The Chad Pennington Podcast (12.31.15)

much of a chance, including ourselves. We felt like right there around that time that they were defending and not on an up trend. But I think both you and I looked at the schedule early in the year and felt like they did have a chance to win ten games, and they have done that, and on top of that, they've got a chance to win in the eleventh game and control their own destiny. And so that's really exciting

for Jet fans. I know, it's excited. Fighting for the players has got to be exciting for players like Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brandon Marshall who haven't ever played in the postseason.

The Coast postseason play is certainly special, and so for this team to have that chance, UH is a great accomplishment, and he would like to see them finish the course and stay the course that they've been on and finished the deal here by being able to go up to Buffalo, which will be a huge game not only the Jets, but for Buffalo as well, fighting for record tough game playing in Buffalo, So it's going to be an interesting day.

A lot of these guys chaid this week said we felt like there was something special happening or we had something special here. Earlier in the year, the veterans talking about just looking at the talent in the room and also the young talent. Could you see it? And what's that feeling like as a player when you know you're building towards something and that it just starts picking up. Well,

there's no feeling like it. I think that's what draws us as players and coaches to this game, is when you're able to take a collective group of individuals and forwards a team and you start to feel the synergy, you start to feel the momentum, you feel, uh, the ability to play off of one another and to play complimentary football and to just be all in. Uh, it's a special feeling. I felt that a couple of times in my career, and uh, it's something that you really

can't explain. Sometimes you can't put your finger on it. It's just something that has happened that has been a product of your hard work, your attitude, UM, your willingness to make sacrifices. And once you start to put those wins together and develop that momentum and energy, it's very hard to stop. Do you think something changed with this team with that Giants game twenty to time, They make the fourth quarter comeback, eventually finished that out in overtime.

This Calvin Pace, your former teammate, said that was our springboard. He thought, I agree, and and the reason that I agree, um, is because of the way they were able to do it. There was no situation where the panic button was pushed. Um. It was a team that stayed the course and twenty to ten with eight minutes left, Um, they stayed the course on what they're trying to get accomplished. They didn't worry about being down by ten points and looking at

what such a difficult task it was. They just kept chipping away and they get the field goal and then they get to stop and then gone down to score to tied up. And that was a huge momentum builder, not only for that game, but You can talk about the results that you want to produce and how you go about that, but you also have to have proof

and a lot of times experience Trump's knowledge. And so when you have that experience of your system and the way you do things of producing that result, that experienced gives you the confidence to go back out and do it again. And even though you may have the knowledge on how to do it, that experience really puts the cap on Okay, this is who we are, this is

our identity, this is how we're going to win. And I think that's what the Jets have been able to build over the course of this season and really go through this process of establishing who they are as a team. So that leads us to last Sunday. They taked out in the New England Patriots all over time by a twenty six to score. But the Jets had a two touchdown advantage in the second half and the Patriots came back showing model, showing character. That's what we expect from

the defending Super Bowl champion. A team was dominated this division over the course of the last fifth teen years or so. But what will that overtime possession due now for the Jets moving forward as they have another moment to build off of where Ryan Fitzpatrick gets the ball Chad and he goes five place eight yards culminates the possession not just with the field goal, but he ends it with a touchdown. Derek Decker, Well, I think what

was most important and most impressive about this game. Typically when teams play the Patriots, including the Jet Um, you lose before you even take the field because you give them too much credit and you look at what they've done over the years, you look at the hype around their team, their quarterback, their head coach, of the Patriot way, and you lose before you even step in between the white lines and give yourself a chance to win. And this was a team, let's let's look at this game.

There's no doubt that this was a wounded animal in the New England Patriots. But with that being said, a lot of times teams still lose to the Patriots even when they're wounded like this, because they give into the Patriot way and thinking that, well, this way is going to prevail and we're just not up to that yet, and we're not up to that standard. And the Jets had an opportunity to give in to that being up by two touchdowns, allowing the game to be tied going

into overtime. Having the quirky decision of kicking instead of receiving, the Jets could have fallen into believing, now, oh, this is the Patriots, this is how they're going to do it, this is their spe for success. We don't have a shot. And they didn't do that. Even with the adversity that they faced, they didn't do that. And they did exactly what you're supposed to do with the team that is, that has heard, that is injured, that isn't you put

them away? And that's exactly what they did. They took that decision that the Patriots made to kick, and they took the ball and then went down to score and put the team away with the touch out. And that was most impressive for me. Straight up. Do you think a lot of people have made too much about New England's decisions and not given the Jets enough credit. I talked to a few folks on the radio the other night.

