Mangini starting to lose that genius moniker

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10/16/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It is easy to blame the New York Jets' pathetic 1-5 start on quarterback Chad Pennington. He has certainly done his part to bring this team back to the sub-mediocrity level their fan base has grown accustomed to for all these years, but at some point the coaching staff has to be taken to task as well.

Pundits around the league last year tripped over themselves in complimenting rookie head coach Eric Mangini's job with the team. People dubbed him the "Mangenius," and was even called such on an episode of the Sopranos.

In some circles people were comparing him to his mentor, Bill Belichick. If I was Belichick, I would have those people arrested for slander. Given the great human being he is, though, he has probably already looked into that.

The Jets suffered through another embarrassing loss on Sunday, falling to the equally woeful Philadelphia Eagles, 16-9, at the Meadowlands. Pennington was brutal, completing 11-of-21 passes for 128 years with an interception.

But it was the play-calling late in the game that cost the Jets this contest.

After taking over at their own 46 with 8:05 left in the game and trailing 16-9, the Jets offense marched down the field and had a 1st-and-10 at the Philadelphia 13 following a 14-yard Jerricho Cotchery reverse.

On first down, Thomas Jones went nine yards to the Philly four. Then on second down Jones was stopped for no gain. A Pennington quarterback sneak ended with the same result on third-down, setting up a crucial fourth-and-1 still from the Eagles four.

"We had a couple things that we use there," said Mangini. "The quarterback sneak had been very effective throughout the course of the game. We executed first downs on it. You always have that option. You look at what has been working percentage-wise and you go with it."

So the Jets ran a fade pattern on fourth down for Laveranues Coles, which was broken up by Sheldon Brown, pretty much ending the game there.

Why would they even make that call? Jones had rushed for 130 yards and was by far their best offensive player on the field that day. Why even have him if he can't bust it in from a yard?

"I don't call the plays," said Jones. "I'm not the offensive coordinator, I'm not the offensive coaches. I do what I'm asked to do. When my number is called, then I try to do my best."

Mangini's flaws, though, go deeper than just Sunday's decision-making late in the game. Why he sticks with this 3-4 defense is beyond me. He tried it, it is not working. He does not have the personnel to pull it off. Jonathan Vilma is his best player on defense, build the unit around him. Not to mention nose tackle Dewayne Robertson is absolutely lost in this scheme.

"What I owe them as a coach is to put them in the best possible position to be successful," Mangini added. "That's what we work at every single week, to put them in the best environment to be successful, to give them the best plan to be successful."

Unfortunately, Mangini is not practicing what he preaches right now.

DON'T EXPECT A QB CHANGE ANYTIME SOON

I asked last week what in the world Mangini was waiting for in pulling the plug on Pennington, who certainly did not help his cause any on Sunday. Well, his interception total was down, he only threw one this week. I guess that is progress.

"Whatever happens, happens," said Pennington. "That's why Coach Mangini is the coach and I'm the player. I prepare myself every week to play and play well and that is totally out of my control."

Mangini, though, has remained firmly behind Pennington, despite his obvious flaws.

"There's a lot of different areas that need to get better: interceptions, tackling, run fits, all those things, coaching, strategy," Mangini said. "All those things need to improve and we're all in this together. It's not a one- person issue."

Perhaps, though, there is something I am overlooking. Maybe Kellen Clemens just isn't all that good. Keep in mind he was bounced to third on the depth chart behind Marcus Tuiasosopo during the offseason OTA's.

At this rate, though, it is time to see what you have in him. Clemens was a second-round pick in 2006 and is being tabbed as the quarterback of the future. The time has come to move forward.

"It's a careful situation," said Clemens. "The team and I support Chad. He works hard and is a very good quarterback. Right now it is very important for this team to remain a team. One-and-five is not where anybody wants to be, but that is where we are and we have to make the most of it."

THE BEAST GOES OFF

As mentioned above, Jones had by far his best game as a Jet this week. After carrying the ball just 25 times combined over the past couple of weeks, "The Beast" shouldered the load when given the opportunity, carrying the rock 24 times for 5.4 yards-per-carry.

"We did some pretty good things in practice this week," said Jones. "The offensive line did a really good job today, coming of the ball, being aggressive. The tight ends did a great job coming off the ball. Coach Schottenheimer and the offensive coaches did a great job calling the right runs at the right time. I think we all just worked really well together today."

REMEMBER THE TITANS?

Only the Jets would choose to honor a team from their past that was part of one of the most embarrassing eras in franchise history. The Jets wore the navy blue and gold uniforms that the N.Y. Titans wore from 1960-1962

At the halftime ceremony, I am surprised nobody mentioned that the team was just 19-23 in those three years as the Titans, and that owner Harry Wismer bounced game-day checks on a regular basis.

UP NEXT: BRING ON THE BENGALS

The Jets travel to Cincinnati this week to face the equally woeful Cincinnati Bengals.

Gang Green leads the all-time regular season series with the Bengals, 12-6, and have claimed five consecutive victories over Cincinnati including a 31-24 home victory when the teams last met, in Week 1 of the 2004 season. New York also won the most recent game played between the clubs in the Queen City, a 31-14 victory in 1997.

New York also won the only postseason contest between the two, a 44-17 victory in a 1982 AFC First-Round Playoff.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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