WyBlog

Brett Favre's preseason debut

I turned down tickets to last nights preseason opener against the Redskins; we had promised to attend a graduation party for the son of a long-time friend, a young man I've watched grow from diapers into a true gentleman. The magic of TiVo^tm allowed me to watch the game this afternoon.

Brett Favre seemed pretty comfortable in his Jets uniform. The tight ends and receivers looked sharp, and Dustin Keller's touchdown catch made me giddy. The offensive line gave Favre ample protection and once again Leon Washington showed that he's probably the most underrated guy on the team. Jerricho Cotchery caught some nice passes from Favre, and Chris Baker kept his focus too. If this is a harbinger of the season to come we are in for some exciting football.

The first team defense also got the job done, bottling up the Redskins and keeping pressure on their quarterback. Depth on the line is still a problem though, the second and third string guys weren't overly impressive.

The Jets started the preseason with a quarterback controversy, would Kellen Clemens or Chad Pennington be the starter? Favre is indisputably their #1 guy now and the battle is on to be his backup. Clemens should have a lock on the job but first year pro Brett Ratliff is coming on strong. It doesn't bode well for Clemens that he's not hitting his receivers and he had several passes batted down by the Redskins defense. I'm sure that having Favre come on board has rocked his world but he had better step up and start making plays or Ratliff will earn the #2 slot.

And Ratliff deserves the attention. He was making things happen out there in the second half and his drive down the field with 1:05 to go was pure beauty. Then with 5 seconds left on the clock Eric Mangini decides to kick a field goal rather than let Ratliff try for a TD. Mike Nugent shanked the ball and it bounced off the left goalpost. It was his second miss of the night. Nugent is usually Mr. Reliable; whatever kinks have crept into his game had better be ironed out before the Jets open their regular season against Miami.

All things considered though the Jets and Brett Favre did very well. On Saturday they'll host the Giants. Yes it's a preseason game, but it's also a good natured rivalry for local bragging rights. My prediction is Jets 17, Giants 13.

Posted at 20:02 by Chris Wysocki   [/jets]   Comments | Archived | Perm Link |   |   Tweet