Rather than a San Francisco 49ers-focused preview here, this entry is more of an injury report. Yesterday I wrote about Pete Kendall and Brandon Moore. Today, Santana Moss' name appears on the injury list for the Jets. Moss strained his hamstring late in the third quarter of last week's game against the Bills on one of his best punt returns of the year so far. He returned to the game for one play, then we didn't see him again. Moss is listed as questionable for the 49ers game. The Jets should be able to beat the 49ers even if Moss doesn't play. My fantasy team, unfortunately, I can not say the same for.

The good news for the Jets on the injury front is bad news for San Francisco. I mentioned before, Julian Peterson is out for the year. Now it appears the 49ers' leading receiver so far this season, tight end Eric Johnson, won't play on Sunday because of broken ribs. That makes a thin team even thinner.

One last football note - Mark, you'll get your wish this week. The Daily News reports that Herman Edwards will give plenty of playing time to LaMont Jordan this week. No word on why he decided now is the time to do it, and it remains to be seen whether or not it actually happens, because we've been hearing this for three years now.

Let's shift the focus to baseball for a minute, since 100% of my readers root for either the Red Sox or the Yankees. If I write something baseball on johnnymets.blogspot.com, I will direct your attention there. Being that I haven't written much football today, I'll just finish up here with a couple of baseball notes.

I'll mention this again before the post-season ends, but I have an obsession, which some of you know about. If I have no rooting interest in the post-season, I want the World Series to feature two teams who have never played each other before, so that eventually, every team will have faced every other possible team for the championship. (This doesn't just apply to baseball - it applies to every sport. And even when I do have a rooting interest, I root for a team to face my team that they've never faced before.) I hope I'm not confusing you. For example, we've had a good run in baseball and football the past few years:

Baseball: Yankees vs. Marlins, Angels vs. Giants, Yankees vs. Diamondbacks, Yankees vs. Mets.
Football: Patriots/Panthers, Raiders/Buccaneers, Rams/Patriots, etc..

The Yankees are by far the world leaders in this category. By my unofficial count, I think the Yanks need to play only the Expos, Brewers, Rockies, and Astros to complete the full set. So, needless to say, I am rooting for the Astros to win the NLCS, get to their first World Series, and set up a new matchup, no matter who wins the ALCS.

Speaking of the ALCS, I don't want to upset any of my loyal readers, but the Red Sox are absolutely cursed. If they didn't win in 2003, they're never going to do it. I maintain that. This year's curse appearance definitely has to be Schilling's ankle, in case you're looking for something to point to. I wish you Sox fans good luck...but I also offer my condolences.

It's late, I need to go to bed, but I need to write before I sleep. (I had to work tonight, and while I was passing the hours watching the Sox-Yankees, deciding whether or not I'd have to cut highlights of the game, I realized I should turn the johnnymets.blogspot.com site into a post-season blog. We'll see if that happens...if it does, it would start tomorrow night.)

Anyway, Wednesday is AFC East update day. First, though, a Jets update. The injuries to Pete Kendall and Brandon Moore appear to be more serious than first thought. Both are definitely out for Sunday's game against San Francisco, and both could miss more time. Kendall could miss 3-4 weeks. That's bad news.

OK. AFC East. So the Jets beat the Bills last week to drop them to 0-4, while the Patriots beat the Dolphins, to drop them to 0-5. Everyone knows both the Jets and Patriots are 4-0. First, a word about the Jets' schedule. Yes, it's been weak, but guess who else has had a weak schedule. Thaaaaat's right. The Pats. The Patriots barely beat the Colts in week 1, and the Colts are by far the best team New England has played. After the Indy game, the Pats beat Arizona, Buffalo and the Dolphins. The Jets also beat the Dolphins and Bills, and in weeks 1 and 2, beat Cincinnati and San Diego. So things have been about even between the two teams up until this point. Next week is where the schedules differ - the Pats have to play the 1-loss Seahawks, while the Jets play the 1-win 49ers. And then after that, the two teams play each other, and the talk about who is better can be put aside for another week or so.

I just looked something up that was quite disturbing. I thought that Jets-Pats game was on ESPN, but it's not - it's a 4pm game. Then I looked at the entire Jets schedule and realized the Jets don't have one Sunday night game - their only nationally televised (in prime time) game is November 1st, a Monday nighter against the Dolphins. That makes me mad. For so long, the Jets stunk, and they were never on Monday Night Football. Then the Jets got better, and they'd get at least one Monday nighter, maybe two if we were lucky, plus an ESPN game or two. Then the Jets go and have one bad year (where their quarterback was hurt - mind you, if he was healthy, last year wouldn't have been a bad year), and they're barely on in prime time at all the following season!??! I'm outraged. I'd write a letter if I wasn't so busy writing a blog that 3 people read.

Just to round out the AFC East, the Bills play the Dolphins next week. The Bills should win the game, because they're head and shoulders above Miami. Throw in the fact that Jay Fiedler and A.J. Feely are both hurt, and are both questionable for the game, and Miami's starting quarterback will most likely be Sage Rosenfels, and it adds up to Buffalo's first win of the season, and Miami to 0-6. But still, wouldn't it be awesome if they tied? I think so.

Tomorrow I'll try to slap together a preview of San Francisco. Or maybe my time would be better spent on johnnymets.blogspot.com. I'll let you know.

Let's get right to the mail, because we have an unfortunate situation here. I'm going to start with an e-mail from our own Mark in Florida, which somehow just appeared in my inbox this week, even though it's dated October 6th. You may remember I asked Mark to share his experience at Pro Player Stadium with us, since he attended the Jets-Dolphins game there last week. Well, I was wondering where his response was - turns out, it must have been stranded somewhere in cyberspace. Here's what Mark said:

"Like I said, I was at the game and it was hilarious. I would say there were at least 40% jet fans in the stands, but walking through the parking lot, it seemed like a lot more. It was great.
Some good fights in the stands. The Dolphins suck, and the Jets didn't play well, but you are right, a win is a win. And come December/January, all you need is about 10 wins give or take and you should be in the playoffs. In short, it does not matter how good or bad you look doing it.
Pennington did not look good, nor did the Jets receivers except for Chrebet. I will say it again, give lamont jordan the damn ball. I suggest the Jets go to a two running back set and keep the defense guessing a little. Lamont could be the king of the screen pass if Herm would give him the "green" light.
Mark"

Good pun. "Green" light. That sounds a lot like the atmosphere in Miami the past few years - more and more Jets fans - and when the Dolphins are winless, it doesn't help matters. Funny thing, Mark could have been talking about this past weekend's game - substituting Bills for Dolphins. The only difference is that Chad Pennington (aside from a couple of mistakes) looked better against the Bills than he did against the Dolphins. But the Jets receivers didn't look great, except for Chrebet, and LaMont Jordan was again a non-factor. I am not a huge fan of Jordan, personality-wise, but you're right, Mark, he would be a huge plus ripping off 60-yard screen passes for touchdowns every now and again. The only thing I'll say about his lack of playing time is perhaps he is being put in store for later in the season, this way the Jets will be pulling new plays out of their hats that we haven't seen (and neither have opposing defenses) all season. Just a guess...otherwise Jordan just really is in the doghouse, and we'll never be seeing him again outside of kick returns.

OK - back to the ol' Inbox - this e-mail actually traveled instantly, without a week's delay:

"Dear JohnnyJets,
As a Pats fan, I have to say I miss the era when the Jets could be
counted on to blow a game here or there.
Yesterday's a perfect example -- it would have been so easy to roll over after giving up 14 points
and the lead in the 4th quarter. What jumps out at you as different on this year's Jets team, so those types of mental errors aren't hampering the team?
Dave in Brighton."

Dave - good point. I think I forgot to mention this in the recap yesterday. The Jets reversed roles in Sunday's game. Usually, it's the Jets who rally to take a late lead, leaving time enough for the other team to have one last chance to score at the last second. The other team inevitably does, and it's the Jets who come up on the short end of the desperation pass. Sunday, of course, the Jets gave up the late touchdown, fell behind by a point, then came back down the field, kicked a field goal to take the lead back, then held off a drive by Buffalo in the final minute to win the game. And I've said it before, I'll say it again - the difference is Chad Pennington.

Vinny Testaverde is a good quarterback in many ways. But he's not very smart, which is a little surprising, considering he's in Bill Parcells' good graces - you wouldn't think Parcells would love an unintelligent player. But Testaverde didn't think quick when he was with the Jets. He was king of the "burn-a-timeout-with-11-minutes-to-go-in-the-first-quarter-because-you-can't-figure-out-which-audible-to-call". True, Testaverde led the Jets to his share of late comebacks, and the AFC Championship Game, but whenever Vinny was leading a late drive, he was always looking for help from the sideline. Now, I'm not saying that Pennington never looks to the sideline for help, but I think that's mostly to appease the coaches. Pennington could make things up as he goes if he has to, and I think he takes advantage of that from time to time. Pennington is also very, very smart. He was very nearly a Rhodes Scholar at Marshall. And he rarely makes a mistake on the field. That's why these past couple of weeks have been so surprising - Pennington hasn't played very smart football. But give him the ball with five minutes remaining and his team down by one, and Chad Pennington will take his team to victory nine times out of ten. (Maybe ten out of ten, I don't know.) That's what he did on Sunday - he's very cool under pressure, and makes smart decisions when it counts.

That's why Chad Pennington and Tom Brady are so similar. Brady has two Super Bowl championships to show for his intelligence, and hopefully Pennington is on his way to a first. We're kind of lucky to be seeing what we're seeing right now in the AFC East. Despite the fact that the Dolphins and the Bills are awful, the Jets and Patriots have two of the best quarterbacks in the league, and they're both young, and they're both not going anywhere for a long time. So the two, who are similar in so many ways (not the greatest arms, but they'll find a way to beat you; they're both very cool under pressure; and both very intelligent on the field) will be facing off for many years to come. (In one of those strange moments in life when you get a sign when you don't expect it, both my wife's Tom Brady bobblehead and my Chad Pennington bobblehead dolls are nodding in agreement as I type at the desk.)

So, Dave from Brighton, I think all that answers your question. Chad Pennington is the big reason, but also, it helps to have a guy like Herman Edwards on the sideline. Edwards is the type of guy who believes in his players, and I'm sure when the Bills took the 14-13 lead, he didn't get down on his guys - he probably built them up, and made them believe they'd be coming back. I love Herman Edwards. I should find a bobblehead of him.

