The Chad Pennington Podcast

good football team? Where hey, a lot of things went against them early, a number of penalties, Randy Ballock the new kicker, he struggled, missed extra point and a field goal, and the Cowboys had success running against the Jets at times darrenm fed and goes for over a hundred yards. And with all that being said, the Jets found a way to win in the fourth quarter. I think if your cup is half full, that's certainly the way to

look at the game. If your cup is half empty, there's certainly a lot of things that are concerns that you want to get corrected. Moving into New England, my impressions of the game, um was that as a player, you get on the plane going while we want and we feel good about that, but we do not feel very good about how we want and how we played. And I think when you're looking at a team that you know it was on another quarterback hat four interceptions

um and was just struggling. Uh. From the Jets perspective, they didn't do what they needed to do to put the team away and to have a convincing victory. Now, with that being said, you walk away as a victory, which is a great feeling. Now you're moving into this week, and maybe this is a good thing for the team moving into this week with a little bit of edge almost coming off of that game feeling like, you know what, we didn't play very well, almost felt like a loss.

We've got to get some things corrected, and it gets our attention moving into the New England week. What do you think about Ryan Fitzpatrick's performance again when the game was on the line, he got the Jets in position

to win. I certainly think, you know, the that's part of the game was the last part of the game, because when the team needed to uh put their foot down and focus in and come away with points in the victory, they were able to do that, and they made some big plays and Ryan certainly at the forefront

of those big plays being made. And so that was the biggest positive out of it, was that through all the adversity and through the struggles in the game, They're able to put that behind them on the road in the fourth quarter and come up with ten major points, uh, to be able to come away with the win. What's the mindset you think this week? Now? The Jets host the New England Patriots, and Todd Bulls set it here early. He set the tone early said, it's a big game

because we have to win. It's not a big game because it's the Patriots. I completely agree, it's a big game because of the situation that they're in. UH. Certainly doesn't have anything to do with the opponent. From a fans perspective, it makes it even a little bit juicy here because of the opponent. But from the team's respective it's a big game because of the situation and the fight that they are in. Uh in the playoff run

and so UH. What I expected Jets to really take a hard look at this week based upon last week's performance is the the play of the offensive line in the trenches and how they need to protect the quarterback better.

I thought that the Cowboys got a solid pass rush on Ryan Fitzpatrick, did some things to make him uncomfortable, make him move around, pull the ball down that can't happen this week, and it's gonna be a tough task because you're playing a Patriots team that's number one in facts and they're built differently Defensively, This Patriots team is compared to years in the past where they've had big, solid linebackers, didn't move well in space, they stopped to

run really well. This team moves really well in space and they have speed at these positions, and so this is going to be quite the task and challenged for the Jets offense. So how do you think Jean Gaily attacks this matchup? We know what happened in the first meeting. The Jets played a tough ball game, ultimately lost thirty to twenty three, and we set at the time no

moral victories. But from an offensive perspective, the Patriots went out of their way to take Brandon Marshall out of the ball game, double teaming him in a big time way. And then also Chris Ivory. They stacked the box as we anticipated, and he got seventeen carries and managed forty one yards in that matchup. Well, you're exactly right, Eric,

I think that number one. You have to go back and look at how the Patriots attacked the Jets in the first game, and that was certainly really obvious about a double teaming bracket coverage on Brandon Marshall. There was no disguising, no hiding what their plan was. It was to take fifteen out of the ball game. So what you have to do, I believe as an offense, you really gotta find ways for uh Decker and Power to

make big time plays in this game. When Brandon Marshall does get single coverage, you want to make a point to throw the ball his way. And when he gets double coverage, that means that Pal and Deck are gonna have single coverage. They need to be higher on the priority list when that happens, and you just kind of keep working those combos and building those plays to where when you do have the opportunity to throw it to Brandon, you do, But if they take it away, you've got

a great combination with the other two. I look forward to seeing how much empty no running backs in the backfield that the Jets use. I think that formation and those types of spread formations may play to their advantage, especially with how well below Poal was playing and what he's been able to do both running and catching his football. I mean, he's done an outstanding job and he is