I received a call on Inside the Jets where people said it was bizarre the way Belichick coached the game, that hey, you know, at the end of the half, they didn't go forward at before overtime. After the coin toss, obviously they all luck to kick. They had some guys out of that ball game. And I said, Jed, who am I to question Bill belichicker any of us. That guy has won four championships, They've been to the Super

Bowl six times. This guy wants to win everything he does, so whatever decision he makes he thinks is best for his ball club. The bottom line is the Jets don't win that game if they don't execute well. I completely agree. And here's what we have to understand. You have to go into each game as a coach looking at what you have available from a player's standpoint, and then with those players that you have available, how do you go about winning the game. And typically that doesn't that may

not go along with how you've won previous games. And so the Patriots went into this game knowing they are injured, knowing that they had limited playmakers, and so they were trying to play this game as close to the best as possible, making sure they did not lose the game to the Jet number one. And let's see if the Jets will lose the game to us, knowing that we're wounded and we don't have a lot of firepower, and

it almost worked. And so really they played the game exactly how they wanted to play it, and so you can't question uh their decision before half on what they did, or their you know, their decision at UH in overtime, and I think all of those decisions were specifically done for the specific reason of the injuries that they had and how they thought they needed to play the game to get a win. And so what they did was

it worked all the way up until over time. They made the decision to say, look, we're hurting on offense. We need to allow our defense to try to get us to feel position and then we can make a couple of plays to then allow are one of our best players on the team, which is our field goal kicker, to kick a field goal and get out of here with a win. That's what they tried to do. And you have to give the Jets credit and saying, you know what, this is the this is the way they

decided to play. We're not letting that happen. And that's exactly what happened. The Jets did not fall prey to allowing the decisions of the Patriots effect how they were going to try to win the game and they did not let that happen. How impressed were you by Chan Gaily because I'm watching that ballgame and we talked about it before. Uh. The second matchup, the return matchup between the Jets and the Patriots is, Hey, we know all the Patriots are gonna try to take Brandon Marshall away.

They didn't. Eight receptions, a hundred fifteen yards, two touchdowns, and Brandon is having an unbelievable season. With that being said, I thought Chan did a lot of clever things to get him some space. Well, I think what's really impressive right now and fun to watch from an offensive standpoint, is that you see offensive players completely in tune with

their coordinator. And that's when it's really special. It's when you trust the coordinator is going to put your teammates and yourself in the position to make plays, and you don't question that and you go along with what he's doing. And that's what is special right now. It's the Chan Gaily. As any coordinator will tell you, play calling is overrated. But what we have to do is the staff is make sure we're giving our playmakers a chance to make place and then the and then the players have to

go out and execute those plays. The quarterback is executing the plays, finding the guys in space, the receivers are making sure they're running crisp route and making those plays in space. And so it's been really fun to watch. I think the screen game it's something that is really unique to the Jets offense and how they every week find a way to allow these screens to create big plays for them, in explosive plays and plays that keep

drives moving. I mean that is an integral part of their offense, as well as their spread system with their empty UH formations and their three by one trips formations. They're doing a lot of good things there. And so as an offense there they have really found their groove. And that hasn't just been Sunday. That was four or five weeks back. We felt like that their offense started to find their groove and find out who they are,

and it's it's been it's been a collective effort. Look at the rushing attack, UH, the Jest didn't have just one rusher that carried the load. They had three guys that we're extremely productive in the running games to produce more than a hundred forty yards rushing, So it's completely been a collective effort. Ryan Fitzpatrick three touchdown passes now, He's got twenty nine on the season that ties many testoverty for the franchise mark. He also has a team

record eleven multi touchdown pass games. Uh. How would you evaluate Ryan as far as a quarterback on the whole, because I think people are starting to give him some credit out there nationally and the Jets are starting to get it and they're not complaining about people sleeping on us. That's not the way this team goes about their business. There's goal and work and foul uh Todd Bowls each

and every day. But fits Where would you put him as far as not like a quarterback ranking, but just how well is he playing as the Jets have made this postseason push right now? Well, I think from what I've seen in my experience being around him and he during his career, I think this is his most productive, most efficient and consistent season as a pro. And it's been fun to watch. Uh. He's enjoyed playing, you can tell it. Uh. He has a level of confidence about him.