In other news: Pete Kendall and Brandon Moore are both questionable, I think I saw today, for next Sunday's game against the 49ers. Hopefully their injuries are not too serious. The Jets are not very deep on the offensive line. They could probably get away with missing some key parts on Sunday, since San Francisco is not very good, and they lost one of their best defensive players for the rest of the season last weekend (Julian Peterson). But if these guys aren't healthy for the following week against the Patriots, that could be a big problem for the Jets....Just FYI (and for entertainment purposes only), the Jets are early 10-point favorites over the 49ers on Sunday. Yikes. I don't like that.

JETS 16, BILLS 14

When I read the New York Daily News this morning, and saw their preview predicting a Jets 16-13 win, I was thinking, what are you, crazy? Then I reviewed my pick, Jets, 28-17, and what I wrote on Thursday - that it would be a little closer than you might expect, but the Jets would still win comfortably. Well, it was A LOT closer than you might have expected...and the Jets won, but not comfortably. (Good prediction, Daily News.)

Again, the play-calling was way too conservative. There were a ton of opportunities in the game for the Jets to put the Bills away. Up 7-0 as halftime was approaching, the Jets had the ball at about the 15 yard line with 13 seconds left, and instead of taking a shot into the end zone to try to get a touchdown, the Jets let the clock run down, called timeout, then kicked a field goal to take a 10-0 lead into the half instead of 14-0. In the second half, the Jets had a couple of offensive series where they went three and out on a few running plays instead of spreading the field and jumping out to a bigger lead. That allowed the Bills to get back into the game.

Chad Pennington had a pretty good game statistically. Probably the quietest 300-yard passing game you'll see. He finished 31 of 42 for 304 yards. He threw 1 Touchdown and 1 interception, and the interception was not a smart play. Instead of taking a sack, Pennington tried to force a pass, which was picked off. (That INT led to the first Buffalo touchdown.) He did that again later in the game, but luckily completed the pass. This is the difference, though, between a Pennington-led Jets team, though, and any other Jets team. After the Jets fell behind 14-13, I felt they would be able to turn it on offensively, and come right back down the field to score and take the lead back. That's what they did. Pennington found everyone on the drive - Chrebet, Sowell, McCareins, and Becht (what a catch!) en route to Doug Brien's game-winning field goal. But again, this is something we've talked about, if the Jets can drive down the field at will when they need to win the game, they should be able to throw the ball a lot more earlier in the game to pad their lead a bit.

Curtis Martin rushed for just 77 yards - his lowest total so far on the year. Not a bad effort, though, considering the Bills' defense isn't too bad. The Bills, by the way, continue to hold the title of "Best Winless Team in the NFL". Another hard-luck loss for them.

The main reason the Jets won this game, though, was the defense. Jonathan Vilma again started at middle linebacker, and did another good job. He was involved in a lot of big plays. So was John Abraham. He's just getting better every week. I predicted two things for this game - the Jets would test the Bills deep on offense often (wrong on that count), and that the Jets would sack Drew Bledsoe a lot. They got him four times - and Abraham had 3 of those sacks. (Vilma had the other.) Abraham was constantly pressuring Bledose, and the 'D' knew just when to put pressure on him to force him to rush a pass. The only two touchdowns for the Bills came late in the game, which isn't good, but, seriously, the Jets should have been up by 24 points, not 13, when the Bills got those two TD's.

All that said, the Jets are 4-0. They're playing well enough to beat teams like the Dolphins, Bills, and 49ers, who they play next week. But the Jets have to work on a lot of things over the next couple of weeks if they want to be able to beat the Patriots on the 24th. They will not win that game unless they open up the offense more than they did on Sunday against Buffalo.

Tuesday's mail day - share your thoughts on Sunday's game, next Sunday's game, or anything else on your mind. Send your e-mails by Monday evening.

You may have noticed there was no Buffalo preview Thursday morning. My Buffalo fan didn't come through. Too bad. Hopefully we'll get something from him in time for the next game against the Bills.

The Jets have a score to settle with Buffalo. Hopefully they remember that come Sunday. Some of you may remember the massive e-mail I sent out last year prior to the Jets-Bills game (in Buffalo). It outlined the Jets' improbable, but quite possible, path to the playoffs. That path included the Jets winning all of their games - beginning with a win against Buffalo, in Buffalo. Chad Pennington proceeded to have one of his worst games as a pro, as part of what will go down as his worst season ever, and the Jets lost to Buffalo in a game they were never really able to get anything going.

Well, now it's the Bills' turn to try to stay alive (sadly for Buffalo, it's happening in Week 5 instead of Week 15), and the Jets can bury Buffalo. A win would improve the Jets to 4-0, and drop the Bills to 0-4. It would also help the Jets keep pace with the Patriots, who figure to beat the 0-4 Miami Dolphins this weekend in New England. And the for the Jets to bury the Bills, they need to stop Travis Henry.

Henry wasn't a major factor in last week's Bills game against the Patriots, but that game became more of a passers' game than running game. And Henry WILL be a factor this weekend, because he destroys the Jets. So if the Jets stop him, they'll win, because Drew Bledsoe can't beat the Jets. If the Jets can't stop Henry, watch out, because that's enough to help the Bills win.

Here are a couple of things working in the Jets' favor, though. Chad Pennington has been protected pretty well over the first few games. Last week, the Bills blitzed the Patriots on something like 29 of 50 pass plays. Tom Brady wasn't sacked once. So I'd expect more of the same this week against the Jets. The good news - I think the Jets can handle it. And even if Pennington has to get rid of some balls too early, I think the Jets' receivers will have a big day - the Bills are short two defensive backs this week - Lawyer Milloy and Troy Vincent. Santana Moss should burn Terrence McGee. (By the way - watch McGee on kick returns - he took one 98 yards against the Patriots last week. Actually, watch out for Nate Clements on punt returns too - he's explosive.) So I look for good things out of the Jets passing game, and Curtis Martin should be able to get 100 yards again, running a lot late in the game to help put things away.

Prediction: I'll go with the Jets, 28-17. A little closer than you might expect, but the Jets will still win comfortably.

So by taking the Jets to cover the 6-and-a-half point spread, I begin the week's picks. Last week I went 8-5-1 for the second consecutive week, and on the season I'm 33-25-2.

The aforementioned Patriots are favored by 12 and a half over the Dolphins. I think the Dolphins 'D' will keep this one fairly close, and that's a lot of points as it is. So I'll take Miami getting the points.

Pittsburgh is a 6-point favorite over Cleveland. Ben Roethlisberger is going to suffer his first defeat - I refuse the Steelers are this good. I don't care that Cleveland's on the road - I'm taking the Browns, getting 6.

The Colts are favored by 9 over the Raiders. This one's in Indy, and it shouldn't be very close at all. I'd take the Colts by more than 9.

The 4-0 (!) Falcons are home against the Lions. The Falcons are giving six and a half. I'll take the Falcons to keep it going another week. Why not. Falcons, giving six and a half.

New Orleans -3 over Tampa Bay. New Orleans is at home, so the fact this is such a small spread must be because of their running back situation. That's not enough to help Tampa. I take the Saints, giving 3.

The Cowboys are giving three and a half to the Giants. Like I've been saying, the Giants have been playing much better than I thought - I think they'll win in Dallas. I'll take the Giants, plus the points.

The Texans are home 'dogs, getting 4 from Minnesota. The Vikes are well-rested, coming off the bye week - they'll win by more than 4. I take Minnesota.

The Jaguars are 3-point favorites over the Chargers. This is a game where we'll see what the Jags are made of (if they're for real to be considered as a good team this year). This is a game the Jaguars should win, against a weaker team, and the Jaguars are coming off a tough loss. Despite the fact it's out west. I'm buying into the Jaguars this year...so I'll take Jacksonville, -3.

Denver, at home, giving five and a half to the Carolina Panthers. I'll take the Broncos.

Seattle is a 7-point favorite at home against the Rams. I think Seattle will win, but that seems like a big spread. I'll take the Rams getting the points, but there's a good chance this one will be a push.

San Francisco is giving 1 point to the Cardinals. This should be a pretty bad game. San Fran's probably favored because they are the home team - I'll take the home team. 49ers -1.

Washington and Baltimore Sunday night is a pick 'em. These two teams have been the toughest for me to pick all season. I'll go Washington, because they're home, and I hate the Ravens.

Finally, Green Bay Monday night is favored by 3 over Tennessee. I'm not sure what the injury situations are in this game, but I think Brett Favre is playing, and I have no idea about Steve McNair. I have a feeling he wouldn't miss a Monday nighter, but this one's in Green Bay, and Green Bay took a tough loss last week - they're not going to lose this one at home too. I'll take the Packers, minus-3.

AFC EAST

New England: 3-0
NY Jets: 3-0
Buffalo: 0-3
Miami: 0-4

What a weird division this year. The Jets are legitimately a good team, I hope people are now buying what I've been selling for the past few weeks. The Patriots are the defending Super Bowl champions, and have won 18 straight games, so I have to give them their due. The Bills, and the Dolphins, though, are two of the worst teams in football. Well, at least record-wise.

I don't think it's fair to call the Bills bad. They aren't good, but they're not downright bad. They're by far the best 0-3 team in the league (how's that for a backhanded compliment). The Bills lost in Week 1 to the Jaguars on a last-second touchdown pass by Byron Leftwich that was barely caught in the back of the end zone. Final score: 13-10. In Week 2, the Bills can't get any offense going out west against Oakland, and fall. Final score: 13-10. After a bye in Week 3, the Bills take on the Patriots in Buffalo, looking to keep the Pats from winning a record-tying 17th game in a row. Final score: Patriots 31, Bills 17. The Bills didn't look like a bad team against New England. They looked like a flawed team, and the Patriots were able to expose those flaws at key moments.

That's what the Patriots do. They figure out the flaws, expose them, and then pounce. So many of the games they've won on their current winning streak have come as the result of the one big play that turns the game in their favor. Last Sunday, it was pressuring Drew Bledsoe, and that pressure finally resulted in the turnover that put the game away - a fumble returned for a touchdown. The Patriots should win this weekend at Miami. The next weekend, they host the Seahawks. Seattle is 3-0, and I'll talk more about this potential matchup next week...there's a good chance it features two undefeated teams.

