Now is not the time to panic after Jets 9-0 loss to Green Bay

As seen on Bleacher Report.

OK, so much for all that Subway Super Bowl hype the past week, eh?

The New York Jets finally had a stinker, a 9-0 shutout loss against a pretty good Green Bay Packers team. It was the first shutout against the Jets since 2006, when they lost a very forgettable 10-0 game to the Chicago Bears.

The Jets offensive game plan was so frightening on this Halloween Sunday that it left every Jets fan sick to their stomach—and it had nothing to do with candy.

The Jets had every opportunity to win this game. Statistically, the Jets defense held Green Bay to 2-of-14 on third downs, held Aaron Rodgers to 170 yards passing and kept Greg Jennings to 81 yards receiving.

But whenever the Jets had a chance to do something offensively, they shot themselves in the foot.

1. Steve Weatherford's failed fake punt for a first down, which was challenged by Green Bay and overturned, giving the ball to the Packers.
2. Brad Smith's fumble at the Packers 33, killing a great Jets drive.
3. Nick Folk missing a 37-yard field goal that would have tied the game at three.
4. Two interceptions of Mark Sanchez, both of which were not his fault and wouldn't have happened if Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller had held onto the ball.

For the die-hard Jets fan, this loss is crippling. Not only did New York lose a game, but they fell behind the Patriots in the AFC East standings after New England TKO'd Brett Favre and the Vikings 28-18. More importantly, it was a haunting reminder, on the most haunting day of the year, about years that have come and gone.

Many a time have the Jets gotten off to red-hot starts, only to fall flat in the NFL's second half.

• 1997: the Jets were 8-4, in first place in the AFC East after beating the Vikings 23-21. What happened? The Jets went 1-3, including a humiliating 13-10 loss to the Detroit Lions on the last day of the season, to miss the playoffs.
• 2000: The Jets were 6-1 after the Monday Night Miracle at the Meadowlands, and proceeded to go 3-6 the rest of the way to miss the playoffs.
• 2004: The Jets were 5-0, and went 5-6 down the stretch. Chad Pennington was injured for three games, and the Jets limped into the playoffs, beating San Diego in the wild-card round.
• 2008: The ultimate indignation: With Brett Favre at quarterback, the Jets were 8-3, in first place in the AFC East, and collapsed, losing four of five to miss the playoffs.

Here we go again? I sure hope not. Dare I say it...Same ole Jets? We'll see.

I have seen a lot of people bashing Rex Ryan and Brian Schottenheimer. Deservedly so. There was no reason to have Mark Sanchez throw 38 passes in a game that was very winnable until the final minute. They should have run it more. Shoulda thrown in some more gadget plays. Rex Ryan should not have wasted two challenges on calls that could have gone either way. Shoulda done this. Shoulda done that.

Fact is, the season isn't over. There are still nine games to play, and one more game to play against New England in December.

The Jets draw a fairly favorable November with visits to the Lions (2-5), who are much better than their record indicates, the Browns (2-5), as well as home games against the inconsistent Texans (4-2) and bad Bengals (2-5). Who's to say the Jets can't be 9-2 a month from now?

The Patriots, in case you are wondering? They play the Browns and Lions, too, but also pay a visit to the Pittsburgh Steelers and welcome in the Indianapolis Colts over the next month. After a five-game winning streak, they are also due to lose somewhere in the next few weeks.

This is a perfect opportunity for Rex Ryan and the Jets. The flaws of this team are clearly on film now for Ryan and his coaching staff to dig into. They have to take advantage of the loss, point it out to the players and remind them that they have to clean it up or the losses will mount.

After five straight weeks of stellar play, miracle moments and hard-fought victories, the Jets (in the long scheme of things) were due for a stinker. Call it the NFL and the law of averages. You are never as good as you are when you're hot, and never as bad when you're not.

If the Jets want to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack in the cluttered AFC, they are going to have to toughen up, work harder and find a way to put this game in their rearview mirror so that they can slap around the Detroit Lions in a week.

They have to show more commitment to the running game. Shonn Greene has only carried the ball 77 times this year. The Jets should commit themselves more to using Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson in the backfield. Hey, Ryan is the one who always talks about ground and pound.

The receivers have to learn how to catch a football. Dropped passes were commonplace against the Vikings and Broncos, but it didn't kill the Jets in the end; however, it did kill them Sunday. Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller dropped passes that ended up as interceptions. And the drops kept coming all day.

Mark Sanchez has to regain some poise in the pocket. Enough running around the pocket and throwing the ball up for grabs. Sanchez has to get back to what worked the first five games of the year, when he didn't throw a pick.

If the Jets do that they can get back on track. That is what teams with aspirations as high as the Jets do during the course of a long season.

