Originally posted by The Yngster
First of all I will admit that at the moment the Raiders are better than the Jets, and they outplayed them last Sunday. And you ask what difference having Pennington in the whole season will do? Well lets see, Jets with Vinny: 1-3, Jets with Pennington: 8-4.
Ok, that's true. They went 8-4 the rest of the season. TWO of those losses came against Oakland.
If coming back to make the playoffs from a 1-3 start is luck to you, than I want to know what you consider skill. Jets would have easily clinched the AFC East if Chad started the season.
Unfortunately, you're still only guessing and speculating. You simply don't know that. The Raiders developed the blueprint for how to shut Chad & the Jets down; what's to say that some other team wouldn't have figured it out earlier and the Jets wouldn't have rolled down the stretch? You just don't know that. The only thing you DO know (because it's a fact) is that the Jets made the playoffs thanks to Miami completely COLLAPSING against New England. Otherwise, this is a moot point.
And in the first game the Jets only lost by 6, and they did have a shot at a comeback (not a very good one, but still...). I also wouldn't call a team that won their first one game 41-0 a "pretender".
I would still call them lucky, and I would still call them pretenders. I mean, you're not actually saying that because the Jets crushed both Green Bay & Indy that they were that good, are you? Indy was perhaps the worst team to make the playoffs, and Green Bay was quite possibly the worst 12-4 team in the *history* of the NFL. Did you happen to check their division? Did you see their performance against Atlanta AT HOME, the vaunted Lambeau Field? The Jets were riding high and reading their own headlines.
Jets are still young, and I bet half the Raiders retire if they win the Super Bowl.
Actually, just how young are the Jets? Besides Abraham & Pennington, they're *not* that young. Moss is right now not a good WR, period. Coles is very good, but can he carry a team? No. Their OL is not good. Their DL is not good at all, and they're incredibly weak at LB and secondary. I think they'll be a good team, but don't book your travel to the SuperBowl next year just yet.
As for the Raiders mostly retiring, you clearly don't know the team like I do. It's completely true that they're way, way over the salaray cap and need to lose some of their high-priced stars, but they're certainly not too old. I assume you're talking about Rice, Brown, Romanowski, Gannon, R.Woodson, T.Armstrong and some others. Brown *will* almost definitely retire, as will most likely Trace Armstrong (who btw, missed 6 games this year and was hardly a factor). But R.Woodson, Gannon, Romo & Rice had stellar years. They certainly didn't look old to me. Did they to you?
Also, lets see what happens if we get these guys in Giants Stadium and outta that damn Black Hole (I'll admit you guys are a little frightening
, except for the idiots in the Darth Vader costumes).
This is what you're forgetting. For starters, the Jets under Herman Edwards have been much *better* on the road, and the Raiders just play their game. It doesn't matter if it's in the Black Hole, or Giants Stadium, or Invesco Field, or wherever. They play their game and that's it. Also, for the record, I suggest you go and check the Jets/Raiders series history. It's so one-sided it's laughable. People forget that before these past 3 years, which were all at Oakland, the Jets & Raiders played 3 straight at Giants Stadium. The Jets won 1 of the 3, and only because they blocked a FG for the game-winning TD (I was there, I should know). There haven't been many lopsided dominant series like the Jets and the Raiders in the NFL. As for having to play in Oakland 4 times in the past 2 years, all I can say is that the Jets have no one to blame but themselves. If they don't lose to Cleveland & Kansas City AT HOME WITH CHAD AS THE STARTING QB and don't lose to CHICAGO WITH CHAD AS THE STARTING QB, well, maybe they'd host a playoff game. As they say, you want homefield advantage? Win your games. 'Nuff said.
By the way, I dont want to start any serious arguements here, just some friendly football talk
Np, I kept it nice. Just don't put down my Raiders unless you've done your homework. I'm a DIEHARD fan of the team, and have been for 23 years. And this IS our year.