Miami stinks. We established that fact in yesterday's posting, and if you have seen them play at all this season. But here's an interesting thing: Ricky Williams may want to play again this season. He's reportedly trying to get a hearing with the NFL so that he might get back to the team this season. This opens up a huge can of worms, because he's facing a drug suspension, which probably can't be enforced retroactively to the first few games of the year, and then there's the whole issue of whether the Dolphins want Ricky back. Management will probably take him back, because they're desperate. But I doubt he will be well-received by teammates, coaches, and fans.

So that's the AFC East rundown, for now. The Jets host Buffalo on Sunday. I'll try to get a Bills preview posted for Thursday, courtesy of a guest writer who grew up in Buffalo and remains a lifelong Bills fan. If I don't get that, there might not be a Bills preview, because I'm working a late night on Wednesday.

Jets 17, Dolphins 9

It sure wasn't pretty, but the Jets are now 3-0. Chad Pennington had one of the worst games of his career (THE worst, passing yards-wise), but the Jets are still 3-0. Santana Moss had just 17 yards receiving, but the Jets are still 3-0. Et cetera, et cetera.

The Jets looked like they played down to their competition on Sunday. My dad made a good point, saying maybe the bye week was at the wrong time, because the Jets were on a roll, then had to take a week off, and maybe had to shake off some rust. I'm going with that theory, and in that case, it's a good thing the Jets played the Dolphins, because they wouldn't have been able to win had they been playing a team that was good. Anywhere near good...which the Dolphins are not.

Here's the deal with Miami - their defense is still pretty good. So I'm not too dismayed by the fact that the Jets' offense wasn't great. But Curtis Martin still put up pretty good numbers, it was just the passing game that wasn't sharp. The defense played great against a very bad Miami offense, which was what was needed.

Jonathan Vilma started at middle linebacker, in place of Sam Cowart, and I'm pretty sure he had a good game. (I couldn't watch much of this game...but I saw the good parts.) Victor Hobson played well, and John Abraham was the pre-playoff-illness John Abraham of two seasons ago. Which is to say, John Abraham was dominant. So if nothing else, hopefully this game inflates some defensive egos with Buffalo coming to town next week.

Miami is 0-4 for the first time since 1966. Nice. The Jets are 3-0 for just the third time in franchise history. The Jets have not made the playoffs in any season in which they started 3-0. Nice history for this franchise, huh? Remember the last time the Jets went 3-0? 2000. Al Groh. The Jets started the season with wins on the road, I think, against Green Bay and Tampa Bay (I think that's right...I could look it up to make sure, but that would require some effort on my part, and I like my memory better.) That's also the season that ended in disaster...4 straight December losses when A win would have put the Jets in the postseason. One of those losses was to lowly Detroit, at home, in the Lions' last road win before this season started. So anyway, the Jets can go to 4-0 with a win next week at home against Buffalo for the first time since that 2000 season. And I guarantee - if the Jets go to 4-0 this season, they are making the playoffs. That's the johnnyjets guarantee (and those readers of johnnymets.blogspot.com know the johnnyjets guarantee is about as reliable as Browning Nagle with the game on the line).

Anyway, we're back on schedule - I've done the re-cap, which from now on will be posted on Monday (I had a paper to write Sunday night), and now it's time for the regular Tuesday posting - Mail Bag:

"Dear JohnnyJets,
Based on many hours of listening to former football players shout on Sunday morning television shows, it seems that there are two schools of thought in football.
One says a win is a win and you can only get 16 of them so take them how you get them, while the other says if you can't throttle a team in such disarray as the Dolphins, you'd better be worried about October football, not January football.
Where do you fall in evaluating Sunday's game?
Signed,
Taking The Points in Brighton."

Well, Brighton, first of all, let me say that I have learned a valuable lesson about watching football on Sundays. Don't watch the pregame shows. They all stink. They're not worth your time. Those of you who know me know that I have lots of trouble reading the Sunday paper. There's just too much of it to read. But I find that if I take those extra couple of hours on Sunday morning when the former football players are shouting at each other, between 11am and 1pm, I can really plow through at least 2 of the 17 sections that come each Sunday morning on my doorstep. So that's point number one. Those shows are horrible. Secondly, I am of the school of thought that a win is a win, and when you're a Jets fan, you are used to them not putting teams away, so even if they beat a supposedly bad team by "just" eight points, it still goes in the "W" column, and at the end of the day, you're still undefeated, so I'm very happy that they won. Pennington will play better the rest of the season - you have to look at it as, well, he's now got his worst game of the year under his belt, and the Jets still won. Things are going to get better. Wayne Chrebet probably put it best after Sunday's game. He said something to the effect of, "This team still isn't hitting on all cylinders. When we do, I don't want to be the team that has to play us."

Thanks for the positive thoughts, Wayne. Fireman Mark, if you want to write with reaction to the game in Miami, please send along your thoughts. I'll be attending this coming Sunday's game against Buffalo. And tomorrow, according to the schedule, we'll be taking a look around the AFC East, where it's either feast (3-0, 3-0), or famine (0-3, 0-4).

Jets-Dolphins, 4pm

Hopefully this coming week I'll be able to stick to my regular schedule, now that I've completed most of the homework I have due on Monday. But here's a quick preview...Jay Fiedler starts against the Jets today. That worries me a little bit, because of his recent success against them. But the fact is, the Dolphins are not good. Their defense is still pretty good, but there should be no way Jay Fiedler beats the Jets, because he's got no one to run the ball, and no one to throw to. Because it's the Dolphins, they will probably stay close to the Jets, but I don't see them winning. Chad Pennington will play smart and not make mistakes against the Dolphins D, and we'll find out how Curtis Martin runs against a good defense. I'll go Jets, 27-20, covering the six-point spread.

Here are the rest of the games (for entertainment purposes only) - I went 8-5-1 last week, on the season, I'm 25-20-1:

The Giants are in Green Bay to play the Packers. Green Bay is a 7-point favorite. The Giants have been looking surprisingly good, but I don't think they'll win this game in Green Bay. I'll take the Packers to win, but the Giants to cover that spread. So my pick is the Giants.

Philadelphia takes it's 3-0 record into Chicago. The Eagles are favored by nine. I think I'll go with Philly.

Washington is in Cleveland, and is favored by three. I think Cleveland will win this game outright...I can't really figure out the Redskins. The Browns are the pick, plus-three.

The Patriots are five-and-a-half point favorites over the Buffalo Bills. This game's in Buffalo, and I think it will be really close. I'm taking the Bills with the points. I don't know why...because Drew Bledsoe has had just one good game against the Patriots in the past few years...but I think Buffalo has a shot at ending the Patriots' winning streak. Bills, plus five and a half.

The Colts are another road favorite, giving three and a half points at Jacksonville. The Jaguars get their first loss of the season, Colts by more than three-and-a-half. I take Indy.

Pittsburgh is favored at home by five against Cincinnati. I don't know why that's such a big spread. I'm taking the Bengals (I think they'll win outright).

Houston hosts Oakland. Oakland has looked horrible this season, and they've looked pretty good. Houston hasn't looked too good at all...until today. I'm taking the Texans, getting two at home.

New Orleans is favored by three at Arizona. There's potential for an upset here, but I don't have the guts to go with the Cardinals. I'll take the Saints, minus-3.

The Panthers are favored by three and a half over the Falcons in Carolina. I've been surprised so far by Atlanta (they're 3-0). The Panthers are 1-1, and haven't looked too good, but I think they'll win this one, at home, coming off their bye week. Panthers, minus three and a half.

Denver is a 3 point favorite on the road, at Tampa Bay. I'm going with the Broncos, because Tampa is not good at all.

Tennessee is giving three on the road in San Diego. The Titans are banged up, and I don't think Steve McNair is playing. So I'm taking the Chargers, getting three at home.

Saint Louis is a three-and-a-half point favorite in San Francisco, another poor team. I'll take the Rams, even though they're on the road.

And Monday night, the Ravens are favored at home, by six points, over the very disappointing Kansas City Chiefs. I keep saying I'm not buying into all that Ravens hype, but I think they'll improve to 3-1 on Monday night, and I think they'll cover six points. So the Ravens are the pick.

Enjoy the afternoon of football!!

Good news, Jets fans. The household once again has a computer. I will try to get back into a regular blog writing schedule, which I haven't had the chance to do since the season started, but the household also has a lot of homework these days (including right now, but we have a couple of e-mails I have to get to...can't let down the fans.). So I'll do the best I can.

First things first, let's go to the mailbag. Thanks for writing...

"Dear Johnnyjets.
Three weeks into the season may be a little early to play the
surprise/bust game...but I'd like to get your read on a couple of
teams.
Jacksonville is 3-0. But with 35 points scored and 28 points allowed,
and what seemed like a lucky pass interference call this past week
against the Titans that set up the game-winning touchdown. So...are
the Jags a contender or pretender?
On the flip side, K.C. looks absolutely abominable at 0-3, with 86
points allowed the most in the NFL. Is there any hope for the Chiefs?
Do you have a "dark horse" in the AFC, somebody flying under the radar
who you think can run off 10 wins and get into the playoffs as a wild
card? (And don't say the Jets.)
Love your show,
Dave"

I wouldn't say the Jets, Dave, because you said "dark horse in the AFC"...and everyone knows I consider the Jets an AFC favorite. To be honest, I was big on Jacksonville this year. (I might have written that in one of my previews before the season, but I don't know. Scroll down and check that out - I can't do that while I'm writing this.) I didn't think the Jaguars would start 3-0, but I thought they'd make a late-season push. But you're write about Jacksonville...not only did they luck out against the Titans, but they lucked out in week 2 against the Broncos when Quentin Griffin fumbled deep in their territory, and they lucked out in week 1 on a last second Touchdown to win the game against the Bills. (Their defense is great, so it isn't all luck, but a lot of it is.) Speaking of the Bills, they've been a couple of plays from being 2-0, instead, they're 0-2. They would have been a crappy 2-0 team, but they're barely losing games...for whatever that's worth. As for Kansas City, I think there is a little hope, because their defense can only get better, and I don't think Oakland and San Diego are better. Once the Chiefs get a little healthier, they'll climb the division - but Denver will probably still win the West.


