Law and order
I'm not saying it was once again all about the money with Ty Law, but don't you get the sense he'd start telling people he went to Ohio State if Jim Tressel forked over a big enough pile of cash?
No, we shouldn't be surprised ol' No. 24 is a Jet. While Law hasn't come out and admitted it, you don't need to be an expert at reading between the lines to realize he'll be with Them instead of Us for tomorrow night's immensely important AFC East showdown for one reason and one reason only: They filled his pockets with more loot. Law always has been a money player, in every sense. (So far, there is no confirmation that the deal was sealed when Law was given access to Eric Mangini's endless stash of 100 Grand bars.)
Not that we expect Law to be much of a factor tomorrow -- 34-year-old cornerbacks, even ones with his extended list of accomplishments, just don't stroll in off the street and blanket Wes Welker. And give me a break about his alleged "insider's knowledge" regarding the Patriots -- he's been gone for four years. Freeman McNeil or Wesley Walker could probably provide Belichick the same amount of insight about the current Jets.
Still, Law's return adds another layer of intrigue to a rivalry that probably would be better described, without a hint of hyperbole, as mutual hatred. In fact, while I'm sure the Jets believe Law will help them at some point this season -- just as we believe he would have eventually been an asset to the Patriots had they met his sticker price -- we fully agree with the sentiment here: the timing of the signing is one more transparent attempt at oneupmanship in a rivalry that has become increasingly petty.
I'm not just pinning this on Mangini, either, though he clearly is an accomplished and gifted weasel. While I generally like Bill Belichick's personality -- he has far better people skills than the common perception suggests, and there's something to be said for dry humor -- his perspective on the Jets falls somewhere between immature and irrational. It's understandable why he considers Mangini, his ungrateful former understudy, a turncoat for joining the franchise whose team president once publicly questioned his sanity. But his refusal to even say the word "Jets"? The man's 56 years old. He should be above that sort of thing.
Belichick will be in an especially vengeful frame of mind tomorrow night, and that should result in the coach coming up with one of his patented deviously effective game plans. And he'd better. The Jets, coming off a 47-3 demolition of the Rams Sunday, appear to be a far superior team to the one the Patriots defeated in the Meadowlands in Week 2, particularly on defense, where nose tackle Kris Jenkins has again become an immovable object and cornerback Darrelle Revis has emerged as . . . well, perhaps a young Ty Law. It is a tremendous credit to Matt Cassel that he seems to make noticeable improvements each week, but tomorrow might bring his the most difficult challenge yet.
It's impossible to exaggerate how much this game means to the Jets, not only in terms of the standings -- a loss would effectively put them two games back in the division with six to play -- but in terms of perception. They bolstered their roster in the offseason with several expensive and high-profile moves, signing Jenkins, Alan Faneca, and Damien Woody and trading for Calvin Pace and Mr. Wranglers. They've hungered to take down the Patriots for years, believed they had finally constructed the team capable of doing so . . . and then their chances became even more realistic when Tom Brady crumbled in Week 1.
Yet there they were in Week 2, losing sluggishly to Cassel and a Patriots team that had somehow overcome the shock and tumult of losing their MVP quarterback; you almost got the sense the Jets came into that game among the oblivious masses who believed the Patriots were down for the count. They should have known better, and they must consider it a blessing and a golden opportunity to have a second chance to prove that they are, at last, the elite team in the AFC East.
But that old familiar obstacle stands in their way: Belichick has done some of the finest work of his brilliant tenure this season, guiding his remarkably determined and disciplined team to a 6-3 record despite the devastating loss of the greatest player in the league, significant injuries to the top three running backs, and season-ending afflictions to two of his most dependable and intelligent defensive players. (It's disappointing to think Adalius Thomas won't get the chance to tackle the entire Jets backfield again this week.)
There is no doubt that in terms of pure talent, the Jets will hold the advantage tomorrow night. That would have been the case even if they had not made the transparent midweek transaction with Law. But the hunch -- no, make that the belief -- here is that the Patriots will hold the advantage on the scoreboard when the final seconds tick off the clock and Belichick and Mangini plod toward midfield for their awkward nanosecond of a handshake.
For the second time this season, the lesson will be a hard one for Mangini and the Jets: Money can buy you an aging cornerback, countless other famous names and fancy baubles, and even a good-sized helping of hope. But what the Patriots have . . . once again, that will prove priceless.
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"There is no doubt that in terms of pure talent, the Jets will hold the advantage tomorrow night."
How do you figure it is a no-brainer? Pats still have a lot of talent, just not as much at QB or RB as they did previously...
