This play sums up Rhodes’ season and, I believe, epitomizes what this player has become. He is clearly more interested in promoting his image than playing football.
The sad truth is he does not realize that being a professional football player is what affords him the chance to attend celebrity parties and model for magazines. Once he stops playing, and that time may come sooner than he thinks, those opportunities will disappear for him.
I have never seen a player more enamored with himself than Rhodes. His website, kerryrhodes.com is truly frightening.
One of the first things you see is a link to vote for him for the 2009 Pro Bowl. The Pro Bowl? This guy is delusional!
He cannot even hold on to his starting job and he’s hawking for Pro Bowl votes?
It is hard to imagine that Rex Ryan, a guy who values toughness, will keep Rhodes around for long if he continues to play like a star-struck diva.
Rhodes is running out of time to make an impression on his new coach and could find himself on another roster in the near future.
After watching more game film of Mark Sanchez, I have noticed that he is not sliding in the pocket as he did earlier in the season. He did a good job early on of keeping his eyes downfield and sliding to either side to avoid oncoming rushers which also opened up throwing lanes.
Now he becomes frozen when he senses pressure and his eyes are more focused on the rush than his receivers. He now gets “happy feet” rather than moving in the pocket to help his linemen and extend the play.
This is all mental and should improve with more experience. One of the things Sanchez must work on in the offseason is his mental preparation.
His competitiveness and passion for the game can work against him because he gets too pumped up at times and tries too hard. That has contributed to his interceptions.
He must learn to calm himself down so he does not press as much. This is clearly related to his youth and inexperience and should improve over time.
Alan Faneca’s difficulties as a pass blocker continue. He gave up two sacks to Kyle Williams but fortunately for the Jets, neither factored into the game’s outcome.
But the sacks were costly nonetheless. Williams’ first sack came on third down at Buffalo’s 11-yard line and the Jets had to settle for a field goal. His second sack resulted in a fumble but Tony Richardson recovered.
The pressures Faneca has allowed have been occurring with more regularity and that has to be a concern for Rex Ryan.
His young quarterback is having enough problems without having to deal with heat up the middle. Faneca can still get it done as a run blocker but he is by no means the thumper he used to be.
It is hard to make a personnel decision on a player of his status. He is a tremendous leader and will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer but when do you tell him that it is time to hang it up?
Unfortunately for the Jets, that time is coming sooner than we think.
Ryan has urged Sanchez to slide in order to avoid hits but does he fully understand the risk he is exposing his quarterback to by leaving Faneca out there on passing downs?
The Jets signed Faneca to a five-year, $40 million deal before the 2008 season so there will be pressure to keep him but at this point in his career, the Jets would be better off with a more consistent, all-around blocker.
Other Random Thoughts
Despite being a road game, playing in Toronto leveled the playing field for the Jets. Although there were clearly more Buffalo fans in attendance, the Bills were still not represented sufficiently to use crowd noise to their advantage…The Jets will surely be looking for a new punter this off-season. Steve Weatherford shanked a 29-yarder after the Jets’ first possession that set Buffalo up with good field position. Weatherford is clearly just holding the fort until the Jets can find a permanent guy. He ranks 25th in the league with a 42.5-yard gross and his net is not much better at 37.8 which ranks him 22nd…The Jets’ defense did a good job of pressuring Fitzpatrick even when they did not sack him. In addition to Harris and Ellis getting good hits on him, Bart Scott, Sione Pouha, Eric Smith and Jame Ihedigbo all applied good pressure and knocked him down as well.