"John,
Curtis Martin is putting up huge numbers. I don't think he will sustain this pace the whole year. Do you think now would be a good time to start utilizing Lamont Jordan a little more, specifically on screen passes. Also, look for me at the Jets game this week in Miami. I will likely be the only one standing and cheering in my section, based on the way the Dolphins looked the last three weeks.
Sincerely, Fireman Mark"

First of all Mark, glad to hear from you...I've been meaning to give you a call to talk Jets and to see how you did with all the hurricanes, but school's been busy. Glad to hear also that you're going to this weekend's game. Give Jay Fiedler hell. Those Dartmouth people are awful. I wrote in one of my more recent postings that as a Jets fan, you just have to feel that Martin is going to wear down at some point. And I would think we should start seeing more of LaMont Jordan, but I think the Jets are intent on running Martin into the ground this season. I'm fine with that - I think Martin is in some of the best shape of his career, so I think he might not wear down, even though the pessimistic Jets fan deep inside me says he's going to get hurt in Week 9. All of the newspapers had big articles during the bye week on Martin's offseason training regimen (he took flights to California for the weekend just so he could run some steep steps in a cliff somewhere). So I feel good about Martin...but Jordan is fun to watch when he gets the ball on the screen...I just hope Herman Edwards gets over the preseason difficulties he and Jordan had, and uses him to give Martin some down time.

For the record - I went 8-5-1 with my picks last week against the spread (for entertainment purposes only). Also for the record, I won my office pool for the second time in three weeks, and my fantasy football team is 3-0. I need to go do homework now. I'll give a weekend preview hopefully by Friday.

First of all, a big HELLO to all my new fans in the greater Wilmington, North Carolina area. Welcome, and thanks for coming. Sorry I haven't written in a while - I've had computer problems.

A lot has happened in the two weeks since I've last written. Including Saturday's 4-3 win over the Cubs in 11 innings, so that's where I'll start.

I couldn't watch this game, since the Boston area got the Angels-A's matchup. But the Mets won a game that I would classify as very encouraging. First of all, this was pretty much the Norfolk Tides against the Chicago Cubs, and the Tides won in dramatic fashion. After being shut down all day by Mark Prior, the Mets broke through in the ninth inning, first against Ryan Dempster, then against LaTroy Hawkins. Victor Diaz, who I'll talk a little more about in a bit, hit a 2-out, 3-run homer to tie the game at three, then in the 11th, Craig Brazell hit the game-winning home run. The youngsters came through, and I should also mention Aaron Heilman, the starter, who kept the Mets in it early, giving up 2 runs in five innings. All the Mets have left is to play spoilers, and Saturday's win could very well have contributed to ruining the Cubs' season.

So, I now present to you the guide to the major leaguers, who until very recently were minor leaguers:

3B David Wright: He's a future Hall Of Famer. Enough said...but just because I like to write about him, here are his stats, through 61 games - Wright's hitting .293, slugging .515, 12 HR, and 35 RBI. For good measure, he's also stolen 5 bases.

SS (yes, SS, not 2B) Jose Reyes: He has a long way to go (health-wise) before he gets his GREATEST BALLPLAYER WHO EVER LIVED tag back. But the Mets are clearly a better team when Reyes is in the lineup. That's why when he plays in just 45 games (like he has so far this year) it hurts so much.

2B (yes 2B, not SS) Kaz Matsui: The first year is done. Maybe he is less nervous next year and plays to his capabilities in the field. I wasn't too upset with his offense - he was one of the best Mets hitters this year when the game was on the line.

RF Victor Diaz: I've only seen Diaz in a couple of games so far this year, and it looks like he's a bit of a hot dog. I hope he has a level head. Diaz came from the Dodgers organization in the Jeromy Burnitz trade last year. His biggest concern, it seemed to me, after he hit the game-tying homer on Saturday, was that he stuck it to the Cubs, who passed over him in the draft, rather than the fact that he helped the Mets win. Maybe that's just my interpretation, but seeing some of Diaz's body language (not hustling out of the box) during his call-up makes me think he might have a bit of an attitude problem.

1B Craig Brazell: Brazell has been in the Mets organization for a while, and just got his first opportunity late last year. He's got some power, but hasn't shown it much at the major league level. I don't really know where he's going to fit in if Mike Piazza's going to be playing first base next year.

P Aaron Heilman: Heilman has had two solid starts in a row, since he's gotten another chance to pitch late in the season. Maybe he's put his disappointments behind him, and maybe Rick Peterson has worked magic yet again.

P Tyler Yates: Yates is working on a modest scoreless streak right now - 8 and a third. It's a start. Maybe his niche is in middle relief.

Some other thoughts on a wasted season:

Kaz Matsui says he'd like to try a couple of games at second base before this season ends...but Art Howe is worried about Matsui getting hurt (a la Joe McEwing). The funny thing, though, is that what does Howe care - he's not even going to be around to suffer the consequences.

Which brings me to the tease portion: Coming soon to johnnymets.blogspot.com - Who should replace Art Howe as manager of the Mets? I already have an idea...stay tuned.

Bye Bye Baby, Baby Bye Bye

Bye Johnnyjets

Yes, it's the bye week. That means I need to preoccupy myself in any way I can. Hence, the headline. The Jets say they're not bothered by the early bye week, and some, including Chad Pennington, say it's better to have the bye week early in the year, to break up the monotony of training camp, rather than the end of the year, where it could mess up the momentum of the season. I'll buy into that. As a fan, (which is arguably more work than being a player), I prefer the early bye week as well, because now I can go for 14 straight weeks of Jets football (and hopefully more - straight through the Super Bowl).

One other Jets note before I move onto my picks - the Daily News Jets beat writer wrote yesterday that he would bet Kevin Mawae (broken hand) will play next Sunday against Miami (for whatever that's worth). The injury is apparently healing fast, and for Mawae it appears to only be a matter of whether or not he can grip the football to snap it. The possibility even exists that Mawae will move to a guard spot and Pete Kendall will handle center duties for one week. So I think Mawae will be playing, which is good news for the running game.

OK - onto the picks (for entertainment purposes only). I was 7-9 last week, 17-15 over the first two weeks:

Miami is a one-point favorite over Pittsburgh. I think the Dolphins will actually win this game - Tommy Maddox is hurt for Pittsburgh. The only thing working against the Dolphins here is the hurricane - this game might get pushed back to Monday or Tuesday - or it could be played as early as Sunday night. Dolphins, -1.

Tennessee is a 6 point favorite over Jacksonville. I'm big on the Jaguars, and there's a chance they'll pull off the upset on the road this week...but I'm thinking they lose by less than six. Jaguars +6.

The Giants are giving three at home against Cleveland. I think the Giants will win the game, and cover. NYG, -3.

Baltimore is also a three point favorite - they're in Cincinnati. I think Cincinnati wins outright at home...I repeat, I DO NOT think Baltimore is very good. CIN, +3.

The Chiefs are giving 7 and a half points to the Texans. I thought the Texans would be better than they've been, and they still might turn things around, but I'm taking the Chiefs to win big...for their first win of the season. Chiefs, giving seven and a half.

The Rams are a seven point favorite at home over the Saints. I don't get the Rams, and I can't predict the Saints. Are the Rams that much better at home than they are on the road (they got beat bad in Atlanta last week)? I'll take the Saints plus the points.

The Vikings are giving nine to the Bears, the team that killed me in every one of my pools last week. It won't happen two weeks in a row. I take MIN, -9.

The 2-0 Eagles give four and a half to the 2-0 Lions, in Detroit. The Lions will not be 3-0. Take the Eagles, giving four and a half.

The Falcons are ten-point favorites over the Cardinals - they'll win by 14. ATL, -10.

Denver is also a ten-point favorite at home against the Chargers. I'll take them too. DEN, -10.

Indy is a 6-point favorite over the Packers, who lost to the Bears last week, therefore they are the other team that killed me in every one of my pools last week. I'll go with the Colts at home, giving six.

The Seahawks are ten-point favorites over the 49ers. Lots of big spreads this week - looks like I'm going with all the favorites. SEA, -10.

The Super Bowl XXXVII rematch is Sunday night. What a clunker this year. Raiders are three-point favorites over Tampa Bay. I'll take Oakland just because they're the home team. OAK, -3.

And Monday night it's the Redskins as a one and a half point favorite over the Cowboys. I'll go with the Cowboys to win on national TV.

Enjoy the Jets-less weekend.

I'm going to jump right into the mailbag to start things off today, because I couldn't have asked for a better e-mail for what I wanted to address:

"Dear JohnnyJets,
Now that the team is 2-0, have you booked tickets to Jacksonville? Can the team run its record to 5-0 by feasting on the soft underbelly of the NFL, namely at the Dolphins and home against the Bills and 49ers?
Looking at the Jets' schedule, it seems like the December games at Pittsburgh and home against Seattle and New England will be the make-or-break part of the season. Thoughts?
Longtime reader, Dave in Brighton."

Dave might have to start signing off, "Longtime and only reader, Dave"...but that's besides the point. Dave, you hit the nail right on the head - I was just talking about the next few weeks for the Jets (and the Patriots) with my dad. Both the Jets and Patriots are 2-0, the Dolphins and Bills 0-2. The Jets, Pats, and Bills all have byes this week. Then things get interesting. The Jets come off their bye to play at Miami, vs. Buffalo, and vs. San Francisco. All of those games are very winnable, to say the least. The Patriots have a similar schedule, coming off the bye to play at Buffalo, vs. Miami, then at home against the Seahawks (a tougher draw than the 49ers, but still very winnable for New England). It is very feasible that the next week's game (Week 7), between the Jets and Patriots, could be 5-0 vs. 5-0. Can you imagine the hype that would surround that game?? Especially when you throw in the fact that the Red Sox will have probably just completed a monumental collapse (we're looking at October 24th here folks, nothing good happens to the Red Sox in late October), and New Englanders will be putting the Patriots on some kind of pedestal because the Pats are all they have left after a lifetime of baseball misery.

Anyway, I digress. The point is, if the Jets don't overlook the cupcakes they have before the Patriots game - that will be the most important game of the season. But as far as the second part of Dave's e-mail, those last few weeks are definitely the toughest part of the Jets' schedule. I'll even take it back another eweek - the Jets have to host Houston, who could be fighting for a playoff spot, then go to Pittsburgh, then host Seattle, then play at New England, before closing the season out in Saint Louis. That's a rocky stretch, but hopefully, the Jets will have something locked up before they play the Rams. It would be very dangerous to go into Saint Louis needing to win in the final week to get a playoff spot. Of course, the way the Jets played the first two weeks, it's likely they'll go into Saint Louis looking to cap off a perfect season. (Take it easy - I'm kidding....sort of.)