certainly one of those players. Similar to how the Patriots have used their running back use Pal and space to UH to really create a lot of good yardage on the offensive side, how do you think the Patriots try to counter that if Chien does come out with a lot of empty formations five wides, four wides, those kind of sets on Sunday. I think one of the keys to this game is going to be in game adjustments

by both sides. There's going to be a chess match here to start in the first quarter to see how each team is playing on each side, and then really look for the end game adjustments second, third, and fourth quarters to see how they adjust to the different formations and the variations that each team gives itself. So UM, I think that the Patriots will they've got to take

away fifteen and they have take away Brandon Marshas. You can't let him beat you, And then you have to mix up your coverages and and things like that, UH to UH defend Decker and Pal. But the biggest way and the best way to defend the passing game is to get to the quarterback and any time that you've seen Tom Brady struggle or the New England Patriots struggle on offense, it's when the opponent has been able to get to him quickly. It's the same way with this

Jets offense. Can they get the rhyme Fitzpatrick and make him move around? Uh? To counteract that, one of the things that Jets can do is use the quarterback movement plays, the bootleg, the sprint out, the d play actions where he's moving the pocket and the and the throwing point is different from a typical drop back growing point. That's

the way you can counteract that. Is it important to get i'veory started or not necessarily because, like we've talked about before, you know what the Patriots want to do and they want to take away your balance. But with that being said, it seems like the Jets would be comfortable coming out and spreading the field and putting the

ball in Fitzpatrick's hands. Yeah. I think I think it's important maybe to think past to set up to run this game and to kind of almost flip your mindset and hopefully, uh, you're a successful in the passing game and the play action game, which then we'll set up Ivory later on in the game and let him wear on them and beat up on their him in the second half, and not just trying to come out and

established to run early. Because if that happens and you don't succeed in that, and now you give um tom Brady in the offense of the New England Patriots offense and more chances on the field, that doesn't bode well for the Jets as a team. So I think it's going to have to be a mixture, but I think it may be more of a set up the pass first and then work to run second. Do you think the Jets are a better team right now than the one that went to New England and late October? I

think they are. I think they have found their stride. I don't think they were completely in their stride so to speak, when they went to New England earlier in the year. I think they're a better team, They're more complete team. I think that these uh last few games has allowed certain players on each side of the ball to come to the forefront and show their value. Calvin Pryor showing his value. Um, you look on the Leonard

Williams showing his value. You look on the offensive side of noon Law being able to make a few plays, bilal Powe really coming to the forefront making play. So they've been able to become a more complete team since that first matchup. Give me a magic number? How many points do the Jets have to score? In your mind to win this ball game? I think this is a

thirty point game, no doubt about it. I think the team who scores thirty win, whether it be a thirty to twenty four or thirty to thirty to twenty seven tight game. I think that magic number is somewhere around the thirty point mark. All right, I asked you this all the time. We talked about it off there on their audio slow down Brady and Company. And he continues to win despite being decimated by injuries. What a season. He's at thirty five touchdown passes, six interceptions each and

every week they're putting up number. Rob Gronkowski is still a little bit banged up, sixty six sketches, eleven touchdowns. But the Patriots could be without Danny Amendola was their second leading receiver. We don't expect Julian edelt want to be in the lineup. We know Dion Lewis has gone out of the lineup for some time, and you know you have to go all the way down and look at a guy like James White to say that's your

fifth leading receiver. But Brady's still getting it done with who overs out there on the field and guys like Brandon lafallon outside as well. Yeah, I think it starts with Gronkowski. I think the Jets really have to focus on Gronkowski similar to how Patriots are going to focus on Marshall. Uh, that's the guy. It's the guy, regardless if if everybody's healthy or not. Gronk is the guy. It centers around him and the matchups, the physicality that

he creates, the big playability he creates. He is the guy. The Jets have to force James, why, Brandon las Fail, Brandon Bolden, other players to win the game that they cannot allow Gronk to control the game. Secondly, and probably more important than Gronk is the pressure on Brady and can the Jets be able to get used four and five pass rushers to get the Brady fast create some schemes where a guy comes free. Uh, Buffalo had success