Yankee fans spit on Cliff Lee's wife, does this mean he won't sign with Bombers?

If Cliff Lee doesn't sign with the New York Yankees, Yankee fans should look at themselves.

A report came out earlier this week, that Lee's wife Kristin was spat on, and had beer thrown at her by unruly Yankee fans during game three of the ALCS.

Lee had some harsh words for the Yankees:

"I know it's been made into a big deal, but that's really all it is. Two, three or four people acting like fools in 50,000. You can't group them all together. There's always going to be a couple of goofballs in the crowd that thinks they have the right to do that kind of stuff. Some people get a little alcohol in them and act inappropriate. It is what it is.

"I don't know the guy that did it; it could have been anyone," Lee said. "Who cares? They're at home right now."

Does this mean Lee won't come here? He says it won't be a factor, but if his wife is that uncomfortable with New Yorkers after this, and adores living in Texas than it is getting highly unlikely that Lee will come to New York.

Sandy Alderson Named Mets GM

The New York Mets will officially announce that Sandy Alderson will be the next Mets GM, in a press conference on Friday.

Alderson was best known for building the Oakland A's dynasty in the mid 1980's, and was also a CEO of the San Diego Padres, and was involved in redeveloping baseball in Latin America for the MLB office.

He has vast baseball experience, and was the obvious right choice over Josh Byrnes, who was fired by the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier this year.

According to Joel Sherman, Alderson wants to bring Paul DePodesta and J.P. Ricciardi on board. Both of these guys, you’ll recall, worked under Alderson in Oakland before going off on their own GM frolics.

Giants TKO Tony Romo, and hold on against Cowboys

GIANTS 41

COWBOYS 35

It was a sloppy start, and a sloppy finish, but in between the Giants blew past the Dallas Cowboys, building a 38-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter, en route to a 41-35 victory.

The game was not a classic, and is now overshadowed by Tony Romo's collar bone injury, which will cause him to miss 6-8 weeks, or basically the entire season, after taking Michael Boley drove the quarterback into the ground.

On the Giants side, the first half was marred by miscues. In the first quarter, Eli Manning threw two interceptions on the Giants first two drives, which led to a Romo touchdown pass to Jason Witten and a David Buehler field goal to give the Boys a 10-0 lead.

Then in the second quarter, Brandon Jacobs fumbled, giving the ball back to Dallas. On the next play of the game, Romo was injured, and replaced by Jon Kitna. After the drive stalled for Dallas, the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal and a 13-7 lead.

After another Giants three and out, Dez Bryant returned an amazing 93 yard punt return for a touchdown to give Dallas a 20-7 lead.

Suddenly things changed. Manning hit Steve Smith for a 32 yard gain to move the ball into Dallas territory. Three plays later, Manning hit Hakeem Nicks from eight yards out for a touchdown.

After an ineffective drive by Dallas, Manning was working his magic again. He hit Smith for a 14 yard touchdown to give Big Blue a 21-20 lead. The Giants tacked on three more just before the half to take a stunning 24-20 lead.

On the Giants first drive of the third quarter, Manning hit Mario Manningham for a 25 yard touchdown to extend the lead to 11.

After another Dallas three and out, Brandon Jacobs chugged down field for a 30 yard score to make it 38-20.

Then, the Giants got really lazy. Their defense stopped tackling, and the play calling from Tom Coughlin and his coaches were beyond questionable. Late in the fourth quarter, with the Giants driving and running the clock out, Coughlin decided to have Manning throw on third and five, instead of running it for the first down. Result -- interception.

Keith Brooking picked off the Manning pass and rumbled 41 yards to the Giants 15. Kitna hit Dez Bryant in the flat, before he cut up-field for the score. The Cowboys converted the two point conversion to get back in the game.

Finally, inside two minutes, the Giants were in position to end the game. All they had to do was convert a fourth and one at the Cowboys five. Instead the Giants kicked a field goal to keep the game interesting.

Result -- Cowboys scored another touchdown to cut the Giants lead to six.

Luckily for Big Blue, the Cowboys couldn't recover an onside kick, or this game could have turned from a blowout victory to a historic defeat.

Yet, the Giants are 5-2, the best record in the NFC. They are 4-0 in conference and 1-0 in the NFC East. The Giants will have a bye week.

World Champion N.Y. Yankees KO'd, Rangers Advance to World Series

RANGERS 6
YANKEES 1

The Yankees lose. DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Yankees Lose!

The season is over for the New York Yankees; the world champions have been dethroned.

In a series where they had very little bite, and little in the way of guts, the Yankees fell to the Texas Rangers 6-1 last night in Arlington, as the Rangers advanced to their first ever World Series!