A couple of notes on the Jets - Sam Cowart's knee injury will likely keep him out of action for a month-plus. That means that rookie Jonathan Vilma will be getting the start at Middle Linebacker. And the news isn't so good on Kevin Mawae - Herman Edwards is calling Mawae 50-50 for the Dolphins game after the bye week - on Monday Edwards had said he expected Mawae (broken hand) would be able to play.

For entertainment purposes only, I bring you the following update: I was 7-9 in my picks last week, and for the season, I'm at 17-15. I'll probably write again by Friday with my picks.

Jets 34, Chargers 28

The Jets are now 2-0, after beating the Chargers on Sunday in San Diego. This was a great game to watch, because the Jets were solid all around. The types of mistakes the Chargers made were the types of mistakes we're used to seeing the Jets make. It's nice to watch stuff like that happen from the other side.

A bunch of things jumped out at me from Sunday's game - here are a few:

1) The Jets' receivers are fast. I love watching Chad Pennington drop back early in the game and launch a bomb, because I know either Jonathan Carter or Santana Moss will race under it to catch it. I have a hard time figuring out if Pennington is underthrowing the receivers or if they're just so fast they keep over-running the throws (but I have a sneaking suspicion it's the underthrowing part).

2) Curtis Martin looks amazing. I can't even believe how different he looks this year. He's like Barry Bonds on a football field. 32 carries for 119 yards for Martin, and he rushed for 2 TD's. He also passed Freeman McNeil to become the Jets' all-time leading rusher. Congrats, Curtis. That brings me to point 3), which is that the offensive line is really taking pride in Martin's performances, and they're playing like it. Pete Kendall is just making such a huge difference. What a pickup. I read in Saturday's New York Daily News that besides possible falling into disfavor with Dennis Green because he told the NFL that Cardinals practices were violating players' union rules (allegedly), Kendall could have been released by Green because he was friendly with the media, and Green doesn't trust players who are friendly with the media. OK - I have a huge problem with this - Dennis Green spent the last few years with ESPN - AS A MEMBER OF THE MEDIA. What hypocrisy. Unreal. But thanks Dennis, we'll take Kendall. (As a side note to this offensive line worshipping, Kevin Mawae got hurt at some point in Sunday's game - that could be a big blow. Hopefully the bye week helps him recover. I didn't actually see the injury - but I just read on ESPN.com that it was a broken right hand. Hmm...I've seen offensive lineman put casts on broken hands before and play it out....but as a center, that could really affect Mawae's game...affecting exchanges with the quarterback. I'll keep you posted on any developments...but that hurts the O-line.)

4) Sort of related to numbers 2 and 3, and stemming from the pessimism that you always kind of have in the back of your mind as a Jets fan....when do we start worrying about CurtisMartin getting worn out? Just asking.

5) I really like the role Jerald Sowell has taken on this year. It reminds me of when he was utilized a little more a few years back.

6) Erik Coleman is quite possible THE GREATEST FOOTBALL PLAYER WHO EVER LIVED. No, I'm just kidding. But he's awesome. I was impressed when he picked off Drew Brees in the first quarter, for his second career interception (and second in two weeks), and then he proceeded to have one of the best defensive games I've seen out of a Jet. Coleman was all over the field - he was always where the ball was. And not in a Rodney Harrison/Ronnie Lott type of way, where the play ends and then they come flying in with a hard, late hit. Coleman was in on every tackle, he swooped in to recover a fumble on a missed exchange between the Chargers' center and Brees, and in the most impressive moment to me, Coleman chased LaDanian Tomlinson down the field, catching him from behind, then stripping the ball (it went out of bounds, but still, what hustle!) Great game by the rookie.

7) This point is a little disconcerting. The Jets get way too conservative at times. It's really frustrating. They spend most of the game kicking butt - looking like they can score at will. But then it's like they pull up and say, "Let's let the other guys get back into this game, before we put them away." Instead of throwing the ball downfield, the Jets call three runs up the middle in a row, punt the ball away, let the other team get within one score, then they open things up again. I guess I shouldn't complain, because they're 2-0, and Pennington is pretty much flawless, but man, just put someone away, will you?

Those are the thoughts that came to me while watching the Jets game. This is the hard part now, waiting two weeks for the next game (at Miami - and the Dolphins are involved in the worst football game I have ever watched, right now, with the Cincinnati Bengals). I could go nuts waiting for the bye week to end...that's the bad part about the Jets getting off to such a good start - I can't wait for the next game. That's part of the reason I started this site, to help pass the time between games, and now with my computer stolen, I can't even do that. Boo-hoo for me. Oh well.

For those who are interested, this was a brutal week for my picks. I'm out of my survival pool, thanks to Green Bay (more like no thanks to Green Bay), and as it stands right now I have a losing record against the spread on this site. But I can still salvage an 8-8...stay tuned. Thanks for reading - send your e-mails if you have thoughts on the Jets' week 2. If I don't print them tomorrow, hopefully I'll get onto a computer by Wednesday.

Not much time for a preview of Sunday's game, but I'll do a quick one, then jump right into my picks for the week. I was 10-6 against the spread last week...and remember, this is all for entertainment purposes only. Seriously. If it wasn't, I would have made some money last week...but one of these weeks, I would definitely lose my make-believe money. So that's why it's all make-believe. Anyway, onto the previews:

The Jets play at San Diego against the Chargers, who surprised me by beating the Houston Texans last week. I don't think the Chargers are very good, and Drew Brees played really well last week. He shouldn't play that well again. I think the Jets have handled LaDainian Tomlinson well in the games they've played him..actually, come to think of it, he may have been hurt the last time the Jets played San Diego, so they may never have faced Tomlinson. Regardless, I think the Jets can handle the Chargers. I'm going to say 24-14, covering the 3-point spread.

The rest of the NFL: I'm going to take Jacksonville getting 3 and a half at home against Denver. Denver looked really good last week, but I like the Jaguars to lose by three or less at home, because that's what home-field advantage is all about.

Baltimore let down a lot of people last week, losing to Cleveland. They didn't let me down - I've been saying they're not as good as people have been saying they'll be. But they're better than Pittsburgh, and they'll cover 3 and a half points at home.

Houston let me down last week...but I think they'll bounce back this week at Detroit, getting 3.

Indianapolis is getting a point in Tennessee...they'll win outright. Indy's the pick.

Green Bay is my lock of the week to win at home against the Bears. 8 and a half is a lot of points, but I'll take them to cover as well. Packers -81/2.

The Giants are not good. Until they show me they can win, I'll keep picking against them. Washington will ruin the home opener. Redskins, -3.

New Orleans is a seven and a half point favorite over the 49ers this weekend. I don't get the Saints, but I don't think San Francisco is very good. So I'll take the Saints.

Atlanta's a 2-point favorite over Saint Louis. I'm not sure why. I'll take the Rams plus 2.

Kansas City's giving six and a half to the Panthers. The Panthers have a bunch of injuries already - their running back and their best receiver. Gotta be the Chiefs.

Seattle's giving two and a half at Tampa Bay. Seattle tends to struggle on the road, but Tampa is not good. I'll take the Seahawks.

Dallas is a five-point favorite over the Browns. The Browns were impressive last week, and the Cowboys were not. I expect a role reversal...go with Dallas.

The Patriots go to Arizona, and are 8-point favorites. I just feel like the Cardinals will keep it close. I'll take Arizona.

Oakland's giving three and a half to Buffalo out west. The Raiders will kill the Bills.

And the Bengals, after looking impressive against the Jets last week, host Miami Sunday night. They're giving five points. I'll take Cincy.

Monday night, it's the Eagles and Vikings. I'll take Philly giving three and a half...but it'll be close.

I should be able to post a recap of the Jets-Chargers game Sunday night. Thanks for reading.

Scott Kazmir knows I'm watching. He knows this is the first time I've been able to watch him since the Mets traded him to the Devil Rays for Victor Zambrano. He's been saving his best effort for tonight, because he knew I'd be watching very carefully, ready to write about what a crappy trade this was if he pitched well.

It was a crappy trade. What a crappy trade. Scott Kazmir is shutting out the Red Sox through six innings right now...pitching the best game of his short, short career. He's got 9 strikeouts, no runs, and he's given up just three hits. I really thought the Red Sox would knock him around - a lot. It remains to be seen at this writing if Tampa Bay holds on to win the game, and get Kazmir his second major league win...but Kazmir was very impressive on Tuesday night.

Other impressive nights - Kris Benson (so far) and David Wright. As I write this, Wright is 3-for-3, with his 12th homer of the year, and Benson has shut out the Braves through five innings. Back-to-back good starts for Benson - he knows free agency is right around the corner.

One e-mail to get to, which I'll print now since I don't know when I will get to a computer again (if you've been checking out johnnyjets.blogspot.com, which I know you have, you know my computer was stolen):

"Dear johnnymetsmail,
That cheesesteak story was disgusting. I just feel sorry for your wife having to sit next to you for that whole game. I loved the pictures from Philly, but I wish there were some of your beautiful wife.
The website is a great resource for Mets fans and extremely well done and up to date. However, seeing as how you live in the Boston area, I think that you should address the needs of Red Sox Nation also. Some Red Sox related features would be much appreciated.
What is you take on the Sox this year? Do they have what it takes to finally win it all. What did you think of the Nomar trade? Did it make the Red Sox better or worse? Wouldn't they have been better off to get some pitching in return? Additionally who do you see the Sox resigning in the offseason and who will leave? Who do you see those players signing with? Furthermore, what offseason moves could the Sox make to become a better team? Is Roger Clemens coming back next year?

Sox Fan From Shrewsbury"

Thanks, Sox Fan. First of all, get over the cheesesteak. Everyone needs to get over the cheesesteak. Sometimes, you just make a bad food choice when you visit a new city...and you have to deal with the consequences. But it's time to move on. As for the Red Sox questions, I think you have johnnymets.blogspot.com confused with "somecrappyredsoxwebsite.blogspot.com". This is a quality Mets site, and you should really respect that. However, considering that 100% of my readers are Red Sox fans, I will indulge you:

I think the Red Sox are quite good this year, however, I think they will fold at some point, whether it's over the final weeks of the regular season or in the post-season. I have no evidence to support this theory, because the Sox are a very good team, but they didn't do it last year, so they never will do it. That's how I feel. That team is cursed bad. The Nomar trade was great, because Nomar is a @#!$&!? #(!@##?>!. They're a better team without that jerk. Pitching in return would have been good, but the defense is improved, which sort of helps out the pitching anyway. Is it coincidence that since the trade Derek Lowe has been pitching a lot better (probably, since I think Mientkiewicz has been hurt, and Cabrera can't be making that much of a difference when Lowe's on the mound). As for the off-season, I don't know who the Sox will sign - I forgot to ask Theo the last time we spoke. But I'm 99% sure Carl Pavano is signing with the Yankees. I do think Varitek and Lowe are gone. I think Varitek will sign with Milwaukee, and Lowe will sign with the Tigers (random guesses - I have no friggin' clue). For the Sox to become a better team, there's really nothing they can do. They had a great team this year and last year, but they are just fated to never ever win. It's sad, really. And Roger Clemens is a jerk. I don't care whether or not he comes back next year. I hope someone throws a shattered bat at him.