Um that exudes from him in his body language. Uh. He's completely in tune with his coordinator and what he's doing the best is that he is just creating plays and some of the plays may not stick out in the stat but he has been making plays with his feet, uh, making plays by how he's delivered the football. He made a couple of throws on Sunday side arm finding different

ways to deliver the football to his playmakers. Uh. Finding other times where he just puts the ball up because he trusts the Brandon Marshall to go up and make a play. So there's a level of trust there that he's playing with a level of confidence that he's playing well. Um. That is really fun to watch. And I think this has been his most productive, inefficient season as a professional quarterback.

And you mentioned it before the offense firing at all cylinders, and you mentioned the contributions they got from three backs. Stephen Redley, a former Patriot, played very well. But how about the contributions on the outside Quincy and noon one now two weeks where he's made pivotal plays for this offense. I know a lot of people say, well, Quincy is just a blocker. Well, no, he can be effective in the past game as a receiver as well. And then

Kenbral Tompkins I think has stepped up. He made some plays, played with his hair on fire against the New England Patriots as well. So now we're starting to see balance throughout this offense. We talked about it earlier in the year. We wanted to see who the receivers would be outside of Marshall and Becker to make plays, and we talked about how that is really important to the success of the offense, just to create a little bit of breathing

room for your typical playmakers. And you've got to have those one or two plays by those third and fourth receivers that kind of just extend drives. They give you a little breathing room, they create some energy, they create a spark. Yes they're not to go to guy, but they're very pivotal in the overall success of the Jets offense. And you have seen that. We start to see Devin Smith do a little bit of that. Curly did some of that earlier in the year, and now you're seeing

Tompkins and the Noon Law do the same thing. And it's been impressive. And that's what you have to see. When I saw those plays being made early by Tompkins. I started to feel good about the Jets attack for the rest of the game because that creates another issue for defense to worry about. And I think with the noon Law, what we've been able to see is his ability to run after the catch. He's an impressive runner

once he gets the ball in his hand. He's not only physical, but he's fast, and so that creates another element that the Jets can use to their advantage. Twenty seven points a game, four hundred twenty three yards per game during this five game winning streak. On the other side of the ball, You'll take it anytime you give up thirteen points. What did you like most from the Jets defensive effort against the Patriots? The thing that stood out to meet Chad was this team is fantastic on

third down. Right now, they just held Tom Brady. I don't care who he was playing with. He's dangerous. He was one a tenant on third down against the Jets. Well, I think the most impressive part of it was that, other than the fourth of nine completion to Gronkowski, Uh,

you didn't see very many explosive plays and pivotal explosive plays. Um. They limited those explosive plays and they were able to get the Tom Brady get hit the ball out of his hand quickly, um, and just keep him uncomfortable all day. And so obviously we we saw an offense that is certainly struggling because of the injury factor and they don't have their typical playmakers at their disposal. But with that being said, the Jets did not allow that to happen

as well, and they still made Tom Brady uncomfortable. They used a mix of coverages this game. I saw more seven and eight man zone defenses and schemes and I've seen all year. And I think that was a great adjustment by the Jets staff um to you know, allow our the Jets defenders to cover in zones, not put Gronkowski in one on one situations and that and they were able to still get pass us for three and

four defenders, which was impressive. So they mixed it up as a defense, they made place when they had to and and it was a really good solid performance by the defense. All right. So very simply, what do they have to do to beat the Bills? You mentioned before that the Bills are gonna have professional pride seven and eight. Of course, they'd like to finish the season out on a winning note. They're banged up, though, Chad, you look at that lineup right now, it's a lot different than

the lineup who came here to MetLife Stadium. They're missing Gilmore in the secondary. He's a fantastic corner cornerback. Rookie Ronald Darby has had an incredible year. He might be out as well. Offensively, Sheney McCoy might be out. Charles Clay is definitely out, Kyle Kyle Williams has been out for a long time. Marcel Darius is questionable. They're hurting. This is a banged up ball club. What do the Jets have to do as they travel to Western New