with that. Other teams have had success. Pittsburgh had a little bit of success earlier in the year creating getting guys free to Brady moving him off his spot. That as the two keys for the Jets defense. And then the third thing I think be interesting to see how do they use Derell Reevis in this mindset? Do they um putting him on the second or third receiver and use more double teams on Gronk with a safety in the linebacker or there, you know, another corner to create

matchups that way? Do they use some more zones? Uh that could be uh, you know, something that could uh affect them as well. So be interesting to see how the Jets use those matchups. It wouldn't be crazy talk to put reevus Gronk a little bit and Brackett with the Calvin Prior wouldn't be crazy at all. Um, But I don't think you could major in that, you know. I think you've got to be able to mix it up. So it's gonna be interesting to see and we may

see some end game adjustment. We may see, Hey, we're going into the game as a Jets defense with this mindset. We've got two or seet three things that we have in our back pocket if that first mindset doesn't work and doesn't play to our advantage. So uh, the end game adjustments is gonna be really interesting to see what happened in the second, third, and fourth quarters. Well, you said it, the Jets have to get to Brady, But

how do you get to him. I don't even care what's happening up front from their line perspective, because he still merches on. He's been sacked thirty four times this season. But the ball comes out so quick, as you know, and don't you anticipate that the Patriots come out with a lot of spread. Look uh, spread looks themselves where they're gonna try to stretch the Jets out and not sit there in the box. Remember that first game, Brady, who was the leading rusher with fifteen yards. They didn't

even try to run the football. Well, the great thing about the Patriots system, they don't believe in just doing what we do mentality and you have to stop us. They believe in every week is a specific game plan for that specific team, and if it calls for throwing the ball fifty times and not running it, they're okay with that. They're not interested in balance or any of those statistical things that we get caught up in. They're interested in what is going what it's going to take

to win the football game. So I certainly would imagine that the Patriots use the spread formations and use the empty packages, use the quick passing game UM and and being able to get matchups against the Jet linebackers. So you may have to see more Nickel and dimes schemes from the Jets defense with five and six defensive back to be able to UH to stand those spreads formations

and have the right matchups to cover the passing game. Yeah, Nichols really the Jet space if you think about if he's buster screens on the field so much, and then like you're saying, you can throw out dime and dependent on the package, you could have Marcus Williams out there, who has been a tremendous this season, continues to be a ball hawk. He's leading the team with six interceptions. You mentioned it before, the Jets had four interceptions early

UH last week. He gainst the Cowboys, but Brady doesn't turn it over. How frustrating you think that can that be for a defense? And how much patience do you gotta have when you play against him, because even if he's off most of the time, you're never gonna find a ballgame where he's turning over two or three times. Right, So what that means is you're tackling has to be tremendous, and you know that he's going to make accurate throws. You're gonna take away that big play capability with his

accuracy and limit him to making his underneath throws. And when he does make those underneath throws, we've got to have short tackling as a defense. That's what the Jets are thinking. You've got to be able to tackle in space and limit those yards after catch. If you do that,

I think that plays to your advantage. I mentioned prior before, how good do you think he's buying in a second season, because I don't think a lot of people realize that stretch when the Jets did it really struggle for the only time in two thousand and fifteen, he went out against the Patriots and we saw what gronkowski, the damage he did late and the Jets after that game that started a one and four slide where they want to five and five before recovering. But that defense looks a

lot different to me on the field. Well, it does. And I think what I've been impressed with the most is his maturation process from year one to year two. I think he had such a big expectations placed upon him as a rookie and that's very difficult to handle.