Thanks for reading, Sox Fan in Shrewsbury, and everyone else. We'll see when I can access a computer again, but I'll try to do something again before the end of the week. I'm posting early, but the Devil Rays are on their way to a win, and the Mets are up 7-0. David Wright is now 3-for-4.

You stole my computer and thought you'd keep me from writing, did you? Well, you were wrong. My wife was kind enough to lend me her work computer for the night so I could check on my 1-0 fantasy football team, and my week one pool win. So I thought I'd update the site while I was at it. (And if you have any designs on breaking in again and stealing this computer, be ready to get a baseball bat across the face.) A special thanks to my sister for rooting the Jets to victory as she attended her first season opener, and then writing about some of it on the site. Thanks for being more grateful in the backup role than LaMont Jordan.

So, obviously, the weekly schedule is again in upheaval. There was no e-mail, but I forgot to print this one last week, so I'll do it now. It's signed Al Montoya, in Ann Arbor, MI...I think it's not the Montoya the New York Rangers drafted to play goalie, but since the NHL is out of business for the next couple of years, maybe it actually was him:

"There is absolutely ZERO chance that the Jets will make the Super Bowl. You know it. I know it. The American people know it. Save this email, so you can rub it in my face in January, but only if you also promise to re-print it when the Jets either a) get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs or b) fail to qualify for the postseason altogether. ("FAIL TO QUALIFY FOR THE POSTSEASON!!!" A little "Airplane" humor for you there! It would've worked better if several people could've written it at the same time. Oh well.)"

I got an angry e-mail from Montoya the next day after I failed to print this e-mail last mail day...I misunderstood. I thought I was only supposed to print this to RUB IT IN HIS FACE. That's right. I'm not backing down, buddy. You watch...just watch. And I will promise to re-print this if.....ah, it's not even worth writing...it's not going to happen.

Anyway, reading today's Daily News reminded me that I haven't even mentioned Paul Hackett in my season previews. Well, now he's been mentioned. I am not ready to give him too much credit, because he did what he's supposed to do - use his offensive weapons and win the game. The Daily News article had a weird stat in it though - Sunday's game was just the tenth time the Jets have reached the 30-point mark since Herman Edwards and Paul Hackett have been working together. That's 49 games. Just 20 percent of the time. I wonder what the league average is on that...but it seems like the Jets should be scoring 30 points a little more often. Hopefully it will be a common occurrence this season.

Last week I started a picks section, where I pick the games against the spread. I'll continue that, since I got no negative feedback (the good thing about no feedback at all is no negative feedback), and since I enjoy it. Last week, I started out 8-1, before losing every 4 o'clock game, and the last three 1 o'clockers, but rebounded to take the Sunday and Monday night games. 10-6 overall last weekend - that still would have won me some money - but, of course, this is for entertainment purposes only.

I can't make any promises about the next time I'll be writing, but hopefully I'll be able to post something again by Friday, previewing Sunday's 4 o'clock game in San Diego against the Chargers.

Jets 31, Bengals 24

This is John's sister substituting for John. Unfortunately, the regular postings are going to be interrupted due to the unfortunate break-in at John's apartment, resulting in the robbery of John's laptop. Johnnyjets.blogspot.com haters are suspected.

John was very pleased with Sunday's game. Curtis Martin was unbelieveable, rushing for 196 yards on 29 carries - he's going to have a big year. Chad Pennington looked shakey at times, sharp at others, but came through in the win. And it was great to see Wayne Chrebet come back, making 2 catches for 29 yards.

The defense was good enough, playing pretty well against the run. John was a little disappointed that they didn't put a lot of pressure on Carson Palmer, because he looked too comfortable, and in all honesty, played a really good game. The defense gave up a few big plays but overall was very effective.

Next week the Jets are in San Diego to play the Chargers. Hopefully, John will be able to get on a computer and update the site again before then.

Sunday. 1pm. Jets. Bengals. I've written this before, but I think the Jets defense should be able to fluster and overwhelm Carson Palmer, and therefore, the Bengals offense. I really believe it. I know I'm usually overly optimistic, but I really think the Jets are the biggest lock of the weekend. What follows is for entertainment purposes only: The Jets are giving 4 1/2 points - usually that's too big a spread for my liking in a game where the Jets are favorites, but we'll go with the Jets - 27-17.

For my own statistical purposes - here's the rest of the NFL picks:

Tennessee-Miami: The game's been moved to Saturday because of Hurricane Ivan - the Dolphins probably wish it had been cancelled outright. Tennessee's giving 3 at Miami. Titans.

Pittsburgh, at home, against Oakland. Pittsburgh's a 4-point favorite - I don't think either of these teams are going to be too good this year...but Pitt's better this week - by 5 points. I pick Pitt.

Washington and Tampa Bay. I think the Redskins win at home in Joe Gibbs' debut. Re-debut. Whatever it is. I take Washington, giving a point and a half.

Cleveland hosts what used to be Cleveland, aka Baltimore. I think I'll take new Cleveland, getting three points at home, against the Ravens. I don't know that they'll win, but they'll lose by less than two.

Buffalo hosts Jacksonville, and is the favorite. I think the Jaguars win outright, so I take them getting three points.

Chicago, at home, giving three to Detroit. Again, I think the underdog wins the game. Go Lions, +3.

Saint Louis is an 11-point favorite at home over Arizona. I don't know, it's a big spread, I'll trust the bookies. Rams.

New Orleans is a home 'dog, getting 2 against Seattle. I'll pick the Seahawks, I think they're better.

Houston, at home, gives 5 to San Diego. The Texans will have a good year, and they'll win by a touchdown.

The Eagles are giving nine to the Giants. The Giants usually play the Eagles tight. That seems like a big spread - I'll go with the Giants, +9.

Minnesota, at home, minus 4-and-a-half against the Cowboys. I'll take the Cowboys, because I don't think they'll win, but Vinny's going to stick it to me...so I'm using some counterintuitive thinking.

The Falcons are 3-and-a-half point favorites over the 49ers. I think the Falcons will cover.

Sunday night, Denver at home, gives three to the Chiefs. I think Denver wins and covers, because it seems like they always do at home.

Monday night, Carolina minus-3 hosting Green Bay. Gotta go with Favre and the Pack getting points.

The Colts are letting my pick slip away here late in the third quarter - we'll see how this game turns out, along with the rest - on Monday. I'll have my results. Your mail appears on Tuesday - so send it along!!!

METS 4, MARLINS 0

HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH!! HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! HA-LEEI-LU-JAH!!!

THE METS WIN! THE METS WIN! THEY WINNNNNN!!!!

Our lead story today - the New York Mets have won a baseball game, beating the Florida Marlins, 4-0, in Miami. The win put an end to the Mets' 11-game losing streak, and also ended a 10-game losing streak to the Marlins. Kris Benson combined with Bartolome Fortunato and Braden Looper to get the shutout.

Benson pitched well after skipping a start because of a sore shoulder. That'll just drive up his asking price as he enters free agency. But I'm still hearing that Benson wants to re-sign with the Mets, and that the talks should be picking up again soon. So that's contrary to what "Dave from Brighton" had written in his letter (you can still see that below this posting) in yesterday's mailbag...referring to Peter Gammons saying that Benson was going to test the free agency waters during the off-season. First of all, I don't know who this Peter Gammons is, and I don't know why Dave would go reading this Gammons fellow, who for all I know doesn't know a baseball from a foosball, instead of me. Trust me, Dave...trust me. Benson will re-sign with the Mets by November.

So back to Thursday afternoon's game (sorry this is in such a huge font - I haven't figured out how to fix it). David Wright - a big 2-for-4, and a stolen base. He tripled off of David Weathers (back with the Marlins - didn't even know about that one), and scored a run. Eric Valent hit his eleventh homer. I love Eric Valent. Valent's hitting .273, Wright's hitting .291. Just FYI.

I need to go write the Jets site, and get back to some kind of normal font. Enjoy the opening weekend of football - and check out johnnyjets.blogspot.com!!

Sorry folks. I was too sick to write yesterday. So there's no AFC East preview.

Today is the day I'm supposed to write about the Jets' opponent, and to be honest, there's not a whole heck of a lot going on in Cincinnati. The big news is that the Bengals want to get off to a better start than they did last year (duh - so do the Jets), and that they want to do better than their 3-5 mark on the road. The opener is at the Jets, so the idea is the Bengals want to win in Week 1. Not much insight out of Ohio. So I'll draw my own conclusions.

Carson Palmer is the Bengals quarterback - he was named the starter from the beginning of the preseason, unseating Jon Kitna, who had a surprisingly good season last year. Corey Dillon is no longer a Bengal (he's now with New England), but they have a very good running back in Rudi Johnson. That'll be a great test for the Jets' defense - Rudi Johnson will test their run defense, and we'll find out if that part of their game is better.

The Bengals' receivers are kind of dangerous. Peter Warrick still hasn't lived up to his potential, but Chad Johnson is the one to look out for. He's put up two very good seasons in a row. The receivers can't do anything, though, if the quarterback can't get them the ball...so I hope the Jets' D blitzes Palmer like crazy, not giving him a chance to think, and makes the Bengals offense a non-factor.

The Bengals defense is pretty good, I think...but to be honest, I couldn't name one guy on their defense. That said, time to switch into e-mail mode, the last time we will do e-mail on Thursday - from now on it'll be on Tuesday - meaning send your mail by Monday.