York and try to stamp their ticket? Well, I think I think the mentality has to be the same mentality that we would have when I played for the Jets

when we would play the Miami Dolphins. We felt like that if we went and when we played the Miami Dolphins, if we did not give their defense opportunities to create explosive play through turnovers and tacks and negative plays, and we played it close to the vest, and we were very detailed and how we took care of the ball and we understood bil position that we would always come

out on top and eight tries. We were seven and one against the Dolphins with that mentality, and so I think that's the mentality that that the Jets take the Buffalo knowing that the Buffalo Bills will be energetic, they will be emotional, the crowd will be into it. Uh, you should have decent weather around thirty degrees or so, but no craziness with wind and rain and snow and

those types of things. So you should be okay with weather. Um, But the Jets go into this game going the only way that the Bills can beat us is if we lose to them to turnovers and penalties and mental eras. If we play that we were supposed to play and not turn them all over and not give up the big exposed to play on defense, the Jets will win this game. And I think that's the mentality that they have to have. Yeah, they should have a lot of

confidence going in this ball game. Now, Shady McCoy did rush for over a hundred yards against this defense, and again we don't know if he's gonna play this week, but this is the number one ranked rushing defense in the National Football League, and I gotta imagine Chad defensively, you just want to keep ty Rod in the pocket.

He's an athlete, he can hurt you, and I think he's made stops as far as progress this year, but still you want him in the pocket as your big guys hopefully set the edge and then on the outside. His favorite target is Samuel Watkins once a guy he's missing Charles Clay and Watkins is a big time receiver. But I imagine, uh, you know, Durrell Reeves is gonna

be with him most of the day. Well, I think, um implementing some zone coverages where you don't have those one on one matches because he still does a really good job and he made some plays in that first game one on one. Um that you want to incorporate some zone coverages where you have multiple defenders around him. You also may look at when you do have main coverage, you may bracket uh, Sammy Watkins with the safety in your second corner and let Drill take the second receiver

instead of the first option. UM that that's that's an issue. And then when your pass rush, you definitely want to be disciplined in the pass rush. It's not necessarily how do we get to him as fast, but how do we corral him in the pocket force him to be a pocket passer. I think that his weakness right now, Tyrod Taylor, would be his accuracy from the pocket on

a consistent basis. And so you wanted to force him to beat you if if they are going to with his arm and being accurate down in and down out on a consistent basis, which he has not been able to prove that he can do that yet. And you mentioned it before. On the other side of the ball, it's just don't make mistakes and do what you do because they're in such a great rhythm right now. Whereas the Bells. If you really want to point to a problem they've had this year, it's been the defense. It

hasn't been the offense. They've been able to run the football, uh, Tyrod Taylor has been able to get some explosive passing games, but defensively where they played good play very well on a couple of games. I think about that New England Monday Night game that the Bills lost a narrow contest, and then coming here they played awfully while against the Jets offense but by and large, this defense hasn't met their own expectations in Buffalo and it could be hurting

in the secondary and along that defensive line. So for the Jets, they just got to do what they do and don't turn it over because this Bill's team has not been getting to the quarterback and they might have a problem matching up with the Jets weapons right now. I think two things are are key for the Jets offense. Number One, I think uh it is keeping Fitzpatrick clean in the pocket. That's something that we didn't talk about in the New England game on Sunday. The pocket was

extremely clean throughout the whole game. Fitzpatrick was able to step up, make his reads, didn't have to move off of his spot very much. The pocket was extremely clean. The Patriots didn't get to him very much other than the one fumble. Other than that, he had a clean pocket to work from. That's that's the key number one against the Bill. Number two, I think it's key. I think the Jets struggled with getting off of the jam

and press against the Bills. The Bills did a really good job of that, especially in the red zone, of disrupting the route, timing and the route combinations by jaming at the lint of scrimmage in that first five yards and so working on your releases this week, making sure that you're able to get off of those jam and press type of coverage is I think will be important

for the Jets passing game. That's outstanding analysis. But that cloes to my point too, is that you know, Gilmore and Darby are one of the finer cornerback tandems in the National Football League. They might be missing both of them, So we'll see what happens. Hey, we will have plenty of time to talk about the postseason next week, but let me just ask you this one before we get there. How dangerous can this Jets team be if they in and they're in when you look at the FC landscape, well,