The Yankees never had a shot in game six. Colby Lewis didn't allow a hit through the games first four innings, and went eight innings giving up only one run on three hits while striking out seven.

The game ended in a propos fashion, with Alex Rodriguez, the former Texas, who demanded a trade to the Yankees six years ago, the same Rodriguez who has developed a reputation for coming up small in October, struck out, looking for the third out.

With the score tied at one, the Rangers put this baby to bed, when Vladimir Guerrero launched a double into the left center field corner to bring in Mitch Moreland and Josh Hamilton to give Texas a 3-1 lead.

Then, Nelson Cruz cracked a two run homer to deep center field to give the Rangers a 5-1 lead.

The Yankees have a lot of work to do. They will look to buy Cliff Lee from the Texas Rangers this offseason, and will try to re-sign Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter to multi-year contracts.

Look for the Yankees to try to cut ties with Javier Vasquez, trade A.J. Burnett even though his contract is very expensive, and say good-bye to Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte.

As usual, it will be a busy winter for the Bronx as they look to buy ... (oops, I mean) ... win another World Series in 2011.

Don't Mess With Texas: Rangers put Yankees on brink of elimination

Rangers 10
Yankees 3
Tex leads ALCS 3-1

Later today, the 2010 season could be over for the New York Yankees.

The defending world champions are going down in flames, after another gutless effort against the Texas Rangers last night in the Bronx.

Much had been made about A.J. Burnett making the start instead of CC Sabathia on short rest, but you have to give Burnett credit, he did hold a 3-2 lead heading into the sixth inning. Then it went down hill from there on one pitch to Bengie Molina.

Molina cracked a three run homer to left to give Texas a 5-3 lead, shocking Yankee Nation. Molina went 3-for-4 on the day with that homer. In fact the entire Texas lineup teed off on Burnett and the Yankee bullpen in the late innings.

Josh Hamilton blasted two homers, giving him four in this postseason, as the Rangers built an 8-3 lead. Vladimir Guerrero went 4-for-5 with a run scored and Nelson Cruz was 1-for-4 with a two run homer.

The Yankees couldn't muster any offense after the fourth inning. They had a chance to do damage, with the bases loaded in the seventh, but Nick Swisher popped up to second, and Lance Berkman sharply grounded out to Michael Young at third to end the threat.

The big key for the Yankees failure is the middle of the order. Mark Teixeria hit .000 in this ALCS, and injured his hamstring while running to first base. He is likely done for the season, which could be just one game today.

Alex Rodriguez has been in his usual October slump. A-Rod is hitting .133 in the ALCS, and .192 in the postseason. So much for all the good feeling A-Rod developed last year; the guy just can't hit when the lights are brightest.

The Yankees will try to stave off elimination when Sabathia takes the hill against C.J. Wilson. I would be shocked if this series is heading back to Texas.

Cliff Lee works his magic against Bronx Bombers

RANGERS 8
YANKEES 0
TEX leads ALCS 2-1

Maybe one day Cliff Lee will wear the pinstripes, but right now, Lee is too busy enjoying beating the Yankees.

For the third time in his postseason career, Lee shut down the mighty Yankees lineup, as he propelled the Texas Rangers to an 8-0 victory and 2-1 series lead in the ALCS.

Lee, who beat the Yankees twice in last season's World Series, was brilliant. He strung out the Yankees for eight shutout innings, giving up only two hits, while striking out 13. While Lee, isn't the game's best pitcher, a la Roy Halladay, or Tim Lincecum; he is certainly one of baseball's best postseason pitchers.

This year alone, Lee is 3-0 in the playoffs for the Rangers, having give up only two runs and striking out 34.

With the lead in the series the Rangers are guaranteed a trip back to Texas if necessary. However, with the way the Yankees have played in this ALCS, who is to say that the Rangers won't finish them off in the Bronx?

The Yankees are fortunate not to be down 3-0 in this series, if it were not for a five run eighth inning in game one that erased a 5-0 deficit to Texas.

Josh Hamilton continues to be clutch for the Rangers. His two run shot in the first inning was all Lee needed tonight.

Andy Pettitte, was solid for the Yankees. The Hamilton homer was the only damage done on the veteran lefty, as Pettitte went seven strong, before giving way the Yankees suspect bullpen. The combination of Boone Logan and David Robertson gave up six Ranger runs in the eighth inning as Texas built an insurmountable 8-0 lead.

Tonight, the Yankees will give the ball to A.J. Burnett, arguably the Yankees worst pitcher this season. Burnett lost 15 games this year with an ERA of 5.26 for the Yankees. Maybe the postseason will bring the best out of A.J., but if it doesn't the Yankees could fall to 3-1 down in the series, meaning it will be all but over.