And so he's been able to come back this year and just you can just see the confidence that he's playing with um the level of knowledge that he has compared to year one, and being able to use that knowledge to his advantage, along with his physicality and how he plays the game. And so it's been nice to see. I mean, this has been a great year for him. He is playing aggressive, he's playing with confidence, and he's

making play. When you look at the FC right now, three teams nine O five, the Jets, the Steelers, and the Kansas City Chiefs, and do you think these teams, all three of these teams could finish eleven and five? Where do you see potentially a loss in there? Because you around, you played this game, You've watched this game for so many years, Chad, is that the chances of And let's put Denver in there as well, because Denver,

now with four losses, could slip back. I can't imagine all these teams are gonna finish eleven and five no matter who they're playing. Well, the statistics say no, but um, it would not surprise me Eric if it did happen, which really does not mode well for the Jets, but it would not surprise me. When you look at Kansas City schedule, I think people feel like they should finish eleven or five. Pittsburgh offensively, UH is extremely on fire

right now. They can play with anybody, outscore anybody, And to be honest with you, it's it's you have three teams fighting for these two wild card spots that maybe three of the hottest teams in the league period and they're all vying in the same conference for two spots. Um, So it certainly makes for great drama. But it can certainly happen. I have seen it obviously with two eleven and five teams, but with three would certainly UH be something that hasn't I don't even know if it's been

done before. All Right, so here's the schedule right now, Let's go through through Kansas City. UH. Cleveland is in Kansas City this weekend, and then Casey stays at home and they have a tremendous home field advantage there and they faced the Raiders in weeks seventeen. I can see the Silver and Black given them a running weeks seventeen, but it's probably gonna be difficult to go in there if the playoffs are on the line and beat a Chiefs team who's won eight games in a row right now.

If they beat the Bronze this week, that's nine right. I think the game to watch four of the week seventeen Oakland Kansas City. That's gonna be there tough as I don't see the brown being able to uh force enough effort and production to be able to beat Kansas City in Kansas City. Yeah, and then you look at

the Steelers. They're at Baltimore this week, and while it's been really a disappointing season for the Ravens, and then they're at Cleveland divisional matchup, and maybe the Browns can provide some spunk, but they're gonna be heavily favorite in both of those games. Don't you think Pittsburgh has a similar road that Kansas City does? I think, um, I don't think that Baltimore has enough firepower to be able

to keep up with the Steelers offense. And I think you know Baltimore's defense is not the defensive old I think both Steelers get that win in Baltimore, and and you know, it would certainly take a tremendous effort by the Browns to be able to beat uh, the Steelers.

But I've seen crazier things happen. If you remember in two thousand, when the Jets are trying to make a playoff run, and Buffalo came in at about two and thirteen or two and twelve and week fourteen or fifteen and and stole a victory in the Meadowland to help knock the Jets out of playoffs. Contitchen, I mean, that was one of those one of those times. So crazier things have certainly happened before. All Right, So here's the final team who is in the mix right now. They

are the a f C West leaders. But that was a devastating loss for the Broncos in Pittsburgh, a seventeen point lead over the Steelers. Dont Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown and company got hot and they just could not stop them in the second half. So now you have a Denver Broncos team who's tenant four and they host Cincinnati on Monday Night, and then they host the San Diego Chargers in week seventeen. This Monday night matchup could be

huge for the Jets if they went out. Todd Bawls has his team focused on the Patriots, but I'm just saying from a fans perspective, that's what we're looking at

the sc landscape right now. Just from a as perspective, if Cincinnati went into Denver and one on Monday Night, the Jets would hold a tiebreaker over the Broncos, and that would mean the Chiefs would go into first place in the f C West if they win, and if they lose, they'd have more losses than the Jets anyway, So this Denver match up against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night could be huge for a Jets fan if the Jets take care of business on Monday. On Sunday,

no question, two things. I think the Jets certainly have the toughest road um because they have to play the division leader and the best team of football at home, and then they have to go to Buffalo, which is extremely difficult to play late in the season or any time for that fact. And then uh so that's that's