"Dear Johnnyjets,

The line on Thursday's season opener in New England is Pats minus 3 1/2 versus the Colts. Do you give the points or take them?
Thanks,
Bettor in Brighton"

Not that I encourage this sort of thing, but I will be making picks throughout the season, and keeping track of them, as you would see in your local paper. My disclaimer is that my picks are for entertainment purposes only, and to keep a statistic, which I love to do. So proceed at your own risk. That said, I think the Colts keep Thursday night's game close, and I think they have a very good chance to win. I think the Patriots will get called for a number of penalties, and the Colts want revenge. Bad. I take the Colts with the points.

Tomorrow we'll preview the season opener!!!!!

There have been big-time technical issues with blogger here, so yesterday's posting, even though I finished it nice and early - before the Mets even lost - wasn't published. It follows this posting, which will be short and sweet - and I only re-print it because it includes the mailbag, which I can't ignore.

Just FYI, as I write this, the Mets trail the Marlins 3-0, and they're not coming back to win, so they're going to lose their 11th in a row. Things have gone so horribly wrong. Mike Piazza swung the bat well that one game back from his injury, and has looked horrible since. I'm worried. No one else hits. David Wright is awesome, but even he's in a funk right now. It's really horrible. I leave you to yesterday's posting:

_____________________________________________

I'm posting early, before the Mets game ends, which I rarely do, but I'm very sick. I'm supposed to prepare to get very sick this year, since I will be exposed to tons of germs in a school setting, which I am not used to. So it's very upsetting that I have a fever and cold before school even starts. Oh well.

I don't mind posting early, especially since this game will follow the usual form. Right now it's 5-3 Marlins in the bottom of the seventh. The Mets might actually get back to 5-4, before Armando Benitez comes in to close it out. Or the Marlins will tack on ten more runs before the game is over. Either way, the Mets ain't coming back. Here's what you need to know. When Wilson Delgado singled a few minutes ago with men on first and second, it was the Mets' first hit with men on base since LAST THURSDAY. Not with men in scoring position - just with men on. Very frustrating.

Anyway, it's also mail day - just one e-mail (thanks for writing):

"Dear JohnnyMets...
I have 2 questions. Actually, one comment and one question.
First, the comment... Please don't ever talk about going to thebathroom at a Major League ballpark ever again. This also goes for NFLstadiums.
And "number two..." I'm interested to hear your take on the Zambranoand Benson deals now that they've had a chance to sink in. I read in Peter Gammons's column this week that Rick Peterson thinks he can make Zambrano a "big winner" next season by tweaking his delivery. I think that if Peterson turns Zambrano into a solid 2-3 type pitcher, then dealing Kazmir may have been worth it. Your thoughts?In the same column, Gammons says Benson will likely test the free agent market before he signs with the Mets. Is it troubling that theMets gave up prospect Matt Peterson for a guy whose contribution has been limited at best, and who might not re-sign? Follow up, what sort of money do you think Benson is worth? (He's making $6.1M this year.)

Love the site, Dave in Boston"

Thanks Dave. Mike Cameron just dropped a fly ball as I write - absolutely horrible. So anyway, in reference to your comment, your probably right, but I can't make any promises. I think we all understand I needed to write about that cheesesteak.

OK. On to your question. Over the weekend, while I was in Philadelphia, and therefore not writing on the site, Kazmir pitched again, and was OK, but again took a loss. Something like 4 runs in 4 innings - I could look it up, but, again, I have a fever. So I think Kazmir is 1-2. The thing about that that bothers me, though, is that he's not getting rocked. I think he's going to turn into a good pitcher. That said, the reason the Mets made the deal is because Peterson has said from the beginning that he could turn Zambrano into something special. He also said the same thing about Benson. Unfortunately, both guys are hurt. I'm not liking either trade right now. But I do think I will be soothed if Zambrano can be healthy next year, and give the Mets a few solid years as a number 2-3 guy. Benson kind of makes me mad. If he thinks he's going to command a whole lot on the market, I think he's kind of wrong. He's been horrible since the trade deadline, and I have to think that will make a lot of teams leery about signing him to a big money deal. (I won't get into figures because I am a very poor judge of money - especially baseball player money.) But I think the Mets need to re-sign him, just so it doesn't look like they got nothing out of the deal. (Let's not overlook Jeff Keppinger, though, who is fast, and could become a very good middle infield/utility guy in the majors.) I just hope the Mets aren't bidding against themselves when they sign Benson, overpaying for poor performance.

I keep forgetting to mention this, but I finally remembered. Ted Robinson has been off the air with the Mets for more than a month. First it was the Olympics for 2 weeks, then the U.S. Open coverage for the next two weeks. He'll probably be back next week. I must say that it's cruel irony that when the unwatchable Robinson has been away, and I might actually enjoy watching a Mets game, it has been the Mets games themselves that have been unwatchable. Tonight, I'm watching the Mets on the Marlins feed. I wish I got more of the Mets' opponents' feeds. Of course, the question remains - why am I even still watching the Mets in the first place?

Another lost weekend for the Mets and their fans. And a lot of Mets fans saw the Labor Day sweep in Philadelphia firsthand. I was among them. (A really strong turnout by Mets fans in Philly - seriously. And wearing Mets stuff too - I thought most would be too embarrassed to wear Mets stuff - like me.)
So I spent the weekend in Philadelphia, and attended, along with my wife and our host, Jeff (a Phillies fan), Saturday night's 7-0, 3-hit drubbing. (Not to be confused with Friday's 8-1 drubbing, and Sunday's 4-2 beating.)
Except for the whoopings, we had a nice time in Philadelphia. Some of that good time (from Saturday night) is chronicled here, in pictures. Unfortunately, these pictures are not that good. I used a much more outdated digital camera than the one I used for my Jets site. (johnnyjets.blogspot.com - check it out today!) Also, they posted in the reverse order than how I wanted them. But I hope you enjoy them anyway. (Click on the pictures to see them in full size.)

Park,
originally uploaded by Johnnyjets.

This is a picture that actually isn't bad. Unfortunately, you can't make out what I actually wanted the picture to show. The sign on one of the auxiliary scoreboards could have been interpreted in a way in which it was not supposed to be interpreted. It is inappropriate, so I will not write it here. But someday, maybe if you ask me, I will tell you. Anyway, the picture showing the ballpark came out pretty nice.

Field Shot,
originally uploaded by Johnnyjets.

This is one of just three Mets hits on the night, the culmination of David Wright's first at-bat. He hit a hard ground ball up the middle which the shortstop and second baseman smothered, but Wright beat the throw to first base by a considerable margin. That's when I took this picture. But I know what you're thinking. And you're right. It's not a good picture. Unless it was a picture of the back of that guy's head. Which it's not.

David Wright,
originally uploaded by Johnnyjets.

...David Wright. Here's a look at the scoreboard in left-center field. Nice scoreboard.

Al Leiter,
originally uploaded by Johnnyjets.

I would rank Citizen's Bank Park ahead of Arizona, but behind Houston, my all time favorite new ballpark. But here's probably the best feature of Citizen's Bank Park - the fans can get right up close to the bullpens. (I was actually much closer to the bullpen, but only remembered to take the picture after we had walked away a bit.)
The funny thing about these bullpens, which you may have heard already, is that the Phillies currently occupy the bullpen on the left, and the visiting team uses the one on the right, where you see Leiter warming up. At the beginning of the year, the reverse was true - the Phillies used the bullpen on the right. So at the beginning of the year, when the Phillies were struggling, in particular, the Phillies' bullpen, the fans were merciless. (Phillies' fans are known for being very merciless.) They were so merciless that the Phillies switched bullpens so that they were farther away from the vicious fans. But it's a neat attraction for visitors. Also, behind the bullpens (behind where Leiter is), is a little Wall of Fame, with plaques, and a wall commemmorating Phillies history. Also nice.

Cheesesteak,
originally uploaded by Johnnyjets.

This is a horrendous picture of a Philly Cheesesteak. But it must be shown. It is a historical cheesesteak, and it is how our evening began. We went to a little joint just outside Philadelphia called Mama's Pizzeria, because, our host Jeff said, they have great cheesesteaks. OK, said we, we'll try these cheesesteak, since that is part of the Philly experience. What we, or I should say, I, didn't know was the aftereffects of the Philly cheesesteaks. First of all, apparently Mama likes her cheesesteaks HUGE, because that's what these were. I couldn't finish mine, and I'm a freakin' pig, just so you know. Anyway, they move through you pretty quick. You know where I'm going with this. Stop reading now if you're not going to like what's coming next.
Never before had I ever used a toilet at a ballpark. (I'm not talking 'using the toilet' in the euphemistic sense - I'm talking literal here. USE THE TOILET.) Anyway, I'm crazy, and I just don't see those things as being too clean, so I don't use them. I wait until we get back home. Well, this phine day in Philly, I could not wait. I rationalized, figuring it's a new ballpark, the bathrooms must be pretty clean. So this was a history-making cheesesteak, folks. It broke my bathroom boycott. And caused me to miss the entire fifth inning. No kidding.

Can you feel the excitement?!?! We're just a couple of days away from the NFL season. Here's how the website will work for the rest of the season.
The Jets play on Sunday.

Monday's posting will be a re-cap of the Sunday game.

Tuesday we'll take your mail ***note the change in mailbag dates*** That means now you want to send your reaction to the game by Monday afternoon, so that I can post the mailbag for Tuesday. This week will be the final week with the mailbag on Thursday.

Wednesday we'll take a look around the AFC East - recap the previous week, preview the upcoming week. Later in the season, we'll expand Wednesday to include the entire AFC, depending on the Playoff Picture.

Thursday we'll focus on the Jets next opponent. This day may feature guest writers with inside dirt from that city, or big-time fans of the opposition.

Friday will be the big game preview, and perhaps, I'll make my picks for the week, and keep track of that throughout the season.

This week, obviously, there is no game to recap, and Thursday is still the mailbag, not Tuesday. So we've skipped the regular Monday and Tuesday postings. Wednesday we'll pick it up with an AFC East preview, then continue with the regular schedule.

No major cuts by the Jets over the weekend - they are at the necessary 53-man roster. The Jets survived the dramatic come-from-behind-meaningless-preseason game win on Friday without suffering any injuries, so they're ready to go for the regular season!

The Mets stink, but check out johnnymets.blogspot.com for my big weekend in Philadelphia recap. There are pictures, and I'm proud when I put pictures on a website. Thanks for reading!

SEASON PREVIEW

Friday night the Jets host the Eagles in their final preseason game. Then it's on to the regular season. We just need everyone to make it out of the Eagles game healthy. That's all we need. I don't care if Pennington goes 0-for-12 and throws six INT's. Those six INT's better come in the first three minutes of the game, because he'd better not be in there for long.

