Rex Ryan’s Jets (2–0) will travel to Oakland (1–1) to face the Raiders Sunday afternoon for another inter-conference match-up following last week’s prompt dismissal of the AFC South Jaguars.
The week three meeting will be the first time these two have squared off since the Jets pasted the Silver and Black 38–0 nearly two years ago again in Oakland, on the strength of 316 New York rushing yards and four Oakland turnovers, including a pair of interceptions by their defensive backs, coached by Dennis Thurman.
Off the gridiron though, these two conference rivals made headlines last January when the Raiders claimed the Jets denied them a chance to interview the aforementioned Thurman for their defensive coordinator vacancy. Said Ryan Wednesday of the normally-just-a-formality policy, “I love Dennis like a brother, but I’d keep my brother too, and that’s just the way it is. We don’t have an open door policy, and just come and take any coach you want.”
What they also want is to play with their injured Pro-Bowl-caliber center (high ankle sprain), Nick Mangold, but Ryan seems very doubtful that the six-year veteran’s streak of 82 straight starts will continue. Said Rex about the Ohio State alumni’s odds of playing, “I’ll never say never, but I don’t see it happening this week.”
The replacement for the two-time first-team All-Pro center is still slated to be undrafted rookie free agent Colin Baxter. Baxter subbed for Mangold on Sunday and despite having just two and a half weeks under his belt, the 24-year-old out of Arizona seems to be Ryan’s preferred choice; “There’s nothing prohibiting us from moving Matt (Slauson) to center and Vlad (Ducasse) to guard because they do have more experience. That’s certainly a possibility. But right now if Nick can’t go, our first option would be to put Baxter in there. Again, I think the young man is just going to get better and better.”
What else could be better for the Jets’ wideouts is the fact that Oakland still employs a man-to-man defense in their Nnamdi Asomugha-less secondary. The All-Pro corner’s departure takes a significant bite out of the effectiveness of their bread and butter strategy and at the very least should afford more opportunities for Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress than did Jacksonville’s constant double-teaming on Sunday.
Conversely Dustin Keller’s targets may be lessened as a result as defenses are quickly finding out that there are few weak spots in Schottenheimer’s suddenly proficient passing offense.
The week three meeting will be the first time these two have squared off since the Jets pasted the Silver and Black 38–0 nearly two years ago again in Oakland, on the strength of 316 New York rushing yards and four Oakland turnovers, including a pair of interceptions by their defensive backs, coached by Dennis Thurman.
Off the gridiron though, these two conference rivals made headlines last January when the Raiders claimed the Jets denied them a chance to interview the aforementioned Thurman for their defensive coordinator vacancy. Said Ryan Wednesday of the normally-just-a-formality policy, “I love Dennis like a brother, but I’d keep my brother too, and that’s just the way it is. We don’t have an open door policy, and just come and take any coach you want.”
What they also want is to play with their injured Pro-Bowl-caliber center (high ankle sprain), Nick Mangold, but Ryan seems very doubtful that the six-year veteran’s streak of 82 straight starts will continue. Said Rex about the Ohio State alumni’s odds of playing, “I’ll never say never, but I don’t see it happening this week.”
The replacement for the two-time first-team All-Pro center is still slated to be undrafted rookie free agent Colin Baxter. Baxter subbed for Mangold on Sunday and despite having just two and a half weeks under his belt, the 24-year-old out of Arizona seems to be Ryan’s preferred choice; “There’s nothing prohibiting us from moving Matt (Slauson) to center and Vlad (Ducasse) to guard because they do have more experience. That’s certainly a possibility. But right now if Nick can’t go, our first option would be to put Baxter in there. Again, I think the young man is just going to get better and better.”
What else could be better for the Jets’ wideouts is the fact that Oakland still employs a man-to-man defense in their Nnamdi Asomugha-less secondary. The All-Pro corner’s departure takes a significant bite out of the effectiveness of their bread and butter strategy and at the very least should afford more opportunities for Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Burress than did Jacksonville’s constant double-teaming on Sunday.
Conversely Dustin Keller’s targets may be lessened as a result as defenses are quickly finding out that there are few weak spots in Schottenheimer’s suddenly proficient passing offense.
Meanwhile, their still-disappointing ground game has as good of chance as any to become untracked against Oakland’s currently NFL-worst 7.1 yards-per-carry run defense. Though statistics are a little unstable after just two games it’s worth noting that Al Davis’s franchise was ranked a lowly 23rd (out of 32 teams) in the same category last year and 20th in opponent’s passer-rating defense, despite Asomugha’s presence on one side. This, compared to the Jets’ stellar third and sixth place finishes respectively, making the decision to hold on to Thurman a no-brainer.