I think they'll be extremely dangerous. Number One, they can stop the run defensively, uh. That that is key in the postseason. Uh, and then too offensively. They have proven that they can win multiple ways. They can win with their running games, they can win with their downfield passing games. They can also win with their short screen game. They have multiple players that have proven they can make plays when their number is called. You can't just focus on

Brandon Marshall. You can't just focus on Chris Ivory. There have been multiple players to step up and make plays and create yards for them as an offense. So, uh, they're dangerous and they're capable of going on the road and winning on the road and being successful that way. So I think when you look at the a f C landscape, the Jets have just as good of chance as anybody, uh to make a deep run into the playoffs, and well, that would be something. And they plan on

taking care of business here Sunday. Uh, As you know, Todd Bowles told those guys, Hey, we're gonna keep our head head down and then we'll see where we are and we'll pick our head up at the down of the season. And I've always thought, Yead that eleven and five would get you there, and indeed it will get the Jets there. Who would have thought the Pittsburgh Steelers would have won on the road and lost to the Baltimore Ravens. But anything can happen in the National Football League.

The Jets just gotta be on point one more time and they'll extend their season into January and then it's gonna be fun. UH this we're taping right now here on Wednesday. On Thursday, the College Football Playoff commences with two games, Oklahoma playing Clemson. This is actually a rematch of a bowl game last year at Clemson ran rough shot all over Boomer Sooner. What do you think about this match up? Well, I think it's interesting and and the reason I think it's interesting now is with the

uh suspension of the three players. Even though Devo Swaine he wants to say that their backups. You look at the receiver that had had to go home early. He's been very productive over the last five or six games for the Clempson offense. And so I think it's a huge detriment, not necessarily, but it certainly causes a distraction. And UH as a team, you're trying to eliminate those distractions when you go into these playoffs type games. So it's gonna be interesting to see what happens with that.

I think that Oklahoma doesn't get blown out. UM. I think with their quarterback being an X factor and how they've been playing in the latter part of the season, they're going to be right there in the mix. But I think the X factor here is the Clemson quarterback um able to yep and Watson being able to make plays not only with his feet but with his arm, and he's the X factor, and I think that Oklahoma won't be able to overcome the ultimate X factor in Watson. Wow,

I'm going on the other side of the ball. I think Oklahoma is. People are sleeping on Oklahoma a little bit because they lost early in the year in the Red River War to Texas. I think obviously they have good team speed. They haven't faced a quarterback like Watson before, and he might be the most dynamic player in college football.

But if you can take away Clemson's tight end easier said than done, and try to contain him, I think Clemson is gonna have all sorts of problems defensively against this Oklahoma offense because they can run the football and you mentioned Baker Mayfield before, they can spread you out and throw the ball all day. I like Oklahoma in a high scoring game. It will be fun though. And finally, Alabama Michigan State, Mark D'Antonio Nick Saban have known each

other for very years. I saw somebody print today that, hey, it's Michigan State's three star recruits against Alabama's five star recruits. But d'An tonio. You know this, he loves playing that underdog role. I mean, this is a fascinating matchup, It really is. I think it's two teams that probably mirror each other and in their approach as a program as well as how they like to play on the field. When I look at it, I think from Michigan State, Uh,

the X factor has to be Connor Cook. I think they're built similar to say in L s U or one of those teams. But Michigan State has a better quarterback and so his ability to make plays with his arm is going to be really really important. The ability of the Michigan State receivers too, to beat the Alabama defenders in the secondary is the key. Uh. If if they're able to do that, they'll have a chance to win.

I don't think they will. I think that Alabama will be able to create pressure with their front floor, play coverage behind the front floor, control of the line of scrimmage. Uh. They went a close one by you know, three to five point margin. All right, Well, we wish you and your family a happy New year. Exciting times here with the Jets. We've enjoyed the podcast and hopefully next week

we're gonna have our own playoff installment. Is the Jets look to prepare for a wild card weekend showdown somewhere in Houston, Kansas City, Denver, or Cincinnati. Thanks you, thank you here