Chad Pennington is the key to the season. Everything revolves around him. He is so good he gives the Jets a chance to win every single game he's involved in. So if Pennington's healthy, the Jets will do well, it's as simple as that.

Of course, he can't do it alone. The defense needs to keep the team in games. Even when the defense has been pretty bad the past couple of years, they've managed to keep the team in games. So this year, with a much better defense, I expect the 'D' to be able to do keep Pennington in position to win most games.

The Jets have taken steps to eliminate some of the mistakes that cost them games last year. Remember all the time management problems? (Not getting the kicking unit on the field in the right amount of time against the Giants, not taking a knee and running out the clock against the Titans on Monday Night Football, to name a couple.) The Jets now have a coach who will stay with Herman Edwards and tell him what to do in certain clock management situations. He's all over it. The coaching staff is better - Donnie Henderson is going to make Jets fans forget about Ted Cottrell real fast. Overall, this Jets team is better.

I'm thinking the Jets will reach double digits in wins. I haven't gone through the schedule week to week, but that's my estimate. 10 wins or so. With New England in the division, I don't know that 10 wins will be enough to win the East, but hopefully it will be enough to get the wild card. The AFC is tough. But for the Jets to win 10 games, they'd probably beat the teams they need to beat in order to earn all the tiebreakers to put them in the playoffs.

OK. As promised, it's time to check the mail. Dave from Brighton wrote about a week ago, when the rumor was that Ricky Williams had called the Dolphins. Dave says,
"I read recently that Ricky Williams might be reconsidering his retirement and could return to the Dolphins this season. Would a Williams return hurt the Jets, because Miami would be a more formidable opponent, or help them, since Miami could potentially beatthe other AFC East teams twice?"
It's become clear since Dave wrote this that Williams is NOT coming back. But if he did, that team would be in such disharmony that there's no way it would help the Dolphins, it could only hurt them. The Dolphins are going to be in a lot of trouble this season. Shortly after Williams left, David Boston got hurt, which really hurts their offense. Then, to shore up the offense, the Dolphins traded for Marty Booker, who isn't going to make a huge difference. In order to get Booker, Miami traded (I forget is first name - Adelewai?) Ogunleye, one of their best defensive players last year. And he killed the Jets. So that hurts their defense. Miami's going nowhere, doing nothing this year.

Here's this e-mail:
"Hi John-
How will the Jets finish out the season? Atop of the AFC East or as a Wild Card? (I know you have them somewhere in the playoffs).
Who's on tap for the Super Bowl this year?
And after a running back, what's the most important position to draft for in fantasy football?
Thanks. I enjoy your blog.
-Kathryn from Watertown"
I kind of alluded to your first question above, and as for a Super Bowl prediction, I'll go with the Jets over the Packers. How 'bout that...Brett Favre in his one last shot. I have to pick the Jets, because that's what I do. The Packers are just a guess. As for your last question, it really depends on the type of fantasy league you're in, and it depends on the point values assigned to each position. A scrambling-type quarterback might be the way to go, or a receiver who has the potential to also score on special teams. Thanks for writing.

Mark from Miami also checks in (take it easy, Jets fans - he's not a Dolphins fan, he just happens to live in Miami):
"John,What is the progress of Jets linebackers Darrell McClover and Jarrell Weaver?"
To be honest, Mark, I haven't heard a whole lot about either, but I think McClover will make the team. As I wrote last week, I did see him at practice, and he was putting in lots of extra time working with Jonathan Vilma. McClover is deep on the depth chart, but at least he's there. Weaver got cut last weekend. Who knows, maybe he'll end up on the practice squad. Don't worry, though, Mark, I think your Hurricanes are still the most represented college team on the Jets. That is to say, there are more Jets from Miami than from any other school.

Thanks for writing everyone! Keep them coming - we'll do it again next Thursday - hopefully on time next week.

Next week we'll get into regular season mode, and I'll give you the weekly breakdown in Monday's posting.

Marlins 9, Mets 6 (60-73)

David Wright: 3-for-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, and a stolen base. Too bad he plays on a horrible team. The Mets are only 4 games better than the Expos. Six straight losses. Just awful. But I'm still making the road trip for Saturday's game. So stay tuned for Monday - I'll post some pics of the weekend.

For a team with hope, turn to: johnnyjets.blogspot.com

I apologize for the lack of a posting yesterday. School meetings have begun, and things have been busy. We'll forgo the NFL preview, because, come on, we all know I'm picking the Jets to win it all anyway. So without further ado, it's time for the Jets' offensive preview.

JETS OFFENSE

Thank goodness I bring you the following news: The Jets have signed QB Chad Pennington to a seven year contract extension, worth 23 million dollars, with incentives built in to make it a 64-million-dollar deal. All that means is that Pennington's contract will not be a distraction this season. All I have to say about Pennington is this: last year was by far the worst year we will ever see from Chad Pennington. For those of us who didn't see Joe Namath, this is the best quarterback we've ever seen wear a Jets uniform, and if he plays like he did two years ago, could be one of the best ever. But let's not jump the gun....Pennington is going to lead the Jets to some very good things this year.

And he's got a capable backup. That's something that couldn't have been said two weeks ago. Quincy Carter is the backup. He's happy just to have a job, the Jets are happy to have a playoff-caliber quarterback to back up Pennington. Carter will be gone next year, so the Jets aren't investing much in a guy who has a bit of a questionable character, but if things should go terribly wrong this year, we won't have to worry about Brooks Bollinger taking over. I think Bollinger will be a good backup in another year - or at least, I'll have more confidence in him, but this year, I'm glad to have Carter on the team.

My only comment about the offensive line is that the Jets really lucked out when the Arizona Cardinals cut Pete Kendall. The rumor was that Dennis Green cut Kendall because he tattled to the league that Green's practices over the summer were violating some union rules. So the Jets were able to scoop up Kendall, and he's going to be the starting left guard. That means instead of having two inexperienced offensive linemen, the Jets have just one on the line, and another capable backup. One addition really made a huge difference for the Jets this year.

They'll be blocking for Curtis Martin again. Martin says he feels great, and he's had a ton of reps in the pre-season, more than he's had the past couple of years. He says he needs that to get going for the regular season. Martin's getting up there in years (relatively speaking), and might not have many more to go. I keep doubting that Martin can top the 1,000 yard mark, but he did it last year, and that was a horrible year for him. So I feel that at least this year, Martin is going to be a big factor. Martin starts ahead of LaMont Jordan, who is not happy about his lack of playing time. Jordan feels he could be starting somewhere, and feels Herman Edwards is lying to him about trying to get him the ball more. Jordan has been great backing up Curtis Martin, and can rip off a great run once in a while. But he'd better not be a distraction worrying about whether or not he's going to play a lot.

As for the receivers, Santana Moss is Pennington's favorite target, and is explosive. Justin McCareins was a big addition. He's young, and they could form a great combo for years to come. Wayne Chrebet might be done. He insists he'll play in the season opener (although that's looking more and more unlikely), but I don't think we'll be seeing him on the field much this season. We'll see. Jerricho Cotchery was a good draft pick. He won't have much of an impact this year (unless Chrebet doesn't play at all), but can step into that slot receiver role in the near future. Jonathan Carter has shown flashes of being a big-time receiver, but he has a little case of the dropsies. He sure is fast, though. TE Anthony Becht needs to be used more. I am probably the only person in America pleading his case (as I've been doing for three years), but maybe this will be his breakout year. He's playing for a contract, and is feeling a lot of heat from backup Chris Baker. But let's just remember how many clutch plays he made down the stretch the last two years the Jets made the playoffs.

Sorry my thoughts were so disjointed. I need to go to bed. I'm going to put off the mail bag until tomorrow. We have a couple of e-mails....if you want to send another couple, I'll print them all tomorrow, along with the big Jets overall preview.

Marlins 5, Mets 4 (60-72)

Another night, another loss. David Wright gets a 2-for-4. The Mets have now lost 10 of 11. Let me break this down for a minute.

There was a point, when I thought the Mets might climb back into the wild card race, where the Mets had gone 10-8 in August. Then everything fell apart. The finished August 11-17 overall. Do the math.

Pictures come to johnnymets.blogspot.com on Tuesday from a big weekend Mets trip. Stay tuned. Also, check out johnnyjets.blogspot.com. Offensive preview and mail call!

Marlins 6, Mets 4 (60-70)

This game was typical Mets. Mike Piazza comes back from injury and homers. Al Leiter pitches well, but leaves down 3-1. The Mets battle back to take the lead. And then the bullpen gives the game right back. It's the kind of loss that makes you wish the season would just end already.

Piazza looked good. I know I'm way too optimistic usually, but he was swinging the bat with the authority he used to swing with. It resulted in an opposite-field home run in his second at-bat. He looked refreshed. Seriously. Please believe me. The Mets have to figure out a way to get Piazza appropriate rest throughout the year, and I think he'll have a few more good years still in him. OK, well, at least one more good year.

After Leiter gave up a 2-run home run to Miguel Cabrera to make it a 3-1 game in favor of the Marlins in the top of the sixth, the Mets came back to take a 4-3 lead. David Wright hit one of his best home runs of the year, shooting one straight out towards center field, with the ball just clearing the ball in right-center. So that tied the game at 3, then the next batter, Jason Phillips, homered into the left-field bullpen, putting the Mets up 4-3, and giving Leiter the chance to get a win.

That was too good to be true, though, as the Mets promptly handed the lead back, and then some. Heath Bell was the culprit out of the bullpen. Not much to say about this. As far as I'm concerned, the bottom of the sixth was the last thing worth remembering from this game. To add insult to injury, Armando Benitez came in to get the save in the 9th.

Oh wait - more good news. Kris Benson will miss his next start. Soreness in his arm/shoulder...I forget. Those deadline deals sure are looking good! I meant to write this yesterday, but I forgot. Benson gave up 8 runs (5 ER) against the Dodgers Sunday. He's only had 1 and a half (out of 5 or so total) acceptable starts for the Mets since the trade. And those other starts haven't just been bad - he's been getting rocked! And he's playing for a contract. Imagine if he wasn't a free agent at the end of the year. At least he's not driving his price up. I'll leave it on that positive note.

Check out Preview Week at johnnyjets.blogspot.com as we get ready for the Jets season!!