The Jets returned to earth last week with a dud against the Broncos that ended a five-game winning streak.
Today, they face a 49ers team that has won two of its last three and is playing better with new coach Mike Singletary and new quarterback Shaun Hill.
The Jets have not played well on the West Coast this season, going 0-2 in their prior trips. The players and coaches swear that is just a coincidence. We will see today.
New England and Miami are lurking in the AFC East, just a game behind the Jets, so every game is huge the rest of the way. Was last week’s loss a wake-up call or a sign of what’s ahead?
“It was a hard pill to swallow with the Denver loss, but sometimes you have to deal with the reality of the situation,” nose tackle Kris Jenkins said. “[We have to] find a way to learn after your mistakes and move on. That’s what the situation is. All isn’t lost. We are still in good standing. We just have to continue to win. That starts this week.
BEST BATTLE
49ers tight end Vernon Davis vs. Jets linebackers: You have the feeling last week that Denver’s game plan had “THROW TO THE TIGHT END” written in giant letters. Jay Cutler hit his tight ends 13 times for 149 yards.
The Broncos were not the first team to victimize the Jets defense by hitting the tight end, and you have to think 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz has noticed. Davis has been a disappointment, and his clash with Singletary two months ago spotlighted San Francisco’s disappointment in the tight end. Still, he is lightning quick and the Jets have to stay with him.
“That’s always a mismatch, tight ends that can run on linebackers,” linebacker David Bowens said. “People see that with our tight ends. That’s something we’re looking at and trying to fix. That’s not anything new. That’s just something we have to fix internally. We’ll have something for it.”
BACK ON TRACK
After wins in New England and Tennessee, the Jets felt unbeatable. Then, the Broncos showed them how wrong they were. Now, they must regroup and regain the confidence they had before last week.
“All we have to do is do what we have done up to this point,” Brett Favre said. “It was not our best football [against Denver]. We have proven that in the previous five games how well we had played. Now people have kind of come to expect that out of us. We need to expect that out of ourselves, as I think we do, and expect a team to give us their best. All of a sudden now, people say, “Hey, the Jets are pretty good, we have to play pretty good to beat them and let’s knock them off.’ Kind of like us going to play Tennessee. We are going to get their best, so we have to play our best. We are not good enough yet to think that we can play average and get away with it.”
UNDER PRESSURE
The Jets defensive backs have taken a beating for the team’s weak pass defense, but the bigger culprit has been the non-existent pass rush. After getting 29 sacks in their first eight games, they have had six in the last four. The Jets have to hope Shaun Ellis, who leads the team with seven sacks, will not be distracted by his marijuana arrest last weekend.
The 49ers are one of the worst teams in the league at protecting the quarterback, giving up 43 this season. The Jets have to find a way to get in Hill’s face to disrupt Martz’s offense.
STRIKE FIRST
During the five-game winning streak, the Jets scored on their opening drive in every game. Last week, they went three and out.
It would send a message if the Jets marched down the field on their opening drive to the 49ers and to themselves. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer needs to cook something up to put San Francisco on its heels.
FOE FACT
Hill has seen significant time in just eight games in his seven-year career. But he has been incredibly efficient, with a passer rating of more than 100 in five of them.
COSTELLO’S CALL
Last week was the dose
of reality the Jets needed.
They get back to doing what made them successful during the five-game streak, but the 49ers will not just roll over. The Jets win a defensive battle.
JETS 20, 49ERS 14