Number one. And then number two, the smoothest or the best road for the Jets to get in would be to win out and never mess it up, because they certainly have the toughest schedule out of those three teams that we're talking about, and you know, they're dealing with some quarterback issues with with Peyton's injury and and then uh, you know, and but then again, Cincinnati's also dealing with with a quarterback issue as well, So it's going to be interesting. But I think that would be the way

for the Jet to get in. If never stubbs, it's toe, Jets continue to win and then Kansas City becomes the division winner in the act. Yeah, and I don't know, I know you're not breaking down those teams films, but how do you think Cincinnati does match up with Denver? To me, that's a fascinating ball game because both sides of the ball one day night are gonna have a lot of talent on the field. I was impressed with Denver early. They just couldn't sustain it and offensively got nothing,

nothing in the second half against Pittsburgh. But you know, like you're saying a J. McCarron, brock Swidler Cincinnati is gonna have a lot to play for because they're sitting there with three losses. Of course they want to first round by so there's plenty of steak in that ball game. Conversely, if Dunver wins, they could be aligned for first round by no question that that may be the game of the week, um, no question about it. With the Jets

Patriots being right there in a close second. And when you look at it, Cincinnati, um where they're a little bit I think they're a little bit stronger defensively than

Pittsburgh's defense. Um. But where Pittsburgh had success in the second half of that game against the Broncos was with his pass rush and being able to get to bronck Oswalder and shut down the running game and really move make him move around and make plays, not allow his big six six s frame to just sit in the pocket and dissect you where in the first half they couldn't get to him at all. So they were really efficient. So it needs to be a great defensive effort from Cincinnati.

And then you're looking at two backup quarterbacks that are being asked to manage the game properly. Hit the open guys, allow the running games to come to fruition. So it's going to be one of those chess matches, and it should be one of those games. Is going to come down to the fourth quarter bar in any crazy special teams plays or or turnovers, and which backup quarterback and lead his team to victory. Well, let's hope that means something for the Jets. Now fast forward again back to

MetLife Stadium. What do you anticipate from the Jets fans this week? Their team comes home on a four game win streak, the Patriots are in town. Usually that means a little bit of a different feel. But I said it last night on the radio that it doesn't matter who the Jets are playing this week, whether it's the Tennessee Titans, of Miami Dolphins, the San Diego Charges, Oakland Raiders, they just gotta win. Well, I hope that Jeff fans and I know that they will. They should be extremely

fired up for this game. They should be extremely raucous. Uh. This is uh some of the most excitement that this organization has experienced since the OH nine in two thousands, ten years with the a f C championship runs. Uh, this reminds me of that run that we had in

two thousands two those last few weeks. Uh, you know, going in and not knowing exactly what could happen, but knowing you have a shot and experiencing that energy in that field that I've experienced as a player, that was really really special, one of the best moments of my career. And I expected to be the same uh this week with Jet fans and MetLife Stadium, because this is one of those special moments, a fan appreciation day. Uh. The team is giving out white rally tiles. I anticipate the

place will be packed. It's gonna be a great atmosphere. All right, Well, I gotta wish you'd marry Christmas. This is your podcast. What do you and your family have planned over uh this week? Well, for my wife and I, it's certainly uh one of those weeks and and a few of those days that is action packed and trying to see both sides of the family as well as

making sure that kids have a great Christmas morning. But we always enjoy it because we enjoy seeing the smiles and the grins and the the excitement on our kids faces and be able to hopefully relax and catch a Jet win on Sunday and and maybe even a Marshall Bowl win on Saturday. So it should be a great weekend for family, a great weekend for football. I'm excited for the Jets team and this is what you play for,

and I think it should be. It's one of those games that's really important for the organization to beat the Patriots and to really having a statement win. It's one of those games that could really uh, you know, regardless of what happens with the rest of the year, this game, I think is an important win for Jet fans, important game for Jet fans as well as the organization as

a whole moving forward. All right, well, we wish you Robin and the boys, and merry Christmas, and hopefully next week we'll get a chance to catch up once again after Jets win and possibly a little bit of help, so maybe they'll control their own destiny. Heading to Buffalo in week seventeen is gonna be fascinating. Also, Partner, you have to study the big balls because we're gonna look at the New Year's Eve Eve showdowns, uh Michigan State

Alabama next week. We're gonna go over that real quick as well as clumbson in Oklahoma, and I might throw in a couple of other bulls, and myself and you are gonna give our Bowl predictions, and then we'll break down everything as we had into the National Football League's final regular season week. Nice. I like the homework. I have got homework up for Christmas. I like you think all right, yead take care maker A fun