Belicheck has done some of his finest work? LOL. The 6-3 record is ridiculously misleading. 5 of their 9 games have come against teams that finished in the top 7 worst records from last year. Belichick was clearly outcoached against Miami and made some poor in game decisions in the other loses.
How much coaching talent does it take to beat a 1-8 Kansas City team? The Pats record is clearly the result of the easiest schedule in the league. Fortunately for them, it they still get to play the pitiful Raiders and the 2-7 St. Louis Rams.
My grandmother could coach this team to a 5-4 record at this point.
Yeah, I probably exaggerated that a little. But I'd still give them the advantage talent-wise, especially at QB and RB for obvious reasons. And their DBs are far superior to the Patriots -- we all know about Rhodes, and Revis and Elam are playing very well. Harris is their equivalent to Mayo, Jenkins might be better than Wilfork, the offensive line isn't quite as good as the Pats' . . .
The Jets are a much better team and the torch is about to be passed. Even if Brady was still here, they should stomp us pretty good.
Aw, I don't know....I'd just soon have all the writers think the Patriots will fail, so once again we can prove them wrong. It's just seems we play better, when everyone thinks we can't.
What the hell has this guy Mike been smoking? He talks about how easy the Pats schedule has been and that they have the pititul Raiders and Rams left to play. Didn't the "over the hill" Brett Favre and the Jets in fact lose to the Raiders and scratch out a last minute victory over the woeful Chiefs. Also, didn't they lose at home to the Pats at home in Matt Casell's first start since high school? What makes the Jet schedule so much tougher than the Pats? And to "trash" BB on top of everything else means this guy knows nothing! This may be BB best coaching year yet with the Pats!
"...don't you get the sense he'd start telling people he went to Ohio State if Jim Tressel forked over a big enough pile of cash?"
Considering he basically hates Michigan now, that pile of cash wouldn't need to be that big.
patroit bob ur nuts.even if brady was here they would stomp us. review the recent past in this seris.bill owns eric,not only owns but created.and brady is the best and most meaningful player in the game today by far.if he was on the field for the games this year only the dolphins game would be in ?,and only because of the D. p.s. enjoy the game thur and the rest of the year no matter what and get ready for the return of tom
Jillian, ain't nobody ever thought we could win! Nobody! Never!
Ty can't hate Michigan that much. I yelled "Go Blue" at him once in public and he seemed happy to hear it.
Nice analysis Mike, very clear headed and rational. Did you even look at who the Pats played? If you had you would have noticed that one of the 2-7 Rams losses was to the Patriots.
The Jets are playing better than when they faced the Pats in the second game of the season (a loss as you may or may not remember), particularly on defense. But since you want to draw on last years performances in comparing records you will notice that the Jets are still coached by the over-hyped Man-genius who led last years' team to one of those losing records you were referring to.
The New York media is pumping up another sad J-E-T-S team that will go home with their collective tails between their legs.
If I recall, Law's problem was with Lloyd Carr.
The Pats get to play the Rams twice in one season? Cool.
Let's think about the toughest opponent that the Jets have beaten this season.
Dolphins? It was Sparano's first game. Cardinals? Arizona's second straight game on East coast.
Bengals? Chiefs? Bills? Rams?
Not exactly a murderer's row.
J-E-T-S....JETS JETS JETS. The torch shall pass.
The Pats are the team to beat. Best team this decade and BB has done a remarkable job with a qb who hasn't started since HS. That said the jets have been playing well lately and without the ability to cheat, the Pats are vulnerable....J-E-T-S...JETS! JETS! JETS!!!
Given the losses of Brady, Maroney, Morris, Rodney Harrison and Adalius Thomas, a good argument can be made that the Jets have more talent right now. That doesn't necessarily mean they will win, but they have made great strides since the beginning of the season.
The big question probably has little to do with coachly sniping; it'll probably come down to "Which Brett Favre shows up?" He could easily toss three INTs and one TD, or the other way around.
Ty took a significantly less amount of money to play with the Jets. They wanted him there....more than I can say for the Patriots. Ty has made plenty of money in his career and at this point 200 and 300 K ain't anything to him. He's got throw away money. Belicheck just has the biggest ego and wants all the wins to be about him. He has never been up front with Ty. The Jets have been straight forward with him.
Chad you must be underpaid. All your articles recently are on professional sports figures making money.
Actually, I'm way overpaid. But don't tell anyone.
Hey, Jets fans...it must really suck being you.
Liveblog tonight? Just throwing it out there.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
Irreverence and insight from Chad Finn, a Globe/Boston.com sports writer and lifelong and incurable sports nut. Yes, he realizes how lucky he is. You can e-mail him at chadfinn4@yahoo.com.
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