win Super Bowl III, but the Jets just keep finding awful ways to lose big games.

Two missed field goals? Damn. Even Scott Norwood would have made it if given a second chance.

I wonder if the Jets ever actually won anything, if Jets fans would know what to do.


On January 12, 1906, pro football legalized the forward pass. No one seems to have told the Atlanta Falcons.

The Falcons 47-17 beating of the St. Louis Rams was a throwback to turn-of-the-last-century throwback football. The Falcons ran for 327 yards on 40 attempts, only bothering to throw the ball 17 times.

The fact that Vick doesn't know how to read a defense did not stop his team from making it to the NFC title game. The Falcons just kept pounding the Rams with the run, and Warrick Dunn had a masterful 142 yard day.

I think they should change the name of Vick's position. He's not a quarterback, as those guys throw the ball for a living. He's not a halfback or a fullback either, as no one hands the ball off to him. Maybe we should just call what he does the vickback position, where's there's little expectation of forward passes during the game, and the guy gets the ball at the snap.

If we called his position the vickback, or VB, then Michael Vick would be praised for being the athlete that he is without having to worry about learning how to read defense and throw good passes. He doesn't do a good job of it, as he's no Chad Pennington, but you can't deny he is a big part in the Falcons winning.

As I noted in my previous post, the Falcons winning has insured that a black quarterback will start for the NFC in the Super Bowl this year. Times are changing.


With all of the attention that Vick gets though, you cannot deny how much of a force Warrick Dunn and T.J. Duckett are. Atlanta's kick returner Allen Rossum also blew me away.

They just powered through the Rams today. As FOX announcer Darryl Jackson put it at the start of the fourth quarter, "if this was a fight, it would have been stopped."

Amazing team performance by the Falcons. Truly amazing. I'd say they are the team to beat in the NFC.


Recently, Rams head coach Mike Martz said that Marc Bulger is a better quarterback than Kurt Warner ever was. I wonder if he still feels that way.

Kurt Warner took his team to two Super Bowls. Bulger has won one playoff game.

I'd take Kurt in his prime any day.

Other Sports.